Alternatives to #Childfree

Image via CrunchBase

There’s a battle raging in the Twitterverse about the proper use of the hashtag #childfree.

Parents sometimes use #childfree after they’ve dropped the kids off at grandma’s for a couple of hours.

Childless by choice folks say #childfree is reserved for people who don’t have and don’t want kids. Furthermore, they say, if these parents really love their kids, why are they so delighted to get rid of them?

As a member of the childfree community, I tend to be possessive of the childfree moniker. Not as possessive as I am of my pretzel M&Ms but more possessive than I am of my armrest at the movies. There aren’t many places we childfree folks can go for camaraderie and support. We have to gather on Twitter, many of us in anonymity, like we are criminals on the lam or former John Edwards supporters. We do this under #childfree.

But do I think a mom who wants to go to Target by herself once in a while doesn’t really love her kids? No, and here’s why: I love my husband very much, but I don’t want his face in my face 24/7.

Back to the hashtag issue.

I want to be part of the solution. Below are a few hashtags that I think could work for people who have been temporarily relieved of their parenting duties:

• If you have popped out a kid (or kids) and then dropped them off somewhere, might I suggest #poppedanddropped? (Is that too many characters? I understand the need for brevity on Twitter; it’s why I think childfree folks rarely use #childlessbychoice.)
• If a kind friend or relative has just sprung you from the parenthood clink so you can go to Starbucks without your offspring in tow, how about #offsprung?
• If you are taking a well-deserved but temporary break from your child or children, could you use #chiatus?

There must be other respectful suggestions out there. What you got?