young mom - Boston Moms Blog

I always wanted to be a young mom. When I was younger, I couldn’t wait to have babies. I pictured myself as a 25-year-old, taking my little ones to the park. Of course I knew in the back of my mind that this was not necessarily my choice; I wouldn’t want to become a young mother if I hadn’t found the right father for my kids. But I did end up meeting him shortly after graduating from college, and he happened to be on board with the whole idea. It all went more or less the way I would have wanted it to.

I’m not exactly a super young mom — I was 25 when I had my son. Nationally, the average age of first-time mothers is 26 or older. But in Massachusetts women are waiting until 29, on average, to have a child. And it does seem like most other moms I meet are in their 30s, or at least a few years older than me.

But I love being on the younger side — even though I know a lot of my friends thought I was crazy for settling down and having a baby when they were still out partying ’til 2 a.m. most nights. Aside from my general desire to be a mom and knowing I didn’t want to wait long to have a baby, there are other reasons I looked forward to — and enjoy — being a young mom.

When my husband and I first got together we decided we would do everything early on — build the basis for our family and life right away, while we were young and energetic, so that by the time we were in our 40s we could relax and be living a good life. Honestly, I just have no desire to have a baby at 35 and be running after a 5-year-old at age 40. I’m looking forward (in a way) to having my son be 15 when I’m 40. I’m looking forward to being only 50 when my son is 25 — I’ll be able to enjoy traveling and other adventures when he’s finished with college and has a life of his own. 

While there were certain things that were tough about having a baby and buying a house before we had a chance to become totally “established,” I’m so glad we didn’t wait for something as intangible as that to start. It feels like we built our lives around our family rather than attempting to squeeze a baby into lives we already had — like it would have if we had waited longer. At this point, while some of our friends are just starting to think about buying houses and having babies, we already have our family “established,” with a home, child, and jobs we love, and it’s something I’m grateful for and glad about every day.  

I know many women don’t feel ready for kids until they are older, and I don’t at all advocate for having a baby before you feel in your heart you are ready. In fact, in some ways having a child later in life may be a good thing. But personally, I absolutely love being a younger mom. Being a mom while in my 20s has been the best way I could ever have spent these years, and I truly believe it was the best thing for me and for my family.

1 COMMENT

  1. Stopping by to say 👋🏼. It was refreshing to read this article. I am a young mom in my 20’s as well and I find that many people in Boston are having their kids later and later in life, which is not a bad thing, but we felt the same way as you guys, we wanted to have babies young and be able to travel and do the things that excite us when we are in our 40’s and our kids are grown.

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