Is it Trendy to Have Children Young?

Is the new trend to have kids and a husband early? I am 26-year-old woman with a college degree. I have experienced a lot in my 26 years but I still have a lot more living to do. But I look around myself and see all the people that I have grown up are married with children. I can look on MySpace, Facebook or Twitter and see my old high school and college pals talking about their husbands and kids. I feel so left out most days. Did I miss the memo that I was suppose to get married and have kids early in my twenties?

I thought to myself maybe it is because I am from a small area and maybe that is just how it is here. Then I turn on the television and see 16 and pregnant. This is a new show on MTV that shows the life of teenagers as they go through their pregnancies and what happens after the baby is born. I know the show is suppose to show the hardships that teens going through having a child so young. But as I watch the show it makes me feel that having this show at all glorifies young pregnancies.

I turn the channel to see so many reports of young celebrities having children and again I feel I have missed the memo. I like to keep up with the trends, I consider myself up with the times and I stay very well informed on the latest pop culture trend. But this is something I can not keep up with. Although I have a degree finding a great job is not the easiest. I have a job that pays my bills but that could never give a child a good life. I have a guy but we are enjoying life and each others company as well as space. Marriage does not seem like a plan that will soon be in either of our heads.

I know as time goes by it will be a great risk for me to have a child. But as I listen to my biological clock tick, I also think I was what is best for my kids. A few more years of me experiencing life and maybe kids at thirty would not be awful. I did not need to be a eighteen year old mother! As I watched the reality shows Jon and Kate plus 8 last night, they were discussing their separation which by the time the show aired they had become legally divorced. But as I watched the one point stuck in my mind, Jon has said I am 32 years old and he is getting separated. Yeah the stress of the show and multiples probably lead to this divorce. But could their age also be a factor?

Maybe people get married too quickly, they must go and change with their partners. Learn who they are and who their partner is, love is not always enough. Then with children having a full life experience I think could help. You do not want to be bitter that you did not have a great life because you had kids too young. Having enough money is a big factor, if you think you have enough double that, they you might have enough. I see that with my friends who I try to help with odds and ends with their kids because money does not go as far as you might think. Then finally an overall maturity is needed to know what you are fully getting yourself into and understanding how much work will go into having a child.

As for me I still have living to do, money to save, and a partnership to grow before life altering decisions are made. Maybe all this work will lead me to have a happy marriage and children, but who knows maybe not.