Two sides of the coin
I have an aquaintance who had his children very early in his life. He's roughly the same age as me, his two daughters are now grown up and one's about to get married. He says that although being a parent early in life meant that the usual young person things to do went out the window, he can now enjoy his life and regularly goes away with the missus, goes out etc. With a bit of luck he's got another 20 - 30 years of good health left to do this.

On the other hand, having kids later in life means you potentially may have less time with which to enjoy and appreciate your offspring - and it can be acutely embarrassing for young kids when the person picking them up from school is mistaken for a grandparent. There are other drawbacks as well (not in every case of course).

Whatever you do, don't overcompensate for your own father's cuntishness. I know someone who's only desire was for a baby. After years and years her dream came true, and she's spent the last 8 years cossetting, encouraging and signing her daughter up for all sorts - dance lessons, horse riding, the works. The practical upshot of this being that the kid in question doesn't have any time to just be an 8 year old girl, and has very poor social skills in some respect. She burst into tears once when she was asked (by her dad's girlfriend) what she would like to eat. Never been asked, always been presented with her meals, and as a result didn't have a clue about answering a simple question about what kind of pizza she fancied.

But what do I know? I don't have kids, never wanted them and never will. I freely admit that in that respect, I'm a selfish sod.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Sat 28 Jun 2008, 14:45, Reply)