Decision Pathways

I don’t have children - I plan on having children.

Those familiar know I’m a guy who loves kids. If I said 10 years ago that I’d be 31 without kids I would’ve laughed in your face. Does it bother me? No it doesn’t. I think society puts an incredible amount of undo-pressure on people to have kids whether they are individually “ready” or not…

Let me stop at the “ready” comment as I could run off on a tangent. So what’s my point then?

Well, we’ve established I don’t have kids but that doesn’t mean I don’t think about my future family. Raising my kids in a generation, A Society of Bubble Wrap, is one that seriously concerns me, as we all know.

It scares me to know the idea of letting your kids just leave the house on a bike, gasp, sans helmet, is considered DYFS worthy.

It scares me to know that some school systems frown upon competitive games where one kid might, gasp, be deemed a “loser.”

It scares me to know that parents judge other parents over things like, gasp, what daycare your child may attend.

(Note: As we see, I’m guilty of judging parents just like you. Everyone judges. I’m not claiming to be above it)

It scares me to know I’ll inevitably have to debate with other judgmental parents the merits of raising my child, gasp, sans-dairy once they are off the B’.

I’m not sure this blog is headed in the direction intended.

Getting back to the things about parenting I’m scared of – the moral of the story is that when the wife and I do decide to have children I look forward to raising them the way we want to raise them. Not the way society deems appropriate. The cliché saying is that there is no right or wrong to parenting. As friends and family in my life have kids I see that truth shining brightly.

No two parents are alike. No decision is 100% the right one. No decision is 100% the wrong one. It’s personal. It’s private. Most importantly – it’s yours to make.

As a parent, we make our decisions every day and we set our kids on decision pathways. – Crossfit Lisbeth