How did having kids change your collecting/reading? 0

[Foolkiller]

Well said Brian and sorry to hear about the

 

She's fine, all is well, and the pregnancy is still going smooth.

[nik]

all the best my friend.

[EastEnd]

As someone told me when we were expecting... having kids is the hardest job you'll love. Nothing is as life-changing as having a child. There are no doubt days when you want to pull your hair out, but the love and fulfillment and purpose that you feel is second to none.

 

There will definitely be less time for comics and pretty much everything else you enjoy doing, but you won't really care.

[hockey&comicsguy]

I can say, with 100% conviction, that NOTHING is better than having children... no matter the trials and tribulations, or the sacrifices etc... NOTHING equals it!

 

I agree Rick.

 

For the OP, having kids changed everything, especially comic collecting as I pretty much stopped completely for a couple of years.

 

Sure, it's time consuming. Sometimes frustrating. Raising kids isn't cheap. But the perks far outweigh the negatives.

 

For a couple of years my wife and I were pretty much homebodies. Now we have 5 other couples we hang out with every weekend as our kids all live in the same neighborhoods, go to the same schools, play on the same soccer teams, etc...Probably none of these people we would have met were it not for our kids meeting their kids in school or at the pool.

 

Having kids rocks. And having a vasectomy rocks also!!!!! Just had mine on Oct. 23rd! I love my kids but I don't want anymore of them.

[hockey&comicsguy]

 

I think it's hard to give up the focus on yourself. Until you have children, your life is primarily about what's best for you, when you have children, it becomes about what's best for them.

 

QFT

 

When you have kids you have to pull back sometimes and come to that realization that it isn't about you anymore.

[Wally's Comics]

For those that are just thinking about it,

put it this way, if you are a collector you should have children

just to have someone to give all this craap to when you pass on.

 

 

[nik]

Already started prepping my eleven year old, my little girl already called dibs on some of the books

[lizards2]

I spent nine hours yesterday assembling the most complicated (and expensive) cluster fudge of a bunk-bed I've ever seen for my 8 year-old. It was a complete nightmare of mislabeled parts, a zillion different screws and bolts, and utterly confusing @ss-backwards instructions which were apparently written and drawn by Dr. Seuss. I sweated, swore, dropped stuff on my feet, busted my knuckles, and wrenched my back...but it was finished by the time my daughter was ready for bed last night, and when she saw it all put together, made up with her Barbie sheets and ready to go, she shot me a HUGE smile, threw her arms around me, and said "Oh, thank you, daddy...you're AWESOME."

 

Kids are a drain on anything and everything you call your own: time, money, energy, resources, patience, nerves, etc., etc. And they're worth all of it and much, much more.

 

So no...you'll never be ready (my parents weren't, but I'm damn glad I'm here!)...and nothing else compares.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Try an "easy to assemble" ping pong table on Christmas Eve, when the Elf in charge has had three too many Wild Turkeys....,

[lizards2]

Your mileage may vary, but........

 

My own personal belief is either you know you want children or you don't. There is no middle ground.

 

I actually applaud those people who know they don't children and don't have any. You have to be true to yourself and honest with yourself.

 

Your comments about being on the fence sounds like a warning sign to me. I'm not saying you and your wife wouldn't be good parents, but as I said above, there's no middle ground. Either you know or you don't. My opinion, that's all.

 

And that's valid. One of the things we talk about. I do have one friend I've talked to early who said they didn't know what they wanted to do either, but when they had their daughter, it was a life changer and the best decision he ever made. I like the sounds of that.

 

We waited about seven years into marriage before we had the first child. I was a smokejumper, flying around the country jumping fires. My wife wanted two children, I wanted none. She won, and after the first child was one year old, I realized I needed a change in occupations to be with my baby girl. The first two kids were my wife's decision, the third one was mine. It all worked out, and they are all doing well..., including the parents.

[innocuous]

I have 3 kids, the oldest is only 9.

 

If I were to take all the money in their 3 college savings accounts, take all the money I spent on diapers, food, doctors, etc over the past 9 years, and, factor in the cost of dr and hospital bills for 3 deliveries. And, factor in lost wages for my wife prior to quitting her well paid job and becoming a full-time, stay at home mother . . .

