I'll say - I have four kids! I married a woman when I was 24 years old. She was 13 years my senior. She had been married twice before. I adopted them. I was 24 and had a 17-year-old son instantly, an 11-year-old daughter, a 5-year-old, and a child on the way. So I had to learn how to become a parent very quickly.
I don't have time to sit up and write songs all day. Maybe one day when my kids get older.
Being a working mom is not easy. You have to be willing to screw up at every level.
I wanted to be a 150% entrepreneur and a 150% mom, and I found that I was having a very hard time doing both. I was about 75% and 75% - still better than 100%, but not what I was accustomed to at work.
After divorcing, I left South Africa to live in Toronto. They were tough years. On my own with three young children and no income. I'd cry when they spilt milk because I didn't have the money to buy any more.
Being a father is an everyday challenge. It goes on and on.
How many really capable men are children more than once during the day!
The part I hate is when we go out to eat. My youngest son, who's 11, doesn't like to eat in more fancy restaurants, so we often go out to places like Red Robin and such. Well, as you can imagine, in that kind of place I probably have to jump up about 10 times during a meal to take a picture with somebody or sign an autograph.
The cliches are all true! My son Max has just turned two, and he's literally turned into this driven young man overnight! The terrible twos are not a myth, but he's such a laugh to be around.
It's a very telling thing when you have children. You have to be there for them, you've got to set an example, when you're not sure what your example is, and anyway the world is changing so fast you don't know what is appropriate anymore.
Before children, it's kind of easy to be solipsistic - you and your wife are in this hermetic little thing, and your own desires, wants, needs, tastes dictate your choices. Then, suddenly, all of that's gone.
When I hit my 20s, I struggled to make it. I got married at 19, and my daughter, Je'Niece, was born a year later. I worked blue collar jobs during the day and comedy clubs at night, and I was earning about $25 a year doing stand-up.
As a medical doctor, I have known the face of adversity. I have seen much of death and dying, suffering and sorrow. I also remember the plight of students overwhelmed by their studies and of those striving to learn a foreign language. And I recall the fatigue and frustration felt by young parents with children in need.
My relationship with my first child was nonexistent. I was broke and I was a new rapper whose career was spiraling downward.
One of the most startling events in my life was when my older son was about 16, and he blamed me for all the troubles of the world. So I, I felt like telling him, 'Oh no, I was just like you when I was your age; I wanted to change the world, too.'
There are days that I love just devoting to going to the park and playing with my son, but then sometimes you have to leave out other things, or if work is a full day of work, perhaps I miss the play time with my son, and I guess the only struggle is trying to not shortchange any of the things that you want to do.
Familiarity breeds contempt - and children.
I was married at 16, a father at 17 and divorced at 18.
While not impossible, it is especially challenging for teenage parents to develop bonds with their children. A high percent of them were themselves children of teenage parents and have never experienced appropriate parenting.
Kids can be a pain in the neck when they're not a lump in your throat.
My mum had four kids on her own, so if I had one kid with one nanny and not a full-time job, it would be a joke. And I think the impossible happens when you leave your kids. I've seen so many nannies in the park on their phones, and the kids are running off.
When you're juggling children, a marriage and a couple of jobs, something has to give - and, for me, it's living in a perfectly tidy home.
There is nothing more boring for an intelligent woman than to spend endless amounts of time with small children.
Everyone should have kids. They are the greatest joy in the world. But they are also terrorists. You'll realize this as soon as they're born, and they start using sleep deprivation to break you.
I feel bad for my parents for having to raise me. I was crazy.
