Posted on 02/27/2008 7:06:01 AM PST by Uncledave
Some folks can’t have children and don’t want to go through the adoption nightmare.
Some folks don’t have children because they’re afraid they’ll hurt them (via their own bad childhood.)
Some folks don’t have children because they have difficulty taking care of themselves, much less someone else.
Some folks don’t have children simply because they don’t want children.
The last bastion of individuality should respect this.
“I don’t think it’s possible to truly understand what love is until you’ve had children.”
Agreed. Maybe folks should read the PD James book “The Children of Men” to see what a world without any children would be like.
I thought it was very good, nobody does dystopia better than the English. Don’t know about the movie, if it was much changed or not.
Thanks. Baby Chan will be all right. He’s a big, hearty boy, and is being well cared for. (Mommy and I cannot afford health insurance for ourselves, but we make damned sure he’s covered!)
He’s in the other room laughing and playing right now. If not for the 100°F fever and croupy laugh, you’d never know he had pneumonia.
My kids about BEGGED me to teach them to read. The oldest two were reading when they turned five. Something is seriously wrong with a kid who isn’t interested in reading. Of course, something is seriously wrong with the mother....
Thanks. Baby Chan will be just fine. Good luck with the teens! Remember, if you beat them on the soles of their feet, CPS is far less likely to notice.
Thanks for your post.
Do you people (not strider) who hate screaming kids in parking lots, stores, etc. realize that not all of them are brats being raised by loser permissive liberals?
Do you know that just maybe that child has autism and simply cannot yet control his temper, and his parents do not wish to drug his brain just so you don’t fuss? That maybe they try not to take him places but every once in a while cannot afford a sitter and really need groceries? That maybe they sat in the car for 15 minutes going over what to expect with him, but he still happened to lose his temper?
Oh, and if the child is between 2 and 5 years old, a tantrum every once in a while is developmentally appropriate, especially if the child is tired or coming down with a bug (which will only show itself the following day)? As a matter of fact, a toddler who NEVER stamps her foot in public, trying to assert her little will, most likely is in some way developmentally disabled. One of our little guys was quite slow to develop at first and I was secretly pleased by his first little tantrum (which I knew how to handle).
Please remember some of these things, childless people. It’s NOT always bad parenting. The example of the first child was all from personal experience, and countless people chose to come up to me and my screaming child to tell me that he was the worst-behaved child they’d ever met. As if that would cure his neurological disorder.
Thus ends our friendship. :P
I have two cats. If the husband weren’t here, I’d probably have 4. Of course, I would also have a couple more dogs.
So are we friends or not?
*Stumbles off for a strong cup of tea....*
“But that’s just the problem—according to happiness researchers, people don’t really enjoy rearing children.”
too general a statement.
There are many different aspets to “rearing children” - some of them enjoyable, and some of them not.
My one yr. old is at a phase where he is acting like a chimpanzee on crystal meth.
He is constantly moving chairs all over so he can climb up to places he shouldn’t be, so he can make awful messes for me to clean up.
While I am removing chairs and stacking them out of reach for the day - he is removing his diaper and peeing on the carpet.
Is this fun? No - I am not “enjoying” that aspect of it.
Do I “enjoy” being his mother? Absolutely - I am crazy about the kid and I know he won’t be a chimp forever.
Besides - the hugs and kisses he gives me - and the little dance he does for me when I sing to him make up for the other stuff.
If I saved my Mom instead of my children, she’d KILL me. :p
My Grandfather (born in ‘17) remarked that he was a commodity when he was born, but his daughter was a luxury item. I always wondered what that made me?!?
“Please remember some of these things, childless people. It’s NOT always bad parenting. The example of the first child was all from personal experience, and countless people chose to come up to me and my screaming child to tell me that he was the worst-behaved child they’d ever met. As if that would cure his neurological disorder.”
yes..people naturally like to assume the worst.
And if you tell those people about your son’s autism, they will either say to you that autism doesn’t really exist - that it is being used as an excuse for bad behavior - or that you shouldn’t be subjecting other people to your son’s autism.
as for how you will manage to get groceries without breaking the law by leaving him in the hot car?
tough luck lady - figure it out! /s
I agree with your post. I don’t know why people who choose to be childless are so ridiculed here.
I also love your disclaimer! In my experience, most parents love their kids but don’t necessarily care for many other children. I think what most parents forget is that most people don’t care for their kids - whether those people are childless or have kids!
The apple of your eye isn’t everyone else’s apple.
i was not socialized to cats, my mom hated them and xshub is deathly allergic to them, so they are just nonentities in my world. xshub was not a dog person either, but i got one and now have eased him up to two. if i didn't have xshub, i would have lots more : )
I am dreading Fall.
My baby will be going to school. I’ve had one pre-schooler or another with me almost all the time for nearly fifteen years.
I will be a total wreck on the first day of school. Then I think I’ll take a three hour uninterrupted bath. :)
But if you try to discipline the child, someone calls CPS.
It’s an unwinnable situation.
think about it, freepers ridicule EVERYTHING that doesn't fit within their own personal view of the world. i agree with you, there are judgmental statements made about those who are intentionally childless, but there are also plenty who ridicule those they consider to have TOO MANY kids [eg; the it's not a uterus is a clowncar gif that riles people up], or people who aren't SCIENCE majors in college etc etc etc. Freepers are just a judgmental lot, period. i think the freeriders need to take a chillpill and not feel so singled out for ridicule.
Amen...
Why do you say they are shallow? They choose to not have children- so what?
wait til your oldest leaves for college... i just went through that this past fall. she is a 3 hour plane ride away from me. technology makes it much different than it was in our day: text msgs, IMs, email and cellphones. we talk as much as we ever did, we are just not in each other’s physical presence.
My sister and brother both “hated” cats when they were young.
My brother got a cat as soon as he moved out, because dogs weren’t allowed in his domicile. Now he’s a cat fanatic.
My sister claims she only “hated” cats to “please” my father. (I, of course, ignored my father and had a cat anyway. I’m his baby. LOL) Now she has a whole herd.
There is nothing like having a pile of purring fur on your lap on a cold night. :)
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