The new "grandchildless"

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-birth-rate-decline-grandparents/

A wannabe grandmother admits both her adult kids are VERY CF. She admits she wanted a parenthood "do-over" only this time no bad times, just Kodak Moments and giggles.

It is like that is how they felt parenthood should have been the first time around, just all Kodak fun and when reality hit they want to use their adult kids to do it again, only this time parenthood will be a great time

Nobody owes anyone a kid or a grandkid. End of story. Since childfreedom is being viewed as a more viable option (especially with the internet normalizing it more), people are going to have to start coming to the conclusion that they may never have grandkids.

*Smallest fiddle playing in the background while I type this*

These people who want to be with children for a limited amount of time have tons of potential parents who would love to have a brief reprieve. It would make the parents, their kids and the ones that want to spend a brief amount of time with them happy.

Oh, but I guess having to be related by blood means that if your kids are childfree that they can't possibly hang out with the children of a friend.

Grandparunts are just as bad as parunts about only caring about their (almost always) worthless bloodlines. Either that or if it isn't your kin it certainly isn't that easy to just hand back the kids when they stop giving you Kodak moments and giggles.

There is a weird -to-me section of people who are CL or pretty CF but somehow think they want a temporary child in their lives. Some people really are meant to be great parents, and might need this, Or, a sister that really is close to her childed sister, so they might share all aspects of their lives. But most are like the typical parunt who finds everything a burden after the kid comes, and realize too late that it is nothing but unappreciated busy/grunt work. Why they feel that visiting with random child on a weekend is gonna make their life better? I honestly think they need more hobbies. Or do they need a captive audience, captive friend for the weekend? I mean I've never seen these same people actually babysit, so...

I've had CL/CF friends who obviously knew childed friends. Their friends weren't pushing their kids on them, but they one day would decide they needed to take Bratley out on their own and have a fun day. (again never a volunteer out in out babysitting situation that their pal likely would enjoy) I have no idea why anyone would do this on their day off, and really what they would get out of it. Now, I've met some pleasant children in my life, and if I had to do this w/ them, I'd have little problem with it. But usually, you're putting both participants in a forced-fun situation and it comes a bit outta nowhere. To me, an uneasy kid is not a receptive kid no matter what your personality is, and how much fun your delivering. When I'm out w/ my pals and they bring their kid, the kid is usually fussy, or sullen, sooner or later, whiny. They usually ruin the outing from my POV, and likely their parunts' POV who wont admit it, but the reason they love being 'childfree for the day'. Why would you put it upon yourself to do this to yourself if you didn't have to? To me, Grandparents do nothing but 'bribe' kids to be happy w/ making cookies and feeding them a bunch of shit, in exchange for love of a child? companionship of a child? Are those sticky kisses worth it if you know youre only bribing them?

people knew better than to ask me to babysit

two cents ¢¢

CERTIFIED HOSEHEAD!!!

people (especially women) do not give ONE DAMN about what they inflict on children and I defy anyone to prove me wrong

Dysfunctional relationships almost always have a child. The more dysfunctional, the more children.

The selfish wants of adults outweigh the needs of the child.

Some mistakes cannot be fixed, but some mistakes can be 'fixed'.

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. Leo J. Burke

Adoption agencies have strict criteria (usually). Breeders, whose combined IQ's would barely hit triple digits, have none.

At the very least, I'm glad to see the woman in the article acknowledges that her children have made their own choices and didn't just refuse to provide her with grandshits to be mean. Instead of guilt-tripping them into having kids they don't want.

Kids are bloody expensive, and with the costs of everything else rising while wages do not rise to match, people are realizing they can't afford kids. Plus, with the help of all the anonymous bitching by parents online about how awful their lives are, many young folks are realizing how much kids suck without having them first. Childfreedom is here to stay, so the boomers better get used to it.

Why can't they get their kid fix elsewhere? Babysit someone else's sprogs, work in a daycare, help needy kids. It doesn't have to be a child related to them biologically.

And I'm sure if you ask one of the many seniors who are raising their grand-brats because the kids' actual parents are worthless deadbeats/jailbirds/junkies/abusers and can't retire, they would tell you how much they wish they could be grandchildless instead of raising kids again at age 65.

Quote

She added this advice for others growing old without grandkids: “Treasure the relationships you’re able to have and stop mourning the relationships that you are never going to have.”

This is good advice. Stop chasing imaginary grand-loaves, stop romanticizing how you think it will be to raise a child, and stop mourning kids you can't conceive due to infertility.

This is a decent piece, especially for the mainstream media.

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"I have found little that is 'good' about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all."
~Sigmund Freud

Decent enough for mainstream media, agreed.

Still makes me glad my own parents have kept their yaps shut about this. I have two CF siblings, so Ma and Pa Random are 0 for 3.

Both of them cultivated very nice relationships with my cousins' kids. Suits me.