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I am of the age to have kids, some of my friends have them, but I have mixed feelings about it, just wondering about other people's experiences.

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[-] agent_nycto@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

I love kids and would be a great parent but no on all three counts. I'd have to put aside my own life, my own plans and all the weird fun stuff I do because of kids. Not to mention the cost, even just got giving birth, would be nuts.

Kinda like how I love dogs but don't want to be a dog owner.

[-] untorquer@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Nope! No interest at all. I definitely don't regret it as a millennial.

I have always been fine with children. I think seeing other people raise them with love and care and real emotional availability is the most heartening thing ever! I've even teared up a little when i see them do it well and with real emotional availability.

I was never interested but i had the question about whether i would with the right partner well into my 20's. I never felt like it was something missing from my life. Now that I'm older i see my friends all across the spectrum about the choice from joy to regret. I am confident, learning about time commitment, cost, and thinking about the liability of a human life, that i would be deep on the regret end. In fact i see not having children as the best choice I've made in life.

I'm thoroughly happy and content being child free.

[-] moakley@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I work full time and do most of the cleaning, cooking, and kid stuff. My wife is handicapped and several months into recovering from a major surgery that didn't go well, and she's only recently starting to pick up the slack again. I'm exhausted. I feel like our home is wasted because it's never clean enough to enjoy it. I use what energy I have on the important things like making sure my kids have healthy meals, but that means letting other things fall by the wayside, like basic repairs and mopping.

But I'm happy. I love my family. I love spending time with them. Every once in a while I can just sit back and be grateful for all the things that have gone right in my life.

And at least once a week my kids do something genuinely hilarious.

Lately my two-year-old son has been doing this baby talk thing, copying his sister who was copying from a video she saw of herself as a baby. So we've been gently reminding him that we don't do baby talk in our house. No baby talk.

The other day, I heard my wife singing Baby, baby, baby... in a way that was unmistakably Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me", except then she'd suddenly transition into Smokey Robinson's "Tracks of My Tears". I heard her do this three separate times throughout the day. Then she did it in the car and I pointed out that she was definitely doing the wrong baby, baby, baby.

She disagreed. Phones came out. Songs were played.

"See? It goes Baby, BAby,"

"No it's Baby, baby, baby..."

"No, that's too flat. You're doing Baby, baby, baby, but it's Baby, BAby-"

Then my son interrupts from the back seat: "Stop it! No baby talk!"

[-] MaiteRosalie@moist.catsweat.com 1 points 6 months ago

Not in this economy u.u

[-] PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz 1 points 6 months ago

No, I haven't achieved my dreams yet (only 24) and yeah I want kids. I always dream about playing some epic games with my kids or teaching them generally.

[-] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

Passing down knowledge and raising a (hopefully) good person are among my main reasons for having kids.

[-] PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz 0 points 6 months ago

Hmm it seems you're not a dad/mom yet as well. When are you planning to have kids?

[-] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

IF I have kids with my current partner it would probably be in about 3-5 years.

[-] thelsim@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 months ago

I'm not one of those people who loves being a parent. You know the kind, the mom who loves having all the kids in the neighborhood over and cleans every mess with a big smile. I have two kids and they often drive me crazy. But I never regret having them.
They constantly fight with each other, whine that this or that is unfair, refuse to listen exactly when you're in rush to get them to school, leave the entire house in a mess and in general manage to find new and inventive ways to make your day that little bit more challenging.
But they're the sweetest and most wonderful thing to have happened to me at the same time. I love everything about them and couldn't imagine my life without them. Even my eldest son, who is hitting puberty and can reach maximum sarcasm with even the smallest of expressions, shows so much care and affection when it comes down to it. I could go on and on about how wonderful they are, but I think you get the idea :)

The thing is though, as others have said, parenthood is a major investment of your time and energy. Your life will never be the same again, ever. So if you do decide to become a parent, accept your fate and make the best of it. Those wonderful child-free years are gone and will never come back again.
I don't mean to sound very gloomy about it, but it's just an inescapable fact if you want to try and be a good parent.

One thing that helped for me though, is find someone in a likewise position and share your burdens. I have a friend at work who has two kids of about the same age, and she goes through the same struggles as me. We always complain about our kids to each other, knowing that it's just something you need to get off your chest once in a while. It's usually about small stuff like a daughter exploding in the morning because she can't find her pencil case, or some other minor drama. Our other coworkers always think that we hate being parents, and joke that our stories are probably responsible for a large part of the birth decline :)
But it feels so good to know that you're not the only one struggling. So many parents like to put up this facade of being a perfect family, and it can make you feel like you're doing something wrong. But everyone has struggles, it doesn't make you a bad parent.

