I used to love kids. I was a career nanny for a long time. I grew up in farm country and so was tasked with watching my newborn cousins beginning when I was 12, while my relatives worked our farm. It wasn't always easy but I loved caring for and interacting with little beings. As I got older and life posed the stress and responsibility that comes with being an adult, I came to hold dear the experience of spending time with kids- seeing the world as new through their eyes, seeing them grow and change, being in the moment with them. It was deeply meaningful to me. Now I look at kids and feel depressed. No, it's not the worry of global warming or the like. It's how they are now. Most kids, it seems, are used to a level of artificial stimulation that is stunting their ability to just be. They strike me as weird little fucked up adults- demanding, frustrated, socially inept. My best guess is that it's the result of our culture largely, and specifically, very probably, the result of their parents being tied to the cell phones, social media, multi-tasking, a 40 plus hour work week, rush hour traffic, gross preoccupation with appearing to be successful, consumerism..... and on and on. I am so glad I did not have kids in this world. That choice was taken from me as a result of health reasons, but I think it was for the best.