A to Z: more than one
And, following on the heels of my previous post:
HAVING MORE THAN ONE CHILD
Some people have one child, love it, and go on to have another. But lots of people find it really hard. And go on to have another. That is often how having kids works. It's rare to hear anyone say, 'I just love the daily grind of bringing up kids, so I want more and more.' Instead, you don't precisely understand why you want more, but you do. At least you think you do. And you tell yourself it will 'be all right' when actually you're talking about one of life's greatest challenges, and it might not be all right. It might be financially disastrous, emotionally draining, physically exhausting and quite annoying, too.
Other people collude in this. They will tell you that you'll be OK. They will encourage you to have more kids. This isn't a sophisticated pro-life argument, more a vicarious thrilling to the idea of pregnancy and an unreasoned faith that you will find ways to cope because it's all in such a good cause.
If the 'it'll be all right' argument seems too flimsy for your rational mind, there are lots of ways to persuade yourself that having more than one child is A GOOD THING. You might console yourself that, even if you're skint and you're all sharing a bedroom because you can't afford to move, you will be creating rounded individuals. After all, only children are always complete and utter shitheads, whereas kids from larger families are, without exception, terrifically well-balanced and polite.
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And so on and so forth.
*From Can I Give Them Back Now? The Aargh to Zzzz of Parenting by Joanna Simmons and Jay Curtis
HAVING MORE THAN ONE CHILD
Some people have one child, love it, and go on to have another. But lots of people find it really hard. And go on to have another. That is often how having kids works. It's rare to hear anyone say, 'I just love the daily grind of bringing up kids, so I want more and more.' Instead, you don't precisely understand why you want more, but you do. At least you think you do. And you tell yourself it will 'be all right' when actually you're talking about one of life's greatest challenges, and it might not be all right. It might be financially disastrous, emotionally draining, physically exhausting and quite annoying, too.
Other people collude in this. They will tell you that you'll be OK. They will encourage you to have more kids. This isn't a sophisticated pro-life argument, more a vicarious thrilling to the idea of pregnancy and an unreasoned faith that you will find ways to cope because it's all in such a good cause.
If the 'it'll be all right' argument seems too flimsy for your rational mind, there are lots of ways to persuade yourself that having more than one child is A GOOD THING. You might console yourself that, even if you're skint and you're all sharing a bedroom because you can't afford to move, you will be creating rounded individuals. After all, only children are always complete and utter shitheads, whereas kids from larger families are, without exception, terrifically well-balanced and polite.
-----------------------------
And so on and so forth.
*From Can I Give Them Back Now? The Aargh to Zzzz of Parenting by Joanna Simmons and Jay Curtis