6 Ways To Tell You Are SO DONE Having Children

If you’re like me, you’ve always had a plan in mind find love; get married; have three kids.

However, sometimes these plans will go astray and as time goes on, the chosen number of children may change. You may have always had your heart set on a big family but are feeling too overwhelmed at the thought of more than just the one. Or, you and your husband may have agreed that two is the perfect number but now that the kids are growing up, you may feel like your family is not yet complete. So how do you know when you’re done having children?

Here are 6 easy ways to tell:

1. When Your Cluck Turns to Yuck

It’s always great when your friends and family members make the announcement that they are expecting a baby. However, when you’re done having kids, that desire that you wish it were you making the announcement is a thing of the past.

In fact, the very thought of having to go through the nine months of pregnancy and the newborn phase may be enough to make your stomach turn.

2. You Breathe a Sigh of Relief Every Month

Remember the days of trying to conceive? Every month when you were not successful and you noticed your period had come, you were probably secretly disappointed. However, now, when you get your monthly reminder, it’s a sigh of relief that you have escaped any accidents. Yay for menstruation!

3. You Have No Problem Parting With Baby Items

When the time has come, it is much easier to pass down or sell the old baby items. Sure, you may still shed a tear at the memory of your little one in your favourite outfit or you may wish to keep a couple of his outfits for keepsake but that “what if?” is gone and you are completely ready to part with all that baby junk and make room for junk of your own (did someone say an outdoor spa?)

4. You Enjoy Sleep Too Much

Once your kids are a little older and settle into a routine, you will get a semblance of your life back. And this includes night time! If the thought of returning to sleepless nights and night feeding sends your system into a shock of horror, then you are most likely not ready (or willing) to do it all over again. This is the same with going back to work, with exercising again and with being able to leave the kids with babysitters and actually socialise once and a while. Once your kids grow up and you start to feel more like yourself again (rather than just mum), this routine becomes too enjoyable to give up!

5. Another Baby? Not a Chance!

When people ask you if you want to have another one, you have no problem giving the reply “Hell No!” Another dog, maybe? A bigger house, sure! But another baby, not a chance!

6. Baby Names Don’t Leave You Feeling Mushy

Hear a cute baby name? Rather than writing it down and putting it on your list of cute baby names to consider, you use the name for your next pet. We think Levi, Cadence and Amelia are perfectly acceptable names for fish.

If you do find that you are having a hard time parting with baby items and that you feel a sense of sadness that your family is not yet complete, then have a talk to your partner about these feelings. Perhaps he feels the same way and maybe, just maybe, another baby is in the cards for you.

And, if not, you could always get a dog”¦.