Why children?

[Andrew (imported)]

If I ever want to hear the pitter-patter of little feet around my apartmnet, I'll put clogging shoes on the cats.

[Riverwind (imported)]

It is true you can never miss what you have never known,

Its also true that some people should not ever have children.

My Grandson lives upstairs and when I hear the little guy running back and forth it brings a big smile to my face.

So I guess you could say I love my kids, glad I have 5 of them even happer that I have 6 grandkids and one more on the way.

To each his own.

I guess my question to Andrew is why the MAD face, you dont have any so what should it matter to you?

RW the Happy Grandparent

[haltlos (imported)]

Andrew!

I second that idea.

[Glenda J (imported)]

Andrew,

Your post puzzles me as well. Some people do not desire children. Others do. I have three children and my wife has four. Between us we have eight grand children and one great grandson.

What I do think makes sense for those of eunuch orientation is to either put some sperm into a sperm bank before become eunuchized. Or to have intercourse for the purporses of reproduction only. Then perhaps becoming a eunuch when the desired number of children have come into the picture.

To imply that having children is somehow a wrong thing to do, does not make sense.

[Paolo]

Be nice, Andrew.

You may fall and break a hip someday, and that child may be the one who finds you and dials 911.

[Falcon (imported)]

Be nice, Andrew.

You may fall and break a hip someday, and that child may be the one who finds you and dials 911.

HeHeHe Or after you break your hip, that child may stick you in a nursing home

[A-1 (imported)]

HeHeHe Or after you break your hip, that child may stick you in a nursing home

Or, he may let you stay at home and lay in your own shit because he is not always there to take care of your needs.

A-1

[Chibiabos (imported)]

I never liked children even when I was one. I groaned inwardly every time my mother said she wanted grandkids from me before my younger sister -- even when I was sexually active and I had steered away from thinking of having myself castrated, I never wanted kids.

I don't like kids. Not only don't I want kids, I don't want to deal with kids. They can't respect property or privacy, and if they break into your property and damage your stuff and hurt themselves in the process, you are the one who gets sued.

I've tried mentoring teenagers, but gotten nowhere. I tried warning them against making foolish, rash decisions. I gave them my own horror stories of my being a teenager and they'd supposedly listen, fascinated, but would not take to heart the messages I was trying to convey about the importance of school and even the offers I made to tutor them if they had trouble in a subject.

I think people are raised to just love kids no matter what. We can't even feed the children of the world we have, but because its "those children" "over there" that are easy to forget about because they aren't white and aren't in our neighborhood, couples don't care and don't think about all the kids that need homes. An American kid they breed themselves is somehow more valuable, though.

I don't know if Andrew and I share the exact same feelings on this, but just because most people don't have these feelings doesn't mean they don't exist. I know the feelings seem freakish, but they're real, I've always had them. When I was a kid, I felt all the other kids were shallow, loud, vane and self-centered.

-- Chibiabos

[Leona Lee (imported)]

Andrew,

Your post puzzles me as well. Some people do not desire children. Others do. I have three children and my wife has four. Between us we have eight grand children and one great grandson.

What I do think makes sense for those of eunuch orientation is to either put some sperm into a sperm bank before become eunuchized. Or to have intercourse for the purporses of reproduction only. Then perhaps becoming a eunuch when the desired number of children have come into the picture.

To imply that having children is somehow a wrong thing to do, does not make sense. :

D Hi Glenda,I'm with you.I also have 7 grandchildren.I love them all very much and alway's pray that I can add something possitive to their live's.Kudo's from Leona Lee

[jane_says (imported)]

I used to feel the same way, Andrew. I wrote two term papers in college on the subject, one for English and one for Sociology. I made A's on both of them. I swore I'd never have kids. Then all of a sudden, I changed my mind. Maybe it was related to my knowing I was in what would be a lifelong relationship. Whatever the reason, I had two within thirteen months.

I'm not saying that not having kids in the wrong thing to do. Quite the contrary - some people aren't cut out for it, just like some people aren't cut out for windsurfing. It's a choice one must make for him/herself. I know it sounds corny, but it's different when the kid is yours. I never believed that until I had my own.

Chibabios, I resent the sentiment that people who have children somehow care less about children in impoverished countries than the childless. I particularly resent that you being up race here. I assure you that I care at least as much about the welfare of children everywhere as you do. People are "raised to love kids" because that's what's necessary for the species to continue. Why would you have any expectation that a teenager who is a perfect stranger to you would listen, fascinated, to your life's failures and change harmful behavior? Do you even remember *being* a teenager? Do you think someone you weren't all that familiar with in the first place could have saved you from self-destructive behavior? Not likely. They're teenagers, not retirees - it's their JOB to make shitty decisions.

And I'd be leery of any "mentor" who can't spell "vain".