General Question

nikipedia's avatar

Why have children?

Asked by nikipedia (28077points) June 2nd, 2008

I mean this as a serious question, whether you have them or intend to have them. Obviously if NO ONE had children the human race would die out but that doesn’t seem like much of an impending threat. So….why?

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37 Answers

exek1's avatar

to spread the seed. LOL. J/k…,

I wanna have kids, I want them to take care of me when I’m old. I would be a proud parent. I WANT TO BE A DAD!!

martinez00anita's avatar

you can adopt and be a dad.

martinez00anita's avatar

I think there’s a lot of unplanned pregnancies… The thought of abortion is too horrid for some.

babygalll's avatar

I would love to have children someday…that is if it’s in God’s plan for me.

I work with kids and deal with the parents daily. Let me just tell you. A lot of people should take classes on how to parent a child. To a lot of people it comes naturally to them, but there are so many that just need a good slap in the face.

El_Cadejo's avatar

I dont want kids. I feel no need to “carry on the family name”(last male in my family) nor want to raise children at all. They are annoying imo and cost a LOT of money and there goes your life for 18 years, yea no thanks.

autumnofage's avatar

growing up all I wanted was to have kids and now I really don’t. I adore them and love to watch them but I think I’m too selfish now and wouldn’t want them around all the time. Plus I know I really wouldn’t want to end up a single mom if I were to separate from the father.

jlm11f's avatar

Many people have kids just because it is a general way of society. Also parental pressure (parents want to be grandparents aka want you to realize what hell they went through to raise you!). Other reasons are based on what exek said. Some married couples feel that if their relationship is going through a tough patch, a KID will fix that!! (note to readers: this does NOT actually happen). And many people (example – stay at home wife who gets bored all day while hubby is working or traveling) are just lonely and want company. Of course kids provide hours of joy and fulfillment in life, but I don’t think having children is for everyone.

melly6708's avatar

well i really want to be a mom and have my own children….i would have kids now but no thanks not now i want to get settled in and then have kids

bulbatron9's avatar

It is the meaning of life!

You will never know true love without a child! Most of you, I hope you never reproduce. It is a joy mere words can’t describe! Go live for yourself, and see what happiness you attain!

I wish you all the best!

autumnofage's avatar

@bulbatron9…wow I had no idea that I couldn’t love and be happy without children. Thank you so much for opening my eyes what a fool I’ve been!.....

El_Cadejo's avatar

lol blindsided by the “joys” of children. I love how people get this whole new air about them once they have kids.

iCeskate's avatar

They are cute!!!!!!

phoenyx's avatar

My daughter saw a rainbow for the first time today. She was thrilled and I found a renewed sense of joy vicariously through her.

My son took his first steps last week. He was so pleased with himself that he just started laughing. Somehow it makes walking more enjoyable for me.

My children have given me a new perspective on life. It’s fascinating to me to experience life through their eyes every so often. I have a love for them that is a new kind of love that I hadn’t experienced before.

I find it emotionally rewarding to teach, learn and share life experiences with others (which is also why I hang out here). My children are part of that.

I could keep going, but this is already pretty mushy.

arnbev959's avatar

I doubt I’ll ever have kids, or even get married for that matter. Freedom is too dear to me.

But I understand why people want to have kids. iCeskate is completely right. They’re adorable. I wouldn’t mind having nieces and nephews.

It seems like something only parents really understand. I’ve never met a parent who didn’t love his or her child more than anything in the world.

playthebanjo's avatar

Bc you can’t really appreciate the humor in farts and poops without a four year old!

shilolo's avatar

All of our selfish genes conspire to reproduce themselves.

nikipedia's avatar

@shilolo: And you win again. I could never argue with my darling Dr. Dawkins.

sndfreQ's avatar

My kids are my best friends in this world, you won’t know this until you experience it for yourself.

(Wife’s pretty cool too!-I better plug that in as I’m not sleeping on the couch tonight)!

shilolo's avatar

Wow, and I forgot that there is a chapter in his book titled, Nice guys finish first. Go figure.

wizard's avatar

I just don’t get…

HOW CHILDREN CAN BE SO AWESOME!!!

