Was wondering today about reasons to have children.
Before coming up with my own list, I did a quick Google search and decided to cut and past what others have said. Yes, yes, I know it's not creative or original. I just am busy, and find it easier to have it all in one place... I'm not saying I agree with all the below points, but I haven't time to cut out the bits I don't like...
http://www.playagaingames.com/interesting/children
- They're cute. In fact, your own child is adorable. Every sigh, every laugh, every motion is bliss. You fall in love with them.
- Re-experiencing childhood. Regardless of how good your own childhood was, your child allows you to vicariously relive childhood. Usually it's much better the second time around, when you have all the wisdom of age but can enjoy the energy of youth. Playing with a two-year-old feels like being two years old again.
- Learning. Watching your child learn is fascinating and fun. Each new skill or idea or word learned is a little victory. If you watch carefully, you will see that something new is discovered or conquered every single day. Your child will need to learn a lot from you, as he or she starts without much knowledge at all except for perfect sense of his or her feelings. While you are busy teaching your child about practical aspects of the world, your child will be teaching you emotional sensitivity. The active teaching and learning process is rewarding and fulfilling.
- Reflection. Everything that you already can do probably take for granted, but your child will remind you that all those skills had to be learned. It reminds you of how far you have come in life, and shows you the sorts of difficulties you probably had when you were your child's age. Your child will also notice things that you have long since filtered out. I didn't realize how many birds there were outside my house until my daughter showed me.
- Reincarnation. Your genetic makeup is a small part of your identity. More important are your ideas, beliefs, manners, and stories. All of these things will be taken up by your child and then changed around. Your child will never be a clone of yourself, fortunately, but instead will be a new variation of you and the other people that raise him or her. If you like yourself then this is very satisfying.
- Socializing. Every society has a subculture for people who raise children. At every age you can find people also raising a child in a similar situation. You can make many new friends with whom you have a lot in common. The comradely and shared experiences ease some difficulties.
- Control. You must not tell other people how to raise their own children. However, if you raise your own child, you get to do it your way, which you presumably believe is the right way. People might disagree with your methods, but if you have thought at great length about it--and you should if you plan on having a child--then you probably have good reasons for all the decisions you will have to make. When you find that your methods are not perfect, which you will, you can change them appropriately.
- Adoption. There are lots of children in the world without parents. Adopting a child is an excellent way to greatly improve the life of someone who would have a very hard time otherwise.
- Entertainment. Children have lots of energy and can be lots of fun. They develop imaginations, a sense of humor, and lots of excitement. Little kid laughs are infectious. Playing with children is very enjoyable.
- Love. You are the center of your child's world, and as much as you may love and need your child, he or she will love you more. Children that are shown love and affection show it back many times over.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061220104247AAaVMAZ
posted by BUSY
- You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.
- The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.
- You respect your parents and love them in a new way.
- You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.
- You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.
- Every day is a surprise.
- Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)
- You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.
- You become a morning person.
- Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.
- You finally realize that true joy doesn't come from material wealth
- You don't mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night
- You discover an inner strength you never thought you
- You realize that you can love a complete stranger
also from Yahoo answers, by Wildcat9
The joys of having a raising a child are unmeasureable! First, it
changes the whole way you percieve life. Now, I have someone who needs
me and watches every move I make. I am their whole world. I can show
them and teach them. I get to watch every little discovery along the
way, which is pure joy. Then, I am the one they turn to when they need
something. My kiss can fix anything, in their eyes. The responsiblities
are tremendous, but the joys outweigh any kind of doubt or pain or
worry. My children will be my legacy in life. What I teach them they
will carry forever, pass on to their own children, and hopefully make
the world a better place to live in. As far as handicapped children,
one of mine is. she wears a prosthetic leg. First, she is not
handicapped, she is handicapable! Second, a child with special needs
somehow teaches you more than you ever knew you could learn. Those
children, are the happiest children you will find. They don't care
about why they are different, and sometimes they don't even notice. But
they are happy and it spreads to others. I understand that having a
child with special needs is difficult, but it is a joy as well. I would
not trade any of my children for an easier day or a less hectic one. I
hope this tells you how I feel. Children are the world's future, and as
parents, we get to shape that future. It is an awsome thing.
http://domestic-vocation.blogspot.com/2007/10/another-40-reasons-to-have-children.html
1. You can't understand unconditional love until you look at the trusting eyes of your infant.
2. "I love you" takes on a whole new meaning.
