My boyfriend and I have been together for 4 years we have lived together for two and I have a son (9 years old) from a previous relationship that lives with us and he loves like his own. (His father is in the picture we have joint custody and my boyfriend and his father get along well)

We have had the discussion about marriage and both agree that we don’t feel the need to get married just because it’s the right thing to do in society’s eyes. This is something we have talked about many times and we both always come to the same conclusion we don’t need the government to tell us that we are committed to each other we already know that. So we don’t want to pay money and deal with the hassle of changing names and tax status and all the other stuff that goes along with it. We love each other, are actively trying to conceive, and are buying a house together. We are committed and not going anywhere. We have an amazingly strong loving relationship we have never even had a fight.

His mother has offered us quite a bit of money to help us buy a house. Like more than a down payment and enough left over to redo a kitchen kind of money. She however really wants us to get married or at least engaged. (She is not forcing us and not only offering to help us if we are engaged it is just something she really wants to see happen and be a part of. He is her only child and I think she wants to be able to call my son her step grand child as she also loves him like her own.)

So I’m looking for opinions should we take the plunge just because it would make her happy or do we stick to our decision that we made together before she tried to gently nudge us in that direction.

I want to clarify that she is a wonderful supportive woman who really loves all of us and this is no way her trying to force something on us. I think it’s mostly that her son’s wedding day was always something she thought she would be a part of and now it’s never going to happen in her mind and she’s sad about it.