I have no regrets

People love stories. I realized this once again when I told children a tale of bloodthirsty monsters, foaming bulls, and brave girls last week. Justice prevails in the end and everything turns out well. We construct the truth in our minds, rely on stories that cement our worldview, so as not to go insane.

Castles have been built around the myth of children, seemingly indestructible. In my work with children, I have experienced many fulfilling and beautiful moments, and at the same time, I have witnessed the greatest cruelties in children. Magazines like Schweizer Familie fake us into believing that having children is the only fulfilling form of life. A recent study concludes that parents are not happier than the "poor" childless couple next door. Only newborns temporarily increase the feeling of happiness for mom and dad. Old habits die hard.

There are women who are neither career-driven nor lesbian, and who actually live a happy child-free life. Timid voices are emerging telling of regretting motherhood, mothers who regret having brought children into the world. And then there is the Lund study which states that each additional child in a family has a far greater impact on the climate than Mr. Müller's SUV, the airplane in the sky, or the sausage on the plate. It seems logical that more people consume more and emit more CO2, except when this connection is associated with one's own family planning. Parental hormones seem to completely deactivate the prefrontal cortex, where reason should be, and besides Mia and Noah, an Emma must also be added. Paradoxically, there are far more endangered species printed on children's T-shirts today than in the wild (dinosaurs do not count, as they are already extinct).

I am not the evil fairy who hates children, otherwise I wouldn't enjoy telling monster stories and cooking pasta with them. I can satisfy my limited fatherly feelings through this and resist the social pressure to have my own little princesses and princes.

I stand there in my jester's costume and tell the people that the cult of Mia and Noah is getting on my nerves. But before the fool is lynched by the angry crowd, it must be said that there are fine people who want children and should have them. But our girls and boys should know that they can grow into full-fledged women or whole men without having to become a mom or dad. We need good godmothers, godfathers, aunts, and uncles who slay dragons or attack enemy castles with the little rascals.

Maybe all that I have written now is bullshit anyway because I have served you a fairy tale that only fits into my reality.