[Matt L]

Is this sorta like a spam thread?

[Advertisements]

Is this sorta like a spam thread?

Almost...Anything (while still obeying TOU) goes.

[bobmad]

Is this sorta like a spam thread?

Almost...Anything (while still obeying TOU) goes.

[bobmad]

I'm year of sheep wife is tiger....

somehow I don't know if this is the best pairing.

Are we discussing bedroom antics now? I thought this was a family-friendly forum

http://www.c-c-c.org.../zodiac/pig.htm
I'm a pig, oink oink. Somehow, some of those comments are true about me... interesting!

We have 3 kids.... no Antics for us . In just 14 short years they could all be out of the house and we could resume antics if we remember how.

[Troy]

What if they were 14 long years? What's the difference between a short year and a long year? Is that the whole leap year thingy?

[Transience]

Nah the long years are after the children leave and go off to college... nobody to bug you and ask for help with things every minute of every day and your life gets empty pretty quick I imagine. of course being only a teenager myself i may be exaggerating my own importance, and it could be that the party begins as soon as i leave

[bobmad]

TOGA...TOGA.... TOGA

[Troy]

and it could be that the party begins as soon as i leave

Well we're just waiting for ours to be born so we can kick it out and party!

[dsenette]

and eccentric

eccentric...me?

[sari]

Nah the long years are after the children leave and go off to college... nobody to bug you and ask for help with things every minute of every day and your life gets empty pretty quick I imagine. of course being only a teenager myself i may be exaggerating my own importance, and it could be that the party begins as soon as i leave

No, the long years are now, wondering at what point my 15 year old will get her act together and I can stop worrying about her every day. When my kids are out of the house, although they will be missed, my life will not be empty - I have plenty of interests that will keep me occupied, many of which I don't enjoy as much as I'd like right now because I'm busy being a taxi, maid, cook, etc.

[Transience]

Apologies for letting my wishful thinking get in the way of common sense . I'm sure to be moaning and groaning along with all of the other parents when I have kids my age in 25-30 years

[bobmad]

The long years are often 0-2 for the child...because you're just starting to learn what you've signed up for and each day is LONG...except for sleep time then they are very short.

Don't worry too much about those years causing you permanent trauma. As the child hits 4 or 5 (for most people) your brain will purge the most traumatic parts. That trauma purge is a survival of the species thing...if no one forgot there would only be 1 child per couple and the species would not have survived... (slight exaggeration). (slight)

Right now I have 14 (girl), 11 (girl) and 4 (boy) in the house. my 11 year old was more mature and responsible last year than now... My 14 has still not clearly defined herself, and my 4 year-old pulls Houdini like exploits after bedtime (he goes to his grandmother's house about 50-60 feet from ours at 2 or 3 in morning)....our house is a near vault and it hasn't stopped him completely...

These are fast years.. the kids are busy and keeping us busy. Not long ago we had a 8 and 5 year-old girls...

[MoNsTeReNeRgY22]

My parents say that right now at my age is the hardest.

15, 16, and 17

[riadmad]

4 year-old pulls Houdini like exploits after bedtime (he goes to his grandmother's house about 50-60 feet from ours at 2 or 3 in morning)....our house is a near vault and it hasn't stopped him completely...

Yup he's a 4 year old stinker, oh by the way hi dad (aka bobmad)

[keithr128]

First bobmad, then kimmad, and now riadmad this is, is, is, ...............................................maddening.
Wah! Wah! Wahhhhhhh!

[bobmad]

Apologies for letting my wishful thinking get in the way of common sense . I'm sure to be moaning and groaning along with all of the other parents when I have kids my age in 25-30 years

As far as I can tell EVERY MAJOR and many minor life decision has good and bad. Hopefully your decisions will have a larger mix of good than bad FOR YOU and yours.

A great decision for me may be ruinous for you. I do look forward to when my kids are happy, healthy adults. I look towards the time my wife and I will have the house to ourselves...I also know it will be hard to make that transition. I'm both excited and nervous about who my kids will be when they are adults.

Will my son grow up to be the doctor he says he wants to be? The steelers linebacker I'd like him to be? The penguins Center his sister wants him to be? Will he go a different route? He's 4...any of those things are possible....


My 14 year old always wanted to be an architect. She'll need to do well in math this year to catch up so she can take calculus and physics her senior year of high school. She's mostly on track though....

Part of what I look forward to is this uncertainty ending...and I do love my kids. I try to remember that I'm going to miss them as they grow... (already miss my girls being little).

Part of this "we'll party when they're gone" is a reminder that we'll have done some awesome stuff by then...(placing them on a road they are meant to be on) and we will deserve a party. Part is also remembering that they will someday be gone and my wife and I need to have a strong enough relationship to be alone, together. And the other part is remembering they WILL be gone and to enjoy the now, it is fleeting.