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Speaking as a new parent, I think that if parents remembered every little detail, no one would ever have more than one child.

by Cyph0n 4y ago

rootusrootus 4y ago
A related joke I have is that everyone talks about the terrible twos, but says nothing about threes. Because it turns out that two year old tantrums are sort of adorable, and if we told people what happens next, they would never take off the condom. And another comment I'm making recently is ... "Everyone says they want to have a baby, but nobody ever says I want to have a teenager!" It's probably for the best people don't think that far ahead. I'm growing gray hair at a prodigious rate right now, and my oldest still has six months before she's actually a teen.
- ihaveajob 4y ago
  > A related joke I have is that everyone talks about the terrible twos, but says nothing about threes. Because it turns out that two year old tantrums are sort of adorable, and if we told people what happens next, they would never take off the condom. Ah, the threenager!
  - vlachen 4y ago
    Then the Fournado. After that, the Fuck-You-I'm-Five.
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  > Because it turns out that two year old tantrums are sort of adorable, and if we told people what happens next, they would never take off the condom. Spoiler alert: even more tantrums, which also last longer and are trickier to defuse. Talking them out of one gets more difficult, as the kid will likely talk back, and might even catch you in the act of committing logical fallacies, because in this period of time, their 3yo brain works better than your sleep-deprived one. On the other hand, the feats of logic my kid performs to argue their case - hearing them almost makes up for all of it.
  - vlachen 4y ago
    Ours has a rep of being a little lawyer. They can be quite persuasive. We used to say "We don't negotiate with terrorists" until that started getting screamed out at daycare, then we had to put it away.
- sam_goody 4y ago
  I have several teens, and have adopted several more [As in, there are over a hundred teenagers that feel comfortable in my house.] It is awesome. Teenagers are the best age group there is. I highly suggest that people take a book or two on parenting and seriously adopt what they have to say. Raise your kids from a young age on the premise that you want to have a relationship that will last till you die. (In my experience, the best book I've read is "Raise your children without raising your voice".) Set aside time and effort to make the relationship work for real. This is an investment and will not invest itself. Religion is important, family is important, cellphone use should be filtered and limited in a matter-of-fact way from when they are first getting a cellphone. [OK, phones are a big deal to get right, but this is not a blog.] The result is relationships with your own kids that have unbounded energy, talent, resources, interest, etc. - that are just going out on their own to explore the world and conquer it. Well, well, worth the investment.
PragmaticPulp 4y ago
As a parent, hard disagree. Yes, parenting can be challenging and a lot of work at times. However, it’s silly to let the first few difficult months define decisions that impact the entire rest of your life. It’s not that we forget that the early months are difficult. It’s that we realize they’re temporary and that they’re worth enduring.
- Cyph0n 4y ago
  It is indeed extremely rewarding. I still think that the fact that our memory is not perfect recall is a true blessing. It allows us to make a life changing decision once again based on incomplete information.
- Tade0 4y ago
  I for one have very few memories of the early months - mostly milestones really. I have several videos of things I don't remember doing or saying.
bartvk 4y ago
I once read a statistic that said: the greatest predictor of your own family size is what your friends' family size is. When I read that, I thought to myself: if I don't take others into account, what do I personally want? We now have one daughter and there's not going to be more kids.
nytesky 4y ago
We call that momnesia, probably a result of the brain damage from lack of sleep.

Speaking as a new parent, I think that if parents remembered every little detail, no one would ever have more than one child.

by Cyph0n 4y ago

Speaking as a new parent, I think that if parents remembered every little detail, no one would ever have more than one child.

rootusrootus 4y ago

A related joke I have is that everyone talks about the terrible twos, but says nothing about threes. Because it turns out that two year old tantrums are sort of adorable, and if we told people what happens next, they would never take off the condom. And another comment I'm making recently is ... "Everyone says they want to have a baby, but nobody ever says I want to have a teenager!" It's probably for the best people don't think that far ahead. I'm growing gray hair at a prodigious rate right now, and my oldest still has six months before she's actually a teen.

ihaveajob 4y ago
> A related joke I have is that everyone talks about the terrible twos, but says nothing about threes. Because it turns out that two year old tantrums are sort of adorable, and if we told people what happens next, they would never take off the condom. Ah, the threenager!
- vlachen 4y ago
  Then the Fournado. After that, the Fuck-You-I'm-Five.
TeMPOraL 4y ago
> Because it turns out that two year old tantrums are sort of adorable, and if we told people what happens next, they would never take off the condom. Spoiler alert: even more tantrums, which also last longer and are trickier to defuse. Talking them out of one gets more difficult, as the kid will likely talk back, and might even catch you in the act of committing logical fallacies, because in this period of time, their 3yo brain works better than your sleep-deprived one. On the other hand, the feats of logic my kid performs to argue their case - hearing them almost makes up for all of it.
- vlachen 4y ago
  Ours has a rep of being a little lawyer. They can be quite persuasive. We used to say "We don't negotiate with terrorists" until that started getting screamed out at daycare, then we had to put it away.
sam_goody 4y ago
I have several teens, and have adopted several more [As in, there are over a hundred teenagers that feel comfortable in my house.] It is awesome. Teenagers are the best age group there is. I highly suggest that people take a book or two on parenting and seriously adopt what they have to say. Raise your kids from a young age on the premise that you want to have a relationship that will last till you die. (In my experience, the best book I've read is "Raise your children without raising your voice".) Set aside time and effort to make the relationship work for real. This is an investment and will not invest itself. Religion is important, family is important, cellphone use should be filtered and limited in a matter-of-fact way from when they are first getting a cellphone. [OK, phones are a big deal to get right, but this is not a blog.] The result is relationships with your own kids that have unbounded energy, talent, resources, interest, etc. - that are just going out on their own to explore the world and conquer it. Well, well, worth the investment.

PragmaticPulp 4y ago

As a parent, hard disagree. Yes, parenting can be challenging and a lot of work at times. However, it’s silly to let the first few difficult months define decisions that impact the entire rest of your life. It’s not that we forget that the early months are difficult. It’s that we realize they’re temporary and that they’re worth enduring.

Cyph0n 4y ago
It is indeed extremely rewarding. I still think that the fact that our memory is not perfect recall is a true blessing. It allows us to make a life changing decision once again based on incomplete information.
Tade0 4y ago
I for one have very few memories of the early months - mostly milestones really. I have several videos of things I don't remember doing or saying.

bartvk 4y ago

I once read a statistic that said: the greatest predictor of your own family size is what your friends' family size is. When I read that, I thought to myself: if I don't take others into account, what do I personally want? We now have one daughter and there's not going to be more kids.

nytesky 4y ago

We call that momnesia, probably a result of the brain damage from lack of sleep.