Just from my experience...
My father was probably the most lonely bored man I knew. Everyday for decades the same thing. Get up. Go to work. Come home. Eat a dull dinner maybe once in a while prepared by my mother. Take a shower. Go to bed. Rinse and repeat....for 40 years until dropping dead. Not a single day of his life filled with solitude or the adventure being a solo man can be. I did not want that life so never got married or had kids (that I know of) and can say I don’t regret it at all.
And look around at other marriages? How many are enjoyable happy marriages? How many can you look at and say “I want that.” Even on TV scripted marriages? Who would want that even? Stories like this make men out to have some sort of responsibility to breed the next generation of taxpayers and an endless ATM to fund people who hate us. Well. There are plenty of people being born and when the reward is nothing, it is no wonder men would check out of society’s traditional rolls we could be proud of. Men built civilization. And the people who benefit most from it are destroying it.
My father and mother acted like boyfriend and girlfriend for their entire 52 year marriage. My wife and I had a similar relationship through our 48 years of marriage.
Both were Catholic marriages.
My wife and I are very happily married. We have four great kids one is married with a child in the oven. (note the correct order) Another gets married to a wonderful young lady in the fall.
The secret-Traditional roles. When I proposed, my college educated wife said “Before I say yes, when we have kids can I stay home?
Absolutely. We made it work.
I disagree with your comment about the fun of the solo life. I travel a lot for my job so I’m on my own often. It can be very boring. Next week, I leave for a two-week trip. I’m spending more time planning what I’m going to do on the weekend then the two weeks I’ll be working, because I know I’ll be alone and bored.
Life is get up, shower, work, sleep. In other words, provide and be the role model for your children.
As we are now older and facing retirement, we’re looking forward to living more adventure-together, for as long as God gives us breath.