I don't know if I should be a chef?!
Answers:
To be an actual chef, you need not only a passion for cooking but also to be willing to always be working *at night*. That's hard for a parent or even spouse since they'll seldom be home with the children/spouse is home, and many social events or other activities happen during the hours from 3:00 to midnight --common for chefs.
Aside from that it's a long road, and takes a lot of experience, working up the ladder, etc, usually.
There are many other ways to indulge your love of cooking though! For example:
...catering of some kind would be one (if you're a good planner, and don't mind the stress of time constraints, client problems, etc.).
...starting a "food truck" might be another...the ones with more gourmet type foods and lunches are getting very popular these days.
...starting a "personal meals" delivery business (also takes up a lot of the time kids might be at home)
...working in a company where you come up with recipes, or test them, etc.
...you could also teach cooking (to others, to children in private classes, etc), and or have a blog that does that or just shows off what you've made
...etc.
And then there's just what most people do who are really into cooking. They just experiment and learn and cook as a serious hobby for most of their lives. That might be only for home dinners, etc, or could extend into dinner parties, etc, etc.
Well, it depends on how much you love it. If you think about it, when you live by yourself you will have to cook all your own meals anyway, so if you simply enjoy cooking as a hobby, I would not recommended for you to be a chef. However, if you really love to get creative and possibly invent your own recipes, go for it!
I just had a career fair at school and a chef came in. He said that before you go to cooking school you should work in a restaurant as a waitress or as a dishwasher to see if you like the whole restaurant thing. So i advise you to work in a local eatery to see how you like it and if you do go to cooking school and start a career in cooking
It never hurts to try!