The Old Folks Home

[Wisher1000]

He has his checking account and I have mine. It works well for us.

I think our future is not as bleak as it may seem. First off, not all intelligent people are choosing not to have children, just look at the likes of me, Cynthia, Arielle and 7 biddies as examples ;-) (Right ladies???)

I would further argue that every older generation (I include myself in this generation now LOL) seems to believe that they were raised on better values than the younger generations coming behind them. I think that is better judged on a person by person basis. If you look at entertainment as an indicator for how the younger generations are doing (and I try to avoid stereotyping them based on what is on television) then I think you are missing important pieces of the puzzle. I don't believe we are raising a generation of "Honey Boo Boos", I more believe that most of the people who watch television on a level enough to drive ratings are probably vapid imbeciles.

As much as I might not agree with the religious convictions of my neighbors (this is a personal preference only, not a reflection of their religion) they seem to be raising their children well...... My personal opinion of the majority of parents is that they are trying to raise their children to be responsible, law abiding citizens. They are doing this with no manual on hand and doing the best that they know how. Do we make mistakes? Heck yeah, we are human.

Therefore, if I was taught to work hard to support myself and my family, to respect human and animal life, to constantly strive to better myself, and to help others when I can, then I will teach those qualities to my children through example. Adversely, if I was taught to look out for number one, to strive to get the most with the least amount of effort, and that no one is better than me, then I will teach my children those values, as well.

My great concern is that the families from the first group are having fewer children than the families from the second.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Wisher, did you get anything interesting in the mail recently?

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

The plucker... both digital (

) and mechanical. I'm pretty type-A personality so I try to get all the little pieces. There's still a few left.


I think it's because you're allowed to do what YOU want to do instead of what THEY want to do. They being the kids. I think part of the reason people try to convince you to have kids is so you can be as miserable as they are. Seriously think about this... I think they might be miserable and want to drag you into it.



Oh wow I never got this memo. I'm supposed to be ironing undies??!!

I don't think my parents got that memo, I don't recall getting to do what I wanted..lol...which may be part of the issue.

 

[7 Biddies]

My great concern is that the families from the first group are having fewer children than the families from the second. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maybe my job has warped my point of view, but I'm afraid you're right. Look at how many young girls *deliberately* have babies while still in high school. They don't have husbands or committed daddies, and have no sense of embarassment about it, either. Witness the baby showers and newspaper birth announcements. A far cry from the days when a girls had to go to home for unwed mothers and live in shame. They won't consider giving these poor kids up for adoption because they want to keep the baby so they'll have "someone to love them". One girl told me she was delighted to be having a girl so that she'd have someone to take care of her when she's older. Plus, mothers are abandoning their unplanned (and planned) children at an alarming rate. I have two friends who are single grandfathers who are raising their daughters' kids, and have seen waaaay many more grandparents here at the school who are raising grandkids. These girls are breeding with all the intention of a cat in heat, but the cats are better mothers. Some girls have several children by different daddies, and the grandparents drag them home in an effort to *make* the mothers raise their own offspring. Unfortunately, this usually ends with the girl bouncing in and out of the children's lives between boyfriends. I guess it's always been this way to some degree, but the sheer numbers I'm seeing are staggering.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

One of the things that I used to use as an excuse to not have kids was bringing them up in this type of society. Someone previously mentioned how each generation thinks everything is getting hotter in a handbasket, and it is. My dad, however, said he'd rather start raising kids in this type of a society than one in which your friends and neighbors randomly got polio and disappeared from society. I thought that was pretty deep coming from my dad.

I also recently read "Living the Good Life" c 1954... the subtitle: How to Live Sanely and Simply in a Troubled World. The introduction was full of sentences such as "In theory we disapproved of a social order activated by greed and functioning through exploitation, acquisition and accumulation." Touche.

 

[Cynthia12]

All I am going to say is.... I have kids!! What a learning/loving experience. And, I'm still learning.

 

[Arielle]

All I am going to say is.... I have kids!! What a learning/loving experience. And, I'm still learning.

Well said! The toughest job I've ever done . . . . well, it's not done yet . . .doing!! ANd the learning never stops--keeps my mind active as I have entered the second century of life!! ANd I run more than I have since my teenage years--try playing soccer with an 8 and 10 year old!

SCG and & Biddies-- I think it is human nature to think that the world is getting worse. Mostly I think It just changes from what we were used to by our 20's. I am ready to can a lot of welfare and bring back the work programs. I certainly DON"T like most of the TV shows of the last 15 years and i'm HAPPY that ME TV is now playing and I can let my kids watch Family Affair, Gunsmoke, etc. and not Bart Simpson. ( Must be a guy thing to THAT show, DH watches it sometimes. Must be something about DH I didn't know about. LOL)

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

It may be a touchy subject for some, I don't think its selfish not to have kids (I don't, I never met the right guy until it was too late) fortunately he has grandkids, so i get them...without all responsibilities of parenthood, which I think is alot, or should be. I do think having more than two or three children, regardless of your religion is very selfish and irresponsible. You can argue that if certain parents are fortunate enough to afford them them so what, but they do, and will consume the whole worlds resources. Soon we will be even more overpopulated, and what does mother nature do then to overpopulated species? She thins them out without prejudice. A century ago people tended to have more children, most children did not survive childhood either, and more than fifty percent of women died in/after childbirth. We don't have those health issues in this century, so the odds of extending your family tree are pretty good. I applaud those people who adopt rather than go make a new one because I think you can fall in love with a child so completely it doesn't matter if your genetics are there - I think that's a man made concept anyway. There. My rant for the day.

 

[Arielle]

I think you bring up wonderful points. I too do not care if they are not "of my flesh". Maybe that is why I love helping at school. I looked into adoption, and the financial cost was WAY too much. Having my own was more cost effective. My boys play regularly with a friend that is adopted because his family was not a good home for him, so at age 7 he moved in with his current parents. THey recently moved from their old family home to a neighborhood they felt would better help this child succeed. Kudos to them.

The high human population has put a strain on food resources. Our mid west states have been at high production for decades only replacing N, P and K = commercial fertilizer; areas like China and India still use human labor or cattle to plow their fields. Both result in not enough quality food in the world. Ironically , the more poor a family is the foods decline in quality. I often ruminate about how to help people have a small garden, even if it is in pots.