I do not regret it, I had my first child at 21 and the second at 24 and I can say that I am happy with them but something that I do regret is not to see I started working from a very young age to have a better job right now at my age and give you all I see my friends who are just beginning to get tired and the fatigue they have is not similar to what I had when I was young.

Anonymous wrote:Had first at 29 so I barely qualify, but honestly this is a terrific route to take. As long as you are stable enough in those years financially, it’s the best route in my opinion. Then you get to enjoy them as adults for longer, and you are freed up to do your own thing by your mid to late 40s.

This. Plus, hopefully the kids are away before you have to go into parent-care mode, and it increases the likelihood of being a youngish grandparent and being able to actually help and enjoy for more years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Free as a BIRD! A frickin' BIRD, I TELL YOU! Bye bye kiddies see you at Thanksgiving. Life is great.

I'm surprised by that sentiment. Is that because having kids when young and unsettled and raising them during the difficult career years was so tough that your primarily feeling of seeing them go is relief?

Well no, it's because raising teenagers can be stressful, and we have three, and they've been home during the pandemic when they would rather be at college and with their friends. So it's been a tough year of parenting and having a full house when I wasn't expecting it. They very much want to go back to college and I very much want them to go for their sakes as well as mine.

The time when they were young wasn't so bad. I was SAHM for the earliest years (daycare for a toddler and surprise twins being so expensive), then got back into my career in a gradual way. It definitely helps that I picked a family-friendly job. Financially we've never been wealthy, especially with unexpected twins, but I'm good with budgets and have modest tastes anyway, and we have the next 20 years of both of our careers to pay for college and save for retirement.

Do you think Gen X invented having kids in their 20s? I'm a millennial and most of my friends had kids in their 20s.

Had first at 29 so I barely qualify, but honestly this is a terrific route to take. As long as you are stable enough in those years financially, it’s the best route in my opinion. Then you get to enjoy them as adults for longer, and you are freed up to do your own thing by your mid to late 40s.

I have no regrets. I had my kids very early 30s and I am really enjoying the teen years now. I tend to feel sorry for my peers with young kids at my age.

I got married in my 20s and had both kids by 30. They are now just all out of the house and I'm loving it a lot more than I thought. We are still in our 40s and having fun!

Anonymous wrote:Free as a BIRD! A frickin' BIRD, I TELL YOU! Bye bye kiddies see you at Thanksgiving. Life is great.

I'm surprised by that sentiment. Is that because having kids when young and unsettled and raising them during the difficult career years was so tough that your primarily feeling of seeing them go is relief?

My sibling fits that profile, and we had ours in our mid to late 30s (both Gen X). It was just the way our lives turned out. Neither of specifically said I want to have kids early/late. We are all happy to have them at all, and neither could have or would have done it differently. Both situations have plusses and minuses, and they don't balance out in any materially better or worse way.

Free as a BIRD! A frickin' BIRD, I TELL YOU! Bye bye kiddies see you at Thanksgiving. Life is great.

No way! Had our first at 27, second at 31. I just turned 45 and the oldest heads to college next year.

I wish we’d married sooner!

Met at 23/24, dated for 3 years, engaged for one.

First DC at 28, last baby at 36!

One college graduate now, one in college and one in HS.

No. Never. DH and I are 54. Our kids are grown and out of the house. They are all doing great living their own lives. I loved having a house full of kids when I was younger. Now…the quiet is bliss.

God no. They're almost outta here and I can see the light at the end of the parenting tunnel. Plenty of time for me, my job, my husband, travel, everything we want. I'm so glad I'm "finding myself" when I'm old enough to appreciate it.

Do you ever regret that and wish you had done it more like the millennials do now (where you focus on just yourself in your twenties and wait until thirties for marriage and children)?