Bitter much?

The bitter load of bullcrap below came from here...
http://tinyurl.com/5f4n9m


Children? Who needs them?

Jan Barden on the couples who are happy to live without offspring

Cuddle a baby, scented and sleepy fresh from the bath, and you feel you could die of joy. But catch a fractious toddler kicking the corner tin out of a stack of baked beans in the supermarket and you could kill from rage. That's parenting: a seesaw of emotions that can have you acting like Mother Teresa one moment, Pol Pot the next. And, like a runaway train, once you step aboard this ride, there's no getting off. Ever.

Yet some of us go along with it again and again. Biology is to blame. Once we are caught in the blinding headlights of hormones, we rarely stop to think if children will change our lives for the better. We simply want a baby. And what our generation wants, it just has to have.

But the downy babies grow into bum-fluffed teenagers and fill our homes with cheesy socks and atmospheres as tense as a dentist's waiting-room. Our finances dwindle and then vanish as we face up to the chilly reality of school and university fees.

We try hard not to resent our childless friends, who, in comparison with us, breeze through their lives flashing more cash, getting more sleep and having more fun and freedom. "Marrakesh next weekend?" they murmur to each other. "Why not?"

They must be so happy. Or are they? Could they just be filling their empty days with conspicuous consumerism to mask an aching loneliness and fear of a solitary old age?

Apparently not. Those who have chosen not to become parents are, on the whole, pretty pleased with their decision. At the extreme end of the scale, some are smug and others are aggressively evangelical. Many prefer the term child-free to childless, which implies, to them, some sort of loss. It's quite the opposite, they insist in large numbers in internet chat rooms.

There's certainly a lot of them around: projections by the Office for National Statistics suggest that, of women born in 1973, 23 per cent - nearly a quarter - will not have had children by the time they hit 45.

These are not the sad old "aunties" of yesteryear. Take 43-year-old Karen Sparey, an account administrator for a recruitment company. Child-free and fresh from an off-peak holiday in Cyprus, she says: "I feel I have a nice life. I have never felt I was missing out.

"I don't think that it was ever a conscious decision to not have children until after I was 30. I have about five girlfriends who don't have children and none of them is bothered about it. It did start out as joke that we would wait until after the millennium as we thought it was going to be such a big party and we would never get a sitter.

"There has never been any pressure from my family. My mum's cool and never asked about grandchildren. Anyway, my sister Helen has two boys.

"Despite working full-time I spend lots of time doing things I like. I swim at least two mornings a week and play netball, which if I had children I could maybe still do, but not be able to sit in the pub afterwards - guilt-free."

Sparey, who lives in Beckenham, Kent, says her partner, Redmond Prendeville, is equally happy with her choice and she faces the future without fear. "I can't say whether or not I will regret not having had children or grandchildren when I am older. There's nothing to say that those children you cared for and looked after are going to be there to do the same for you. And if they are, will they do it out of genuine love or just because that's what's expected?"
Little terrors


Many child-free women are resentful that the workplace often seems skewed in favour of mothers, who may appear to work "kinder" hours or get extra time off. But Sparey has a more generous attitude: "I am sure they're not going home to put their feet up, unlike me. When I have a day off work, it means time to do nice things, not catch up on the ironing or take a little one to the doctor for an ailment.

"That's not to say I don't go 'Ahh' at the Johnson's Baby advertisements, but I do that over kittens and puppies, too. I just like my life and am not sure that a child would improve it - but I know it would change it."

It's a seductive argument and recent surveys in the US and Europe have indicated that childless married couples are "happier" than those with families. But research can work both ways. A new study at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston has shown that a baby's smile gives its mother a natural high, triggering parts of the brain that deal with sensations of reward and pleasure - the "feelgood" parts that also respond to drugs and drink. At least a baby is legal.

And it brings with it hidden advantages. Breastfeeding, for instance, reduces a woman's chances of rheumatoid arthritis as well as breast and ovarian cancer. It also helps to maintain bone density.

That may offset to some extent the broken nights, toddler tantrums and teenage terrors to come.

The case for kids

WHY

You will:

# Learn unexpected new skills such as how to administer a suppository.
# Finally understand the offside rule.
# Discover that Homer wasn't just a Greek poet.
# Never have to wrestle with the DVD player again.

WHY NOT

You can:

# Head for the pub instead of dull parents' evenings.
# Sing along in the car with Pavarotti rather than with Postman Pat.
# Eat at Mirabelle, not McDonald's.
# Run for the hills when someone mentions nits.

"It truly is the one commonality that every designation of humans you can think of has, there's at least one asshole."
--Me

That's her comprehensive list of the case for and against kids?

Jaysus, they call us shallow. And babies do not smell good - they smell of shit, vomit and sour milk. Homeless people smell better.

Right. It's not just about the "fractious toddler". It's about the diabolical state of pregnancy, the violent and bloody episode of birth (which, let's be honest, not all survive), and the resulting monster which shits and pisses itself for 4 years straight when it's not a screaming siren or a gagging pukester.

Those so-called heavenly moments -- those "scented and sleepy fresh from the bath" moments -- only exist because the parent, shellshocked and a complete quivering wreck, is thinking "THANK THE FUCK HE ISNT DOING ALL THE OTHER DISGUSTING THINGS HE USUALLY DOES 24/7!!!!!!".

It's not about the 'bad stuff', about which we all agree, parents and CF alike. It's about EV-REE-THING, geddit???

