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People who decide not to have children are often unfairly judged by those who chose a different life path. People with children can be especially judgmental to women who’ve decided to opt out of motherhood.

“You will regret it!” is one of the most common phrases lobbed at those who choose to remain childless. Why do people think they’ll have such awful regrets? Because they often say they’ll wind up “lonely and sad” when they’re older.

They also say that life without children is without purpose and that when the childless get older they’ll have no one to take care of them. One of the most patronizing critiques thrown at childless women is that they will never “feel complete” unless they have a child.

However, a lot of these critiques say more about the person doling them out than the person who decides to remain childless. Maybe, just maybe, their life is fulfilling enough without having to reproduce. Maybe, just maybe, they can have a life full of purpose without caring for any offspring.

Maybe the question should be: What’s lacking in your life that you need a child to feel complete?

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Studies show that some people regret being childless when they get older, but they’re in the minority. An Australian researcher found that a quarter of child-free women came to regret the decision once they were past child-bearing age and began contemplating old age alone.

People revealed the reasons they’ve decided to be childless in an article by The Upshot. The top answers were the desire for more leisure time, the need to find a partner and the inability to afford child care. A big reason that many women decide not to have children is that motherhood feels like more of a choice these days, instead of a foregone conclusion as it was in previous decades.

Reddit user u/ADreamyNightOwl asked a “serious” question about being childless to the AskReddit subforum and received a lot of honest answers. They asked “People over 50 that chose to be childfree, do you regret your decision? Why or why not?”

The people who responded are overwhelmingly happy with their decision not to have children. A surprising number said they felt positive about their decision because they thought they’d be a lousy parent. Others said they were happy to have been able to enjoy more free time than their friends and family members who had kids.

Here are some of the best responses to the Askreddit question.

1. Never had any desire.

“I explain it to people like this – you know that feeling you get where you just can’t wait to teach your kid how to play baseball? or whatever it is you want to share with them? I don’t have that. Its basically a lack of parental instinct. Having children was never something I aspired to. My SO is the same way.

“Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against children. And I get really angry at people who harm them or mistreat them. I just never wanted my own.” — IBeTrippin

2. No desire. No regrets.

“Nope. It was never something I wanted. No regrets.” — BornaCrone

3. Mixed feelings.

“I have mixed feelings. I don’t care much for children and I think it would have been disastrous for us to have them. I was also able to retire at 52. Pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened with kids. So yeah, absolutely the right decision.
But I love my family and I do wonder what it would be like to have my own, to teach my child the things I know and not to be without someone who cares about me at the time of my death.

“But again, absolutely the right decision and at 55 I’m very happy NOT to have them. This is reinforced every time I’m exposed to other people’s kids.” — ProfessorOzone

4. They never visit.

“My wife worked at a nursing home for years. Imagine seeing for years that over 95% of old people never have family visit. Till they die and people want a piece of the pie. This when I learned that the whole ‘well who is gonna visit you or take care of you when you’re older’ line is complete bullshit. We decided to not have kids ever after that. Made great friends and saw the world. No regrets.” — joevilla1369

5. It wasn’t an option.

“I don’t necessarily regret not having them, but I regret the fact that I wasn’t in a healthy enough relationship where I felt I COULD have children. I regret not being stronger to leave the abuse earlier, if I had been stronger, I think maybe I could have had the choice at least. So yeah… I have regrets.” — MaerakiStudioMe

6. Grandkids are cooler.

“No. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to marry my husband. He had two sons from his first marriage and a vasectomy. He was worried because I was so young (comparatively, he’s 10 years older). I did think it over seriously and concluded that a life with him compared to a life without him but (perhaps!) with a baby I didn’t even have yet was what I wanted. It worked out for us, we’ve been together for 26 years. As a bonus I have 9 grandchildren. All the fun without the work of the raising!” — Zublor

7. I’d be a bad parent.

“Not one bit. I have never believed that I would be a good parent. I have a short temper, and while I don’t think I would have been physically abusive, my words and tone of voice would be harsh in a very similar way to my own father. I wasn’t happy growing up with that kind parent and I wouldn’t want to subject any child to that kind of parenting.” — Videoman7189

8. I’d rather be the cool aunt and uncle.

“No and I found a partner who feels the same. We are the cool aunt and uncle.” — laudinum

