This Could Be a Long Career

Ah, the academic elite. You gotta love them. Last week I had dinner at a professor's house with two other graduate students. We had a nice hippy meal (cold spinach soup to start) and some very fun conversation, getting to know each other better. Briefly, the professor is woman in her mid to late 40s, the other two students are women in their mid to late 20s, one single the other married. I was the only one at the table with children.

At some point during the dinner one of them asked me if I was going to have any more children. (My answer to that question changes daily, hourly even, and I am not going to make any final decisions at the age of 31.) I told them, quite honestly, that I had no idea.

The room exploded as three women, none of whom have children and two of whom have never been married, said things like: "Be done, Eris!" "Think of the population, haven't you had enough?" And my favorite, "The planet needs you to stop."

Sweet, holy buckets. I expect this kind of stuff from my family and friends, who know what a terrible mother I am and so have a vested interest in seeing that I don't bring any more children into this world. But three nearly complete strangers?! Um, if you're looking for your beeswax, none if it is in my uterus.

I quickly changed the subject, but have been thinking... if two of those women are never going to have children, as they claimed, then I can have at least 6 to make up for their 4? Is that the way it goes?