Kid Heaven

My love muffin and I are a proud aunt/uncle to 3 beautiful children all aged 4 and under. We have a 4th niece /nephew on the way in the summer of 2009 that we are also excited about. Certainly we love each and every one of those kids to death but recently my love muffin and I had an epiphany. Do we want to upgrade our kid status to become parents? Of course this question is a rhetorical one because most young couples eventually succumb to the pressures of society and pro-create to give our parents some pleasure in their older years but after we experienced a plethora of overwhelming "Kid Heaven Parties" it certainly makes you more appreciative of your newlywed years.

The term "Kid Heaven Parties" was something I recently heard described by a local radio host, Anthony Gargano on 610 WIP. Like me, the host is recently married and has nieces and nephews of his own. I'm guessing he is 10 years my senior and I'm conjecturing that he may be under a lot more pressure from his wife. Gargano described a party where he and his wife were surrounded by loads of kids at a discovery zone. According to wikipedia, Discovery Zone is "a chain of entertainment facilities featuring games and elaborate indoor mazes designed for young children, including slides climbing play structures and ball pits."

In reality these "Kid Heaven Parties" can really be inclusive to Chucky Cheese, roller skating, a circus, backyard bonanzas and other events. The key component is not necessary the venue but more so that you are surrounded by the birthday child and dozens of their screaming little friends. In our particular case, it was at a pretzel making factory party. There we were one of only two couples surrounded by 20 whiney, germy, loud and over-exuberant children. Also present were loads of parents with car seats, diaper bags, baby wipes, snot-infested tissues and other goodies that is essential to everyday toddler survivor.

The truth is that the party was fun and all the kids had a great time but my love muffin and I walked back to the car and openly thought how nice that this child-watching thing wasn't our life 24-hours a day. I have this unbelievable admiration for my sister, brother and their spouses. It would be an understatement to say being a parent is a hard job. But there is also something to be said about enjoying your early marriage years. I love the fact that my love muffin and I can have a peaceful meal without having food fly off the table. I love the fact that annoying nursery rhymes aren't stuck in our head all day long, I love the fact that we can sleep till 10am on a weekend without being woken up with cries from a crib, we love the fact that we don't know every character on Sesame Street. We are responsible for each other and at this point thats just enough.

We just are not ready for the child bearing right now and as cute and lovable as it is to pick boggers out of his your kids nose its just not in our cards for right now. Kids are not only a schedule-cramper but they require a lot of attention and can be very costly (especially in their college and wedding years). I know that my time will come sooner then later but it sure is nice to get up and go whenever we feel like it, to vacation on the fly and not trip over random toys. For now me and my love muffin, we are enjoying our years in adult heaven.