Maverick's avatar

So that you are no longer the biggest f-up in your family.

Maverick's avatar

The above is a joke, btw. Just in case that’s not completely obvious. ;)

shilolo's avatar

No worries. You can still be the biggest f-up on fluther, if you want… ;-)

Maverick's avatar

At least I’m not making more. :D

shilolo's avatar

How’d you know that? You psychic or something? }:-)

susanc's avatar

I didn’t have any babies but I got a teenage steppy and a teenage adopty.
My darling adopty now has a girl baby ... and!!!! All the mushy stuff is TRUE!!! She is so smart and funny and clever and dear and delicious. We all love her SO MUCH.

Whattodo's avatar

There is no greater joy. Plain and simple. Besides, children keep you from taking yourself too seriously and thinking that you are the center of the universe. No matter how rewarding your career, no matter how much you love what money can buy, no matter how much you love your “stuff”—they add a depth of meaning to whatever you do.

autumnofage's avatar

I think children can bring a huge joy into peoples lives but I think it’s ignorant to suggest that one can’t experience true love or real happiness without children as some have implied. I’ve worked with children the past 10yrs I know what they can bring but me not wanting them doesn’t mean I can have a fulfilling life. I know elders who never had children and have had a wonderful fulfilling loving life and I also know some who have had children and weren’t fulfilled. So to generalize by believing what I first said about true love and happiness is ridiculous.

jnglejo's avatar

Until I had my son when I was 31 I was really immature and a bit of a party animal.
He made me take life seriously. Since having him I have gone back to college and earned a foundation degree in microbiology.

DS's avatar

I personnally don’t have children but I believe we do have them also for our quest of perfection. How many of you parent think that their child is the cutter of the world or in the perspective of the future he/she’ll be the best surgeon….??

susanc's avatar

My baby grandgirl already is the best surgeon in Seattle and she can’t even eat with
a fork yet.

Mugsie's avatar

Having my boys is the best thing I ever did in my life. I have NEVER enjoyed doing anything as much as raising my boys. Nothing gives me more joy then them. I cherish every waking moment. And I have been blessed with a granddaughter. So in between two adult age boys and two elementary age boys, I get to play with a 4 month old. And I am only 47 years young! So I have a lot of play in me!

philo23's avatar

I want kids so that I may pass the knowledge i’ve learnt from living onto them, and hopefully improve the future for everyone, and of course so i can look back when i’m much older and see how my kids have turned out and what they them selves have learnt.

Jeruba's avatar

When you love someone so much that you want nothing more in the world than to make an us with him or her, you don’t have to ask. It is just absolutely the right thing to do, and you want it more than anything else. I think we are programmed to feel that way.

In my much younger years, I thought I wanted kids. Then in my twenties I realized that to me the idea of having kids was really all about vanity: that what I actually wanted was a little me that I could raise as I saw fit and own and control. It dawned on me then that this was the wrong reason (having noticed that I wasn’t fulfilling any such ambition for my own parents) and that I was far too self-absorbed to give up that much of my life for someone else. I swore off the idea and said I was never going to have kids and never even get married.

In due course, I met the right man, and everything changed (as I always suspected it might). I loved becoming a mother and adore my kids. But many’s the time along the way, when things were rough, that I thought, “This would be really, really hard to get through for someone who didn’t totally want it.” And that’s why I support choice.

kelly8906's avatar

It’s just nice to have someone in your life that you know is a part of you. Someone that you can take care of and ATTEMPT to mold into a great person. I have a 3 year old and I love her to death, but somedays I wonder how I am going to make it to the next day with a strain of sanity. lol. Yet, I want another one!!!

BBSDTfamily's avatar

So that you can look at your child and know that it’s half of you and half of your partner. Adoption is great for so many reasons, but so is creating your own.

eno_detah's avatar

The simplest explanation I’ve heard, and the one that I believe, is that “children add meaning to your life”. Good luck with your choice!

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