1170
Friends who have babies
(lemmy.world)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2025
1170 points (96.2% liked)
Comic Strips
17497 readers
2236 users here now
Comic Strips is a community for those who love comic stories.
The rules are simple:
- The post can be a single image, an image gallery, or a link to a specific comic hosted on another site (the author's website, for instance).
- The comic must be a complete story.
- If it is an external link, it must be to a specific story, not to the root of the site.
- You may post comics from others or your own.
- If you are posting a comic of your own, a maximum of one per week is allowed (I know, your comics are great, but this rule helps avoid spam).
- The comic can be in any language, but if it's not in English, OP must include an English translation in the post's 'body' field (note: you don't need to select a specific language when posting a comic).
- Politeness.
- Adult content is not allowed. This community aims to be fun for people of all ages.
Web of links
- [email protected]: "I use Arch btw"
- [email protected]: memes (you don't say!)
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
There's research that found that people without children are happier than people with children.
The urge to cum inside is the siren song of many
Vasectomy is a beautiful thing
Fleshlights are nice too tbh
Get both, experience Nirvana
Literally millions of year of evolution behind the urge of raw dogging.
Well, now I'm conflicted.
Why is it crazy? It seems like the most sensible conclusion - no kids reduces stress significantly. Maybe in a world without need it’d be the other way around, but we don’t live in a post-scarcity society, do we?
Having kids forced me to be a better person. They forced me to step up and tackle my own problems that were preventing me from being a decent parent, and as a result outside of parenting I'm a better version of myself too.
Having kids made any kind of travel more difficult but honestly it's opened up new things to me that I wouldn't do without kids. That awesome new playground in town? Yeah I'm totally climbing on it chasing my kid and definitely not having a blast too! Same with the zip line, and the big slide! Going to do a corn maze in the fall and they're all too easy? Have the child lead us on where to go and they'll get me far more lost than I ever could get myself lost!
I've absolutely put off some hobbies that I'd like to explore because they aren't compatible with kids of my kids' ages, but they've become my hobbies as I nurture them and try to not only keep them alive (seriously these kids are way too skilled at trying to kill themselves or eachother) but also grow them into decent human beings
mist Americans can’t afford kids, the main reason is simple as that
curious what happiness rates look like in real first world countries
Meaning has a lot to do with happiness and for me, my life has infinitely more meaning since the little one came along. A lot of people don’t need help finding meaning in their lives and that’s great, but taking care of my family is more rewarding than anything I have experienced. But yeah… not everyone is like me and that’s okay. Some people definitely shouldn’t have and/or don’t want kids and there’s nothing wrong with that.
No, but I do believe that complex issues with many factors can be boiled down into simpler averages. Besides, “stress” is just as multifaceted of an issue as anything else! It implies nothing about the root causes.
Moreover, this research article did not say “if you have kids, you will be miserable”. That is a personal choice you should make for personal reasons. Some people are happier with kids! But it’s also true that childless adults are on average happier.
So nobody can arrive at any conclusions about complex topics? That's like saying we can't quantify global warning because climate science is complex.
I'm trying to imagine applying this logic to anything else.
Telling a friend not to try out for the baseball team, because playing baseball will increase your stress. Warning my sister not to watch a scary movie, because evidence shows they cause fear and discomfort. Breaking off a date with a cutie, because I've got butterflies and I don't want to feel anxious.
What do these sociologists think about rollercoasters or car races or heavy metal concerts, I wonder?
You’re trying to incorrectly put words in scientist’s mouths here.
They did not say that a person should not have children.
They merely said that on average, people who don’t have children are happier.
If people could accidentally find themselves trapped in a heavy metal concert, (just like people accidentally find themselves stuck being parents), you’d find a similar conclusion - people who don’t go to heavy metal concerts are happier. But it turns out that concerts are elective, so the effect is unlikely to be present in real life for concerts.
This has nothing to do with the “goodness“ of concerts or parenthood - both of them are awesome when the people doing them chose to do it!
According to this study, after adjusting for income, having children is actually associated with higher happiness and well-being.
From a Psychology Today article that summarizes it:
Thanks for citing your resources, unlike others.
so having kids makes you happier as long as you can pay your bills?
The study also said that people with children felt more fulfilled over all 🤷♀️
They measured basically immediate happiness and long term happiness. In immediate happiness, the child free group won. In longterm happiness, the parents won. Did a lot of research into that before deciding to have a baby.
Just gotta decide what works best for you and your life style
They didn't poll occupants of nursing homes?
if you think your kid is keeping you out of a nursing home i have news for you
better to make 3mil+ and get in a really good assisted living and a well payed lawyer
Or instead of banking on money and wealth to save you, just spend your money now, eat healthy, exercise and take care of your body.
It won't matter if you're 70 in an expensive care home and you don't know your name. I have a few elderly wealthy relatives in my wife's family who are in great care homes but have no clue where they are or who any one is.
And I've seen my fair share of people getting old in my family. It isn't pretty when you are constantly unwell and then your mind eventually falters and then fails.
Better to enjoy what you have now regardless if you have kids or not because none of us are guaranteed a good healthy mentally stable old age.
This seems to be the logic stumble in the anti-natalist brain. "If I just don't have kids, then I'll be rich one day!"
At some level, you need to dismiss the fantasy of being rich in the future and think about being happy in the moment.
I spent five years fostering before we finally landed a permanent placement. I've had the pleasure of hosting kids from age 0 to 4. And I'll say that the work of taking care of another person is so much more fulfilling than bullshit office work or some shitty service sector job.
I go to bed early and tired but satisfied, rather than staying up late and dreading the next day. I'm not counting the hours to a retirement 20 years from now. I'm focused on my son's first words and steps.
Just like with dating or caring for a pet or visiting family abroad, the value isn't bound by the money I'm spending. It's about bonding with others and continuing a relationship I can only measure in hours together.
if you can’t afford retirement you can't afford kids
also, sky diving without a parachute is real pretty if you ignore the landing
Plenty of people don't live to retirement
and I too don’t wear my seatbelt because not everyone gets in a car accident
You can add 1 more to their sample size that confirms this to be true.
Glad that you feel happy. How do you know that this version of you is more happy than a version of you with kids?