3. Sudden bravery: timid women can suddenly become bears in defense of their babies!
4. Realizing that God has entrusted a living soul to you and your husband!
5. Realizing that God has not left you alone to tend that soul.
6. Tiny fingers grasping yours as you feed her in the middle of the dark, silent night.
7. Piles of drawings and love notes that say things like "I LOVE YOU MOMMY LOVES LITTLE GIRL" - and having them taped up around the computer, all over the bedroom, in the bathrooms, in the hallways...
8. Priceless art looks a lot like crayon on computer paper instead of oil on canvas.
9. You really don't need those shoes as much as the growing-like-a-weed children! And you suddenly find that you don't mind having ratty old sneakers.
10. Your children are ready to call and complain to Wal Mart that they cannot nominate you for Teacher of the Year because you homeschool.
11. Soft baby skin against your own.
12. That sweaty spot under your chin that comes from the baby falling asleep on your chest while you were dozing.
13. Remember how great it was the first time you received Holy Communion/went to Disney World/sat on Santa's lap/grew something in the garden/rode your bike without training wheels/sat on a horse alone/jumped a wave at the beach? It's junk compared to watching your children experience the same childhood joys for the first time! (Who would have thunk that the character parade at Disney World was a cause for tears??)
14. You don't have to feel guilty for singing Veggie Tales songs.
15. You also don't feel guilty any more for reading The Giving Tree again and again.
16. You get to read all the children's books you missed the first time around!
17. Your children think you are the prettiest woman in the world.
18. They also think you are the best artist in the world.
19. You suddenly appreciate your own parents much more and realize that they weren't really too strict most of the time.
20. Cuddling under a big fleece blanket while watching movies together.
21. Remembering why it's fun to play in the snow.
22. Listening to their prayers.
23. Watching them do a silent acting show where they dress up to be Indians and take turns hunting and then use the stuffed puppy dog as a "deer" because they have no stuffed deer and then they gut the stuffed puppy and roast it on a spit that is actually a stick-horse and then proceed to eat it but that is not as funny as when they decide that the deer should be bigger so the younger daughter becomes the deer and gets shot with an arrow and gutted and eaten in the second act and you have to control yourself and not laugh too much or pee yourself because that will only serve to embarrass them. (shhhhhh...don't tell them I told you that)
24. Little smiles that light up the entire world.
25. When you add more children to your family, the love mulitplies - not divides.
26. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other big holidays would be very lonely if you didn't have anyone to share it with.
27. Your mundane childhood is so much more interesting to your children than it is to you.
28. Laundry was never as fun as it was when I was folding those teeny, tiny clothes - especially the socks!
29. First steps.
30. Birthday parties at your house where you have Yard Olympics and the kids have to do a relay race and run in Dad's boxer shorts and T-shirts.
31. Realizing that a party in the park or a party where kids trip um, run in Dad's boxer shorts is actually at least as much fun (if not more) than the party with the juggler or the magician.
32. Watching them win at sports. (Or watching them lose with grace.)
33. Your husband is never as manly as he is when he is being Daddy with the kids.
34. Your dream vacations actually consist of doing things with your family instead of sunning yourself on a beach alone with your husband. And you don't care. You actually like it better.
35. Your husband becomes the strongest man in the world, and your daughter tells you that if he weren't already married to you, she'd marry her Daddy. Because he is perfect. (Which you always suspected, anyway.)
