Do you regret having kids? Anonymous poll.

[sherbanator]

I'm curious if more people will answer knowing they can't be judged.

[sherbanator]

lol

[noodleskooze]

I only regret not saving more money first. Haha

[tisevee]

No - mobile app response

[lilybug]

No.

#1 was unplanned, and their dad ended up being a slimy dickhole who needs to fall of the face of the planet, but if I went back in time, I would absolutely make the same questionable decisions all over again so that I could have my boys.

[sawyerthedestroyer]

[Deleted]

Jan 4, 2014 15:03:20 GMT -5 @scottydeux said:

Jan 4, 2014 14:54:05 GMT -5 kevin arnold said:

I'm pretty sure my unborn children will regret if I were to birth them.

lies

Apparently having a pretty, nice and funny mom would be regrettable, lol. 

[aussiecrush]

I answered in the other thread but not the poll. I did for a time, months, last year. I never stopped loving them but things were so hard I couldn't see the good times for all the bad. We got a lot of help and in time I came to realize how fortunate I am to be their mom. Their SPD diagnosis forced me to change my idea of what parenting and "normal" look like and I'm better for it.

[WOT?*]

There are times (many) when I regret having four rather than one or two. But since I can't decide which one to get rid of and they're all good kids (despite the angst and headaches they give me, I do love the little turds). My major regret is having them so young and so close together. The youngers never got the time they deserved from me.  And it was financially and familially devastating to not have waited, as it turned out.

[pinkeggs]

For awhile I regretted having them so close together (they are 19 months apart and yes, we planned it that way). My second was a terribly colicky baby and I felt like my first got screwed that year. Also, we ended up moving back to where we had been previously, and if we had waited, I could have gone back to my same doctor and amazing hospital as my first.

I like having them close together now because they play so well together and there is a certain relief to being done with the hard babyhood stuff. I've never regretted having them overall, but I might have done things differently in terms of timing.

[ohgillian]

I clicked "no" because I regret them less than 50% of the time. But probably around 20%. The ladies on MMM can tell you that I often find our lives to be a miserable existence. It's frequently awful.

[lys]

. I think I would have missed out an a big part of life if I did not have my children. I have no regrets about becoming a parent.

[sonrisa]

Jan 4, 2014 14:57:37 GMT -5 @scottydeux said:

I am curious to know who answered 'yes' and why. I am not the type to crucify people over regrets. I feel for the people that do. It's good to see an overwhelming amount of happiness.

I think it is less common for our generation and board than previous generations or other cohorts. 

I have a handful of friends from law school whose mothers had confessed some regret to them. I think women who married in the 60s and early 70s felt like motherhood was part life rather than optional or had partners who felt that way. (I don't think it was coincidence that their daughters were professionally ambitious and wary of marriage and children. Of those friends, the decision to have kids themselves tended to come later in life if at all.)

On this board we have primarily married women, many of whom entered motherhood by choice and at their chosen time. While we can all regret choices we've made, starting from the position where you feel ready to have kids and/or have a supportive partner is a huge advantage.