Thoughts on Becoming a Parent

Contrary to popular belief that once you become a parent, your ‘life is over’… in fact, your life truly *begins*.

Why have kids?

The hilarity:

So may people in Silicon Valley (and lots of moderns) in general desire to ‘live forever’, and perhaps ‘upload their consciousness to the cloud’ or some sort of strange nonsense like that … whereas having a kid is 1000000x easier, more meaningful, interesting, and fun.

A child is like a mini-clone of you.

Funny enough, having a kid can be the most ‘selfish‘ thing you can do. Why? Because of the extreme pride and joy you get when becoming a parent and having (and raising) a kid. Certainly raising a kid is tough, but the thing:

If raising a kid wasn’t tough, you wouldn’t have any pride as a parent.

And pride is a good thing. Pride is a virtue, especially as a parent. For example in raising little baby Seneca, I feel joy and find personal meaning and significance for the sacrifices I make for him (waking up, painfully in the middle of the night to feed him, etc). But at the same time, I have extreme joy in him. In playing with him, teaching him, talking with him, and raising/growing him. In some ways, I want him to become a (more) idealized version of myself. Also, my ethos in raising him is simple:

Treat him like how I would like to be treated if I were a baby.

For example, if I were a baby or a kid, I wouldn’t want my dad on his phone all day. So when I am with Seneca, I try my best to be 100% focused on him. And also frankly speaking, I find playing with him 10000x more fun and interesting and entertaining than any TV show, any movie, any book, form of media, etc. Why? Seeing him learn, seeing him grab my fingers, seeing him mimic my gestures, make eye contact with me, feeling the sensation and growth of the strength of his muscles legs and hands … this is pure bliss for me.

I think more people should have kids

Contrary to popular wisdom, I actually think *MORE* people should have kids and become parents (especially if you’re educated). Why? In some ways raising a kid is one of the most ‘Archimedes lever‘ ways to move and change and impact the world. Why? Because long after you’re gone, you can still change/affect the world through your child — the values you give them, the tools you give them (money, resources, time, values, ethics, morals) and your legacy (your DNA, information and ideas) will continue to exist (and propagate) long after you’re dead!