LEAVE!

[Cognisant]

Having to deal with a kid would terrify me, complete autonomy in a fragile little body that's just fast & strong enough to get itself into trouble and you can never, ever, assume you know what a child is going to do, they're the epitome of unpredictability.

Then again I imagine having a kid would be awesome because you get to enjoy everything a second time vicariously, for example has she eaten ice cream yet, have you told her about dinosaurs, such things have long since lost novelty to us but to her they'll be amazing, take her somewhere she hasn't been before, take her to a modern art gallery (check it out before going) she'll probably ignore most of it, but she'll occasionally stop and silently just look at things (there's no guarantee these things will be art) and in those blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments tremendous things are happening that'll echo subtly for years to come.

 

[SpaceYeti]

Having to deal with a kid would terrify me, complete autonomy in a fragile little body that's just fast & strong enough to get itself into trouble and you can never, ever, assume you know what a child is going to do, they're the epitome of unpredictability.

Unpredictable?! They're more predictable than most adults.

Then again I imagine having a kid would be awesome because you get to enjoy everything a second time vicariously, for example has she eaten ice cream yet, have you told her about dinosaurs, such things have long since lost novelty to us but to her they'll be amazing, take her somewhere she hasn't been before, take her to a modern art gallery (check it out before going) she'll probably ignore most of it, but she'll occasionally stop and silently just look at things (there's no guarantee these things will be art) and in those blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments tremendous things are happening that'll echo subtly for years to come.

My kids are awesome for plenty of reasons. The vicarious enjoyment is cool, though. My daughter's only 7 months old, so I haven't experienced much through her vicariously. However, she's the awesomest girl ever!

 

[BloodCountess88]

I find I can deal with children way more than I can deal with adults. Actually, most of the people who work with my children tell me constantly the hardest part is dealing with parents not the children.

 

[Duxwing]

Still on leave?

-Duxwing

 

[Trebuchet]

Sounds like you were right. She is the most adorable kid in the world. Congratulations, daddy!

 

[Duxwing]

Having to deal with a kid would terrify me, complete autonomy in a fragile little body that's just fast & strong enough to get itself into trouble and you can never, ever, assume you know what a child is going to do, they're the epitome of unpredictability.

Then again I imagine having a kid would be awesome because you get to enjoy everything a second time vicariously, for example has she eaten ice cream yet, have you told her about dinosaurs, such things have long since lost novelty to us but to her they'll be amazing, take her somewhere she hasn't been before, take her to a modern art gallery (check it out before going) she'll probably ignore most of it, but she'll occasionally stop and silently just look at things (there's no guarantee these things will be art) and in those blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments tremendous things are happening that'll echo subtly for years to come.

I feel exactly the same way. Kids are cool, but not worth the effort.

-Duxwing

 

[SpaceYeti]

I find I can deal with children way more than I can deal with adults. Actually, most of the people who work with my children tell me constantly the hardest part is dealing with parents not the children.

Just like I can handle my children no problems, but handling their mother takes effort!

Still on leave?

-Duxwing

*sigh* no.

Sounds like you were right. She is the most adorable kid in the world. Congratulations, daddy!

She is! Thank you!

I feel exactly the same way. Kids are cool, but not worth the effort.

-Duxwing

Pffft, it's more resources than patience they take. Once you have them, you like them enough that dealing with them isn't too draining to be worth it. You just like them that much.

 

[Duxwing]

Just like I can handle my children no problems, but handling their mother takes effort!

Maybe have another one and split off?

*sigh* no.

*hug* That's why they call it "leave," and not "discharge". I hope that you brought plenty of photos and got the most out of those three weeks.

Pffft, it's more resources than patience they take. Once you have them, you like them enough that dealing with them isn't too draining to be worth it. You just like them that much.

So having kids changes you to like raising your kids? In the immortal words of BigApplePi: Holy Macro.

-Duxwing

 

[SpaceYeti]

Maybe have another one and split off?

What?! No way! I'm happy, she's simply difficult for me to understand sometimes!

*hug* That's why they call it "leave," and not "discharge". I hope that you brought plenty of photos and got the most out of those three weeks.

I'm generally more concerned with being with the family than taking photos of it, but I did get a good number of them anyhow.

So having kids changes you to like raising your kids? In the immortal words of BigApplePi: Holy Macro.

