sign of the Time(s)

this morning i saw a preview of this week's Time magazine, the cover featuring its main story. it read something like this: "the child-free life: when having it all means not having children." and then there was a photo of a handsome thirty-something couple laying in the white sand, bathing suits and all, in apparent bliss.

unfortunately, i wasn't able to read the article because the magazine will be released tomorrow. but boy oh boy, am i interested. is this really a sign of the times? couples waiting later in life to begin a family, only to realize that what they have is perfectly fine just the way it is? traveling without restraint. moving to wherever, whenever. dinner parties sans clowns and disney-themed paper plates. did i mention traveling?!

i see these couples at work. the ones in their mid-to-late thirties, coming in to have their first baby, having the baby, and then not really knowing how to react. you'd imagine this couple completely engaged with their newborn, resisting any chance of separation since, after all, they waited (and prepared) this long to be here. but the reality looks a little different. more often than not, this couple is more engaged with their social networking: tweeting and facebooking, instagramming and emailing to the world their grand prize. they did it! once they've exhausted their feeds with baby pictures, they tuck their technology aside and ask that the newborn go to the nursery for a few hours so they can catch up on sleep. baby comes back to them, and they have their noses planted in their ipads and iphones.

it seems that many couples today have grown so accustomed to a certain lifestyle together, that i can imagine the difficulty in changing everything for the addition of a new person. a baby, for goodness sakes! is it selfish? is it naive? is there really an answer for what's right for a couple?

i am looking forward to getting my hands on this issue because i believe this trend is very real. and i also see the beauty of it: living and loving, just the "two of us." but then again, will this present luxury of "having it all" mean anything when you're too old to see the world, too satiated for another dinner party, and too tired of moving from place to place. i guess that's where family comes into place - to fill the void of an otherwise incomplete life. where do i stand? ask me in five years...