I love my kids... but I've never had the rosy "they make my life complete" vibe that a lot of other people talk about.
Maybe there's something wrong with me?
Kids are a tremendous time and money sink. Nightly storytime, getting down on the floor to play with them, encouraging them as they experiment with art/music/dancing/etc, taking them to the playground/pool/skating/etc every weekend... those hours used to be for programming, learning, video games, dating, movies, friends, "alone time", and everything else I gave up on or cut WAY back on in order to make space in my life for my kids.
Looking back on my life, I think I would do it again... so I guess there's some benefit to it all. But damn if I can see it or articulate it.
(They're 5, 3, and 1month)