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Speaking for myself, that's exactly what makes it relatable. My kid consumes all my time if I let him. And, I often have to remind myself, this age is special a

Speaking for myself, that's exactly what makes it relatable. My kid consumes all my time if I let him. And, I often have to remind myself, this age is special and very short - my hobbies and 'rest' will be available again soon. I think the hard job of being a mom is well understood, documented, portrayed in media, etc. But, as a dad, I'm expected (by my kid) to be a tireless playmate matching his energy levels, playing his games, being imaginative and creative in my play, etc. and I don't think that type of parenting is well portrayed in media. My wife and I have spoken about it several time as we've fallen into pretty traditional gender roles and she's "cool with cooking and cleaning every evening, because [she] can't play the way [I] do" and it's equally exhausting after a long day of work/life/adulting.

josephg 2y ago
I hear & see a bunch of my friends who have an only child struggling with this. My sister has four kids now (which is crazy). She says that in many ways it’s easier with more kids, because they play with each other. She barely ever plays with them at all (which is a bit sad). But because they have each other, she gets to spend all her time being the adult in the room. It seems to be working out - her kids are doing great. She said it also really helps that they’re a bit older now. A 2 and a 4 year old have a much bigger age gap than a 6 and 8 year old. All that said, she still doesn’t get much time pursuing her hobbies. She says it’s the after school activities that do her in now.
- bombcar 2y ago
  Her hobby is raising kids, she just might not realize it. And yes, after a certain point more becomes easier - after all, one teacher can handle a class of 20+ students. The hardest is when the oldest are too young to help with the youngest.
  - markus_zhang 2y ago
    Yeah I realized that a while go that some people just like raising kids. Can't compete with those. One kid is well enough for me.
- tomaskafka 2y ago
  For the record of everyone, having multiple kids (3 in my case) is a thrill, and it helps much that they can play with each other instead of having the parents as a sole source of attention. Go have kids, they’re awesome :).

josephg 2y ago

I hear & see a bunch of my friends who have an only child struggling with this. My sister has four kids now (which is crazy). She says that in many ways it’s easier with more kids, because they play with each other. She barely ever plays with them at all (which is a bit sad). But because they have each other, she gets to spend all her time being the adult in the room. It seems to be working out - her kids are doing great. She said it also really helps that they’re a bit older now. A 2 and a 4 year old have a much bigger age gap than a 6 and 8 year old. All that said, she still doesn’t get much time pursuing her hobbies. She says it’s the after school activities that do her in now.

bombcar 2y ago
Her hobby is raising kids, she just might not realize it. And yes, after a certain point more becomes easier - after all, one teacher can handle a class of 20+ students. The hardest is when the oldest are too young to help with the youngest.
- markus_zhang 2y ago
  Yeah I realized that a while go that some people just like raising kids. Can't compete with those. One kid is well enough for me.
tomaskafka 2y ago
For the record of everyone, having multiple kids (3 in my case) is a thrill, and it helps much that they can play with each other instead of having the parents as a sole source of attention. Go have kids, they’re awesome :).