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Notes
1. A more useful thought, which I wish I’d thought of in time to include in the comments, is that we should distinguish the question, ‘which way of life (parent, teacher, artist?) is more or less generative (virtuously generative)?’ from the question, ‘given that I have chosen to be a parent (or teacher or artist), what is it to be virtuous in these various generative roles?’ (Then, even if there is not any particular virtue in being a parent rather than a teacher, there is likely to be a virtuous way of being a parent.) My sense is that talk of the ‘priority’ of parenthood mixes up these two questions. Of course it is possible that you’re a better teacher if you’re a parent first, but I’d like to know the reasons.
2. Maybe it’s worth asking: do you understand generativity to be: (1) an altruistic desire (the desire to give something of value to others, in this case others who belong to future generations); (2) a response to value in the circumstances of mortality (the desire to make what is valuable last longer); or (3) an egoistic desire (the need to be needed, to embark on a shared project)? It seems to be some combination of (1) and (2) and my comments try to draw you away from (1) into (2). But maybe it would be useful to think about the connections between at least (1) and (2)?