36. When your husband travels for work, you've got plenty of company!
37. What other reason do you have to read Beatrix Potter books out loud?
38. You get to skip through Wal Mart's parking lot while singing "Here We Go Looby-Loo."
39. You get to watch your husband skip through Wal Mart's parking lot. (No singing.)
40. Some day, when you are old and gray, little babies will come and visit you again, brought to you by the very same people who were once so small and tiny. And you'll get to experience so much of this list again. And, if you are blessed with a long life, again with your great-grandchildren.
http://karenedmisten.blogspot.com/2007/10/40-reasons-to-have-kids.html
40 Reasons to Have Kids.
(loosely based on her 40 reasons not to ....)
1. Desiring children with the man you love is as natural as breathing.
2.
The experience of delivering a new life to the world is singularly
exhilarating. If you fear pain, there's this lovely thing called an
epidural.
3. Breastfeeding: it's not only economical, efficient,
and good for the baby, but it releases hormones that relax and calm
both mother and child, lulling both of you to sleep. Who wouldn't want
a natural nap-inducer?
4. The world doesn't revolve around me and my daily desires.
5. Every human being has dignity and worth.
6.
A child is an unbreakable bond between husband and wife. Love breeds
love. And more love. And more. There's nothing more desirable than the
father of your children.
7. A couple becomes a family -- the whole becomes greater than its parts.
8. Having a child is a cooperation with the sacred.
9.
Children are some of the most charming little people I know: full of
wonder, curiosity and innate kindness. Properly nurtured, they become
equally charming adults.
10. You get to read all the favorite books of your childhood all over again.
11. Children naturally grasp the lesson that people are more important than things.
12. Children teach us the freedom that comes with self-discipline and self-sacrifice.
13. The biggest drudgery is facing no one but myself day after day.
14. I am not ideal ... why should I expect my children to be? Kids teach us the joy of unconditional love and acceptance.
15.
I will inevitably disappoint my children because I am not perfect. But,
along the way, I'll be able to teach them that -- while nothing on this
side of heaven is perfect -- the journey and the perfection that awaits
us are worth every moment of trial on earth.
16. To remain or become a self-centered, self-enclosed egotist: what horror!
17. Taking time to care for the gifts I've been given ... yes, thank you.
18. Motherhood is a vocation: fulfilling, rewarding, and full of unpredictable surprises.
19. Families: they are a reflection of the Trinity.
20. Relive childhood and all of its innocent wonder and mirth.
21. To persist in saying "me first" is a sign of immaturity.
22. A child will ignite the fond memories of your own childhood.
23.
While you cannot ensure that your child will be happy 100% of the time,
the desire for her happiness is a good, admirable and unselfish thing.
24. The enchantment of being with one's children outweighs any and all other difficulties.
25. If you worry about sending them off to school, homeschooling is a delightful, intellectually stimulating option.
26. Do something to change the world. Have a child. Raise a saint.
27. Revel in the simplicity of a child's unconditional love and trust.
28. Parenting will soften your hard edges and sharpen your compassion and empathy.
29. Motherhood is an insight into one's soul. It's better than analysis.
30. Success is not defined only in terms of what one does for money. To succeed as a mother is beyond worldly success.
31.
When your husband becomes the father of your children, a new man
appears: fiercely loving but practical and still-logical, nurturing but
fiercely strong and protective. You will fall in love with him all over
again.
32. The child to whom you give life may be the one to fight the culture of death and the notion of a brave new world.
33. "How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers." -- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
34.
Children whittle away your time in ways that are ultimately beneficial:
they have an uncanny knack for getting rid of the meaningless hobbies
that used to consume you.
35. Watching a child grow into a caring, sensitive soul is a reward that cannot be measured in book sales.
36. It's an awe-inspiring thing to have a child and the experience of feeling, "I didn't think I could ever love anyone that much."
37.
Already have a child? Have another. Siblings are the best birthday
presents, Christmas presents, Father's Day presents, Arbor Day presents
....
38. Baby toes. Need I say more?
39. Okay, I'll say more. Watching your baby sleep: You didn't know that angels could be held in your arms.
40. Worried about money? What's worth more than a soul?
