A Case for Procreation

Yesterday, I had the delightful experience of baby-sitting a 3 year old boy and a 1 year old girl. To say I would want to do it again would be (sort of) lying. I COULD do it again but I don't know if I WOULD do it again and I like the kids I sat with. Maybe once a week maybe even once a month but everyday - that's pushing it. Yes, I know, Moms do it everyday but that's their choice. I choose to sit around all day drinking coffee and reading, happy that I can open my non-child safety locked fridge.

I didn't sleep the night before and had to wake up really early so David could drop me off because I still can't drive. It was a miracle I was able to function with little or no sleep but that is how I functioned working two jobs. (Isn't that the main prerequisite for being a parent? The ability to exist on no sleep?) I was going to be responsible for 2 children for more than 4 hours with no one to fill in if I got tired or bored. After consideration, I was a nervous, but confident I could manage.

The shift in the 80's and 90's from a single parent working home to a two parent working home and the use of day-cares has almost eliminated baby-sitting. Growing up, I wasn't one of those teenagers who was salivating for cash, could change a diaper, and baby-sat around the neighborhood. My parents didn't talk to other parents who had young children so I was never offered as a baby-sitter. Plus, I didn't really care for babies or children. Most, if not all, of my kid contact came late in my teen years and there was always someone else around to help.

Since I am married and have yet to birth a child everyone wants to know when and if David and I are going to have children. The answer is complicated and we go back and forth on the issue. Opportunities to baby-sit are an excellent window into the lives of people with children. For every rewarding moment and cute smile there is a disgusting diaper to change and the constant fear that a child is going to hurt themselves somehow. I already have OCD and germaphobe tendencies and I can't imagine bringing a child into that clean but manic environment. NO KIDS! But then I think, "David and I are two capable (okay, semi-capable) individuals who have the means to raise a potentially awesome, productive member of society. So we will have one. ONE. That's it. But how potentially lonely would that child's life be without siblings? Okay, maybe two kids. The difference in ages has to be enough so that the oldest is potty-trained and in school before the other one arrives. I am not doing double diaper duty. FINE! I can do double diapers BUT I want unlimited boxes of latex gloves because poopy diapers are disgusting and that stuff does not belong anywhere near my hands!"

I changed several diapers yesterday and it was not pleasant. Over time I became numb to the smell and I couldn't tell if they needed a diaper change or if I was just remembering the smell. People say, "It's different when they're your own kids." I can understand that but isn't poo gross no matter whose it is? Do David and I really need to have a child of our own to test this theory? Can't we just continue to borrow the neighbor's kids and his co-worker's kids whenever we feel parental urgings? Or is borrowing children just borrowing trouble and part of the reason we can't decide whether or not to spawn?