Is having kids all its cracked up to be?

[Coldwine75]

Watching Location Location Location and all these young couples looking for homes to start their families, all dreaming of a house full of kids and idyllic bliss........is it like that though? I find having a family is mainly tiredness, stress, odd socks , messy house and theres some nice bits thrown in but its exhausting. I dont regret having having kids but its a constant worry , moreso as they get older and you have less and less influence over them.

I get why people turn grey......

[paralysedbyinertia]

I know childfree couples who bitterly regret their decision. I know parents who wish they had never had children.

I also know childfree couples who are blissfully happy with their lives and parents who think that having children was the very best thing that ever happened to them.

None of us really know how things are going to turn out, we just have to do what feels right in the moment and then make the best that we can of the life that we have.

[Thisisworsethananticpated]

Wise
Words
None of us really know how things are going to turn out, we just have to do what feels right in the moment and then make the best that we can of the life that we have

[laurac28]

@Chillychangchoo

Love mine intensely but if I could go back knowing what I know now I wouldn’t do it.

I would live selfishly ever after 🤣

ha ha ha I hear ya

[2020newmum]

Honestly, yes it is. There are hard times (many of them) but overall it is 100% worth it IMO and after being on the fence about having kids, I'm so glad I did it. If I could live my life again knowing what I do now, I would make the same choice.

[2020newmum]

None of us really know how things are going to turn out, we just have to do what feels right in the moment and then make the best that we can of the life that we have.

Very true!

[pigeonpocket]

I guess it depends on how your life without kids is.

I'm anxious and worry about everything, so worrying about my kids was nothing new. Life was already starting to slow down as my friends all had kids anyway. And I would have wanted to move to somewhere like our ideal family home whether I had kids or not.

So on balance, I got a lot of positives for not a lot of negatives/change really. Things are obviously still harder having kids but it wasn't the huge life-changing thing that it can be for some people.

[LongPauseNoAnswer]

@Chunkymenrock

No, I always come on to these threads to say that I find children overrated. Unfortunately this often isn't apparent until after you've had them, by which time you have to accept your life as you knew it is over and will be for the next 18 years.

Exactly my thoughts. I hated it, especially before she was self sufficient. The monotony, relentlessness and boredom was hell.

[OutOfControlShoppingTrolley]

Are LLL threads allowed? i always go to the Telly Addicts section to look for chat about the latest episodes, and nothing... I assumed it was one of those 'must not be mentioned' topics, or perhaps I was the only mumsnetter who watched...
Anyway, yes it is not at all like these people think or even how their lives look.
The last couple of weeks I think their revamped final house purchases all looked so unbelievably amazing. Surely they are professional interior designers or the show provides them with such. I had to refurb my house and it looks nothing like any of theirs, even with only 1 DC.

[Krook]

@Tamara125

I'm 27, child free, gone back to university and live in my own home with my dog.

Someone once said to me you never sleep, you just worry with your eyes closed.

It's a no from me, thanks very much...

That is perhaps the best definition of parenting I have ever read!

If I could have my time again I would think more carefully. I have a neuro-diverse child. Life is difficult for them and they are an endless source of worry for me.