Parenting

[357 mag]

The sad thing about our society is that there are so many pregnancies where people are not ready to have a child, not financially secure enough and don't make the child a priority. When I hear of a young child "baking" in the car while their mom or dad was in a club or casino makes me want to take care of them myself. It pisses me off to no end. Having a child is a huge responsibility and should be something that should be prepared for.

I agree AOO! It breaks my heart when I hear about that, or I have to go do an intake on 1 of them because their parents were irresponsible, I would take them all home with me if I had a big enough house and could afford it. The only victims are the children. Plus there's all those families out there fighting with infertility who want so badly to have a child and can't. Then we have the one's who don't want children, yet keep popping them out for the govt. benefits and don't take care of them.

I love my children and wouldn't give them up for anything in the world, although they do sometimes drive me crazy, but as my mom always tells me, you're kids come out 10x's worse than you were. So I guess it's my punishment for driving my mom crazy! LOL

[lBugsy]

I have three daughters and wouldn't give up the experience of having them and raising them and watching them grow.
They are all grown now with careers and families of their own and have given me six wonderful grandsons.
I often sit and wish I could go back to the times when my daughters thought I was the "king of the hill"...I loved it when we could hold hands and skip and laugh and cry together.
Now I don't get to see them often and I miss them all terribly.
Kids are fantastic.

[Army_of_One]

Kids are fantastic.

Yup...and too all the "thinking about being parents" out there. I will tell you that if you don't have the money and you are not willing to change your life completely and put your child first and foremost in every facet of life then you are not ready to have a child. Do the child a favor and either keep your leg closed, stock up on condoms or take a pill....:D

[jackknife]

AOO, I feel very much the same way. I'm a big dream chaser and I'm not sure that would be fair to a child which is why I am still only an aunt.

I do have a dream of adopting an older child in a few years though depending on where we are in our lives.

[Army_of_One]

AOO, I feel very much the same way. I'm a big dream chaser and I'm not sure that would be fair to a child which is why I am still only an aunt.

I do have a dream of adopting an older child in a few years though depending on where we are in our lives.

Adopting is a great thing!!! Hopefully you will adopt an American child in need and not go overseas to adopt like all the Hollywood movie stars do. This is one time when it's better to "buy American".

[jackknife]

There are plenty of kids in America that need families. Actually, I'm just glad there are kids getting adopted regardless of their nationality.

[BroncoFan]

I am a man and I have wanted children since I was 18, but held off. I wanted my child to have a good mother, too. Yes, it took me a long time to find the right woman and I had my first child at 33 years old.

I believe in adoption, too, and wouldn't hesitate to still adopt. I don't agree with Ao1, as those in other countries need adopted, too. Try being a white American family and adopt a white American boy. Won't happen for a long time. My little sis is Korean, and was adopted by us at the tender age of 3 mos. She is my little sis and I love her with all my heart. Adopt from wherever you can! You will get a no more perfect child!

[K C Muffin]

Yup...and too all the "thinking about being parents" out there. I will tell you that if you don't have the money and you are not willing to change your life completely and put your child first and foremost in every facet of life then you are not ready to have a child. Do the child a favor and either keep your leg closed, stock up on condoms or take a pill....:D

I'm not sure having money should be a priority. Not saying that you shouldn't be able to support yourself and an offspring, though. It's too hard to say how much money is enough before having kids. We didn't have a pot to pizz in or a window to throw it out of, but we were great parents and made the necessary sacrifices for the kids. Now we're reaping the rewards. I don't think it's so important to have a nest egg set aside as it is to have the mindset that you're willing to sacrifice where necessary to see that your child doesn't go without necessities. And no, I don't consider a cell phone a necessity just yet.

[357 mag]

I agree KC, if you wait until your financially secure to have kids, most will never have kids. When my oldest daughter was born, we weren't bringing home much of anything, yet we made $2 too much to get any assistance, but we managed. All our bills were paid on time, and we had food, but we struggled. Then I switched jobs which gave us a little more money then when we least expected it, along came daughter #2! I was freaking out because we were barely making it with 1 how were we going to handle 2! But we managed yet again. You have to want to be a parent no matter how much money you have to be a good parent. Look at Brittany Spears, she is more than financially secure, yet she's constantly in the media about her "parenting". It's not all about money!

[Army_of_One]

I agree KC, if you wait until your financially secure to have kids, most will never have kids. When my oldest daughter was born, we weren't bringing home much of anything, yet we made $2 too much to get any assistance, but we managed. All our bills were paid on time, and we had food, but we struggled. Then I switched jobs which gave us a little more money then when we least expected it, along came daughter #2! I was freaking out because we were barely making it with 1 how were we going to handle 2! But we managed yet again. You have to want to be a parent no matter how much money you have to be a good parent. Look at Brittany Spears, she is more than financially secure, yet she's constantly in the media about her "parenting". It's not all about money!

Being financially ok is just one facet of raising a child. I believe to each his own but I see too many young people out there with kids that don't have their basic needs met let alone their wants. I personally didn't want to be "that guy". I understand that you make due with what you have but I wanted to be in the situation of (for example) not just buying a car seat to check the block of having a car seat but to be able to buy a high quality, higher safety rating car seat.