We’re All Better Off with Children in Our Lives
It doesn’t mean they have to be ours
Confession: I’m not really what you’d call a “kid person.”
I don’t actively dislike children, but I have my limits. As the oldest cousin on both sides of my family, I used to engage with the younger kids at family gatherings for a requisite period of time, then sneak off to a corner to disappear into my book.
My sister was the one whom our younger cousins worshiped. They followed her around like the Pied Piper, pulling and tugging at her, all shrieks and giggles.
It’s fitting that she followed in the footsteps of our parents and became a teacher. My entire family has made a living from engaging with children — except for me, the Black Sheep, who has always worked office jobs.
It’s also somewhat ironic that I’m the one with kids of my own while my sister is childfree.
I still have my limits with children. I still often yearn to sneak off and disappear into a book. But if I didn’t have my own children, I often wonder whether I’d interact with children much at all.
In our increasingly segmented society, we relegate our elders to nursing homes and our children to playgrounds and Chuck E. Cheese. Our downtowns and strip malls are built around consumption…
