"Get your feet out of your brothers mouth."

One of many phrases that I never thought I would have to say before I became a parent.

2 laundry a day with one kid? That’s impressive

Elementary teacher here. I can corroborate that everything is somehow sticky at school, too.

That does happen frequently. Or the sound of a cat fight.

Hey, I thought you were asleep, alright?

Yeah. It's like nobody wants to acknowledge positive side

Both can be true. At the same time

Tbf, people who talk like this shouldn’t really have kids anyway so it’s an issue that resolves itself.

don't blame being fat and boring on kids.

I’m personally in the boat of seeing kids as adding to one’s life rather than draining it and making dreams rather than taking them away. But having kids is something my partner and I want. My only other dream is to ever own the roof over my head, but that’s not totally likely.

I feel that having kids would not seem as daunting for more people if we had real safety nets to support people that would even consider being parents. Such as free daycare, a basic income, universal healthcare, and stipends specifically to pay for costs associated with kids like for diapers, bottles, books, ever changing clothes sizes, etc.

If I'm already all those things, but don't enjoy it, kids can only make it better, right??!?

I bet you're right. Im dreading when my parents get Old and need assistance. I am in no way prepared for that.
And then I'll be alone when I get old. No kids to help me then.

My father's counterargument to my refusing to procreate is exactly this. "Who's going to take care of you when you're old?" What that told me is his main reason for having kids was to have someone do that for him. Funny, because despite having lived under the same roof, he wasn't much in my life, or has made any positive inpact on me. Everything was on mom (and sometimes grandmother). And now listening to him talk like some day I will move back to the country and abandon my entire life to take care of him/them, while right at this moment he's being extremely financially irresponsible? Cool cool cool. My partner's mother expects the same, all the while she doesn't work at all because it's beneath her.

With that said, I find having children for the sole purpose of them taking care of me in my old age not only selfish (especially with the imminent climate collapse), it's also risky (and I'm not even talking cases where the child has disabilities and can't take care of their own needs). And that's in the case I even live that long.

LOL I won't make it to 80.

Shouldn't get kids because you might need them when you're old. Chances are, you'll hear from them once every couple months because they have their own lives to deal with.

I dont expect to make it to 80 unless I somehow manage to survive my country losing world War 3 and stull having to go to work cause capitalists stole what little I had saved for retirement.

I got along with my parents really well in my 20's and 30's, and it's kinda hard watching them age now, but we got 2 good decades, maybe 3, of both generations being functional adults who love each other and enrich each other's lives.

I enjoyed being childless in my 20's and early 30's, and anticipate enjoying having 20+ year old children in my late 50's onward.

Babies and toddlers are whatever. I love my children but still don't really like other people's children. But as they (and their peers and their cousins and their friends) grow older, I can definitely see personalities form and become future adults who I will really enjoy spending time with.

Yeah and all my tattoos will look dumb then too.

Unironically I probably will have kids in the next couple years. Just enjoying it while I can.