'Yes, becoming a parent is a choice, but so is almost everything in the world.'

I was chatting with a friend at work and he noted that a bunch of parents had to take time off work to look after their kids. Unfortunately, he wasn’t saying that he was happy with people putting their family first either.

These parents weren’t taking time off work to take their kids on a day trip to the Gold Coast, they were taking ‘days off’ to care for kids with that epic gastro bug that’s working its way through every childcare centre in the country. They were taking their babies to hospital. Or maybe they were taking a day off when their kid was at daycare so they could catch up on sleep. Honestly, going to work is easier than caring for a sick kid. Syringing gastrolite into my kids mouth every twenty minutes and changing about twenty nappies in a day is totally ‘a day off’.

Everyone works hard. And, yes, if someone takes a 'sick day' or 'family day' then someone else has to pick up the slack. I'm sorry if this puts you out. But this is part of the gig with being a parent. It's part of keeping the human race going. It's part of being a balanced, normal person because you should be putting your family's welfare first. What are you supposed to do when your kid has a gastro and you shouldn't (and can't) take your kid to daycare because they have A GASTRO BUG which is highly infectious?

My single friend made the comment that having kids, 'is a choice'. You know what? He's right. But nearly everything you do in your adult life is a choice.

Your career is a choice.

How hard you work is a choice.

Your relationship status is a choice.

That tasteless green business shirt you wear is a choice. It makes you look like Kermit the frog...once he let himself go.

Spending your weekends going out and getting hammered is a choice. It's a choice you can make because you're single and you don't have to wake up at 5am the next day to look after a screaming baby.

We all make choices everyday. Some of us choose to be parents and some of us choose not to - that's ok. Power to you. It's your choice. I don't care what you do with your life and your ocean of free time. Just don't whinge to me about the actions of people who have greater responsibilities than you do. You've made a choice and they have, too.

My friend made the 'choice argument' one too many times and I decided to educate him on choices. I informed him that if his parents didn't make that 'choice' three decades ago, he wouldn't exist. I reminded him that if there wasn't a blackout three decades ago his parents would have been watching Neighbours instead of heading to the bedroom creating him.

It's all about choices.

You can get more from Jeff by following him on Twitter.