Why do people feel they can make sweeping assertions about other people's experiences like this? You don't know anything about the lives of the billions of childless people out there. Many of us have livestyles that wouldn't be possible if we had children, and our "moments without kids" are totally, incomparably different from your moments without kids.
The smugness of people with kids is just annoying.
> The smugness of people with kids is just annoying.
The ability of people without kids to have a firm belief on how they’d feel with or without them is also astonishing.
I doubt people with kids are smug about it. It’s just been life changing for them, and to some extend they must regret that other people will never get to experience that, especially if they were initially hesitant too.
Anyway, fully agree it makes you appreciate your time more. I enjoy adjusting the flow of time to school age again, even if it’s not my own.
> If a non-parent told you that you can't truly enjoy your free time because you have kids, wouldn't that be a bit rude?
Nah, I’d nod my head and agree, but I imagine that’s not the point you were going for xD
I feel it’s like growing up, it’s hard to appreciate childhood, or university, or any of that until it’s passed.
By the same token you start to appreciate the seas of time you had without children once you have them, but by then it’s too late of course, and you can only appreciate them in hindsight.
I’m sure the same thing will be true after my children grow up. I’ll appreciate all the time I got to spend with them more in hindsight.
In general I appreciate things a lot more in the moment than in retrospect. And I'm much happier now than I was as a child or a university student--the thing I appreciate most about those times is that they're over.
And look, it's fine we have different experiences--I'm not here to invalidate your experience. But when people say stuff like "You cannot fully appreciate your moments without kids until you have kids though" you're invalidating my experiences. That's total bullshit--you don't know anything about my life and whether or not I truly appreciate it.
If you want to talk about your experiences, that's cool, and I'm actually even interested to hear them. But don't pretend like your experience is some universal truth. It's not.
Maybe I should be smugger about myself having kids, but it was really meant as nothing else as a lightheaded remark. From my own perspective of course - there is clearly my (nick)name over it.
Sure, and if it was just your comment it wouldn't annoy me. But these sorts of comments about non-parents from parents are constant. I totally parents that they enjoy having kids--why is it so implausible to parents that I can equally enjoy not having kids?
The smugness of people with kids is just annoying.