On Parenthood

Congrats!

3 is tough - you can’t play man-to-man anymore - you’ve got to go to a zone defense.

This is all 100 percent true. But when they are past the age of ten, you will realize they are not worth it.

Congratulations! You just made me LOL on several pieces of your writing.

BTW twins: You have just taken parallel programming to a whole new level, LOL

@Magnayn It’s not a Venn diagram; it’s a pie chart of what babies/children are. Aside from the fact that you once presumably were one of these, it’s not about you.

Jeff, thanks for honest prose, made me laugh and almost shed a tear.
I have a baby daughter a month younger than yours and a 4yo son, and I’ve generally reached the same conclusions as you. Thanks for writing them down!

And congratulations on the twins, double misery and double fun! Or is it squared (^2)?

@moioci No, read my comment again. It is nothing to do with the pie chart.

From the text: “It’s difficult to explain children to people who don’t yet have children”

The word ‘yet’ makes the implication that for those of us who do not have children, it is just a matter of time. I.E: you either have children, or you will have them. This is exclusionary to those of us who neither have, nor plan to have any children.

Congrats! We are having our first, a boy, next February as well. February 21st is the expected date. Reading about your experience unleashes all kinds of thoughts and emotions. I’m looking forward to it.

Congratulations!
As side effect you will notice that the free time will decrease in a non-linear way…

Congrats on the twins! I’m a father of 3 boys, and it’s just as you describe. As I’ve said for a few years, If parenting isn’t the most challenging thing you’ve ever endeavored…you’re not doing it right. :wink:
http://j.mp/p5vB6A

Congrats Jeff! I find my children terrifying and awesome as well. When you have that first one you realize that there is another set of basic priorities that get inserted at the top of the internal list you’ve had, and rarely modified, for your entire life. While you are presumably in love with your wife, she is also someone you’ve had a lengthy relationship with and you’re adults and she’s not perfect (just like you) and that love is a faceted thing. With a baby, it’s pretty straightforward - they’re new to this world and you’re wholly responsible for not letting them die. That first night home from the hospital was the first.

What you’ll find when you have your twins is that the next kids are even more incredible because they’re SO DIFFERENT from the first. Watching the differences develop and comparing to the first actually makes you appreciate the first kid’s uniqueness even more now that you have a reference. That was actually one of my favorite things to see. Enjoy!

Jeff, first of all, congratulations on the twin girls! My wife is due next week and this is our 5th. Yep, we were out numbered a long time ago. Your 51%/49% graph is right on. Glad it’s not just us.

Buckle up for another change. Boys are one thing, but girls… I was just telling my wife last night that our little girl is my weakness. Her cuteness and daintiness makes me melt. I’m looking forward to your future post on how girls are SO different from boys, right from the start. It’s great therapy!

Congratulations Jeff. I think having twins will be an amazing experience for you.

You would be prepare for the transformation of your first child. Two little aliens have came to take over his kingdom. I can tell you from my personal experience that the first two month are going to be very hard, but after that everything will go back to normal :slight_smile:

Congratulations^2!

(I have actually seen that Lost in Translation quote already three times in the past week)

Well written, having a 1 y.o. and a 3 y.o. I’ve experienced the same thing become a parent. Both the wonders of how the slightest smile from your kid can make you feel all warm an fuzzy, and the PITA and frustrations.

About getting a second child (congratulations), I was told this before we got our second child:

When you have your first child, you say to yourself “Wow, what did I do with all that free time I hade when I didn’t have any children?” because your days are now filled with taking care of your baby.

But when you have your second child, you say to yourself “Wow, what did I do with all that free time when I only hade one kid?” because you realize you actually still had a lot of free time with only one kid.

Now, I can’t even imagine what have twins will do to your last remaining free time… :slight_smile:

Excellent article, and even with such a well thought out explanation it still only touches on around 10% of the emotions you go through with children.

No-one ever feels ready for parenthood, but when it happens you realise that only practical preparation is key, and the emotional-side will take care of itself.

Congratulations on the twins, we thought our second may have been twins due to the size of the bump :slight_smile:

Congrats Jeff. Get ready for hell in Feb2012, :smiley: Enjoy…

Congrats, Jeff. And thanks… your description made me mentally relive that time period with my kids, who are now 9 and 13 and equally as fascinating to watch as babies, for entirely different reasons.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Excellent news for your family. Not as good news for your readers. We know you’re not gonna have as much time to write for us anymore. Especially since you’d totally throw us under the bus for your children.

We’re hoping to have some young ones next year and your words only help to inspire me to have them faster. I just can’t wait - it sounds horrible/great!

Great post. I have a 10 week old girl and this post, especially the pie chart, is pretty much spot on.

Oh, and congratulations!

The hardest part of going from 2 to 3 is having to switch to zone defense.

Good luck and congrats!