 

I still would not have completed all my comic collecting goals. DAMN, Golden Age is expensive.

[thanos_oftitan]

None of our friends have kids, but one is due in two weeks. We're hoping that spending time around them for a few months will show us the way.

 

I'm sure we'd be great parents, I really do. But right now, for the first time in my life, I'm happy in all ways: health, security, new home, good job, friends, money to buy/read/travel. Everything's clicking on all cylinders. Part of me/us doesn't want to change that because it feels so nice.

 

 

These are normal feeling.

 

Kids are forever, that can sound a little scary but if you and your wife love one another, there's no better gift you can give each other then a family.

[Ringfinger]

I got back into it after kids were born, so not sure. I guess I don't have the time nor money that I wish.

[MedicAR]

To answer the question in the most direct way I can, having a baby has pretty well removed any time I would have devoted to my collection. I don't read anymore for fear of damage to the books either by Peanut or by me while trying to watch him. I don't get to bag and board like I want for the same reason....fear of mis-handling. So without bags and boards, I can't really get very organized and it all goes down hill from there.

 

I'm not blaming him in any way. I wouldn't change our decision for the world, but it's been very trying and frustrating on the comics front. I just want a couple of days to try and get things organized in the comics room, but it doens't seem likely any time soon. On the other hand, I love being "Da-da," so really my priorities have just shifted a bit.

 

Someday, I'll get organized again and it won't take days or even weeks to find books.

[Monstro]

you just have to start staying up later. do it after he falls asleep

 

[MedicAR]

I operate on 30-35 hours of sleep a week, I can't give any more.

 

 

[TupennyConan]

I began reading Moderns again back in late 1999.

 

I stopped reading Moderns with the birth of our second child 7 months ago.

 

While I regret missing the whole who's a Skrull thing, it was a just another sacrifice made in exchange for the incomparable Blessings of Family.

 

Now I'm going to spend about 30 minutes checking out what's up on the Boards before I leave the office.

[General Zod]

I agree with the fact that having children is an unrivaled joy.

 

I stopped reading for several years when my children were younger. As they got older they got into reading themselves. We regularly have trips to the local comic shop and they share in my imagination and enthusiasm. The growth of children is where it's at....going from one stage to another.

 

R.

 

 

Moral of the story: Adopt older children to share in your addiction.

[MR.COMICBOOK]

I began reading Moderns again back in late 1999.

 

I stopped reading Moderns with the birth of our second child 7 months ago.

 

While I regret missing the whole who's a Skrull thing, it was a just another sacrifice made in exchange for the incomparable Blessings of Family.

 

Now I'm going to spend about 30 minutes checking out what's up on the Boards before I leave the office.

Just read a couple of tradepaperbacks about the Skrull Invasion, you will catch up quick.

[VintageComics]

I want to share a little moment I had last night so that those without kids can understand.

 

I have my 4 kids signed up for music lessons for a little over a year now. My two oldest girls had some prior experience with piano. The oldest is taking a break from music now as there are no spots (she took guitar up until this summer break). My second oldest and youngest girls are in piano. My son, who has been banging on pots and pans his entire life, has been taking drums. He's a natural.

 

Last night after his lessons were done he was sitting in the basement of the music school, showing off on an electric drum kit. I sat behind him with an electric guitar. I got him started on a straight up 4/4 drum beat, told him where to hit the crash cymbal and let him go.

 

After 4 bars I came in with the guitar riff to "Living After Midnight" by Judas Priest.

 

He missed the crash cymbal the first time as he struggled to find a groove (his first time ever playing with another person) and then we went into this fantastic jam for about a minute. He was rocking, he was hitting the crash at exactly the right time, he was bouncing with the beat, and when we stopped he couldn't believe what had just happened. He forgot about all the lessons and felt the music.

 

He's 9 years old.

 

You just never even think about comics or anything else when you are in a moment like this with your kids. The look on their face when they pass through a door in life and you are a part of it is worth more than all the time that you put into them up until that point.

 

R.

 

 

[EvilAsh]

Great story Roy