Excellent article! I was a stay at home father for a few years while I attempted to start up a business at home while my wife went to work in corporate America. Both boys are almost adults now. The first starting university this September so I think I was successful in raising them (with my wife, of course!)

First I want to say that having two parents makes it a lot easier. We struggled financially for a while and almost got divorced but the biggest change was when I went back to work in IT and the money started to flow. By then the kids were old enough to come home from school and take care of themselves for a while.

Having children changed me in ways I never knew was possible. I agree about the letting kids cry it out in their beds all night long. That was the dumbest advice anyone has ever given. One kid was easy and fell asleep on his one and stayed in his bed and the other couldn't until he was about a 1st grader. Eventually he realized he was too big and too old and just one night started sleeping in his own bed.

Now when I meet men that have never had kids that are my age, there is a certain quality to them. A selfishness or immaturity to them. I am not knocking them because there are plenty of rotten parents (mine were pretty good but definitely from a generation where kids were not their primary focus).

My suggestion about having kids is if you have any plan to do it, don't wait around like I did until 8 years into a marriage. Do it as young as feasibly possible because you'll want to spend as much time as possible when you are older with them.