Dear Parent on the Fence About Having More Children
There’s a way to see how you’d be holding up.
It could always be worse, says an old Yiddish folktale.
But wouldn’t it be nice if we could take a peek at the alternative scenario and get to decide if we really want it before it becomes our reality?
Why on earth aren’t people required to take a peek at what it’s like to have children before they actually have them?
Why do we have reality shows in all possible settings but no reality show that puts regular adults taking care of a newborn, day and night, for like… at least a week?
Nothing prepares you for having a child like having a child. Yet far too many people end up in this situation completely clueless.
I used to fantasize about taking a peek at what it’s like to have one or more children.
This past month, I had an unplanned taste of it.
But first…
The old Yiddish folktale
A poor man living in a small village with his six children, his wife, and his mother in a one-room hut, started to feel that he couldn’t do it anymore.
So he went to seek advice from his Rabbi.
