75% of the time we spend with our kids in our lifetime will be spent by age 12

Re:75% of the time we spend with our kids in our lifetime wi... by peter422 on Tuesday October 18, 2022 @07:19PM (#33255405)

FWIW I have two children, aged 3 and 6 months, and I would say it is about accurate (for me) that the first hour is enjoyable and then the next 10 are less so. It's a chore that you are doing every single day.

However, the older they get the less boring they are and I assume at some point I will get more out of the relationship.

But I had the children so I gotta deal with what that entails and I'm comfortable with that. I went into this very willingly.

But I absolutely have no judgement against people who don't want to have children... It might not be for you, I don't have any magical emotion that makes it less work, and there are many, many things I'd rather be doing.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:75% of the time we spend with our kids in our lifetime wi... by bcrosby95 on Tuesday October 18, 2022 @07:28PM (#33255483)

As they get older you can increasingly share your hobbies with them rather than be a pure source of child-like entertainment.

I have a 7 year old and two 4 year olds, and we: play video games, watch movies, go for hikes, climb trees, go swimming, play various sports, play dnd, play board games, and paint warhammer miniatures together.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:75% of the time we spend with our kids in our lifetime wi... by peter422 on Tuesday October 18, 2022 @08:04PM (#33255756)

Yes I do anticipate that happening, but it's no guarantee.

And even still doing 3-5 years of very hard parenting work to get to that is a lot... And I didn't even carry the children which is another year of very hard work!

I'm not saying that I'm not happy with my decision to have children, but if I didn't really want to have them this would be rough.

[ Parent | on HN ]