Children

Note: Two blogs posted today.

I was pondering this morning, in my sleep-deprived state, why we have children, why we want more children, and why we think our childless friends should experience children. Considering the rough nights we’ve had lately, I thought that maybe my evil side was wanting to make everybody else suffer as much as I have. Bwa-ha-ha!!! There really is something satisfying about the idea of making somebody else go through the same struggles you are trapped into.

But I think that the more enduring drive behind this idea that we should have more kids and so should everybody else is what children give to you. What children give back is pretty impossible to put into words. It has to do with living for something bigger than yourself. Their needs are more important than yours (and only you can meet them). They will impact the world in a permanent and significant way (for good or for ill). They have everything in the world to learn (and you are their primary teachers). And there is nothing, nothing, nothing that can make your heart beat or your chest swell, or your breath catch or your life full like your own children.