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I feel the same way. The weird thing to me (observing from a distance), is that having kids is in a way, a projection of those things you're already doing, just in a physical form. But I don't have kids, so I don't know for sure, that's just what it seems to be - projection of ego that can capture your attention, instead, because it seems like a bigger thing to "build" than some webapp.

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Except you don't "build" a kid, and they don't turn out the way you expect they will before you have them. I've found that their interests, passions, and abilities seem to have little to do with what I'd like them to be, and are mostly either innate or governed by mechanisms I don't understand. I have three kids and they are all quite distinct individuals despite being raised in basically the same environment by the same parents.

Not only that. All your kids have quite similar set of genes. And yet they are still different.

I think when all things are tallied you would find they end up pretty close to a combination of you and your wife. There are just parts of you that you don't realize are the way they are.

Yes, when I've discussed this with people I've often referred to the things I create as "my version of kids" or "my idea of a legacy". I never thought of it in terms of projection of ego, but that seems spot on.

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