Thread by @chiragbarjatyaa

My kid turned 1 today. These 365 days have been a roller coaster as a parent. First time. New experience.

Some tweets on how parenthood has changed me as a person and why one should consider becoming a parent at some point in their lifetime. Read it whenever you have time or save it for later. This thread is not for 21-year-olds. You guys can skip it.

Being a parent gives you a power you may not have been aware of. From the first day of their birth, you will start feeling that you have become so powerful that you can fight anyone and any situation to protect your kid.

There have been instances in my life where I would have had a severe anxiety attack or a nervous breakdown, but when you have the responsibility of a kid, you know you will find a way out of any situation.

Every cry of your kid will add something to you, like another brick in your building. You will start feeling like working 24/7 to avoid that cry and to provide your kid with everything possible. My dad had to sell his car and factory when his business failed. Now I understand why he didn't run away or take his life, because he couldn’t see me crying. He sold products door-to-door on his cycle to provide for me; today, I am doing the same to provide for my child. Whatever I can do best. The day you become a father you will start understanding your father.

You will see how your entire family unites because of a kid in the house. Every day they will laugh, they will rejoice and dance—never a sad moment. They make you forget every difference you had with your family.
Everything changes. It changes for good.

Your empathy levels will increase a thousandfold. You will stop intentionally troubling others in the sense of competitiveness; instead, you will start understanding the person who is a father or a mother. Now, if someone’s baby cries on a flight, I don’t even put on headphones. You stop seeing life as a competition and start seeing people as humans, especially those raising tiny humans.

You learn to sacrifice things. It starts with sleep. Then it starts with your expenses. Then your time and your energy. I don’t remember what 8 hours of consistent sleep feels like now. Sometimes we sleep in a chilled AC room because Veer demands so, and sometimes drenched in sweat because fan nahi pasand toh nahi pasand.

Now I understand why we celebrate birthdays. Almost every day we slept with an anxiety of what if he falls from the bed. What if he suffocates in sleep? Is he sleeping in the correct position? Is he breathing correctly? What if he eats something? What if he chokes? Even a single cough upon drinking water made us super tense. Today we have all the information via AI and the internet to look up every symptom, but imagine keeping your kid alive for the first year 200 years ago. What a win situation. I would have a feast for the entire city.

This is on a personal note, so some of you may not like it. If you plan to have a child, consider planning it sooner. Don’t delay it. I always advise this to everyone now. I wish we had planned it earlier. My grandpa would have seen him before he left. Just 4 months of gap. It will always trouble me. If you think you're not ready, you won’t ever be. And no, kids are not that expensive in the initial years, as the internet suggests. If you have a good family, friends, and social support, plan it soon.

And if you are a parent already, do everything you can to protect your kid from the vultures around and do everything you can to fix those vultures. Once, someone here commented on my kid’s needs and wants. He even asked a few people to do the same in his chat. It took me 14 days to find his parents' address, and they will soon hear a knock-knock at their door. You will get the news. As a parent, always be ready to cross some lines—one life. Do everything possible. Be ruthless. You have the power.