The Baby Team

While the Mrs. and I were talking about this last night and this morning, she mentioned that it can be pretty lonely having the kid and being abandoned/avoided by those that do not.

It sounds harsh, but it is true. It sucks having this thing you are really proud of and love more than anything, be the reason you are treated diferently.

Kids are weird, man. I don't know how to explore this without sounding preachy, or on a pedestal, but from personal experiences, people with kids see the world the same as they did before, just with a new level of love and joy they never thought possible. We liked who we were before the kid, and we like the same things and the same people, the only thing that has changed is our financial responsibilities and time commitments have shifted somewhat.

Maybe people that don't have kids see you as overly burdened, tired, and tied down. Any personal freedom is lost, and the responsibility of the kid is just so immense that you couldn't possibly have time for anything else. Also, the kid cuts into their personal time because the parents they once knew, are not as footloose and fancy free as they were before?

I dunno. It's a strange subject.

I appreciate Enron and his uncomfortableness with kids, I am the same way, but all you gotta do is spend some time with a kid, or a kids parents, to see that they are not plaguebearers, they are just, you know, kids. I feel a similar way with kids that are older than Wylie. I mean, I know what to expect, and how to treat/interact with a kid 6 months and younger, but any older and I am lost.

Shit man, I made Haylee roll on the ground and cry because I smiled at her while her mom and dad were out of the room, but as soon as you understand that everything a kid does is a phase, and is learning, and anything "bad" that happens is not your fault (within reason) and not permanent (again, within reason) it's easier to take being around them. Hell, you might even ENJOY them!

What am I saying? I don't have a clue.

Jon, care to add anything? I know you were probably closer with Jordan and Yukari before Ian and Maya, but does it mess with you, or bother you now that you are used the the whipper snappers?