Who is Mom Of None?
Who is Mom of None- that’s me Tamiko. I’ve been married for 9 years and child free by choice. That makes me a DINK (double income no kids and proud of it!).
How was Mom Of None born?
It all started in the lobby of the Flywheel Studio in Milburn, NJ. A friend and I had signed up for a class and since they have a leaderboard, you have to choose a name. I couldn’t think of one off the top of my head so I asked my friend “What’s your leaderboard name?”. She said “Spin Mom of Four”. I rolled my eyes all the way back into my head and thought, moms are so sad, all they have to talk about is their children. I immediately chose “Mom of None”. Almost 2 years ago, I bought a Peloton, where you also need a leaderboard name, so I kept Mom of None. One the Official Peloton Page, I saw a lot of groups and tribes for instructors, occupations and parents. Zero non parental groups. So I posted this question- are there any non mom, non dad, non parental tribes for people with no kids, don’t want kids, kinda hate kids. That last part was tongue in cheek but like I said in my disclaimer, parents are sensitive and took it literally., No, I don't hate kids, but do I think they are annoying and obnoxious, yes. Well with a few hours I had 400 comments. It was mixed bag. I was surprised, most comments were overwhelmingly supportive with other childfree riders wanted to join if I created a group. There were people defending my post to trolls who posted things like, this is the saddest post I’ve ever read (by a mom of 7) or rude posts like too bad your parents didn’t feel the same way. they you all wouldn’t be here. There were some parents who were supportive as well.
Because of that post Peloton DINKs and SINKs was created. After that, the idea of this podcast had been rolling around for a while and the hardest step is the first step.
I created this podcast to give people, especially women a safe space to celebrate being child free. We live in a world where if you don’t have children, you are less than a woman. I’m here to tell you, you are not less of anything, you are uniquely you and your choices are just that, your choices.
I hope to have guests on the podcast (Oprah, Jennifer Aniston if you’re listening, c’mon down to Mom of None). I came up with a list of 5 questions which I’m calling the Kid Free Five! For this introduction episode, I thought I’d asked them to myself.
1 - Why have you chosen a childfree lifestyle? The childfree lifestyle chose me. I got married in my mid 30s and as we all know by that age, time is not on your side to have children. My husband was indifferent about children and once he saw what this lifestyle provided, we decided to have a childfree marriage.
2 - What reactions have you received about your choice? Honestly, most reactions are negative. The first question people ask, sometimes even before my name is “do you have kids?”. We’ll talk in a later episode about why this is the worst question you could ask someone, right behind when are you due when the person you’ve asked is not pregnant. When I say we are not going to have children, the looks of disgust, pity and disappointment are hilarious. Then there are the standards - who is going to take care of you when you’re old? My answer, you should visit a nursing home where children drop off their parents, never visit and only come to collect their belongings and life insurance when they have died. But you’d have such cute kids - the world doesn’t need any more pretty people and that should never be a reason to have children.
3- What’s your favorite childfree thing to do? Whatever I want, whenever I want. I can come and go as I please, if I decide to book a trip to Las Vegas, I don’t have to worry about childcare. If I want to have ice cream for dinner, no one is going to call child services because I didn’t feed my kids. There’s a meme going around that says your friends without kids be like you want to go to Africa on Friday, Yes and Yes.
4 - What activity/place do you wish was childfree? Airplanes. I would pay more to fly without children. I have had horrible experiences with children in airports and on planes.
5- Childfree tip/advice either for someone deciding to be childfree or someone who is already childfree. Live your best childfree life, don’t apologize for your choice not to have kids. Just like motherhood is a choice that people celebrate, living childfree is a choice that should be celebrated as well and that’s why I created this podcast. To celebrate your choice not to have kids.