Have Kids - by Nikunj Kothari - Balancing Act

Yesterday, my second born son held my hand for the first time—not the automatic grasp of a newborn, but a deliberate choice. That rush of unconditional love hit again. You think you understand love before kids. You don't. Every other relationship comes with implicit conditions. Partners choose each other daily. Parents love you deeply, but there's history. With your child? It's different. It's a love so fundamental it becomes part of your operating system. The surprises compound. Watching your partner become a parent shows you sides of them you never knew existed. You fall in love differently, deeper. Each 3 AM wake-up, each small sacrifice, becomes a window into your own childhood. Suddenly you understand your parents in ways no conversation could explain. That house full of love you grew up in? It was built in these exact moments, through these exact choices. Before kids, I obsessed about protecting my time. Startup hours, ambitious goals, career growth—how could a child fit into tha

Yesterday, my second born son held my hand for the first time—not the automatic grasp of a newborn, but a deliberate choice. That rush of unconditional love hit again. You think you understand love before kids. You don't. Every other relationship comes with implicit conditions. Partners choose each other daily. Parents love you deeply, but there's history. With your child? It's different. It's a love so fundamental it becomes part of your operating system. The surprises compound. Watching your partner become a parent shows you sides of them you never knew existed. You fall in love differently,