Should I have a baby? Am I ready?

I just found this advice given to a woman who was asking the question should I have a baby? She wasn't feeling ready yet. It's a common thing that I hear from my clients. How do I know whether I am ready to have a child or not?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I thought much of the advice was good, but I got snagged on the "unconditional love" part. Babies and toddlers "need," they don't "love." And teenagers often can't stand their parents, are embarrassed by them, and really kind of just wish they'd go away (even if we do technically love them by this point).

I do think that as we enter into adulthood, we finally see our parents as people, as individuals we come to truly love and care about, but the "unconditional love" sounds a bit like a fantasy. (Don't get me wrong - I'm neither anti-parent nor anti-child; I just bristle at the softened lens.)
Beth said…
Yes, that's an interesting point Sylvia - I guess it's that thing that we can love people without putting conditions on that love. So we might really be annoyed at our parents or siblings or friends - we might disapprove of things people do and even cut ties with them (I'm thinking about people who are alcholic for instance) but we can still love them inside.

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