Children can change your lives for the better, despite sometimes making it difficult. But having children in your life, 24/7, can be a lot of commitment and dedication. There are expenses, bedroom space, nurturing, and many other things that you need to consider before having kids. Here are the top ten things to think about before deciding to take the leap and start a family.
10 – Do you have the space?
When you want to consider having kids, one of the first things that you should think about is space. Is your current home big enough for a baby? While you can obviously move at any point, you want to be prepared before the baby is born. No one wants to move with a newborn and no one wants to move with a toddler. Make sure you have a backyard, a bedroom for the new baby, and space inside of the home for the toddler to run around.
09 – Do you have the money?
Something else that is important to think about is money. You can add money to RCKT stock and hope to gain a few dollars every couple of weeks, but you need to make sure that you have a solid financial system in place before you even think about having a child.
08 – Do you have the time?
If you have the space and the money, you have to think about if you have the time. When you want to have a child, you need to remember how much effort it is to raise one. You need to have the time to put towards your child, and you need to make sure that your home and money won’t suffer for that.
07 – Are you prepared to give up your free time?
When you aren’t working, you are a full-time parent. Even if you have the time to take care of your child when you aren’t at work, you have to say goodbye to your free time for the next few years. You can let your parents or friends watch the baby for a few hours, but that is giving you time to clean up and work to make money. If you aren’t ready to say goodbye to date night every Friday, it might not be time for a child.
06 – Are you ready for school meetings and homework?
When your toddler is ready to start school, this is even more time you have to take out of your day to meet up with teachers. You have to be involved with your child’s school until they are old enough to handle most of it by themselves if they are a well-behaved student.
05 – Do you have a reliable vehicle?
Before dedicating yourself to having a child, you first need to make sure that you have a vehicle that will be able to take you to every appointment that you have for both the pregnancy and the child. You don’t ever want to miss an appointment with your doctor when you are going through your first pregnancy or taking care of your first child.
04 – Do you live in a good community?
You don’t want to have your child grow up and live in a community that is full of crime. You want to make sure that you have planted your feet in a safe community so that you never have to fear for your child’s safety.
03 – Do you have a support system?
Are you and your spouse on board with having a child? Do you have other family support? It is important for a child to grow up with the security of a support system. Things will go a lot smoother and you won’t have to worry as much about your child or yourself if you have a support system to back you up.
02 – Are you healthy?
If you are not in shape or healthy enough to keep up with your child when they grow into a toddler, you should consider fixing this before having a baby. Being healthy is important for a good pregnancy. If you want to feel good and want to raise a healthy baby, you need to be healthy yourself.
01 – Do you have experience with kids?
If you don’t have any experience with kids, you should get some before thinking about having a baby. If you don’t know anyone that has a toddler or a baby, you can maybe find a few babysitter or nanny gigs online. Without experience with children, you don’t know if becoming a parent is something that you actually want.