Yes, there will almost certainly be times that you wonder if you made a mistake having children, or at least, that you give serious thought to all the aggravation and missed opportunities that being a parent entails. Parenting is a totalizing activity---once you have a child, you are thrust into a parallel universe where everything looks the same but everything is different. You will never be the same, and you will never look at the world in the same way.
I don't remember ever doubting the decision we made to have kids but then again, we never had any major problems to deal with like physical or mental health challenges. What I never expected was how much meaning and enrichment they would bring into our lives, especially as they passed into adulthood. The joy at having two children who love us, and like us, and want to spend time with us, is priceless and neverending.
Yes, there will almost certainly be times that you wonder if you made a mistake having children, or at least, that you give serious thought to all the aggravation and missed opportunities that being a parent entails. Parenting is a totalizing activity---once you have a child, you are thrust into a parallel universe where everything looks the same but everything is different. You will never be the same, and you will never look at the world in the same way.
I don't remember ever doubting the decision we made to have kids but then again, we never had any major problems to deal with like physical or mental health challenges. What I never expected was how much meaning and enrichment they would bring into our lives, especially as they passed into adulthood. The joy at having two children who love us, and like us, and want to spend time with us, is priceless and neverending.