How Many Kids Will You Want When You’re 60?
A. Due to basic biology, human beings usually have all the kids they will ever have during a span of a few years. Also due to basic biology, those are also the years when kids are the most work.
B. My casual observation: People usually stop having children when they feel exhausted. Smart, right?
C. Not really. Your workload will fall as your kids grow up. Eventually, you’ll be bugging them to spend time with you.
D. If you look far enough into the future, every child you have is a chance to have some grandchildren. And people really love grandchildren – after all, as soon as they cease to be fun, you send them home.
E. None of these means that we should ignore the exhaustion we feel as young parents. But basic economics does tell us that when we make a decision that lasts a lifetime, we should balance our interests over the course of our lives – not do whatever feels best at the time.
F. In short, I’m not asking anyone to stop being selfish. I’m asking people to get better at being selfish.
Read the rest here.
No comments:
Post a Comment