Memory is the first thing to go

We went to visit my brother and his family recently, and at one point he expressed his amazement at how much work it took to keep Simon out of trouble. I gave him a funny look and mentioned that with two kids of his own he went through the same thing more than once, but he just shrugged and said most of that time is just a blur to him now.

That does seem to be a survival mechanism in our species. If we truly remembered how big a pain kids can be then I doubt anybody would have more than one. Instead, after a couple of years our brains start telling us that babies are great and having another one would be really cool. My theory is that the body gets used to the stress and sleep deprivation. Once your child is old enough to be less maintenance and you finally get a full night's sleep the brain, which has been subsisting solely on endorphins up to this point, gets euphoric and starts equating babies with feeling good.

So there's a chance that in a year or two my wife will turn to me and say, "We should have another baby, now that Simon is so easy." Fortunately I've conditioned myself to react to this by bursting into tears, running out the door, and driving to Mexico.

Adios