Should you have kids?
It's THE million dollar question. Babies are cute. They smell sweet. They love cuddles and when they smile, looks like an Angel. If you've never had one.
I've heard people say it several times. They think of having babies as sort of sealing the deal after years of marriage, long relationships or as a reason to continue striving in life. Some even talk openly about only wanting to have kids. Purposely getting into not-so serious relationships to 'have' babies and divorcing partners later on. I admit, I once had the same concept.
Being in a relationship takes a lot of time, patience, proper up bringing, similar cultures to work. Taking care of babies, should be easy. They only need to drink milk, take a bath, poop, pee. You can imagine having quiet moments with them, similar to how parents and kids look like in commercials - Baby sleeping, smile on his/her lips, resting on mommy's chest, mommy sitting on a chair with a content look on her face. WRONG.
In real life, babies fuss, cry, scream, vomit, in different ways. On the first few days / weeks of being born, mine was awake every 2 hours for milk. He's asleep during the day but is awake in the wee hours of morning. Perhaps because I work in a BPO industry, he learned to adapt my schedule.
Here are a few things to think about if you are giving it a serious thought:
1. Do you love yourself enough?
Loving yourself, accepting who you are, is but the beginning. You can't love someone else without owing it to yourself first.
2. Are you willing to make sacrifices?
Career or family? As early as now, make that choice. While there are a few who gets a hang of balancing both, if they need to give up one of the two, they are able to make that decision in a blink of an eye.
3. Are you financially stable?
It's not about what you have on your bank account, What matters is if you are willing to make a difference. If you don't have plenty, do you have enough passion or will, within you to drive you forward? Your life, your fate directly impact another being. You need to make it work.
Decide, make it a conscious choice instead of something that happens out of the blue. Being a parent is not a walk in the park but it is the most rewarding. No amount of money, vacation trip, promotion can ever equate to the kind of happiness you can feel as you see your kid grow.
