I have a 19 year old son and a 15 year old daughter. My son states he will NOT ever get married.... my 15 year old said she would “consider” it but under very strict guidelines (they know each other for years, he proves his faithfulness etc). Okay... I had a huge argument with my son over his opinion. Me: “don’t you ever want to find a nice girl? What about children? Don’t you want to share your life with someone? (and finally with me yelling) I don’t know why in the heck your are so jaded. Your father and I have been married 25 years and have known each other 30. We ARE still together”. Son’s response: “Mom.. you and Dad are the exception and not the rule”.
His comment silenced me (and yeah.. that isn’t EASY to do). He’s grown up in a generation where most of his friends are from broken home.. and kids talk to each other. The whole step parent fiasco, the split weekends, the arguing over who gets the kid for Christmas and the constant fighting. So.. I don’t blame this generation of people.. I blame MINE and the people a bit younger. We screwed it up and the children suffered.. and now we are all surprised and saddened by the statistic that young people aren’t interested in going through the torment that their parents did.
Your comment resonated with me.
I have three adult children—one married, one to be married soon and one single.
All three have made the comment to my wife and to me that we are the exception among their friends.
We have been married over 39 years.
Come to think of it, we had the house that all the kids came over and spent time at. My kids told us that was because we were “normal”.
Sobering thought, indeed.