Do you wish you'd had kids earlier?
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Anonymous
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married at 37
pregnant on my honeymoon first at 38 second at 42 It is what it is. |
Anonymous
That's nice. |
Anonymous
I am similar. Had my first at 28 and then the 2nd at 30. My own parents were older when they had me (40+) and I always equated that with their low energy and how frail they are. Also how short they would get when plans went awry (changing majors, moving to a town a little further north, dating someone outside my race, etc- these all caused my parents major major anguish). But now that I'm older and wiser  I realize it was most likely not due to age that my parents were like this... It was their personality!!! Still, they did the best they could. What does make me sad however is that they would never be able to take care of their grandchildren because they are too frail 
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Anonymous
It's also the best age to get an advanced degree and launch your career. But I'm sure you already knew that. |
Anonymous
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I married my college sweetheart at 21. Had my first at 23 and my second at 26. My kids are now 10 and 13 and I wouldn't have done anything differently. I have loved being a young mom, and I really value the fact that my kids have the chance to be really close with their grandparents and great grandparents. They even had two great-great-grandmothers for several years.
I'll be 44 when the youngest leaves for college, and dh and I will have another 40 years or so to enjoy the rest of our lives. Was it more difficult to start my career later? A little. And we have a more modest home than we would have had if we had waited longer to have kids, but we were ready and we decided that was not our priority. It's definitely a different path than most around here choose, but we have no regrets. |
Anonymous
Husband |
Anonymous
| Yes. I had all three of mine between 35-39. I wish I had them between 30-35 or even started in my late 20s. This is morbid, but I always think how old I will be when they are X years old. I hate the fact that I will in my 80s when my daughter is my age. Ugh. My Mom is in her mid-60s and I can't imagine and I know I need her as much as ever. I also worry that I will be a burden on my children when they will be raising their own kids. On the plus side, we are much better off financially and our kids have a lot more opportunities now than they would have had. That really doesn't make up for it though. |
Anonymous
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Started at 26 and no regrets. Like a PP, was a federal worker. Career didn't take a hit at all and I had job security so the fear of stepping out for extended ML wasn't there. We live abroad now and attend a nice private, but we'll happily return to public schools once we're back in DC. I was one of the first in my circle, but most of my friends had kids between 29-32. DC just fit naturally into the family and my mom and grandmother are her two favorite people.
Pros and cons at any age. Late 20s is not too young for motherhood. |
Anonymous
| First at 29, second at 31. We had already lived internationally and traveled plenty. I think timing was pretty good. |