Kids are great, but...

My elder sisters were visiting because of Eid Al Adha. One of them has a 2 years old boy and the other has a 3 years old twin boys. I like kids a lot and especially kids at that age. I think of my kids-to-be a lot, though I’m not married yet. I think of how I’ll raise them, which schools to admit them in, what to tell them in certain situations etc. I even buy them books from now. I used to criticize my sisters when they shout at their kids for trivial reasons or deal with them in a nervous way, just because they are not in a good mood. I support the idea of being firm with children while raising them, even at young ages, so that they grow up to be good persons. Of course I don't mean torturing your kids or hurting them in any way. Just, you know, not letting them do wrong and bad behaviors only because they are young and may not understand, because believe me they’re always much more clever than you think they are. I know that it may be hard to watch your kids crying when punished at such young age but I believe that being firm when a situation calls for it is better than having spoiled or ill behaved kids. Anyway, this vacation I excused my sisters for losing their temper over trivial reasons. It’s really hard being attached to your child 24/7, not being able to spend any time by yourself; reading a book, watching a movie etc. I found that even while they’re busy playing or watching cartoons, they need at least your partial attention and so you only have half of your attention to do whatever you like. Things get better as the children grow up. But imagine that if you had to quit your job and almost all your activities till the age of 4 or 5, when your kids go to school, it will be hard to get back on track. I don’t agree that mums work while their kids aren’t at school yet. I believe that they’ll need all her time, attention, and care. At the same time, if you had kids while being at the start of your professional career or even before you start it (some of my friends had their kids right after finishing college and so didn’t get to have a first job) it won’t be easy to find a job afterwards or at least you’ll have to prepare yourself through an intermediate stage of study or some sort of training. Quite a dilemma, isn’t it? Things can be more complicated for people who don’t believe in birth control because then they’d have to get married at a certain stage in their careers from which they can resume without difficulties! Of course things are much easier for women who don’t work or don’t want to, as they won’t have to do all the above planning. The real problem is when you have to choose between your work and your kids. It’s always a tough choice to make. As for me, I think that I'll choose my kids. I believe that having successful and well-behaved children is the best achievement I can ever make. Despite this belief, and I’m feeling guilty while saying it now, but I don’t like to have kids anytime soon.