The article splitting the internet in two

ABC 205: On the unspoken grief of never becoming a grandparent

Last week, The New York Times set the internet ablaze when it ran a piece about parents who are sad their kids aren’t having children.

My first take was pretty straightforward: you’re allowed to be sad, but you should probably keep those feelings to yourself. Nearly 4,000 comments later, the piece has become a sort of cultural litmus test. Like the dress or the article about the ivy league kids who can’t read books, everyone and their mother seems to have an opinion on it.

Ultimately the decision of whether to have kids is not up to the would-be grandparents. I’m intrigued by the question of “How do they express their sadness?” But I think a more interesting question is “How might we address the underlying conditions that dissuade would-be parents from having kids?”

Given the plunging global fertility rate, the latter might be one of the defining questions of the next few decades.

Here’s the piece: The Unspoken Grief of Never Becoming a Grandparent

Warmly,
Simo 

P.S. I rewatched the movie Her the other night, which holds up well 12 years after its release. The song of the week is the beautiful love song from the end credits. The full songs of the week playlist is here.