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Recent Comments:
Restaurant Owner Bans All Children Younger Than 6 {ParentDish}
Jul 17th 2011 7:50AM I'd rather see the manager get a set and just ask the offending parents to remove their children from the restaurant. There are plenty of children who are perfectly capable of behaving properly. The restaurant will get a good reputation for handling problems and ensuring a pleasant dining experience and parents with difficult children will find another establishment.
Instead, the chickenbutt manager just makes a blanket policy. In the old days, managers had some people skills, blah, blah, blah....
U.S. Census: Where Have All the Children Gone? {ParentDish}
Jul 17th 2011 7:27AM Actually, Lauren, I think you vastly underestimate the number of abortions that are performed in the US.
Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.[2]
2. Jones RK and Kooistra, K., Abortion Incidence and Access to Services in the United States, 2008, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2011, 43(1):41-50.
1,210,000 abortions per year in the US. Not that I like to think of children as simply future taxpayers, but that's an awful lot of taxes we're missing out on *each year* for 37 years, now.
The real problem is that we just don't value children. *That's* why we have such a low birth rate. Our society has put a price value on children and the kids are worth very little, so we don't bother to have too many of them. The biggest problem some people see with this is that now there won't be enough taxpayers to pay for their care. I think that might be a bit more disturbing than the original lack of value of children. Now they're just important to have so we can have more tax revenue?
Miracle Baby Born After Being Carried Outside Uterus {ParentDish}
May 27th 2011 4:49PM Sarah, not that I think aborting any age baby is ok, but this is a description of what you think she should have aborted: (from smartmomma.com)
4 Months (14-17 weeks)
Baby
Your baby is now covered with a layer of thick, downy hair called lanugo. His eyes are facing forward now and he begins to blink. By the end of the month, he will be 5 inches long crown to rump, weighing in at 5 ounces. His body is now growing faster than his head and his finger and toe prints have developed. He can now suck his thumb and is actively swallowing amniotic fluid and passing it as urine. He is beginning to make practice breathing movements. The placenta is fully functional and provides nourishment and oxygen to your baby. If you are having a girl, her uterus has formed and her ovaries are equipped with primitive egg cells. Your baby’s bones are harder and his arms and legs are moving. You may even feel that thrilling first kick this month.
Miracle Baby Born After Being Carried Outside Uterus {ParentDish}
May 27th 2011 4:44PM "don't tempt disaster (especially when your child(ren) could pay the price as well."
First off, if she'd aborted, one of her children *would* have paid the price. The price of his life.
If she'd aborted and the older son learned about it, he might have trouble with the idea of, "Mom killed my little brother because she didn't want to leave me. It's my fault."
If she'd aborted the younger child, she'd have made a terrible mistake. As it turns out, her decision is yet another case where the doctors' dire predictions were wrong.
I wonder if there are other women out there who had a similar situation and followed doctor's advice to abort because there was no chance of a live baby. If one woman could do it, others can, too. I hope anyone in this situation can find peace. Reconciliation is out there, but I can only imagine it's a very difficult thing.
The Bigger the Family, the Dumber the Comments From Strangers {ParentDish}
Mar 5th 2011 8:31AM Congratulations, Mary!
The "ugly one" line is my favorite. Of course, we joke about worrying about whomever is my last child...all the big kids will say, "Mom always said she'd stop when she got an ugly one, so since you're the last one, you must be the ugly one!!!"
I also like to point to the youngest or second youngest and say, "S/he's going to be our middle child." That takes a few seconds to register and I like to watch the process.
Do Parents Kid Themselves About How Happy They Are to Have Children? {ParentDish}
Mar 5th 2011 8:27AM Not me. I try not to think of human beings as assets or liabilities and prefer to see the intrinsic value of the person.
Opinion: Charlie Sheen's Meltdown Entertains Us All {ParentDish}
Mar 4th 2011 12:03PM Actually, I have long thought Charlie Sheen to be a hilariously funny actor. What I am catching snippets of lately doesn't make me laugh. It doesn't entertain me.
It simply breaks my heart.
The Bigger the Family, the Dumber the Comments From Strangers {ParentDish}
Mar 4th 2011 11:56AM Pollution comes from people. For an enlightening read on how 'green' a large family can (and often is, out of necessity) be, read this blog: htt p:/ /ww w.faithandfamilylive.com/magazine/big_families_are_the_new_green/
You'll have to delete the extra spaces since PD doesn't allow links.
Your argument could also stand a bit of research in the "European countries are failing to reproduce enough to replace themselves" department.
To follow your argument further, perhaps you and your husband should not have had *any* children. You already knew there would be people like "us" who would be ruining everything. (Of course, I believe this is nonsense...I see children as supreme blessings, not as burdens or parasites.)
And please don't forget that one of these 4th or 10th or 20th children might be the one who grows up to invent something that helps clean up this Earth.
I don't think you're horrible for holding your beliefs. I just think you are misguided and I'm glad I live in a country where I can live my life freely. I only have to worry about ignorant or rude comments, and as you can see in my post below, I don't really worry about them.
The Bigger the Family, the Dumber the Comments From Strangers {ParentDish}
Mar 4th 2011 11:50AM I've got a crowd of my own and figured out pretty early on that most people are just commenting because they want to say *something*. I like to comment on other large families because I know moms-of-many often hear garbage instead of something uplifting. I love to hear how lovely my kids are, so I usually keep it along those lines...and how lucky the mom is to have such a wonderful family.
I've been at this for many years and I can honestly say that there has only been one time where I felt the dirty look from a stranger. And I'm not even positive it was because of all the kids...maybe I cut her off in the car park.
All of the inane comments are just what people say when they're taken by surprise. I always try to have a smile and a thanks. I absolutely love for my children to hear these comments and use it as an opportunity to tell the stranger (and remind my children) how much I enjoy what I do and how special my kids are.
I just don't have the energy to get upset about these things.
Do You Talk to Your Kids About Smoking Cigarettes? {ParentDish}
Feb 18th 2011 12:11PM I've told my kids that I'd break their arm if they smoked. One of my kids, just the other day, said, "Well, I don't think Mom would *really* break my arm, but she doesn't want me to smoke." I corrected her that I would, indeed, break her arm today to prevent her from suffering from lung cancer in the future. Her eyes got kind of big, but I believe she understands how much I really don't want her to smoke. It's just not fair to do that to the people who love you.
(For the record, I won't be breaking anybody's arm)
