The good side of a bad dad
I sometimes wonder if I should have kids. I’m pretty nuts, and I don’t know how children will influence my mental illness – or how my mental illness will influence them. But my mum has an anxiety disorder too, which is oddly encouraging – because I inherited it from her, but my life is pretty good (which means that my kids may well have anxiety issues too, but that’s not the worst thing in the world).
Even better, I get to instantly know my kids are, in one way, much better off than I was.
My biological dad is a bit useless. He’s in and out of jail for fraud, and he left my mum before I was a year old.
I have a fantastic stepfather – in fact, my earliest memory is preparing for their wedding. But I feel like I have an advantage in the realm of parenthood when I realise that CJ will be the father of my children – from the first instant of their life. That’s pretty encouraging.
Who knows? Maybe my kids will even turn out non-crazy. That’d be nice.
Felicity Banks 
Stu said,
January 19, 2011 at 12:46 am
Lol, I think you do yourself a disservice…..
I admire your spontaneity and the fact that you get out there and do things that I’d love to have the courage to do, or even the creativity to think of them!
Think big, the universe is more marvellous than we can imagine!
(now there’s some advice I should be taking myself)
Stu
Louise Curtis said,
January 19, 2011 at 9:12 pm
Two quotes immediately spring to mind:
-The great thing about pessimism is that you’re always either proven right or pleasantly surprised.
-Hope for the best; plan for the worst.
Those served me very well in getting married (not as well as picking the right guy, of course, which I also did), and I suspect they’ll serve me very well in having kids too. Truthfully, I can hardly wait to have kids – it just seems cruel to be so happy around all my exhausted-parent friends.
Louise/Felicity