The birds and the bees doesn't quite cut it.

A mother's work is never done.  Looking after youngsters is a full-time job.  They are born helpless and know only that they are cold and hungry all the time.  The exception to this is at night when the little ones thankfully sleep.  That is if the parents are lucky.

With birds, there is little time to waste.  There is nest construction, tending to eggs, and raising a brood all before the end of spring.  Summer is a time of fledging and growth before the onset of winter.  All this happens in the short span of a few months with the chicks going from egg to adult.  Next year it happens all over again, without having other little ones in tow.

What a difference with humans.  Nine months of pregnancy, often an uncomfortable experience involving morning sickness, weight gain, and an internal commotion caused by kicking feet and frequent churning.  The end of gestation is rewarded with perhaps the most remarkably difficult process for any species in the animal kingdom.

Newborns require a Herculean effort to meet their never-ending needs.  Feeding, diapering, and protecting them is continuous with little opportunity to rest or opportunity to have a moment to one's self. As if this wasn't enough, there is the task of looking after other children that may be present concurrently.

It takes 18 years to raise a single child to adulthood. This is about 40 times longer than most bird species.  Not only that, but the children never really ever "leave the nest" even some years after that.  It is not too much to say that raising a family can easily take 25- 40 years, depending on circumstances.

"The birds and the bees" is a metaphor expressing the idea of reproduction and rearing.  The truth is that, in humans, the process is much more lengthy and complicated.  Although there are parallels, I think it can safely be said that the comparison falls remarkably short of reality.  Perhaps a more fitting metaphor would be "the elephants and the apes."  They know only too well the challenges of raising a family.

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