Anonymous wrote:Agree with you OP. I can take or leave kids.

They probably know how you feel.

Agree with you OP. I can take or leave kids.

Anonymous wrote:Adopting a child gave my life purpose. I did a lot of interesting things before, but they all pale in comparison to this. JMHO.

You had no purpose in life before having a child? Pathetic.

Anonymous wrote:I find the comparison of a child and a movie perplexing.

+1. If she finds going to a random movie as fulfilling as having children, then, yes, I do think that's odd.

I actually agree with the title of your post, OP. I'm not sure what the greatest thing in the world would be, but I felt more consumed by and more interested in the minutiae of my dissertation research, for example.

At the same time, I feel a little superstitious about saying the kids aren't the loves of my lives; I would be devastated if something happened to one of them. But, I guess, it wouldn't destroy who I am if they weren't here (if we hadn't had them) in the way losing some of my other pursuits might feel like.

Well, that wasn't very coherent!

Anonymous wrote: I do know many people with unattractive, badly behaved kids who are also doing poorly at school and I wonder if their parents even like their children?

what does the unattractive thing have to do with it?

I do know many people with unattractive, badly behaved kids who are also doing poorly at school and I wonder if their parents even like their children?

Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, can't relate - having kids IS the best thing in the world for me. I love to educate them, and show them the world. Which includes taking them to movies, museums, etc, and getting together with friends and family.

It's not either/or, OP. It's everything!

+1
It's strange to me that OP sees children as separate from everything else. And compares her children to fleeting pleasures. We have a very different outlook.

Sorry, can't relate - having kids IS the best thing in the world for me. I love to educate them, and show them the world. Which includes taking them to movies, museums, etc, and getting together with friends and family.

It's not either/or, OP. It's everything!

there's nothing wrong with loving your job, your glass of wine, your husband, your hobby and your kid.

try getting a babysitter to go out on a date with DH to your restaurants.

You have to make time for those things that matter. Of course your childless friends may pop in and out of the picture now, but you have to make time to include them in your life too.

OP, how old is your child?

I find the comparison of a child and a movie perplexing.

Having children is the best thing in the world when they are zero to three and then again after they have finished college, are getting married and providing grandchildren. The twenty plus years in the middle is a wash with other good things.

Anonymous wrote:I love my child, of course, but love a lot of things... my parents, my friends, traveling, a nice glass of wine, a great book or movie, hearing my song...

I feel strange that being a mom isn't so fulfilling that I don't mind seeing movies or traveling or eating in a good restaurant. I still love all those things a lot!!!

Chime in if parenting is nice but you feel where i am coming from..

Did you think that having a child would make you stop loving your parents, your friends, traveling, a nice glass of wine, a great book or movie, or hearing your song?

Even the most far-gone motherhood cultists don't say, "Having children was so great that now I no longer love my parents!"

Pursue other pursuits. Dear lord. I'm waiting on my coffee to brew. Forgive me.