9. Loneliness is underrated.

“54 yrs.old. I’ve lived the past 30 years alone. Presently my dog and I are chillin’ in a nice hotel on a spur of the moment vacation. I’d maybe be a grandfather by now?! I can’t imagine what it would be like to have family. I picture a life lived more “normally” sometimes. All sunshine and roses, white picket fence, etc. but I realize real life isn’t like that. No I don’t regret being childfree or wifefree for that matter. My life can be boring at times but then I look back at all the drama that comes with relationships and think I’ve dodged a bullet. I spent 20 years trying to find a wife to start a family. Then I realized the clock had run out, so fuck it, all the money I’d saved for my future family would be spent on myself. Hmmmmm…what do I want to buy myself for Christmas?” — Hermits_Truth

10. No diaper changes and no regrets.

“Nope. I never had the urge to change diapers or lose sleep, free time and most of my earnings. Other people’s kids are great. Mostly because they are other people’s. When people ask ‘Who will take care of you when you’re old’ I tell them that when I’m 75 I will adopt a 40-year-old.” — fwubglubbel

11. Zero desire.

“I’m 55 (F) and never wanted children. I just don’t much like them, and 20+ years of motherhood sounded (and still sounds) like a prison sentence. Maternal af when it comes to cats and dogs, but small humans? No chance.

“And I’m very happy to be childless. Cannot imagine my life any other way.” — GrowlKitty

12. D.I.N.K.

“Dual income no kids = great lifestyle!” — EggOntheRun

13. Some regrets

“Over 50 and child free. My only regret is that my wife would have been a great mother, and sometimes I feel like I deprived her of that, even though we both agreed we didn’t want kids. Sometimes I wonder if I pushed her into that decision. She works with the elderly every day and sees a lot of lonely folks so it gets to her sometimes. I was always afraid I’d screw up the parenting thing, so I was never really interested in the idea. I’m a loner by nature though.” — Johnny-Virgil

This article originally appeared on 02.08.22

Very often, the right choice isn’t easy. Co-parenting is a prime example of this—no matter how amicable a break-up is, single parents inevitably lose time with their children after a divorce and must deal with the resulting loneliness that happens once the child leaves to spend time with the other parent. Knowing that you’ve made the right decision doesn’t necessarily take away the pain.

That’s why one dad’s video sharing his own experience of his child’s empty room is resonating with other single parents over on TikTok.

The dad, whose name appears to be Angel but goes by @ainjole on the platform, confessed in his video’s caption, “I think the hardest part of coparenting (for me) is dropping my daughter off with her mom and coming home to silence.”

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He continued, “Of course when she’s rowdy and loud, I wish for peace and quiet, as does every parent when they’re overwhelmed. But then I hate it when I have it.”

The video itself shows Angel closing the door after his daughter, Penny, leaves to be with her mom. He is left behind with a mess of toys scattered on the floor—remnants of the fun they shared together.

As heartfelt piano music from Pixar’s “Up” plays, Angel picks up the toys, sweeps and dusts, makes the bed…removing any traces of the past few days.

The video ends with Angel lying alone on the bed, surrounded by carefully arranged stuffed animals, just before he turns off the light.

@ainjole I think the hardest part of coparenting (for me) is dropping off my daughter with her mom and coming home to silence. Of course when she’s rowdy and loud, I wish for peace and quiet, as does every parent when they’re overwhelmed. But then I hate when i have it. #fyp #coparenting #coparentingstruggles #dadsoftiktok #dadtok #singledad #girldad ♬ beauty of pixar – nilsodinson

The father later wrote in the comments, “Now I cherish every scream, every dirty hand print, and every spill.”

The touching video struck a chord in single parents. Angel is clearly not the only one to experience deep sadness during that first silence after a child leaves.

“Damn that’s so accurate. Tired. Sad. Relieved. It’s a weird feeling,” one person wrote.

“Dam bro I do that every Monday don’t have the heart to clean Sunday night after I drop them off,” another added. “The mess reminds me of them.”

One wrote “I miss my daughter everyday till I have her again.I always snuggle with her favorite teddybear till she comes back.”

Several shared how it’s a feeling that never completely goes away.

“I still cry to this day when my kids leave with their dad and it’s been 2 years. It’s something you never get used to,” confessed one parent.

Another added, “Been doing it for 16 years. It’s always rough. I’ve done the lay in their bed in the dark countless times.”

Several others tried to encourage Angel by reminding him that he’s still making the right decision.

“I’ve been doing it for 10 years now and it doesn’t get any easier, but just know 2 happy homes is better than 1 toxic home,” one person shared. “Proud of you.”

Despite feeling sad, Angel seems to be taking things in stride, writing in the comments that “it’s painful to see them go but even more special when they come back.”

