“Children are a hassle!”

I often hear that, though usually the words sound like, “We’ll have kids when we’ve had some fun…when our careers are further….when we’ve saved more…”

I think we’re missing the point.

Children are a blessing, not ‘could be’ a blessing. More than fruit is the blessing and heritage of a fruit tree. Ask those who have the heartache of not knowing if they can make it happen. Sadly, the message children are hearing from our attitude is, “you are a hassle”.

There is something children bring that disturbs, frustrates and enriches our lives, keeps our feet on the ground and veers us from self-centredness. And gives us back far more when we least knew we needed it.

I recently discovered the fun of Podcasts so was listening to one while driving to work yesterday. Someone had spent two years living in Mexico working in a Micro Credit co-op. She commented how cheery and happy the Mexican children are and how crying and tantrums were virtually non-existent. No crying! “how could that be?” But I remember being struck by the exact same phenomenom on a holiday in California and Disneyland several years ago – babies and children everywhere but not a Mexican child crying.

The speaker said while we use terms of endearment like “sweetheart” the Mexicans use a word meaning “’my life’- and they mean it”. The children stay constantly surrounded by family and close friends and feel cherished. It was refreshing to hear, as I think we in the west are quite anaesthetized by our affluence, in recession or not.