-Duxwing

... Yeah. You don't really see it as "raising", you see it as getting to spend time with them. They basically raise themselves, you've just got to keep them in line while they do it.

 

[Duxwing]

What?! No way! I'm happy, she's simply difficult for me to understand sometimes!

Oh. Forgive me.

I'm generally more concerned with being with the family than taking photos of it, but I did get a good number of them anyhow.

Awww!

... Yeah. You don't really see it as "raising", you see it as getting to spend time with them.

What makes your kids more fun than other people's kids? Aren't you just making an arbitrary distinction in the set of all kids? Note: I mean this in the general case, for any set of your kids 'Y' and any equinumerous set of other kids 'O'.

They basically raise themselves, you've just got to keep them in line while they do it.

So I'm a self-assembling, self-programming protoform? Fascinating!

-Duxwing

 

[BloodCountess88]

Yup. hormonal mothers. I remember what it was like, not fun. I have the opposite problem, I don't understand my husband that much as he acts more based on his emotions than me.

Adressing the question, with someone else's kids you have a lot of liability. There are things you can't do or say because "their parents might get offended" and you don't have a lot of choice and control on what they are exposed to.

Your kids, on the other hand, can listen to slayer and dress up as zombies instead of fairies for halloween. You get to pick what they are exposed to, their environment, what values you want to try to instigate on them. Some kids will even tell you "my mommy doesn't like it when people yell, she says they are mean" or some kids are not used to being scared (as in, jumping and say "Boo!" because their parents don't do certain things. My kids are not used to wrestling each other, but they will scare the crap out of you when you turn a corner because I raised them that way and I think it's fun. Just the same way they listen to slayer and metal at home, or the same way we have indoor water fights when it's too hot because I don't care if the couch gets wet ect. When YOU are the parent, you get to picks what you are comfortable with and what you are not.


I come from a household where I couldn't have long hair, couldn't wear black, couldn't listen to "the devil's rock music" and couldn't jump on the bed, let alone get anything wet. My parents got mad at my friend's parents constantly for letting me get dirty and rip my expensive dresses, ect ect. Now that I'm a parent, I get to do what I think kids should do. So my house looks very different.


It is fun and a bit scary to be in charge of a person, to care for them and to raise them. But you get to teach things to this person, I get to teach them my interest and share them with them. Specially when they show they WANT you to teach them or have the same taste, it's magical man.

Yeti, I hope you get to go back soon.

 

[SpaceYeti]

Oh. Forgive me.

Is no problem, yo.

What makes your kids more fun than other people's kids? Aren't you just making an arbitrary distinction in the set of all kids? Note: I mean this in the general case, for any set of your kids 'Y' and any equinumerous set of other kids 'O'.

It's not arbitrary. It's an objective, scientifically verified theory that my kids are just plain better than everyone else's!

Obviously I'm kidding. Of course it's an arbitrary distinction, just like every other thing you like more than other things. However, Blood-who's-it there also has good points. I don't have to do things the way other people do... they're my kids. I can make sure they aren't told "Now take one more bite of your broccoli." just to take one more bite and then tell them to take another. No, I tell my son how much more broccoli he needs to eat until he's excused, I don't tease him with "Now one more... now one more... now one more!"

And my kids don't have to wait to finish one box of cereal before opening another, because I'm paying for this cereal, and I can make sure it won't go to waste, and it's my cereal to waste if I want to.

Take that, Mom!

Edit; And when my wife tells my son to clean up his Lego's, and he goes to his room and cleans up every single Lego, but every other toy and piece of dirt or garbage is ignored and out of place, I can remind my wife not to get mad, because he did exactly what he was told!

So I'm a self-assembling, self-programming protoform? Fascinating!

... Well, yes.

 

[Cognisant]

Unpredictable?! They're more predictable than most adults.

Adults have more complicated behavioural patterns, that's true, which makes them harder to predict but still predictable, whereas children, though behaviourally simple, also tend to make very novel associations and then act upon them.

I'm a little scared of children, because I can never be quite sure what they're thinking.

My parents used to work together in a jewellery store and late one evening after all the other stores had closed they were doing stocktake or something and I was left to run around the empty shopping centre, the whole place was closed and locked up so they figured I couldn't get into any trouble.

Then half a dozen cops showed up

I had been running around from shop to shop waving at motion detectors and banging on the pull-down doors, setting off every single alarm in the building.

