Reading Saqqara's journal

Since I have moved out on my own and am working now, I've met lots of new faces and had several interesting conversations with a few. Several have asked me if I have kids and when I tell them no, it seems to suprise them.

I remember in highschool, girls became pregnant all the time. Although it wasn't due to actually wanting a child, they did have one, and most kept it. Asking who was pregnant that week was a sort of small talk, it seemed every month someone new would turn up pregnant. It doesn't seem as if anyone frowned upon it either. Pregnant at 16, isn't that a little young? I mean... you just got your first car, and now you need a car seat for your kid?

I've had a few people look at me while talking about kids and procreation, giving me a look as if to say, "20 and no kids? Better get busy!" The simple truth is, I don't want a child. Ever.

You may be the type to say, "oh sure, that's what you say now, but sometime in the future, you'll want a little bundle of joy all your own!". No. No. Wrong. I never, ever want children. My mother has told me I was selfish for not wanting children, but she can cram it where the sun doesn't shine.

I have never gotten along well with any child I know. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against children, but I don't want one of my own. People these days have fucked up ideas of parenting. Today, if you discipline a child, you get thrown in jail. I've seen the difference. All it takes is 7 years.

When I was growing up, if I did something wrong, I was spanked and told not to do it again, or the consequences would be another spanking. Considering I didn't like getting spanked, that was usually enough for me not to do it again. However, my brother was not spanked. He is a product of this "New Age Parenting" which is a crock of shit. What kid won't get back in the cookie jar if the consequence is staring at a wall for 10 minutes?

Because of society today, and my own personal reasons, I don't ever want kids. Which way to the "Get tied and soldered Out Patient Clinic"?

"It is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have one's doubts."

Getting neutered is gonna suck! :x

No, really. I've told my father the same thing, and he responded in like fashion to your mother. I too fear having children, and while I've considered it might be fun in the future... A cat will satisfy all my needs to nurture and/or care for, well, besides THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE, whoever it turns out to be. Hrm... I can only imagine... :[

I should be ashamed of myself.

My mother is actually in a state of denial when it comes to myself and children. She insists that I will probably change my mind later (much like your own parent) however, on the other hand she seems to agree that she didn't particularly want children either. However, she turns around and says its the best thing that ever happened to her.

It really just doesn't make sence.

--Jami

You fail it.

You have a reasonable point, to be certain. The world is vastly overpopulated and your decision is leaning more toward selfless than selfish. If more people had your opinion, we'd have less people to worry about. Children are a lot of work, and there are many cons to having them... but it seems to me like every woman I know who has had a child does not regret it, regardless of circumstance. A child is a miraculous thing that literally is, at one time, a part of you. That can mean heartache beyond anything else and constant fear for your child, not to mention fear that you're being a bad parent -- truly, just a messy situation. Some people choose to have children, some people don't. I think both choices are justifiable.

For my next trick, I shall make you all disappear.

I can understand the urge to have children; there have been a few times where I actually think it would be kind of fun to raise a child. The problem with that, though, is that there are too many people who have a fleeting fancy of having kids, but aren't willing to go the extra mile in raising them to make sure he doesn't turn out to be like the fuckwit you see at the nearest Exxon, gassing up his car with a lit cigarette in his hand. There's only so much that parenting can do, of course; my father's a particularly good parent, I would say, but I still came out a few cards short of a full deck. However, I can guarantee that ~85% to 90% of the people you see receiving Darwin Awards could have avoided doing the brilliant things they do (answering a .357 magnum at night instead of the phone when it rings, trying to cut a half-tonne diamond out of the ceiling of a cave only to be made gravity's bitch, etc.) if their parents had taken greater interest in raising a child with common sense. I won't have children unless my own day-to-day intelligence takes a drastic turn for the better and I become more capable of teaching anything to anyone. Until then, I'll take pride in the fact that thus far, I have not reared a child who grew up to replace a circuit in his truck with a bullet only to find himself earning the Darwinian Medal of Honour for self-removal from the gene pool.

Thbbbbt

Hey, i like the way you think saggara about your situation, i personally wouldnt mind kids when im older around 35, if i was in the right mental place and could provide well for my family and have stability. But i could just as easily live a life without having kids, I know three sisters on my estate who thinks its great that they got their own flats because of having kids and their mum said why dont i do the same, needless to say i was astounded at their way of thinking. Stoic_Slaughter mentions the fear of being a bad parent, this is true, but i can sympathize with some mothers who may have unruly children, because some have become parents inadvertantly and genuinly dont know how to deal with kids bceause theirs no rule book on it and have lacked positive advice. Its just an unfortunate enviroment and were breeding consumer children and a lot turn out to be illterate morons to be brutally honest, thats why id have to totally have everything sorted personally if i was to have kids.

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