[anon291]

I honestly completely disagree. We had kids young and honestly it was so much easier in our 20s than it is now with a baby in our 30s. Despite having more money, babies are just harder as you get older. It's the moderate things. With our first, I was so active and nimble. Now I have slight back pain and stuff but it makes me noticeably less active with my third.

By the time my oldest is an adult, I will be in my early 40s. That's still young enough to do whatever you want to do. I encourage people to have kids young. Honestly, we should normalize having kids in college (free daycare, etc). This would be great for young women especially. Yes, it might stretch out how long it takes them to get a degree. But if dad completes it in four years and starts working, by the time dad starts working, the child is school aged and now doesn't need daycare. Then mom can complete her degree while dad works full time, and graduate with a six year old and job prospects. Kind of jealous of all my mormon friends at BYU who did this lol. By the time their kids are grown they'll be 40 year olds with professional careers, ready to do whatever they want, with the bonus of money.

On the other hand, the first-time parents I know in their mid 30s are struggling. It's harder. You're more tired. Also, by the time you're done you're getting ready to retire.

[geomark]

Most of my friends had kids young. They were busy working and hardly saw them grow up. A few were fortunate that the mothers could and wanted to stay home. The others all had their kids raised by daycare workers. When they found out what was happening in schools all they could do was scream about it. When covid hit and the schools shut those parents were buried and their kids suffered setbacks in their education. That's the standard routine. No thanks.

[anon291]

> The others all had their kids raised by daycare workers.

I'm not sure this changes when parents are older. all the older parents raising kids I know also send them off to daycare workers.

[geomark]

Then they're doing it wrong. The idea is that you grind when you're young to set yourself up for more free time to spend with your kids when you're older. You can afford for one parent to stay home, both if you've really nailed it