Torschlusspanikmacherei

Torschlusspanik: Literally the fear of "a closing gate”, but generally used to describe people, often women in their 30s, who fear that they might not find a husband anymore and end up a lone spinster. 

Panikmacherei: The act of spreading panic or exaggerating fear among a group of people in an actually harmless situation 

While the news that two of my friends just had their first babies and that my friend Julia got engaged just before Christmas made me incredibly happy, it had quite the opposite effect on my mother: it reminded her that her oldest daughter was still unmarried and without any attention of changing that leave alone starting a family. 

Alena...

... and Mirry

Tactfulness has never been my mother’s strong point and so I was not hugely surprised about her reaction to seeing a photo of me with lovely Alena: 

("If only it was time for you!!!!!!)

I was more surprised when she suggested I better settle for someone (anyone) soon because all the “decent” men would soon be married and there would be no one left for me. A shocking case of Torschlusspanikmacherei!

But while I am happy to be unmarried and would at this point in time turn any proposal down, I couldn't help but wonder whether my mother had a point...?! 

It is an undeniable fact that more and more of my peers are tying the knot and hence that there are less single men around. What is highly questionable though is the hypothesis that there will be less "decent" (leave alone good) men around. Why should all the decent men meet their sweethearts before all the "indecent" ones? Why assume that the “market” will clear for the worse...?! Could it not be that all the people who were too busy enjoying life and exploring the world are left over and are now slowly starting to look for a partner? Could it not even be an advantage in the "market" to wait a bit?

I will certainly keep telling myself that and not give in to my mother’s Torschlusspanikmacherei and marry the next man who smiles at me…