The Cold Hard Truth About Kids

Make no bones about it, kids are tough, even at the best of times. They cause you to constantly re-evaluate your values and principles and they wear you down like nothing else on this earth can.

They change your entire life.

And at first it is ALL bad. They do nothing but cry, you can't take them anywhere, they don't sleep, things happen naturally and they get sick but you don't know what's wrong with them (with a two year old you ask what hurts and they point to their ear, OK, a possible ear infection). They make everyone in the house tired and miserable which means the company you so desperately want with the other person is soured because they're in a miserable mood which makes you go into a miserable mood and for months life just plain sucks.

But then you start getting things back. Smiles, giggles, coos, and while all that's great, it's when they start being visibly glad to see you that starts making it worth it. There are great things about having kids but for me, they happen way down the line, not in the first few months where you can't talk or even whisper in your own bedroom for fear of waking up jr, or when sometimes everything's fine with the child and then other times he just cries and cries and cries and cries. It makes you think bad thoughts.

But they'll go away.

So.

Handy tips for non-parents. Make a list of everything you want to do in life and do it before you have kids.

Then do it again with kids. Well, some of it. Obviously you don't want to take kids to a GWAR concert.