Kudos to Angel for sharing this vulnerable moment. This is something that many single parents go through, and while nothing replaces time spent with loved ones, maybe through open conversation there can be a little less loneliness surrounding the subject.

A parrot in Brazil got a lucky break when it was rescued after someone found it with a severely damaged beak. In fact, most of its little beak was completely gone. Birds use their hard beaks to eat, fend off other animals and build nests, and their mouths are essentially their hands while their feet are busy walking, scratching or holding twigs.

Plus, I don’t know if you’ve paid much close attention to birds, but they don’t seem to have a lot of dexterity with their tiny little bird legs. They sort of walk around like peg-legged pirates even though I’m pretty sure birds have knees. (I’m not a bird scientist or a zoologist if that wasn’t clear.)

Luckily for this parrot, Renascer ACN, an animal rescue and rehabilitation facility in Planura, Brazil, had a doctor on staff who not only knows if birds have knees but also knew how to make a prosthetic beak.

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“Bird beaks are made mostly of bone—they’re just a specialized modification of the upper and lower jaw bones shared by almost all vertebrates. The outside of a bird’s beak, however, is covered not in skin, but in a thin, shiny sheath of keratin, the same protein that makes up your hair and fingernails,” Rebecca Heisman shares on the American Bird Conservatory website.

Heisman also points out that since the beaks on birds are made of bone, they cannot grow back if they’re broken off.

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According to PetMD, birds who are missing portions of their upper and lower beak are typically unable to adapt and survive, which is what makes this parrot so lucky. While many other veterinarians likely would’ve recommended humane euthanasia, this bird was spared that fate thanks to a creative doctor.

The bird’s upper bill was almost completely gone and its lower bill was broken when Paulo Roberto Martins Nunziata, the founder of Renascer ACN, first saw the bird. Nunziata began working with veterinarian Maria Ângela Panelli Marchió, who specializes in animal orthopedics and creates animal prosthetics out of resin.

“This parrot was found in a terrible condition and had totally lost its beak. Together with veterinarian Maria Ângela Panelli Marchió, we rescued it as soon as we found out,” Nunziata told Bored Panda.

Panelli Marchió reconstructed the lower beak using polymethylmethacrylate and shaped it by hand to the broken bone. But for the upper beak, she had to create the entire prosthetic out of the same material and attach it using metal brackets into what was left of the top beak. The metal holds the new beak in place, and since it’s made of resin, it’s extremely hard—just like a real beak—and should last for years.

But while the beak reconstruction was a smashing success and is nearly indistinguishable from a natural beak, releasing the parrot wouldn’t be safe.

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“Today it has a normal life. However, it just can’t be returned to its natural habitat because even though the prosthesis is resistant, there’s a risk of it falling over time, as these animals use their beaks for everything,” Nunziata explained to Bored Panda.

Surprisingly, the reconstruction only took one surgery due to the quick-setting nature of resin, and now this sweet parrot can have a normal life as some lucky person’s pet.

Like his character on HBO’s Emmy award-winning drama Succession, Brian Cox is a man of extremes — at least when it comes to his takes on pop culture.

Sometimes the actor has entirely appropriate reads on Hollywood that deserve to be heard — he knows the proper age to write a memoir, he’s not afraid to call Steven Seagal “ludicrous” and Johnny Depp “overrated” in print, he, like the rest of us, adores Keanu Reeves. These perfectly logical soundbites speak to the man’s intelligence and good taste.

And then there are other pull quotes, ones that live in completely obscure profiles from magazines like Haute Living New York that leave us questioning the good judgment of an experienced thespian who could’ve just, we don’t know, said less?

In talking about a documentary project he’s working on that dives into the wealth gap across the pond, Cox brought up the current state of the royal family and, naturally, Meghan Markle’s name got dropped.

“When you look at what’s happening with Meghan and Harry, you go, ‘Well, Harry, there’s an innocence about,’” Cox said. “And with her, too. But you can’t go into a system where somebody’s already been trained to behave in a certain kind of way and then just expect them to cut themselves off. I mean, she knew what she was getting into, and there’s an ambition there clearly as well — the childhood dreams of marrying Prince Charming and all that shit we see as fantasy that could be our lives in our dreams.”

What Cox may have been alluding to is how the royal family’s existence has only exacerbated our obsession with wealth, status, and fame — using Markle’s terrible experience joining it as a cautionary tale, i.e. she thought she was getting one thing and got the complete opposite. But it doesn’t read well and it’s likely to be the topic of plenty of headlines when, in reality, Cox’s closing sentiments on the royal family are much better.

