Life Without Baby

filling the silence in the motherhood discussion

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Contact

It Got Me Thinking…About Excluding Others

September 11, 2012

By Kathleen Guthrie Woods

I have many friends who have gone through the Alcohol Anonymous (AA) program, and I admire them greatly for how they have turned their lives around and live into their new commitments every day. But I have to admit, as I sit here planning my next dinner party, in which my famous sangria will be prominently featured, I am hesitant to include two friends who are recovering alcoholics. I worry that they’ll be uncomfortable. I worry they’ll make the other guests self-conscious. I worry they simply won’t fit in.

Ooops! Did I really think that? What a hypocrite I am!

Recently, Maybe Baby Liz wrote on this site (“Locked Out of the Mommy Clubhouse,” July 5) about her first experience of being left out of a dinner party because she is the lone childfree friend among all the mommies. Your comments attested to what I know, that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many of us have shared our painful experiences of being excluded from social gatherings (and even family get-togethers) because we are childfree. While I am commiserating, I’m also starting to face myself in the mirror. Have I excluded pregnant friends because I just couldn’t bear to be around them while dealing with my own loss? Have I excluded parents of young children because I just couldn’t take another night of listening to them talk about schools and sports programs and teething issues, a discussion I can’t participate in?

I know there aren’t easy answers. I know we can’t deny our own pain, and it also isn’t right to force ourselves to sit through a long evening that causes us to go home and drown our sorrows in a pint of chocolate-fudge-ripple ice cream. I also know that even when we make the effort to include our mommy friends, oftentimes we’re the ones who end up being excluded from the conversation around us. Believe me, I’ve been there.

But that doesn’t mean we stop trying. That doesn’t mean we don’t still make the efforts to reach out and support our friends no matter where they are on their life paths—or where those paths are headed.

The bottom line for me is I care about my friends and I want to spend time with them. I will be upfront with them about the sangria, I will make sure they know there will also be booze-free options available, and then I’ll let them decide if they want to come. If not, I’ll suggest we get together another time, maybe for brunch with really great coffee.

Because this is what friends do. We commiserate, we support, we show compassion. We reach out and embrace each other and we try to build bridges of understanding. It can start with us.

Kathleen Guthrie Woods is a Northern California–based freelance writer. She’s mostly at peace with her decision to be childfree.

Filed Under: Childfree by Choice, Childless Not By Choice, Family and Friends, Guest Bloggers, It Got Me Thinking..., The Childfree Life: Issues and Attitudes Tagged With: alcoholic, childfree, excluded, loss, mothers, social

START THRIVING NOW

WorkBook4_3D1 LISA BUY THE BOOK BUTTON

Categories

  • Cheroes
  • Childfree by Choice
  • Childless Not By Choice
  • Children
  • Current Affairs
  • Family and Friends
  • Fun Stuff
  • Guest Bloggers
  • Health
  • Infertility and Loss
  • It Got Me Thinking…
  • Lucky Dip
  • Maybe Baby, Maybe Not
  • Our Stories
  • Published Articles by Lisa
  • Story Power
  • The Childfree Life: Issues and Attitudes
  • Uncovering Grief
  • Whiny Wednesdays
  • With Eyes of Faith
  • You Are Not Alone

READ LISA’S AWARD WINNING BOOK

Lisa Front cover-hi

~ "a raw, transparent account of the gut-wrenching journey of infertility."

~ "a welcome sanity check for women left to wonder how society became so fixated on motherhood."

read more ->

LISA BUY THE BOOK BUTTON

HELPFUL POSTS

If you're new here, you might want to check out these posts:

  • How to Being Happily Childfree in 10,000 Easy Steps
  • Friends Who Say the Right Thing
  • Feeling Cheated
  • The Sliding Scale of Coming-to-Terms
  • Hope vs. Acceptance
  • All the Single Ladies
  • Don't Ignore...the Life Without Baby Option

Readers Recommend

Find more great book recommendations here ->

Copyright © 2025 Life Without Baby · Privacy Policy · Cookie Policy · Designed by Pink Bubble Gum Websites