My apologies to Hemingway. I am talking about the decision to have children or not. I love my two dearly and would cheerfully do anything to spare them hurt. They are an extension of our gene pool and my only hope for immortality. However, their hurts become my hurts and I am more anxious for their welfare than for my own. I dissolved two marriages mainly because my husbands were sorry stepfathers. Ted is the exception to the rule. He loves them like his own and they have become his family too.
We tremendously enjoy the love and warmth from them and from their children.

On the other hand, I think childless marriages are probably happier. There is freedom to go and do and travel. Many of the women I know, tell me that they would not have had children if they had known what it entailed. Sometimes there is dissension over the endless needs of children such as contacts and braces for their teeth, summer camp and finally a University education. Discipline can also be a bugaboo.

What would you do if you could start over?