“In my opinion, we shouldn’t have a monarchy,” the actor said. “It’s not viable; it doesn’t make any sense. It’s tradition and all that, they say. I say, ‘Fuck it! Move on!’”

Gwyneth Paltrow has done some strange things in the name of “wellness” but her latest health experiment might just be the most mind-boggling of them all.

Goop — Paltrow’s wellness empire for WASP moms and millennial granola girls fresh from Burning Man — has a long track record of sampling wild and weird health practices in an effort to help its affluent fanbase cure very real health conditions. From jade eggs inserted in a woman’s vagina to “balance hormones” and “regulate menstrual cycles,” to candles that could fix a person’s depression, if a product or a practice reads like clickbait for middle-aged women with an inheritance hoping to look as tight and glowy as a college student fresh from Spring Break in Cancun, it’s going to be featured there. And plenty of the touted healing methods on Goop’s site have been tested by its founder.

Like rectal ozone therapy … which is exactly what it sounds like.

In an appearance on the podcast The Art of Being Well, Paltrow admitted the weirdest wellness activity she’s tried has involved inserting medical-grade ozone (a thing, apparently) into her rectum. And you know what, she kind of loved it.

“It’s pretty weird,” Paltrow said while laughing. “But it’s been very helpful.”

Rectal ozone therapy is reported to “boost oxygen efficiency, balance the immune system, and detoxify the body on a cellular level,” which sounds uncomfortable and exhausting as hell. But look, if you want to go bottoms up in the name of wellness, be our guest. We’ll stick to eating clean, showering, and touching grass every once in a while.

On the latest episode of the Idea Generation podcast, superproducer (and Uproxx’s friend of the site) Just Blaze delves into his impressive musical resume, from crafting the so-called Roc-A-Fella sound in the early 2000s to becoming one of the biggest hitmakers of the past 20 years. Among the stories he shares with host Noah Callahan-Bever is the explanation of just how Jay-Z ended up with one of the more recognizable songs from his game-changing 2001 album The Blueprint. It’s a story he’s told before, but it never gets old.

“‘U Don’t Know’” was at one point going to be Busta [Rhymes] and Prodigy,” Just says. “A lot of people don’t know, me and P used to hang out a lot. I still don’t have a lot of rap friends, right? He was one of the few people actually to come to the house. It was wild because then [The Alchemist] ended up moving around the corner from me.”

After that bit of scene setting, Just explained why the song ended up with the home team instead of one of the other two rappers, who were — at the time — considered bigger stars. “Prodigy hears ‘U Don’t Know,’” he recalls, “Then Busta [Rhymes] hears ‘U Don’t Know.’ Yo, the worst thing ever was knowing that I have Jay ready for me but Busta’s doing this Busta Rhymes [style] on the ‘U Don’t Know’ beat. I’m like, ‘Yo, this is real dope.’ I’m torn. I’m a kid at the time, and I’m torn.”

Fortunately for Justin, he didn’t have to choose. “Luckily, Busta didn’t record to it,” he exults. “I go back to Soundtrack [Studios], where Mobb Deep was recording. Prodigy hears the beat; I play it off of a cassette. He starts rhyming to it. Some drama ended up happening; he had to leave. I go around the corner [to Baseline Studios]. I play it for Jay. [This is] all in that same weekend. Then, all of a sudden, Jay was like, ‘Yo, lay that right now.’”

The rest is, as they say, history. “U Don’t Know,” which was never released as a single, has become one of the most enduring songs in Jay’s catalog; it’s a club staple whose lyrics fans have debated for two decades (that is, until Jay cleared it up himself last year). You can check out the full interview above.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has been known to make geographically-related statements that are inaccurate at best. At least, she’s done as much while recently making a statistical claim that could have been more than a typo when she asserted that Biden allowed a majority of the global population to flood across the U.S.-Mexico border. That flub arrived shortly after she didn’t realize that Chris Stapleton’s self-professed “wokeness” had plenty to do with his participation in the Super Bowl’s Black National Anthem showcase. Now she of the “peach tree dish” and “gazpacho police” terms is back again with another doozy.

A clip from a Greene appearance on Real America’s Voice is making the rounds, and the choice quote involves Greene claiming that Vladimir Putin has never “actually show[n] in any detail his plans to invade Europe.” The far-right congresswoman added, “No one has shown me that. So I don’t believe the lies that I’m being told about this.”

