Hi, Carolyn: I have begun to get more questions about dating and settling down, because my parents are desperate for grandchildren.
I think it’s magnified by some unresolved grief around my younger brother’s death recently. I used to be able to brush it off with, “I can knock that out for you right now, I just need some drinking money,” or, “I can barely take care of the dogs,” but I think my parents see me approaching 30 and think of the opportunity lost with my brother.
I’ve outright said I don’t want children and added a fun joke about global warming. My mother’s response was, “Well, if you adopt, they’re already here, so they’re stuck when the Earth melts anyway.”