Comments on: Does Having Children Change our Perspective?

By: Sally

Sally — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:11:59 +0000

I struggle with this, and relatedly, about my work/career choices, almost daily. Good to see that I’m not alone. I wish there were easy answers, but then there never are. I think being aware of the issues has to count for something, right??

Keep up the great work the blog. You always make me think.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:09:19 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. For us, our economic circumstances changed greatly when our daughter was born. Since my work could barely pay for childcare, it made sense for me to stay home, but we had to adjust our lifestyle. I’m very glad of that as my daughter gets older. It’s forced us to curb our materialism, plan ahead better and waste less. Food, Gasoline, Energy, and Money. Still, there are nights when I’m tired and we pay three times what it would have cost me to cook something for take out. If the dishwasher’s already full we may even eat it off paper plates!

By: mel

mel — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:22:43 +0000

I hear you and have the same struggle sometimes. On one hand, I want to change the trajectory this society has set for the sake of my kids… at the same time, sometimes I feel too tired and cranky to wash out a plastic container of moldy yogurt.

Really, though, I don’t know whether those values would have been absent from my life without kids. I don’t just care about this planet because of my own children, but because we all have to live here. What does make a difference is that I’m necessarily conscious of the impact of my behaviour on shaping their values… so I’m more likely to wash out the friggin’ moldy yogurt container so that it can go into the recycling, and maybe be more careful not to waste food in the first place.

By: Julie Clawson

Julie Clawson — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:42:48 +0000

Jason, your post asks a great question and something I’ve been wondering lately too. somewhere in the midst of life and it all having children becomes a part of our ministry. I hate the old lines that a mom’s only calling is to care for her kids – but there is something to the fact that when people have kids they now have a responsibility to them that at times prevents them from getting involved in other areas of life. I can’t spend my days volunteering with my kiddos in tow – heck, I can hardly go buy groceries with both kids around. I want to involve my kids in service, but some things are just out of reach at this time. At the same time I had a man tell me recently that he doesn’t think any kid should be exposed to the innercity until the graduate high school since they aren’t emotionally ready to deal with poverty. I felt sorry for his daughter in her all white gated community sheltered from any form or reality. Its a strange balance to discover.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:54:41 +0000

I totally know where you are coming from. It’s funny, actually, I just blogged about this saying the opposite of what you’re quote is saying, not about environmentalism specifically but about following Jesus in a radical way with kids, because, you know, Jesus didn’t have any.