Rant Continued: Babies

As promised I have come back with a vengeance to continue my rant, starting, as all good rants do, with babies.

Let me lay down the guidelines for this one, when I am ranting about babies I am not talking about accidental pregnancies. I am a liberal pro-lifer and I think that if a woman decides to keep her child, at any age, under any circumstance, that it is a courageous decision that should be applauded and supported. That being said, to all you 20 yr olds out there who made a conscious decision to have a child, and become parents...for lack of a better term...WTF? You are barely out of your own childhood years and you think you can handle the constant care and attention that is required to properly raise a child?!? Go to school! Get drunk at football games! Have children LATER. There is not a reason on earth that you should feel the need to have a kid right now. If you really think you do, offer to do a long term baby sitting job for a family member or friend. When I say "long term" I mean a week or more (and lets be honest, even that isn't really enough time.)

Babies are crying, pooping, whining, time/ life sucks that are going to keep you up at all hours of the morning. Babies then turn into toddlers who will be running around with sharp objects, pulling things off of shelves, putting things in their mouths, and learning to potty train all over the house. Toddlers turn into preteens who suck more money and need braces, and doctor visits, and join sports teams. Then they turn into teenagers who will take out every drop of pent up anger they have out on you for being their parent. And after all is said and done you probably will have raised yet another 20 year old who decides, because they barely scraped by without permanent damage (and this really can't be accessed until they get a shrink in their 40s), that they too should have a kid at 20.

I want children, I want to be a mother, I want to have babies and do all the things listed above. I think children are wonderful and life changing and can be the best part of someone's life. In the same breath I don't want one now, hell I don't want one for at least the next 6 years or so. I love my life of staying up late, not to breast feed, but to cook and watch Conan O'Brien and The Office with my friends. I like having the time to read, or work out, or do absolutely nothing if I so choose. Hell I can't keep my apartment clean, how the hell am I going to raise a kid?

Its great that you have the physical capacity to have a child, that you can support them and that you have the want to have one. That isn't going to be enough to make you a good parent. That isn't going to be enough to make sure your child gets the best out of life and their up bringing. Wait, just give it some time, you aren't going anywhere and assuming something horrible doesn't happen your ovaries/ penis is going to continue to be able to have children for a long time coming.

So yeah...

~The Singing Ginger