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*sniff*
Still sick. But better, and will go back to work tomorrow.
I've said this, I'm sure of it - stop me if you've heard this one before.
I don't think anyone under the age of oh, 21/22 or so? Should try to have a kid by themselves. No, seriously.
I haven't met a 19-year-old yet I thought was prime parent material, me included.
When is a good time? Hmmm. Get all the school you want out of the way, first. Get a good handle on the kind of job you want to have (and if that means parenting children, that's honest) and make sure you can back it up with the kind of education you need (see former, capiche?)...and be in a stable relationship if you're making the kid yourself. Don't waffle or mince on the last statement. You want optimal, there's your mix.
Oh, and if you're not fabulous by 30, don't kill yourself.
I really think it's only fair you get to be a teenager as long as you're allowed. Make all the mistakes you can reasonably account for yourself, and learn from them - FIRST - before you drag someone else along for the ride.
And when girls start menarche at 11 these days, that's a lot of years you have to be aware of your fertility and managing it. At a time when you're least educated about just about everything.
I am a firm supporter of contraception, and believe that nobody gets pregnant with the express intention of having an abortion - so if you tell me you need one, I believe you need one. It's that simple.
We clear on this?
Please. Don't tell me you think you can care for a baby when you're not even old enough to sign contracts as a legal adult. Not in this world. Oh, and you're already living on your own, independent and all that? No? Children get taken care of by their parents. Not their parents being 'taken care of' by their children, if you get my drift. If - my respect means anything. You asked.
If anything in my adoption journey has taught me, it's that there isn't a shortage of children being born - and frankly, the adoption agencies that advertise "PREGNANT? WANNA SELL YOUR KID?" right next to the "ADOPTIVE PARENTS APPLY HERE" banner make me ill, but that appears to be the typical domestic adoption scenario. I can't blame anyone who doesn't think of that first - but think about it seriously, if you're single, unemployed and under 22. Okay? There are more types of adoption situations than the "traditional" kind - believe me, I've done the research. There's no 'giving up' in adoption these days, not unless you want to.
This is someone who waited - with good reason. It can be done, and you'll have a hard time convincing me it was a mistake.
If you want to toss "well, you're jealous because you haven't got any of your own," I will fucking plant you in the cornfield. While reminding you we weren't talking about me in the first place. Or the second. Maybe not even in the third.
I'm old enough - and the daughter of a nurse who retired after over fifty years in hospitals, before and after Roe - to have seen a long string of really young parents with no other visible support than an accidental pregnancy. Lemme tellya. It never went well. Yeah, there are survivors of the process - and they can get on okay - or not - but while you can plan and choose? Please do. And yes, that's asking a lot.
Parenting is a selfless act, by its very nature. If you can't think of anything but what you want here? Come on.
That's not a responsible parent talking.
I've said this, I'm sure of it - stop me if you've heard this one before.
I don't think anyone under the age of oh, 21/22 or so? Should try to have a kid by themselves. No, seriously.
I haven't met a 19-year-old yet I thought was prime parent material, me included.
When is a good time? Hmmm. Get all the school you want out of the way, first. Get a good handle on the kind of job you want to have (and if that means parenting children, that's honest) and make sure you can back it up with the kind of education you need (see former, capiche?)...and be in a stable relationship if you're making the kid yourself. Don't waffle or mince on the last statement. You want optimal, there's your mix.
Oh, and if you're not fabulous by 30, don't kill yourself.
I really think it's only fair you get to be a teenager as long as you're allowed. Make all the mistakes you can reasonably account for yourself, and learn from them - FIRST - before you drag someone else along for the ride.
And when girls start menarche at 11 these days, that's a lot of years you have to be aware of your fertility and managing it. At a time when you're least educated about just about everything.
I am a firm supporter of contraception, and believe that nobody gets pregnant with the express intention of having an abortion - so if you tell me you need one, I believe you need one. It's that simple.
We clear on this?
Please. Don't tell me you think you can care for a baby when you're not even old enough to sign contracts as a legal adult. Not in this world. Oh, and you're already living on your own, independent and all that? No? Children get taken care of by their parents. Not their parents being 'taken care of' by their children, if you get my drift. If - my respect means anything. You asked.
If anything in my adoption journey has taught me, it's that there isn't a shortage of children being born - and frankly, the adoption agencies that advertise "PREGNANT? WANNA SELL YOUR KID?" right next to the "ADOPTIVE PARENTS APPLY HERE" banner make me ill, but that appears to be the typical domestic adoption scenario. I can't blame anyone who doesn't think of that first - but think about it seriously, if you're single, unemployed and under 22. Okay? There are more types of adoption situations than the "traditional" kind - believe me, I've done the research. There's no 'giving up' in adoption these days, not unless you want to.
This is someone who waited - with good reason. It can be done, and you'll have a hard time convincing me it was a mistake.
If you want to toss "well, you're jealous because you haven't got any of your own," I will fucking plant you in the cornfield. While reminding you we weren't talking about me in the first place. Or the second. Maybe not even in the third.
I'm old enough - and the daughter of a nurse who retired after over fifty years in hospitals, before and after Roe - to have seen a long string of really young parents with no other visible support than an accidental pregnancy. Lemme tellya. It never went well. Yeah, there are survivors of the process - and they can get on okay - or not - but while you can plan and choose? Please do. And yes, that's asking a lot.
Parenting is a selfless act, by its very nature. If you can't think of anything but what you want here? Come on.
That's not a responsible parent talking.
times have certainly changed.
T was born when my mil was 20, and that's about average for the times in India. That said, there's still plenty of teenagers (we're talking 16 or so) in India who already have kids. Do I think that's too young? YES. But the system is also different there. Careers for women are non existent once they've been married. It's still very 1950 in India, despite the huge IT boom.
I'm not ready to go to grad school, but I am ready to have a kid. My childhood best friend worries that she's too old to start trying for a kid, and laments that she put her career first. We're both 32, and she's younger than me by just a few weeks. In truth, I have simply given up on trying to figure out when the right time to become a parent is, according to my education/career/etc, and go by feel. I will never (no matter what) be ready to become a parent. But I want to now, and that makes a significant difference.
Sorry, I'm babbling again... did you get the email about teaming up for Sakura Fest?
Re: times have certainly changed.