memes

This is important and highlights some problems with trends in the modern world. At one point, we had an agreement that the average family would sacrifice 40 labor hours to the economy in return for enough resources to sustain a family. Now it's 80.

Parents should have plenty of time to engage in childish pursuits alongside their kids. It's natural, traditional, healthy and constructive to multi-generational, extended family households. I know that's not what everyone wants, but I feel like it should at least be an option.

It should be okay for a person to work 20 hours per week. We have the technology to make that sustainable. If someone wants to work 80 to accumulate luxuries for themselves, I think that's fine, too. What I hate is observing people being forced to live in poverty while working 40+ hours. I am aware that almost no one working full time is below the federal poverty limit, but that's because it's a nonsense metric. It's unconscionable that anyone should have to live in poverty in the modern world, but it's insane that full-time wages don't necessarily cover the cost of living.

I believe this creates a situation which raises children without a sense of community outside of work, and now we're watching them burn down the village as 70-year-olds. There's a saying about how bad times create strong people, strong people create good times, good times create weak people, and weak people create bad times. I don't believe it for a second. Strong people and peoples are those with strong social bonds. They needn't be biological. Screwed up families exist and it's okay to get away and find a real family elsewhere.These communities create good times, which create even stronger people.

So therefore, go and do silly things with kids. Play Minecraft or Fortnite or kick-the-can or hide-and-seek, sing baby shark, or watch Bluey. Not just because our future depends on it, but because it's fun. We are supposed to be happy as a minimum standard. Not all the time, but at least as an average. It's not even the goal of life; it's the method. We're supposed to enjoy doing constructive things. That's how positive reinforcement works, and the current system is not only failing to acknowledge that, but it's diverging from it.

Go and be childish.

It's always a bit surreal to see people insist "As a childless adult, I get to have hobbies while you don't" when - as a childed adult - I find myself picking up hobbies I'd never even considered before kids.

My little guy stumbles on things and gets into them, needs some help, and suddenly we're both neck-deep in a jigsaw puzzle or a TV series or a train kit or a pile of half-painted miniatures.

As a working parent, I ask that you consume my work product as you nobly chillax.

Chilfree for life, baby! My bloodline ends with me!

Ah yes, the modern version of the "I hate my wife"-joke.

As a childless person myself, I can tell you that I rarely have the energy to "go have fun" after a long day of work. In fact, I prefer to just be at home and be a boring, basic bitch.

I can also tell you that almost every parent I know, and I know many because almost everyone my age have kids, are super active and do all kinds of fun things with their kids all the time. Especially those whose kids have gotten older and less dependent. It is a big, big, big misconception that parents never have fun. They do. A lot. They travel, go to parks and museums, theaters, circuses and talks with child entertainers. They take part in local community activities like sports and arts and whatever else is out there and they bond with the other parents who also wish to build a good community for the kids.

I have also seen how efficient parents are with time management. Not because they were born with that skill, but because they HAD to get good at it, so they pretty much never have a boring day ever. Are they tired and exhausted? Yes. Do they sometimes wish for a break from the kids? Also yes. But I would wager a guess that they all have lives that are tenthousand times more exciting than or many other childless people do. Not that it is a competition. Personally, I like the boring life where I get to do whatever I want without interruptions. I like that I get a break from other people because it overwhelms me to be around more than three people for long stretches of time. That just how I am and that is why I'm childless.

But I in no way feel superior to parents pr have this childish preconception that parents' lives suck. You can only have that opinion if you're never around people who have kids.

Sorry for being a party pooper, but I really, really hate this stupid joke and I hope it soon goes out of style and becomes something we look back at and cringe at in the same way we do with "I hate my wife"-jokes.

As a childless adult, it's my duty to be part of other people's lives and support families by being a trusted adult (trusted by parents and kids) and be a good role model for others' kids.

Why? Because we live in a society. Today's kids are tomorrow's adults. There are, unfortunately, a lot of terrible social influences out there, and parents can't battle society alone. Young boys and girls need to learn and develop healthy relationships with men and women alike, beyond just their parents, in order to have something to model themselves after and to learn how to treat others with love and respect.

And this is especially so for singletons. A lot of the bad and warped ideas about "relationships" and even self-esteem comes from unhealthy views of romantic relationships. Ideas like if you're not good enough if you don't have a boyfriend/girlfriend. Or ideas that men and women cannot "only" be friends (objectification of other sex). Ideas that men are owed relationships and sex by women (incels). Ideas that it's better to be with a bad partner than to be single (abuse).

Parents can't fight all of that on their own.

You ever see the futurama episode what that slug was forced to party all the time.

It’s like that

As a man with 2 young kids, yes. Yes you do. It's an obligation for you to enjoy the free time as much as you can. I rely on my childless friends to fill me in on what's happening in the cultured world, because for me my life is nothing but Bluey, Paw Patrol, and Cocomelon.

You're not wrong but please don't rub it in 😥

I don't think kids are the biggest barrier to enjoying your hobbies. They're not latched at the tit 24/7 for decades. I think the bigger issue is people have unrealistic work loads/hours, aren't paid enough, and have lost a lot of the support that used to exist.

Sure, when my kids were small I had a lot less free time, but I still had fun doing childish things. As they got older we ended up trying a lot of things I would not have attempted if it weren't for them, especially outdoor sports. Now they're both a bit older and more independent, I have more time to do my own thing. I work from home a few days a week and use that time to go to the gym. On weekends my wife and I take turns so I can go birdwatching - sometimes I take them with me. I'm about to start volunteering at a wildlife rescue in the coming weeks because I have more time on my hands. In a few more years they'll be even more independent and probably less interested in hanging out with us as much, meaning even more free time.

I can understand having kids doesn't appeal to everyone, and I don't think people who don't want kids should be berated into having them. I also recognise all of this is only possible because I have an extremely flexible work schedule and my wife and I earn a decent living. But to say that having kids is the reason people can't enjoy their hobbies anymore is disingenuous at best.

Thank you for your service.

I had children young and watched my peers have social lives, etc. But now, on this side of things, they're just getting started with little ones and my kids are driving. It's coming. MUHAHAHA

Having to maintain a population is a kinda bizarr (hopefully not racist) concept. Humanities problem is not that we're dying out because there aren't enough humans ...

That’s a funny way to frame it 😄 At the end of the day, everyone’s just choosing the life that fits them best—and there’s room for all kinds of happiness.

Sometimes I think parents forget that they CHOSE to have kids. There's always a choice. Even having sex with protection has a risk that people assume.

I'm already doing that.

Of course...I transform myself into animals and fuck married women, sometimes I transform myself into those women's husbands and fuck them. My wife is great, she lets me fuck around