Who Here Has Children?

[JJfromSwitzerland]

I have a daughter

[sholomar]

I still want them. Have to set goals and aggressively pursue with remaining time, so here we go. Feels like the right time.  On another note, you need a 55,555th post celebration thread, Leo.

[Inliytened1]

@Leo Gura

On 12/27/2024 at 4:50 PM, Leo Gura said:

I am curious what percentage of Actualized fans have children.

Let us know if you do.

2 kiddos.

And 3 dogs. 

When the daughter in law comes it's 5 dogs

Only one kid is still in the house though.  

 

 

Edited January 1 by Inliytened1

[Revolutionary Think]

My childhood was terrible so therefore no. I am taking care of the neglected inner child who I was and I'm doing a pretty good job of that. 

[Mu_]

Hopefully will within the year.

[jimwell]

On 12/29/2024 at 7:19 PM, Davino said:

We have almost more pets than children in first world countries

 But there is nothing wrong with this. Pets make life more meaningful and beautiful. 

[mmKay]

I adopted my inner child, does that count ?

[Vibes]

God forbid, for now at least. I learned a lot by living with my sister's family for a few weeks to know that having kids is like adding layers of limitations, emotional pain, physical burden and responsibilities to your life. That, in bad days. Obviously depends on your emotional mastery and consciousness in a given day...

In good days, you get to take care of someone, teach them, play with them, get a companion, be around Innocence and openness, and also to learn by observation...

For me right now is not worth the pain, as I can spend time (not too much) with nephews and get the good and not too much of the bad of children.

Edited January 8 by Vibes

[Aaron p]

i have had billions of children, i release them into the world at a rate of around 250 million once every 24-48 hours 

Edited January 8 by Aaron p

[RightHand]

24 minutes ago, Aaron p said:

i have had billions of children, i release them into the world at a rate of around 250 million once every 24-48 hours 

Welcum to the world

[Aaron p]

@RightHand LOL

 

 

I NEED MORE PPAAAWWAAAAA

Edited January 8 by Aaron p

[Siedah]

I have two - primary school age :-)

[Yimpa]

7 minutes ago, Siedah said:

I have two - primary school age :-)

Are they twins?

[leebus99]

I'm 36 with two kids, 6 and 4. 

Having children was the most growth inducing thing I've ever done. The experience, coupled with Covid and career failure totally broke me and I had no choice but to remake myself into something completely different. If I never had kids, I'd still be stuck neck deep in stage orange wealth/success obsessions and living a boring and empty life.

[DocWatts]

@Leo Gura I imagine that a poll would be more precise - but I do not have kids (I'm 37 if that's at all relevant or helpful). 

As an aside, I'm genuinely baffled as to how anyone in the United States who's not in the top quarter or so of the income bracket can afford to have kids.

Not an antinatalist by any means, but I would pause to consider the ethics of bringing a kid into the social upheaval we're likely to experience over the next few decades - between a collapsing middle class, a global resurgence of fascism, and the chaos of accelerating climate change, my expectation is for things to get much worse before they get better.

Edited Thursday at 11:05 PM by DocWatts

[Yimpa]

4 hours ago, leebus99 said:

I'm 36 with two kids, 6 and 4. 

Having children was the most growth inducing thing I've ever done. The experience, coupled with Covid and career failure totally broke me and I had no choice but to remake myself into something completely different.

What was your experience like raising a toddler and welcoming a new baby during the pandemic? And what helped you get through that intense time?

[leebus99]

6 hours ago, Yimpa said:

What was your experience like raising a toddler and welcoming a new baby during the pandemic? And what helped you get through that intense time?

Great question. It was absolutely awful to be honest. Being cut off completely from our support network was really difficult. I worked from home throughout the whole pandemic, so it felt like the 4 of us were imprisoned in our house most of the time.

The care from the hospital during the pregnancy was poor, and the limited appointments we did have my wife had to go on her own, including scans. They also decided my wife had gestational diabetes very late in the pregnancy, using a method that doesn't really make sense, so then wanted to induce her and messed us around with that, so the end stage of the pregnancy was tough. My really good friends who had a baby due a few weeks later ended up losing her during childbirth because complications had been missed during the pregnancy due to the poor care. It was definitely a terrible time to have young kids for a lot of people. After my son was born we started seeing our parents in a 'bubble', and that certainly made things a bit easier.

In terms of what helped me get through it all, very little to be honest! I really didn't cope very well at all. Sleep deprivation hit hard, because neither of our kids were sleeping for months. Eventually in early 2021 it all got to boiling point and I ended up going off work with stress. I had a couple of months off, started counselling then changed jobs. I just didn't have the right skills, knowledge or coping strategies to deal with all of that stuff hitting me at the same time. Once the 'dust had settled' I decided I would never let myself get in such a hole ever again, so started my self-improvement journey. Got into meditation and Buddhism, and through that found Actualized.org. Fast forward 4 years I'm now retraining to become a therapist, and I'm a very different person to who I was pre-Covid/pre-Kids.

[IronFoot]

No kids. Don’t plan on reproducing. When I’m more financially secure I plan to adopt if possible though. 

[Leo Gura]

On 1/16/2025 at 2:35 PM, DocWatts said:

@Leo Gura I imagine that a poll would be more precise - but I do not have kids (I'm 37 if that's at all relevant or helpful). 

As an aside, I'm genuinely baffled as to how anyone in the United States who's not in the top quarter or so of the income bracket can afford to have kids.

Not an antinatalist by any means, but I would pause to consider the ethics of bringing a kid into the social upheaval we're likely to experience over the next few decades - between a collapsing middle class, a global resurgence of fascism, and the chaos of accelerating climate change, my expectation is for things to get much worse before they get better.

Dude, broke people in Africa and India are having 5 kids at a time. Stop being a crybaby. If humans had your attitude mankind would have never lived past caveman days.

Edited 19 hours ago by Leo Gura

[Leo Gura]

On 1/3/2025 at 8:14 AM, jimwell said:

 But there is nothing wrong with this. Pets make life more meaningful and beautiful. 

Pets are little slaves.

Contemplate on your slaving ways.

Edited 19 hours ago by Leo Gura