Anonymous wrote:Here is what a typical 30-something will expect of her husband:
- Time: especially when she has her first baby. She’ll expect you to be there for everything and love it as much as a first-time parent. Take your turns with late nights. Take paternity leave to take care of her and the baby. Keep a quiet house - under no circumstances should your teenagers invite other noisy teens over with a new baby.
- 50/50 parenting and housework: nothing and no one else will absolve you of your responsibility to do half. If you have something with older kids one night or weekend, be prepared to give her a night or weekend off, too.
- hanging out with other families with babies. Your wife will need to build a social network of friends in your new life stage. You need to be a part of it.
- Don’t shortchange your wife and new kids financially, physically, or emotionally.
If you're rational and love or care about the woman you're dating, you realize you can't meet her expectations and should get out of the way so she can find someone who doesn't already have kids and an ex-wife.
Anonymous wrote:OP here. I do not understand how me having another child will impact my relationship with my current kids. Nothing will change. From the start I told my girlfriend that my kids are very important to me. I have had to cancel dates with her and I also do not see her as much as I want to because i value my time with my kids. The assumption that I will just give up on them is strange to me. I love my children.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP here. I do not understand how me having another child will impact my relationship with my current kids. Nothing will change. From the start I told my girlfriend that my kids are very important to me. I have had to cancel dates with her and I also do not see her as much as I want to because i value my time with my kids. The assumption that I will just give up on them is strange to me. I love my children.
This is magical thinking. It is normal early in a relationship, but it's not sustainable and it's not helping you make good choices.
Think about your day-to-day life when your kids are with you. When do you wake up? What do they do? What activities do they have? How does dinner go? How does bedtime go? What do the weekends look like? Do they invite friends over? Do you take them to soccer practice? Swim team? Do you go downtown and hit a museum?
Now add an infant/toddler/preschooler to that routine. What does it look like now? What do meals look like? Can you still coach their soccer team with a toddler on the sidelines? Can you take that trip to Calgary to see the rodeo that you always promised them you would all do when they were bigger? Can they still have friends over, or are you worried they will wake up the baby?
I believe you are smart enough to do the math here, but the idea that nothing would change is just silly.
I am not OP. But there are women in the same exact scenario as OP. Can those women do everything you have asked?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Lol this thread is confirmation that divorced men in their 40s are damaged goods and f***ked. Man the attacks on this guy just for saying he is willing to have another child wow
I don't think divorced men in their 40s are damaged goods. I think a guy who swings back and forth on wanting kids in his late 40s, and whose current opinion is based on being d*ckmatized by a younger GF, is damaged goods and needs to think long and hard before wasting the GF's time.
So what should such men do? I guess #1 they should not remarry because they have small kids. What else should they do?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP here. I do not understand how me having another child will impact my relationship with my current kids. Nothing will change. From the start I told my girlfriend that my kids are very important to me. I have had to cancel dates with her and I also do not see her as much as I want to because i value my time with my kids. The assumption that I will just give up on them is strange to me. I love my children.
This is magical thinking. It is normal early in a relationship, but it's not sustainable and it's not helping you make good choices.
Think about your day-to-day life when your kids are with you. When do you wake up? What do they do? What activities do they have? How does dinner go? How does bedtime go? What do the weekends look like? Do they invite friends over? Do you take them to soccer practice? Swim team? Do you go downtown and hit a museum?
Now add an infant/toddler/preschooler to that routine. What does it look like now? What do meals look like? Can you still coach their soccer team with a toddler on the sidelines? Can you take that trip to Calgary to see the rodeo that you always promised them you would all do when they were bigger? Can they still have friends over, or are you worried they will wake up the baby?
I believe you are smart enough to do the math here, but the idea that nothing would change is just silly.
Anonymous wrote:OP here. I do not understand how me having another child will impact my relationship with my current kids. Nothing will change. From the start I told my girlfriend that my kids are very important to me. I have had to cancel dates with her and I also do not see her as much as I want to because i value my time with my kids. The assumption that I will just give up on them is strange to me. I love my children.
Anonymous wrote:OP here. I do not understand how me having another child will impact my relationship with my current kids. Nothing will change. From the start I told my girlfriend that my kids are very important to me. I have had to cancel dates with her and I also do not see her as much as I want to because i value my time with my kids. The assumption that I will just give up on them is strange to me. I love my children.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Lol this thread is confirmation that divorced men in their 40s are damaged goods and f***ked. Man the attacks on this guy just for saying he is willing to have another child wow
I don't think divorced men in their 40s are damaged goods. I think a guy who swings back and forth on wanting kids in his late 40s, and whose current opinion is based on being d*ckmatized by a younger GF, is damaged goods and needs to think long and hard before wasting the GF's time.
Anonymous wrote:Lol this thread is confirmation that divorced men in their 40s are damaged goods and f***ked. Man the attacks on this guy just for saying he is willing to have another child wow
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m a woman, and no bitterness or jealousy is causing me to feel creeped out by your post. You seem to be acting on impulse and not thinking clearly. Every child deserves careful consideration, and keep in mind that situations change….one of your children may have increased needs and you may struggle to provide if torn between two families. Please - Do right by the kids you currently have and wait and see if girlfriend situation stands the test of time. Don’t be a deadbeat or get into a situation where girlfriend takes all.
You make valid points. However these same issues you are raising people do not apply them to women. When it comes to remarrying or having more children post divorce on this forum for strange reasons it's always the men who are told to pause and think about it.
Last month I attended a wedding for a woman who was 48 with 2 kids. I believe they were 7 and 9. It was her second marriage. I don't know if the guy had kids nor do I know his age but he looks much younger. She probably had to wrestle with the same questions as you OP. I wish them luck that's all I can say. Some of the comments here have a hint of jealousy or mistrust not sure how to characterize it. But when people are saying you should focus on your current kids over your own happiness they will not put it the same way if you were the ex wife. It seems as if by default people assume when men remarry they will simply abandon and/or neglect their first kids.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP here again. I am not worried about the financials. I am paying child support and my kids are not lacking anything nor will I neglect them if I have another child. As I said it is not my intention to remarry and have more kids but I really love my current girlfriend and if she says she wants to marry because she wants a child I would do it. But of course I am worried being a new dad all over again as I am entering my 50s.
So you’ve got at best a little over a year of college saved for your children at today’s cost and you are already thinking about starting a new family? Grow up. You sound like a troll or a loser.
No wonder colleges are increasing tuition yearly at an absurd rate with these kind of parents saying and accepting that $100k per year is normal age aye
I’m not saying it should be 100k per year but 100k in total is not much