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I'm a father of two, one who is nearly a teenager, so I'm still on the journey. Having children is a life experience. A hard one, that will change you. It is c
by nvarsj 7y ago
I'm a father of two, one who is nearly a teenager, so I'm still on the journey.
Having children is a life experience. A hard one, that will change you. It is certainly not the easy route. If you want a life of low stress and self satisfaction - having no kids makes a lot of sense. And I'd never begrudge anyone who makes this choice (of which I know many).
Choosing to have a family means you are willing to sacrifice your own goals to some extent. I think you could say the same about any relationship - you generally have to give up some of your own time and or desires to make a relationship work, whether short term or long term. Having kids is probably the most extreme version of this.
What do you get out of it? Life long companionship, for one thing. And a very unique experience, that only other parents can ever understand.
- auiya 7y ago> What do you get out of it? Life long companionship, for one thing. Not necessarily. I know many people who have quite strained relationships with their parents/children. I have relatives who had children based on the mindset of "who will take care of me when I'm old?", only for their kids to mistreat and abandon them in their old age.
- nvarsj 7y agoWell, of course. Like any relationship it can break down. I don’t have a great relationship with my father, which seems common for my generation. He spent most of his time working - not enough time with his family. Having a genuine relationship with your kids and being involved requires a lot of self sacrifice - if you don’t do that the relationship is going to be bad. Almost always that requires putting your career on the back burner which is hard for a lot of people.