My parents were mortified, the cops thought it was hilarious.

 

[Duxwing]

Is no problem, yo.

It's not arbitrary. It's an objective, scientifically verified theory that my kids are just plain better than everyone else's!

Obviously I'm kidding. Of course it's an arbitrary distinction, just like every other thing you like more than other things.

My point wasn't as much about liking them (you'd love them no matter how they came out of your wife or the adoption clinic, I presume) inasmuch as it is about them versus other kids; saying, without much more detail, that you like your kids more than other kids is kind of like saying that you categorically like cars made in the US more than cars made in Europe.

However, Blood-who's-it there also has good points. I don't have to do things the way other people do... they're my kids. I can make sure they aren't told "Now take one more bite of your broccoli." just to take one more bite and then tell them to take another. No, I tell my son how much more broccoli he needs to eat until he's excused, I don't tease him with "Now one more... now one more... now one more!"

And my kids don't have to wait to finish one box of cereal before opening another, because I'm paying for this cereal, and I can make sure it won't go to waste, and it's my cereal to waste if I want to.

Take that, Mom!

Edit; And when my wife tells my son to clean up his Lego's, and he goes to his room and cleans up every single Lego, but every other toy and piece of dirt or garbage is ignored and out of place, I can remind my wife not to get mad, because he did exactly what he was told!

Ah, now this makes more sense. If I ever have kids, I'll teach them every bit of "forbidden knowledge"--death, where babies come from, the meaninglessness of existence (and the meaninglessness thereof)--that I can as soon as they can comprehend it so that they never have to go through what I went through in dismantling all of my previous views:

Take that, society!

Oh, and as for teaching them where babies come from, it's no harm at all. I taught my mom's friend's kids (six and eight, I think) and they just said, "Hahaha! Gross."

... Well, yes.

Wow. But I suppose that this process never ends. We never really stop knowing more about ourselves.

-Duxwing

 

[SpaceYeti]

Ah, now this makes more sense. If I ever have kids, I'll teach them every bit of "forbidden knowledge"--death, where babies come from, the meaninglessness of existence (and the meaninglessness thereof)--that I can as soon as they can comprehend it so that they never have to go through what I went through in dismantling all of my previous views:

Take that, society!

Oh, and as for teaching them where babies come from, it's no harm at all. I taught my mom's friend's kids (six and eight, I think) and they just said, "Hahaha! Gross."

Right, exactly. It's only forbidden because people are weird, not because there's anything actually wrong with it. Much more, I want these kids not to go through the stupid crap I went through growing up... except some of it, because some of it built character, but none of the crap that didn't!

Wow. But I suppose that this process never ends. We never really stop knowing more about ourselves.

-Duxwing

Until we know everything about ourselves! Which I haven't done yet, but I am a finite being!

 

[SpaceYeti]

Adults have more complicated behavioural patterns, that's true, which makes them harder to predict but still predictable, whereas children, though behaviourally simple, also tend to make very novel associations and then act upon them.

I'm a little scared of children, because I can never be quite sure what they're thinking.

My parents used to work together in a jewellery store and late one evening after all the other stores had closed they were doing stocktake or something and I was left to run around the empty shopping centre, the whole place was closed and locked up so they figured I couldn't get into any trouble.

Then half a dozen cops showed up

I had been running around from shop to shop waving at motion detectors and banging on the pull-down doors, setting off every single alarm in the building.

My parents were mortified, the cops thought it was hilarious.

... How is that not exactly the kind of thing you'd expect a kid to do?

 

[Duxwing]

Right, exactly. It's only forbidden because people are weird, not because there's anything actually wrong with it. Much more, I want these kids not to go through the stupid crap I went through growing up... except some of it, because some of it built character, but none of the crap that didn't!

Smart idea.

Until we know everything about ourselves! Which I haven't done yet, but I am a finite being!

We are finite, but our size and complexity increases with time, perhaps at a rate exceeding that of our comprehension.

-Duxwing

 

[SpaceYeti]

We are finite, but our size and complexity increases with time, perhaps at a rate exceeding that of our comprehension.

-Duxwing

Nope, probably not.

 

[Duxwing]

Nope, probably not.

Only one way to know for sure exists. Grow old--exceedingly old--and see if anything new crops up.

-Duxwing