Sorry, I'm getting a bit off topic. It's just that I have a lot of feelings about it, and it's not always been easy. And if you decide to be a parent, it won't be easy for you either. But if you're willing to put in the effort, it'll be worth it in the end. Just make sure you have someone to talk to, and don't be too hard on yourself.

[-] jeena@piefed.jeena.net 1 points 6 months ago

I always wanted kids, but in my early years it didn't work out, but I was a stepdad, even after separating from the Childs mother, which I'm very thankful for.

Then for a long time I didn't have a partner, but in my mid 40's I married and have a two years old and another stepchild.

Because I always felt that I would be a fairly good father I definatelly don't regret it and being a father and stepfather just gives me even more meaning to my life.

But I would have been OK without my own children too.

[-] nesc@lemmy.cafe 1 points 6 months ago

No, I haven't met a person with whom Ibwould like to have children yet. Yes, I would like to have 2 or 3 children.

[-] Susaga@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Absolutely yes. I just need a partner to have them with, which is easier said than done.

[-] TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

I’m sterile so I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Which I don’t. My country is in a piss-poor state right now and my hypothetical child would be raised in suffering and poverty.

[-] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 1 points 5 months ago

Nope, and very glad I didn't.

[-] Tudsamfa@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

I am in no financial situation to need to think about kids.

Luckily, I don't need to worry about stumbling into kids either.

[-] YungOnions@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

Absolutely fucking not. Me and my wife can't think of many things we'd want less, tbh.

[-] Free_Opinions@feddit.uk 1 points 6 months ago

I don't and I don't plan to. It's however too soon to tell wether I'll regret that or not. Time will tell.

I can see the appeal of having kids but my current lifestyle is that I do what I want when ever I want and I don't really plan things ahead. I don't want to take the risk of having kids and then having to dramatically change my lifestyle only to realize it's not what I wanted and now I can no longer go back. I think that to have kids you have to want it. Now I just feel like it's something that's expected of me and I don't think that's a good reason to go ahead with it.

[-] Shiggles@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 months ago

I have zero desire to procreate. If I ever get parental urges, I’ll foster.

[-] coaxil@lemm.ee 1 points 6 months ago

Don't have kids, don't want kids, for a range of reasons from, legit seems cruel to force a human into the world, specially with how it's going, to there is far too much to do in this world that kids will prevent, and I just don't want them. Zero regrets, and happier each day with my decision not to have kids.

[-] jpreston2005@lemmy.world 0 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

At first I thought I could "take it or leave it" with kids. Then I married someone who was a firm "No," but strung me along when I asked if we could adopt. Divorced now, and when I think about the idea of finding a woman to raise a family with... I'm inundated with fear and anxiety. This world is so fucked that I cry in my dreams at the thought of it. What will the world look like in my hypothetical child's lifetime?

The supposed last bastion of freedom and democracy has fully descended into fascist oligarchy. We were supposed to stop climate change before we hit 1.5 degrees of warming, we hit that last year. Now they're talking about what's going to happen when we hit 3 degrees of warming. So every natural disaster is going to be far worse, and far more frequent. The fire in LA is still burning. A fire swallowed up so much, the next one may take the entire city. Scientists have been dreading the eruption of a super volcano for a while now, saying that it could cause a global ice age, gee I wonder if climate change is making that more or less likely?? (hint: it's more.) Meanwhile NATO and the combination of russia/china/north korea/iran are preparing for the last war this world may ever see.

Not to mention that having a kid is like pooping out a ticket for half a million in debt. I already think about killing myself so often, could I really bear the thought of shackling myself to this soul sucking job for the rest of my life? Goodbye following my dreams, hello more debt.

So now I can't even bring myself to date, because despite getting divorced over it (not really, but it was a part of it), I still can't truly answer the question "Do I want kids?" Approaching 40 and time is running out. Gotta make up my mind, but in the meantime everything is getting worse.

I heard once that single life is like being the center of your life's portrait, and once you have kids, you instead become the frame. But I already feel like I've lived my whole life within the frame, and want to try being the center of my own portrait for once.

[-] Samsy@lemmy.ml 0 points 5 months ago

I have 4 kids, and there could be more in the future, because my wife force this more than me. I always said it's her decision.

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this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2025
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