Hmm. That’s the immediate reaction here, and sometimes, it’s hard to believe that Greene is intentionally flubbing as much as she does, but something’s up. Greene has previously expressed anger over President Biden sending any funding to Ukraine, but she’s also not up-to-speed enough to know that this Russia-invaded country is in Europe. This remains wild, considering that she’s serving on a national security-related committee in Congress.

The head shaking has commenced on social media. “Ukraine is in Europe” is now trending as a result.

There was a time early last season with the Chicago Bulls were near the top of the East standings and it appeared as though their roster overhaul was getting set to pay big dividends.

After trading for Nikola Vucevic at the deadline in 2021, they went out and added DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso over the summer, and that group jelled quickly, jumping out to a 26-10 record in early January of 2022. Then, injuries started to mount, with Zach LaVine dealing with knee issues, Alex Caruso missing some time, and Lonzo Ball suffering a torn meniscus. The hope was to get all of them back by the stretch run, but 14 months later and Ball is still nowhere close to returning to a basketball court.

Ball has had two surgeries already, but discomfort still exists in his day-to-day life and he will now undergo a third surgery that, per Shams Charania, will likely cost him most, if not all, of the 2023-24 season as well.

It is a devastating reminder that while we are used to seeing athletes come back from serious injuries and have a general timetable for what most recoveries take, sometimes injuries that have become fairly common can be career-altering. Ball was thriving in Chicago, but is now set to miss more than two full seasons, with no guarantees that this third surgery will be the one that gets him back to being able to play. The main hope at this point is that he can be pain-free in his day-to-day life, and then basketball can come back into focus for him. The Bulls, meanwhile, will have to make some decisions this offseason about the direction of their franchise, knowing they’re likely not getting Ball back until 2024 at the earliest.

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“I couldn’t imagine a more perfect show to watch… high on heroin.” -Dave Manheim

The block is hot and the pod is hotter as Dave Manheim from the Dopey Podcast joins Pod Yourself The Wire to help Matt and Vince break down The Wire, season two episode nine, “Stray Rounds.”

This episode has a fun little cold open in which we are introduced to a child who is shortly thereafter killed by a stray bullet from a territory dispute between a Barksdale crew and a Prop Joe crew. It makes sense that Dave and Matt bond over watching the show while on heroin, because opiates might be the only way to maintain a positive attitude while watching this show.

We lose one favorite character, Ziggy’s duck (couldn’t handle his liquor), but gain another notable character in Brother Mouzone, leading to debate about whether he is a cool, interesting, Omar-of-New-York type of character, or a corny ass Fargo on FX quirky villain guy. Either way, his valet Lamar needs to find him a Harper’s Bazaar, ASAP.

Join the new Pod Yourself The Wire and Pod Yourself A Gun subreddits so we can grow them into toxic echo chambers full of willing sycophants to mobilize against our enemies. Or, make a post about how to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts

Email us at [email protected]; leave us a voicemail at 415-275-0030

Support the Pod: become a patron at patreon.com/Frotcast to get more bonus content than you could ever want. Sign up for the Pod Yourself a Shoutout tier to hear Vince give you a corner nickname on the podcast, like this week’s newest members: The Greek aka 5Cent, Crabby, Knight Rider, and Excalibur.

-Description by Brent Flyberg

Despite repeatedly citing Justice League as one of the “worst experiences” he’s ever seen in his career, Ben Affleck surprisingly agreed to return as Batman for last hurrah in The Flash. The actor is completely done with the role, which even he admits is kind of unfortunate because after years of struggling to get the character right, he finally figured out the Dark Knight while shooting his cameo.

“I nailed it in The Flash,” Affleck told The Hollywood Reporter. “For the five minutes I’m there, it’s really great. A lot of it’s just tone. You’ve got to figure out, what’s your version of the person? Who is the guy that fits what you can do? I tried to fit myself into a Batman. And by the way, I like a lot of the stuff we did, especially the first one [Batman v Superman].”

Affleck’s remark echo previous remarks he made in January 2022 where he cited The Flash as his “favorite scenes in terms of Batman.”

“Maybe they will decide that it doesn’t work, but when I went and did it, it was really fun and really, really satisfying and encouraging,” he told the Herald Sun.

However, don’t misconstrue Affleck’s excitement for The Flash as any sign that he’s looking to get back in to the DC Comics world in any capacity. He quickly shot down rumors that he was in talks to direct a DC Film for James Gunn.

“Absolutely not,” Affleck told THR. “I have nothing against James Gunn. Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that. I’m not interested in that.”

The Flash races into theaters on June 16, 2023.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)