Does anybody regret becoming a parent?

[Bella8]

Dare I ask this but does anybody regret becoming a parent and wish they'd never had kids? Obviously you love your DC and would never ever not want them but do you miss your old life? Are people without children happier than people with them?

And just to make it worse, dh didn't talk to me so has told the school he had an appointment. If he's had I'd have sent in a note. I won't lie for dc if school ring tomorrow.

Idk why but feeling quite depressed reading this thread. I wouldn't say I regret having children ( have 3 youngest us 16) but sometimes I want my life to be different, less pressure. My eldest has significant health needs has had for some 10 years now, and there is little or no help that we haven't tried. So I do the majority of the care and support, my middle daughter decided to have 2 children before she was 18 so that's been very tough. We have her children a lot.
Youngest is fine though, will go far in life I've no doubt.
Looking back I think the early years were possibly easier than the older ones. Sorry to sound so depressing!

If I had known what parenting would be like, I wouldn't have had children. DD is awesome but has ASD and can be incredibly hard work. Day to day is so tough and I can't even bring myself to think about her future because it scares me so much. It doesn't help that her dad has never had anything to do with her. Only for my own parents, I wouldn't be able to cope at all.

No I don't regret having my children. That's not to say it isn't hard work though!

I actually think having them so young was a good thing in my case - having my first got me on the 'straight and narrow' so to speak and my life has just gotten better in all aspects since. There are definitely challenging, painful and lonely bits. But all the good stuff far outweighs the bad. I've just had dc3 after quite a big age gap from dc2 and I kind of see where everyone is coming from - the having to take a break from my career is a bit frustrating and I do feel a loss of identity now I'm tied to a baby all the time. But I know that it doesn't last forever as they get older and I actually really enjoy babies (for the most part!). But yes you do get a lot more independence back after the first year or so.

The bit I struggle with is the worrying - you never stop worrying about them no matter how old they get. Sometimes it's been enough to make me think "what have I done?!" but you just have to do your best and learn to deal with all the "what if" scenarios as best you can.

I don't regret it. Although with both DC I've had many moments of 'did I do the right thing having them?' in the early days when I was still adjusting - with my first I felt like I was in mourning for my old life. But now I can't imagine a life without my DD.
DS is taking some adjusting to - having two is a definite game changer! But they do bring a lot of joy.

What I would like is the ability to slip into a parallel life, where I don't have kids, have s fabulous career/social life/figure and am able to afford the swanky gym membership I can't justify now

This is a really good thread and something we should be honest about. I certainly don't agree when people say how much better their lives are with kids - I very much enjoyed my pre children life too!

for those who are suffering.