this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2026
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I'm trying to plan my life, but I feel like I'm putting together a thousand-piece puzzle with no picture on the box

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[–] fireweed@lemmy.world 17 points 7 hours ago

I haven't seen this mentioned yet so:

Do not allow yourself to be persuaded, pressured, or bullied into having kids (including by yourself) until you feel 100% ready and that it's 100% what you want. The days of "nobody feels ready for kids; just go for it and it'll all work out" are way over. (This was always survivor bias bullshit advice, but with recent trends re: cost of living, housing availability, job market, etc., this attitude is straight-up reckless.)

When you're young, even if you think you know what you're doing, you'll almost certainly make mistakes; having children makes moving through and moving on from those mistakes a hell of a lot harder. A sad number of folks I know in their 30s are stuck in places they no longer want to live having to regularly interact with people who ruined their lives because of their kids. Even when things go well, kids are a huge drain on your energy, finances, and ability to take advantage of new opportunities.

It might be scary feeling like there are too many options available to you right now, but being forced into a certain life path because you have kids is not a fun way to resolve that.