hey! you called him andres and not andiclaus! woah!

There IS never a right time to have a child. You are correct about that.

Obviously, you have to make the decision that is correct for YOUR family. I will say that my dad and step-mom lived very tightly for a long time so that my step-mom could stay home. They have no regrets and my step-mom finished her master's this year and just recently accepted a new job in a new career path that she is very excited about.

Of course, I am not saying this is what you should do, I am just trying to offer a different perspective that all is not lost forever if you finish your education a little later. Yes, it IS harder to start a new career when you are in your 30s, but it is not impossible.

hang in there - I'll be thinking about you. {hugs}

Listen girlfriend, be glad you have had them young. Honestly, we have more patience with our kids than we would have if we had had them when we were younger. WE can provide a bit, and I do mean just a bit more for ourselves and our kids than if we had had them when we were younger. But...girlfriend, we are two tired individuals. We see everyday that we are old fogey's in the kid raising department. It is easier to be young and fit in with an older crowd than to be old and try to fit in with the youngsters. Trust me on that one. I am 38, my husband is 37 and our kids are almost 4 and almost 2. WE ARE TIRED PEOPLE. We try to do a lot with our kids to keep them busy and learning. That is wearing us out. And, then when we get to these great entertaining and educational things....all the parents are younger and don't have to sweat and breath hard after chasing their kids around for...oh 2 minutes. I hate that I am not going to be a hip, cool mom for my kids and their friends. Instead, I'll be the kid with the grandma'ish parents...I really hate it.

I have a cousin who has been married for 10 years almost. He didn't want kids at first, changed his mind and actually said, "I want to have kids before I am as old as Jerri Ann"....so don't think no one notices what a hell of a time we have keeping up with these kiddo's. It shows everyday. He is only 30 and swears he wishes they had done the kid thing when they first married. They think they won't have any more because they are too old....see I'm telling you, my age shows as I chase my kids all over this neighbhorhood.

Either way, pat yourself on the back and be proud of what you have, you'd be like me and find a reason to wish you had done it the other way if you had waited...life is just like that.

I am so glad that we are young parents. I always wanted to have at least my first child before 25 - it worked out that way!

I think there are positives and negatives to both aspects of the age issue. You just need to make it work for you. I love being young and a mother. The only thing that bothers me is that NONE of my friends are having babies right now and I wish that I could share things with them. Not that I am pressuring my friends for babies...hint hint Sarah and Jeanette!

I live my life with no regrets! I don't have the time or the mental space to live with regrets. Accidents are the biggest miracles because they are truly meant to be and here for a reason! I wasn't ready to be a mother yet, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

We did not want to put Donovan in daycare and it was more financially beneficial for me to go back to work full time. I alwasy thought that I wanted to be a stay at home mom once I had kids, but daddy does an awesome job and I couldn't imagine it any other way! It works out really well for us! Do what works and makes you happy as a family - even if it is non-traditional!

P.S. Sorry for rambling!

Oh Bethi, I hear ya. Not that I was earning a buttload of money, but it definitely helped our bottom line, and we miss having my salary too (sometimes more than others). There's no right answer, and you just have to follow your heart. We also started having kids young(ish), so not only have we dropped one full time salary, but our one salary isn't what it will hopefully be when Sweetie is in his 30's or older. You know what I'm sayin? We'll have two kids before 30...and sometimes we think we're crazy for having the two kids when having just the one is a struggle. But someone else pointed out that there's never a right time necessarily to have a baby. So true.

And, if it makes you feel better, according to Freakonomics (funny read!), it makes no difference to the development of a child whether they had a full time stay at home parent from age 0-5 years or a two full time working parents from age 0-5. Funny, because I always thought it made a world of difference, which is why I opted to stay home with Lady. Maybe it makes a difference when they're older?

Sigh. Who has all of the answers and where can we get a copy of it?

Wow , that is a lot of stuff going on in your head. I can understand your concerns. My sister had her first at 24 and it was a real struggle. She is now 36 and finally getting her career in order. But she has a great 11 year old and just had another 3 years ago. I decided to do the career thing first and then the family. I am happy with my decision, but I do admit that being 32 and pregnant is a bit of a concern. I feel like there is a time rush to get my family in before I am too old and in a higher risk category.
No matter how you look at it, there are pros and cons to both. The sticky wicket is trying to figure which one outweighs the other. Sometimes the right answer is just whichever one you chose.

There are definately a good list of argument of having your kids when you are younger/older. I think at any age there will be certain amount of sacrifices. I worked all be it only part time with my 1st 2 DD's and now that our 3rd DD is here I'm in a position of being a SAHM, I think my older girls are ok with the time they had with me when they were smaller. My only regret now and I guess it's not really a regret but I find it sad that I'm 32 and I'm "done" having kids, it's a strange feeling but I guess it is because I did have my 1st DD at 20.