Kids. Kids! Kids?

Adam and I had our second pre-martial counseling sessions with our pastor last week.   Before we started, we had to take a relationship survey online and our pastor uses the data from that to base our discussions on.  The results were pretty accurate and interesting to see.  While there were a few things we were surprised about and/or disagreed with the results on, we pretty much knew exactly what are core issues were.  The first major one came up last week:  children.

Adam and I are pretty much in agreement on this; we don't want children.  I guess this seems weird coming from a teacher, so rather, we don't want children...now.

I like kids.  I wouldn't spend my entire day with them if I didn't.  I like holding babies and watching them fall asleep in your arms and making dumb faces that get them to laugh.  But when I think about going home and doing that for the rest of my evening, it seems exhausting.  I like not worrying about anything but myself and what's for dinner.  I like the fact that if I have grading or lesson plans to work on, Adam can entertain himself with videogames and I'm not neglecting my children.

Adam most certainly agrees, in fact, more than I do. Adam doesn't really like kids.  He avoids my school-related functions like the plague.  He doesn't really know what to say to these kids (they're high schoolers, but it is all the same to him!), and you can tell he was the youngest in his family. Unlike me, he was never really around children. Adam doesn't think he'll ever want kids, and this is where we differ.

While I know that I am, in no way, prepared to children at this point in my life, I imagine that will change.  Will I ever feel that emptiness/longing for children or will I be able to fulfill it vicariously through other people's children? Most importantly, if I do develop this desire, will Adam do the same?  Are we both just young and have been together for so long that we are just longing to take the next step into marriage and could care less about what happens next, including children?

Clearly, Adam and I have no clue what will happen in the future.  We've discussed this whole children thing, long before the pastor-talk.  It does make me curious for the future though.  I've pretty much declared that if I ever want children and Adam still doesn't, I have to be okay with that.  I can't pretend like it was ever a surprise that Adam wouldn't want children and I didn't know what I was getting myself into.  Children are a large enough task when you have two committed individuals.  It makes me kind of sad to think of us as the childless couple, but then I think of all the puppies (no metaphor, just puppies) we could raise, I think we'll be okay.  Adam likes dogs.

So, that's where it's at.  I know as soon as the wedding is over, people are going to start asking.  It seems like there is no filter for people when it comes to babies.  They act like they've never raised children before and it's the most lighthearted of decisions.  I can just imagine the barrage of questions we are going to get asked:
- When are you going to start a family?
- Are you guys trying yet?
- You don't want to have children?

My and Adam's mothers are no help either;  both of them are in Grandma Mode. While I am the oldest in my family, Adam is the youngest in his, with no grandchildren on either side.  We tried to warn the both of them, but they don't seem to take us seriously!  I'd hate to leave them grandchild-less, but that's what our siblings are for, right?

So what do you think?  Am I doomed for disappointment when mother nature starts calling? How did you feel about children before marriage...and after? Were you and your significant other on the same page about children?