this has somehow devolved into a mildly spiteful conversation. hopefully i can eschew my personal emotions on this to make some point.

from the perspective of a person who likes kids (and has worked with them for many years as an educator, nanny and mentor) but doesn't want to have them, parents do seem to take this whole "but i'm improving society's future" role far too seriously. parents are not the only influence on kids, even though it is extremely valuable to have loving, educated parents teach their children how to interact with the world.

my beef is merely that i will never get the same respect for the things that are important to me and that help change the world (my volunteer work, my care for my animals) because parents have decided those things are not as valuable. i fortunately have a job with great flexibility, but not everyone has the opportunity to take off work for reasons other than their kids' health.

in essence, parents, we respect the work you do when you raise your children to be socially conscious, polite, fun loving, creative entities who will improve the world. but you have to recognize we all have different roles to fill in making the world better and that your contribution is not inherently more valuable or deserving of benefits.