I thought about using a throwaway because on the off chance someone i know reads this, they could probably recognize me but whatever. Life is great but I know that my circumstances are relatively atypical for teen parents. I had my son at 17, his dad took off when he was 4 months old, basically I'm a walking stereotype. I was able to live with my mom and start college when he was 6 months old. Having a state school in my hometown was a huge advantage. My mom didn't support us financially (aside from housing) or help much with childcare but giving us a place to live and a lot of emotional support was just as helpful or maybe even more so. I worked part time and also got a monthly stipend from the VA while attending classes full time because my dad is a disabled vet.

Fast forwarding to the present, I have two degrees, met a great guy when my son was 5, we got married a few years ago and I had my second child earlier this year at 28. We are financially stable and I did not go back to work after having the baby although I do intend to return to work within the next 2-3 years.

I do have a great life but for my son's sake more than mine, I don't know if I'd do things the same if I had the chance to do it over. I really do think I took good care of him when he was younger but having a baby as a mature, stable adult has been such a different experience and I wish he could have gotten me now as a mom instead of 17 year old me. I haven't accomplished all my goals yet but for all the ones I did, everything was so much harder than it would have been without having a child along the way. At the same time though, I love him and he's a great kid and if I didn't have him, it's impossible to know how my life would have been different/any better at all.

Tl;dr: Life is good, but don't be like me.