Heya, Some may know me or have vague memories of me. My names Maxi. Im a playworker and adore being around children which is why i somtimes post in here. But ive been thinking lots recently about my future and would like to ask a question. (well a few q's) I dohope its not offensive as i am only curious... Why did you have chilren/a child? Did you ever consider adoption? Did you consider the impact your child would have on this planet and did you account for this? Dont get me wrong, im in no way against you having your kids. Infact im kind of split on the issue at the moment. I believe some women are meant to be mothers. Some children bring immense wisdom which is why im not completely against conceiving children...but then i also think many women are simply having babies for the sake of it with no prethought, and thos babies will be a negative influence on the planet, not a positive Thoughts, responses? I realise by the way that youre all great mothers and fathers. I have huge respect for the great work youre doing, so please dont think otherwise Xx
my son wasn't planned but i'm very greatful for having him. Just watching him learn and grow in the past 15 monthes is priceless. To watch someone who had no way of communicating other than crying at first, to now being able to follow directions. To see how much he actually knows, he found a piece of a cabinet he broke probably a week after he broke it, but he knew what that piece was for and tried putting it back together. I do wonder what he'll be like when he gets older. I just hope I help him become the best person he can be.
"Why did you have chilren/a child?" unplanned pregnancy. ( I should add a wanted one from both mother and father:H ) "Did you ever consider adoption?" no Did you consider the impact your child would have on this planet and did you account for this? yep, I totally am one of those "we don't need more humans" sort of people but when it came down to my personal decision I chose this so I now know how important it is for each woman to reach her own decision. I love it that my friends and family are happy and accepting with and of my decision and I treasure every moment good, bad or stressful that comes from it. Whether I account for my decision I am not sure as I am not really sure what you mean by this, if you could explain further for my dingdongness I would be happy to try an answer.
thanx loads for the response...i know how priceless little ones are...i adore every moment spent at work with them good luck with everything
No problem stephanie. What i meant by that bit was have you planned it out so that your child consumes as little as possible and doesnt contribute to any suffering anywhere in the world and uses recyclable products etc...also of course are you teaching them to be a brilliant, loving person, but im sure you are doing that anyway Thanx for the answer
Why did you have children/a child? Unplanned pregnancy. (with my future spouse though, so...) Did you ever consider adoption? We plan on adopting a child/children at some point in our future. Did you consider the impact your child would have on this planet and did you account for this? We are vegan. We also eat mostly organic. When we get moved into our new home I'm going to container garden the bejesus out of our teensy backyard so we don't have to rely on conventional food sources so much. We are teaching all these values to our son. We also are only planning on having one more natural child. In this way we will have replaced ourselves on this earth with socially responsible individuals and not contributed to population growth.
Ours was an unplanned (but not unwanted) pregnancy. We have always discussed adoption as an option for us, but always wanted at least 1 of our own. My husband thinks that when it comes right down to it life (for everything) is about continuing our genitics, and he wanted to participate in that and have a baby created from him and I. Adoption is still something we want to look into for future children (we actually discussed this again just yesterday). We're years away from being able to do something like that though - the last time I looked into it both parents have to be a certian age and meet some pretty hefty requirements. Adoption isn't an easy process. There are challenges that I think keep a lot of people from considering it an option. Domestic adoption comes with the additonal worry of having to fight for continued custody of the child later on if another parent shows up in the picture or birth mom changes her mind. It is an expensive option also.
Why did you have chilren/a child? we tried very hard to conceive our first child, she was very much planned and wanted. Why? because there is nothing more important and the time was finally right, but time was running out because of my health/reproductive issues Did you ever consider adoption? yes, when it seemed we could not have a bio child of our own. Did you consider the impact your child would have on this planet and did you account for this? yes, I am a firm believer in ZPG (zero population growth) and put an end to my reproductive ability after my second child was born.
