Posted on 11/28/2006 10:11:14 AM PST by steve-b
No, no, sorry. I don't have any . . ."
Why does this always seem to be the first thing I'm asked? It takes my breath away, yet why do I feel the need to apologize for my reply? Looking vague and embarrassed, my questioner glances over my shoulder for someone else to talk to: someone with whom he or she has more in common, someone with children....
Just as some women talk of a visceral urge that propels them to have children, others speak of an equally visceral urge that propels them not to. Laurie, a transplanted southerner who teaches history in New York, began to realize at an early age that she didn't want children, as she watched wealthy mothers in Richmond hire other women to care for their children. "These people compelled to have trophy babies in certain socioeconomic echelons don't want to face the realities of raising a child." She is now infuriated by what she calls "that Mother Right" -- the assumption that everyone will make way for a woman with a stroller or a child in tow....
But almost all the women I've talked with describe feeling acutely aware of what they see as our national obsession with motherhood: "The Bump Watch" hounding Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Lopez; "Celebrity Babies" like the elusive Suri Cruise; and "The Ultimate Hollywood Accessory: A New Baby," popularized by Brangelina. Some use the term "child-free" to differentiate those who choose not to have children from those who had been unable to have them....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
But there are quite a few women out there who aborted children in their college years and then found themselves unable to have children by the time they were married, in their late 30s and "ready" for kids.
There are a number of different reasons why so many people are childless and abortion is indubitably a prominent member of that group of reasons.
Abortion is birth control.
Meanwhile, welfare mom who sits at home pumps out 5 or 6.
Our governmnent subsidises bastardy, and discourages responsible parenthood through confiscatory taxation. It is no wonder that we have too much of the former, and too little of the latter.
I'm 55 and we've never had any kids. I figured I would be just like my parents and I wouldn't wish that on any kid.
It's never been a problem and I don't feel the least bit guilty. I can't count the number of times I've heard this sentence, "I love my kids and am glad I had them, but if I had it to do all over again, I might do what you did."
So I say to all of you parents out there. Thanks for a difficult job well done. If your baby wants to scream at a restaurant, more power to you. I envy your patience and willpower when your teenager takes the car or your daughter goes out on a date.
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She is probably all those things, and it's a shame.
Still, I can't help but feel sorry for her.
There was a family of 8 kids in front of me at church the other day. It was really a surprise because I haven't seen that large a sibling cohort in quite some time. I don't even see it at church much, and I'm Catholic. And it was pretty obvious they were all by the same parents. It was cool, but kind of like looking at Amish people or something.
(Pointing finger) Anchor babies! Anchor babies! :)
Some may use abortion for birth control. But I was referring to condoms, the pill and such. Or do you mean that birth control is abortion? I don't get the gist here.
I guess I just don't get out enough! Not invited to work functions, not invited to baby showers ... and nobody in the Wal-mart line asks if I have any children, because I almost always have some of them with me. (And when I don't, an employee will say, "I've never seen you without your children!")
I know several Catholic families like that, one Protestant family like that, and about 20 Jewish families like that (I live near Lakewood, NJ which has America's largest Orthodox yeshiva).
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LOL! Good idea.
Indeed.
Birth control is simply what it is: a method to prevent birth. There are benign methods, such as abstinence and condoms, questionable methods such as hormones and undoubtedly evil methods such as abortion. If you refer to birth control and say "I only meant condoms and pills" then you do not give a complete picture on the many reasons people choose not to have children.
One for Mom, and One for Dad, and One for Uncle Sam.
bookmark
As opposed to a national obsession with death ? Could she have substituted another word for obsession, like maybe fascination or enthrallment or interest? Is it just me, or does it seems like she has a beanpole up her butt?
I'd say this harridan has a few issues, fer sure.
>>>There is only one woman that I think negatively of that doesn't have children. A male friend of ours got married to this woman. She doesn't want to work. She doesn't want to have kids. All she does is shop. She also doesn't want her husband doing anything with his friends after work. Talk about selfish. I can't stand her.>>>
That is a whole nother ball o'wax. She is just plain selfish.
Couple B: "Well you two shouldn't have kids".
I think that is the way it should be.
If a woman can be considered selfish for not having children, I think it would be fair to add those that DO have children for the wrong reasons.
How many women have children because its expected and then resent them? What is right about that?
Why does the name andrea yates come to my mind? Or that girl who drove the car in the lake with her children in it because her "boyfriend" did not want kids?
Pathetic isn't it?
I have made peace with not having children, too bad there are those that can not leave well enough alone.
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