So unchild-free

I'm a 40s male, married, lots of kids. Young kids. I love kids. Even adopted one.

I also, despite better judgement, read Craigslist's rants and raves section ocassionally and see posts about people boasting about "child-free." And looking about the Web, I see entire blogs devoted to preaching non-procreation.

And I can kind of see their collective point -- you don't want to have children for selfish reasons, but by and large, that's exactly why most of us have them. I wonder, though. Is that so bad?

I understand children aren't for everyone. I understand many people have children who shouldn't. I understand many people who might make great parents won't ever have children, for whatever reason. And believe me, I understand the personal benefits of NOT having kids, cause I didn't have kids until I was in my 30s... and before that, man, I had a blast.

But what's the point in making fun of people with kids? Or even worse, demonizing them?

Raising kids is tough, I won't lie. Sometimes it's a real pain in the ass. I'm thankful I have a partner who understands how tough it is, and doesn't give me a hard time about busting out of the house on ocassion. I'm also thankful to have some pretty amazing kids who, for the most part, wake up practically giddy to be alive, which makes me feel pretty giddy to be alive, too.

I do believe this: You can't be a good parent and be a glass-half-empty type -- or be convinced the world is going to hell, or believe that most parents are selfish idiots, or be the least bit suicidal, or too much of a hypocrite (though a certain amount of self-delusion is OK). Point being, you're either an optimist to begin with, or learn quickly to be one, or you're pretty much frakked.

I believe one life CAN be a gift, OR it can be quite less than that. I think there's something instinctive and genetic about keeping the species going, and yet at the same time, absolutely unnecessary.

My personal opinion, however, is that it's kind of neat to keep the party rollin'. If you're up to it, of course. Selfish as that may be.