No Kids: 40 Good Reasons Not to Have Children

Corinne Maier the author of No Kids: 40 Good Reasons Not to Have Children, is a mother in her own right of two kids. She writes No Kids as a metaphor of “natalsim” and the family life. Having lived the life of a mother, she feels that she is an ardent advocate of not having kids. She loves her kids but there are many people out there are not ready to give up their freedom. The cult of the child comes with a price. The 40 reasons are broken down in 40 small sections with wry explanations. Frank and honest, 40 Good Reasons Not to Have Children will make you think twice. The book was printed in France in 2007 and a best seller all over Europe, France is enjoying a baby book in 2006 with a population of 830 000 new citizens. Many attribute the growth rate to patriotism and new found religion and hope for the future. With stagering numbers like that, the book stood above all and denounced kids.

1. The “desire for children”: A silly idea

2. Labour (child birth) is torture

3. You avoid becoming a walking pacifier

4. You keep having fun

5. Rat race plus rugrats: No thanks!

6. You keep your friends

7. You won’t have to use that idiot language when talking to kids

8. Open the nursery, close the bedroom

9. Kids are the death of desire

10. Kids are the death knell of the couple

11. To be or to do: Don’t decide

12. “The child is a sort of vicious, innately cruel dwarf” (quote from Michel Houellebecq)

13. Kids are conformists

14. Kids are unbiased allies of capitalism

16. A brain teaser: How to keep kids busy

17. The parent’s worst nightmares

18. Don’t be fooled by the “ideal child” illusion

19. Your kid will always disappoint you

20. The horror of becoming a merdeuf (mere de famille)

21. Parent above all? No, thank you

22. Keep the experts at bay

23. The family: A horror

24. Don’t revert to childhood

25. It takes real courage to keep saying, “Me first”

26. Kids signal the end of your youthful dreams

27. You can’t stop yourself from wanting your kids to be happy

28. You can’t get away from your kids

29. Get used to it: School is boot camp

30. “Raise” a child… but toward what?

31. Avoid benevolent neutrality like the plague

32. Parenthood is a sad, sweet song

33. Motherhood is a trap for women

34. Motherhood or success: Pick one

35. When the child appears, the father disappears

36. Today’s child is the perfect child: Welcome to the best of all possible worlds

37. Danger, child ahead

38. Why wear yourself out for a future that doesn’t include you?

39. There are too many children in the world

40. Reject the ten absurd commandments of the “good” parent