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Hopefully, you aren't assessing your readiness to become a parent as you are precariously hovering over the toilet bowl, trying to pee on that tiny stick. If you are trying to figure it all out a bit earlier than that, you are probably a bit ahead of the game. Still, there are some wrong reasons to begin to feel those yearnings to hear the pitter patter of little feet.

TO SAVE YOUR RELATIONSHIP
Babies are many things, but relationship-savers are the one thing that they are not. If you are convinced that a baby is the super-glue that will patch your cracked relationship back together once and for all, you are wrong. A new baby will stress your relationship in ways you have not begun to imagine and if you trick your partner into staying with a baby you sneak into the relationship, you will be all the more sorry in the long run.

TO FILL A VOID IN YOURSELF
When you are sad and lonely in your own soul, it's very easy to yearn for someone who wants and needs you beyond measure to boost your self-worth. But, this will fail you in the end. A baby will exhaust you body and spirit and eventually, those feelings will come up to the surface in those wee hours of the midnight feeding mornings and you'll have to face them, and you'll have to be a positive model for the child at the same time. Face your demons first and figure out yourself.

FOR THE LOVE
Oh for the love of peanuts! If you are this desperate for something to love that you would bring a defenseless baby into the world without thinking of anything else that they need, then get a puppy or a fish. That poor child will be brought up by someone like you, who selfishly forgot to think about if they had a good job, if they were in a stable place in their lives, or if they were emotionally ready (which they obviously were not). Yep, you're sure on your way to being a great parent!

ALL YOUR GIRLFRIENDS ARE PREGNANT
When you reach a certain age, everyone else in your circle seems to be having babies. Well, when everyone else in your circle started getting married before you, it wasn't right for you to go out and marry that jerk from the bar, right? The same goes for this lifelong commitment only doubly so. You can't divorce a baby the way you can that jerk from the bar. Think that one over.

FOR THE STUFF
No one will deny that teeny tiny socks and itsy bitsy sweaters are the most adorable things on the planet and that baby's blankets cannot be softer. And, there's nothing more fun than choosing the dcor for your baby's room. But, the stuff becomes a lot less exciting when you're washing it for the sixteenth time when your baby has pooped on it with total disregard for how beautiful it is. And, the furniture loses its charm when you realize that you have to eat Ramen Noodles for six weeks to afford it. Stuff is just stuff. If you are really that obsessed with getting baby stuff, buy it and sock it away for when you are ready for the baby to go with it.

Babies are a blessing and they will brighten your very existence. Your life will be all the richer for having known each and every child that you bring into your world. But, choosing to bring a child into your life for the wrong reasons will cause you to tread a long and difficult path that would best avoided when you can much more easily take the highway to happiness by waiting until you are ready.

Learn more about this author, Rachel Mcclain.
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