- - - - - - - -
"The death of creativity is a pram in the hallway"
- Cyril Connolly

Her little summary is full of gems. I know a hell of a lot of people, both childed and childfree, who are more aware that Homer is a Simpson than a Greek poet. I don't really mind the stereotype of the childfree as urbane intellectuals, though. I can get down with that, with my snobby ass

"Wrestling with the DVD player" is such a lame-ass stereotype. "Oh, help me, I'm over 30, I can't work electronics unless a ten-year-old shows me how!" That's just embarrassing. I think we should make a collective effort to remember that people are smarter than computers and we should act as such. Then maybe so many people wouldn't fall victim to phishing scams and "accidentally" buying the I Am Rich application for the iPhone.

And I wasn't aware that you had to be a breeder to understand the rules of football... although on my personal stupid-o-meter, both breeders and football are damn close to the top.

"WHY NOT
You can:
# Head for the pub instead of dull parents' evenings.
# Sing along in the car with Pavarotti rather than with Postman Pat.
# Eat at Mirabelle, not McDonald's.
# Run for the hills when someone mentions nits." <-- I don't see a problem with any of that!

This article doesn't sound all that biased, actually... I think she's giving the CF a fair shake. She mentions many times how horrific children are and actually uses the word "kill" to illustrate how angry parents can get. She does throw in the token selfish/consumerist bingo, but then counters it by saying the CF are damn happy the way we are. She makes the "Why Not" sound pretty appetizing, and puts the image of a sick, puking kid's asshole right in the front of your brain in the "Why" column. Sounds like someone who has kids and regrets it, or possibly someone who might even be CF herself and is pandering to her audience or to her employer, as it definitely does have a breeder-pleasing slant. She presents the benefits of motherhood in a weak way, as kind of an afterthought. And who gives a shit about the "natural high" of a drooling baby's smile when you can get the "real high" of... wine... yeah, that's what I want to say here :smoke ... or any other kind of adult substance.

The fresh scent of babymeat is soooo addictive, huh?

And oooh, tit milk not only produces flawless superhumans, it also prevents all kinds of human diseases and old age??? Maybe try ripping off a moo's nursing bra so she can squirt all over the whole world, turning it into an unspoiled green paradise full of giant, perfect fruit, sparkling unpolluted waters, and happy, dancing critters rescued from extinction.

=P

Banshee: Too funny!! LMAO!!

I agree with null in that it definitely has a breeder slant to it, you can smell it a mile away but I've certainly read worse and seen worse on TV shows featuring CF'ers...interviewed by breeders, naturally. Seems they always have to have that last sarcastic jab at us. Very patronizing.

"We try hard not to resent our childless friends, who, in comparison with us, breeze through their lives flashing more cash, getting more sleep and having more fun and freedom. "Marrakesh next weekend?" they murmur to each other. "Why not?"

They must be so happy. Or are they? Could they just be filling their empty days with conspicuous consumerism to mask an aching loneliness and fear of a solitary old age?"

No. We're happy. We have spent a lovely summer sittin' on the patio, taking fun-trips to Detroit's Eastern Market for vegetables to put up for winter, going on biking joyrides, and enjoying the local microbrewery's outdoor patio on Saturday nights.

We are not conspicuous consumers and are pretty thrifty. We're not afraid of a solitary old age since we've made investments. We like to spend time with family at least once a month.

We're happy. The childed can spin it however they want due to their resentment at not thinking out their life choices, as we have. I pity them. We're happy.

Preach on, Clematis! DH and I actually ARE pretty happy. We live within our means, something many childed people can't manage to do. We are active in our community. And one thing I KNOW we could not afford if we had kyds--my LASIK. That money would have gone to pay for "back-to-school" economy-stimulation instead.:smoke

We have three cats, who are very much family, thank you. No, kyds just never seemed like a necessity. And I'm content with that.

CJ: I will preach on.

"We have three cats, who are very much family, thank you."

Yep. We have two dogs who are the delight of our lives. Shy yet sweet Willie and lovebug Molly. They obey commands, dispense love, and are tidy and clean. So much better than sprogs.

"The fresh scent of babymeat is soooo addictive, huh?

And oooh, tit milk not only produces flawless superhumans, it also prevents all kinds of human diseases and old age??? Maybe try ripping off a moo's nursing bra so she can squirt all over the whole world, turning it into an unspoiled green paradise full of giant, perfect fruit, sparkling unpolluted waters, and happy, dancing critters rescued from extinction."

=P



LMFAO Banshee.:yr


Seriously, where do these moo cows get off thinking that their BREAST milk is a cure all for everything from warts to cancer? It really beats all I have ever heard tell of because it DOES come from their body, hence it is susceptible to all of the same illnesses, frailties, or God knows what else, may lurk inside of their Godlike temples. Any idiot can read the warnings on over the counter drugs that ALWAYS say, "NOT FOR NURSING MOTHERS", which CLEARLY implies, no, it OUTRIGHT SAYS that tit juice contains whatever MOOMIE has ingested. This could mean just about anything from a cold to the EBOLA virus. Food borne illnesses could have an incubation period of 12-36 hours. I don't even know about other incubation periods of various illnesses, but they are probably similar.

SO, precious moomie could eat some bad oysters on Monday night, and pump the poisen into the baybeeee's tummy on Wednesday morning. I am only surprised they haven't killed any of their kids by tainted breast milk yet. I want to scream at the tit nazis, "I have tits too", and I am so sorry but YOURS are NOT special NOR can they cure cancer, you milk cow whore."