Kids

Children are ____.!? Well, children can be many things to a parent at many different times of the day. Previous to my wife being pregnant, I hadn't really planned on kids very early in my life. But I have learned and changed so much in the last three years it may have been worth it. I still feel like the same person I was long ago (so it seems) but I no longer have a free, unbound spirit. That sense of freedom that I once enjoy is no longer there. That is not a bad thing, my daughter (age <2) now seems to evoke within me the greatest happiness. Mostly because she is someone with whom I play. We enjoy rolling around on the floor, walking around the neighborhood, pulling weeds, and rolling balls. She has filled a role in my life, she is my friend, she has made me responsible, she relies on me for basic needs, she relies on me for bounds and rules, she has fun with me, and she looks forward to seeing me when I get home each day. I love her. The feelings I feel are like none that I have ever felt before. I know I am going to get some reaction from long-time parents, but up to this point, we get out of our daughter what we put into our daughter (with a little twist called personality.)
On the other side of the fence, what have I exchanged for the "joy of parenting"? ...A few other things I never really loved (like hours of shopping with my wife), some of the things I thought were ok (like going to parties and meeting new people) and pretty much everything I thought was fun.
It is a fact of life, you need to have kids. Kids keep you sharp and intuitive, they keep you young and fresh, they provide a lifetime of laughs and most of all a never-ending abyss into which you can throw money and watch it disappear.