Humanity has seen crashes like this before, and worse. There’s a lot of philosophical arguments around natalism, but at the end of the day, there’s an argument to be made for having kids–even in a rough time.

All we can do at this point is try to equip our kids for the worst, and give them our best while we can. Their lives will be harder than ours in some ways, but possibly better in others. For example, kids today have such better emotional intelligence at a younger age than anyone in my generation did. They’re not perfect, but overall I’m super proud of how the newer generations are turning out. I hope to inspire my own kids by working for positive change, to eventually pass them the torch to do the same. And if I can find some value in that, I hope they can as well.

As another commenter mentioned, it does get easier. You may want to put off big trips for a few years (or arrange solo or couple trips with just your partner if you can). Otherwise, you’ll need to go into it with different expectations for the time being–vacation with a toddler is often more work and stress than being at home. You can work with your partner to ensure each of you has some actual vacation time, but most of the trip will feel like work.

For a toddler, most things in the world are new. New sounds, smells, sights, people… it gets overwhelming for them very quickly. As adults, there’s less “new” for our brains to process, and we’re better at relating to things from a broader range of experiences. But if you’ve ever gone somewhere you don’t speak the language for an extended time and felt the weariness that comes with that, you’ll have an idea of how your toddler feels any time you leave the hotel (which is likely the most familiar place to them).

Try to keep that in mind when planning vacations. Going with familiar people, like their grandparents, can be very helpful–both for having them watch the kids here and there, and also to have additional familiar faces. Bring a box of their favorite snacks, and some familiar toys and activities they enjoy at home. It’s still a lot of work, but it might be marginally better.

This is also great because you’re still making it clear that their “fact” was wrong, so you’re not reenforcing that their statements reflect reality.