Elizabeth Laura Nelson

As a person who writes about relationships for a living, I might be one of the people least in need of all this well-meaning advice, which usually amounts to clichés and can even veer into the territory of outright insults. What I need – what most of us need – is for people to hear me, and to trust me.

The elephant in the room is my mental illness. Do my anxiety and depression make me unworthy of love?

Yes, a lot of parents are assholes. But you know what? A lot of people are assholes; some of them happen to have kids, some don’t. I can’t speak for all parents, and I wouldn’t want to try. But speaking as one particular person with kids, here’s what I wish my childfree friends would understand…

Is it better to be alone than to be in a miserable relationship?

How do you deal with feeling lonely; are you okay with having alone time?

We’ve probably all heard it a million times: relationships are hard work.

Although research is clear we should not come to work sick, there’s still a stigma associated with admitting you’re too ill to go to work.

Being a parent isn’t everything.

Reading in bed together, while it might not be a major milestone — like marriage or having children — truly is a significant event in a relationship.

No regrets about having kids? Maybe it’s time we all came clean.