It's really hit me that one of my best friends will most likely be off overseas post PhD - quite probably for good. ALL THE SADS.
I'll miss him dearly, and he would be such a rad uncle, it's painful to think he'll miss out on that.
Aside from a few months back there when I was still on a post-travel high, for most of my 20s I've been sure I wanted kids. That's really ramped up in the past few months. I can only assume it's largely driven by the ever growing number of people around me getting pregnant and having babies - we're entering that phase in life, I suppose.
I ain't got baby fever yet ... but to be quite honest, if our circumstances were different, I think I'd be just about ready to try. (Cannot believe I just admitted that.) It is so weird - like a switch flipped almost overnight.
But it'll have to wait till we get many practicalities ironed out, which is still a while away, since I like being free of money stress a shitload more than I like, well, just about anything else in life. (Yes, I know, there will never be a good time to have kids, but right now is definitely down the bottom of the charts. Regular readers know.)
I wholly believe reproducing is a privilege, not a right. That said, I was pretty horrified to realise that New Zealand does pretty poorly on the paid parental leave front - some other countries put us to shame.
Here, to the best of my research, are the parental allowances for NZ, Australia, UK and Canada compared. It's all super confusing, so any corrections/clarifications gratefully accepted.
** I don't know any women here who haven't taken at least a full year off The older I get the more I realise NZ doesn't actually do very well on this whole welfare state thing. But I've known that ever since 2009, when T's employer went out of business. I was a student making maybe $15-20k a year between student allowance and work, absolutely nothing in a city like Auckland, yet he couldn't get unemployment. There was no way I could support a partner too on that kind of money, but basically if one person is working at all, the other is SOL. (Thankfully he got a sympathetic case manager and something was worked out.)
Anyway, circling back to my original point... The prospect of kids is still terrifying in oh so many ways. But I'm starting to feel ready to tackle it. If nothing else, this was oddly reassuring.
Choose both. Choose the career AND choose the baby. Don't put off one for the other. Choose both now and later and accept that you'll be juggling for years no matter what you do. Even if you never have a career, you're going to feel like you're juggling. Parents juggle. Why not juggle things you love? Sure, you'll have to work hard and make some sacrifices. Accept it and move forward.
The hysteria around these choices is off the charts. People will say, "Oh lots of parents regret having kids, they just don't tell you about it." Or "Working women are miserable" or "Kids with working mothers are anxious and unhappy" or "Kids will destroy your career" or "If you can't give your children every ounce of your energy you shouldn't have kids at all" or "You can't be a real artist and have kids" and all kinds of other completely black-and-white, fearful, conflicted nonsense. I'm not inside other people's heads, but the close friends I have who are in good marriages (like yours) and have kids AND engaging careers are some of the happiest people I know.
