As I sit here watching my 2 year old try and figure out what the hell a helium balloon is and why does it float when everything else falls, it is quite fun and enjoyable. They surprise you and they give a lot of affection and love back.
It is true that you will miss out on "me time" for several years, but that changes eventually. It is not hard work, just relentless at times.
For me, I don't think I would ever have been "ready" until it would be too late. The longer you leave things, the less time you have to sort it out. People assume that fertility issues only happen to other people, but there is a surprisingly high number - something like 25% of couples face issues conceiving one way or another. If you don't even start until late 30s or early 40s, you are at the tail-end of fertility (especially for females as there is a finite number of eggs). Sure there is IVF etc but it is not an emotionally simple process.
This is true especially if you want to watch your child develop into adult AND have grandparents alive AND not to have huge generation gap between you.
Yes. I love my own father, but being the youngest of parents who started late (by their time's standards!) there's just such a generation gap. He grew up during WW2 in an occupied country, and in the fifties. He is - and always was - mystified by the popularity of most books, films, let alone things like computer games, despite having used computers since the fifties and having been a CS lecturer for his entire working life.
I think I have a better understanding of the world my own son grows up in. Not just in the big, generational sense, but in practical ways like remembering a lot about schools, curriculums etc. that is still relevant.
It is true that you will miss out on "me time" for several years, but that changes eventually. It is not hard work, just relentless at times.
For me, I don't think I would ever have been "ready" until it would be too late. The longer you leave things, the less time you have to sort it out. People assume that fertility issues only happen to other people, but there is a surprisingly high number - something like 25% of couples face issues conceiving one way or another. If you don't even start until late 30s or early 40s, you are at the tail-end of fertility (especially for females as there is a finite number of eggs). Sure there is IVF etc but it is not an emotionally simple process.