Why did you have children? Because I am a damn good mother, and I beleive I am CONTRIBUTING to the planet by producing intelligent, forward thinking, freethinking, well raised people. Did you ever consider adoption? Nope. I get pregnant if my husband looks at me from across the room. Did you consider the impact ect? NOPE. My children are CONTRIBUTERS. People are going to continue to have children. If all the INTELLIGENT HEALTHY GOOD PARENTS refuse to have childen WHO will the next generation be populated by? Hmmm. Maybe the Zero Population Growth movement in the late 60s and early 70s caused most of the Intelligencia to NOT have children, and the only people breeding were those who, a generation later, would put peole like George W Bush in office. I don't think anyone who doesn't want to should have a child. But, damn, if you are smarter than the average person and LIKE kids, you are doing a disservice to the next generation by NOT having them, because the only people doing it then are the people you really DON'T want breeding? No? Smart, free thinkers should at least be keeping up with the Nascar watching, Pro War Rallying, Bible Thumpin' Bush supporters, don't you think? If womyn like the smart, thinking, aware womyn on this site aren't haviing babies then WHO is going to contribute to the majority of the population? Because the very people YOU don't agree with and who cause the main problems in the Western World will be the ONLY ones breeding because they don't beleive in ZPG. That's one of the reasons I have four kids.
yeh, I'm schizo on this one cause I totally agree and at the same time understand that there are loads of people in the world who could do with my energy and efforts helping them...suppose I made a choice to help one of them and that that one little person might one day keep on helping when I am no more.
My daughter was not planned, though well loved by myself and my husband. I do think of hers and our own impact on the environment, which is why we tried so hard to breastfeed, why we cloth diaper, sling and co-sleep instead of crib and stroller, and try our hardest to buy second hand wooden toys and natural fiber clothing. We eat organic as much as possible and tend to buy things with the least amount of packaging. We're also considering homeschooling for all of it's social and economic implications. I would like one more child, however. I believe as Maggie Sugar does, that my well-raised, attached (to Mother and Earth), intelligent, and global-thinking children will help to enhance our society, rather than to leech from it.
My kids aren't any better than anyone else's, nor do my offspring have more right to live. Every human adds to the overpopulation of the planet.
So, effective birthcontrol for you would just be to blind fold your husband? Just kidding My child, soon to be children, were not planned, but are wanted and welcome. I know I am an excellent father, and my son is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I am looking forward to the birth of my daughter (in March). I have never considered adoption personally, but think that it is a good option for people who can't have their own, or people who just want to adopt.
Mamaboogie, I see your point, but I have to disagree. Children who are raised with awareness will make better CONTRIBUTERS to the planet. The majority of children being born to those who couldn't care less are not raising contributers, or people who may one day be the ones who will discover a new strain of grain which can grow anywhere and feed billions, they won't be the ones who may raise the child who will find out a workable alternative to Oil for fuel ect. I have to disagree, I think your children are certainly "better" than the offspring of Bush supporting, Nascar watching, unaware people. My point is, these people are NOT going to stop having kids, so those of us who care should, if we do want children and do want to raise them, at least keep up and realize the CONTRIBUTION our children may well be adding to the planet. You are entitled to your opinion, but if your kids are not better (and I don't beleive this for a minute) than why have any at all? I think you are a really great mama and good parents, by and large produce children who valure the Earth and everything else more. Don't you think YOUR kids are more aware of thier impact on the planet than some WalMart shopping, Disney Character wearing, paper diapered uberconsuming kid?
And I need to add, that I DID consider the impact of myself and my children on the planet, I was intentionally being flip in my original post, because there is MORE to life than just thinking of our impact (if that was our only concern, I guess we could all just end our lives and let the Planet return to the way it was before hominids.) Of course I considered the implact. I used cloth diapers, I used mostly hand me down clothes for my first three, (Sage was so small, and none of my other's kids hand me downs were still in decent shape) I have a large garden, and we grow food all summer, which saves on trucks using fuel to bring things to the market, we recycle, (even in the mid 80s when you had to drive miles, with your garbage in your car, to get to one of the few recycling centers) and try not to buy things with too much packaging ect. So, yes, of course I DO consider our impact. But, impact alone isn't enough for me to have an unnatural surgery performed on my already beleaguered and scar tissue filled reproductive organs. I know too many womyn who went into semi-menopause after a Tubal Ligation, due to cut off blood supply and even nerve damage. I actually did consider the procedure after Moon (my second) was born and I am damn glad I didn't do it. We wouldn't have two more beautiful, contributing, caring, loving people here.
nope, I don't. Other than being radical liberals, my parents really sucked at being parents and look how I turned out. And don't even get me started on my husband's parents, who are ultra conservative anti-everything I believe in, but were pretty good parents to DH and his sisters even if every meal they ate came out of boxes and cans.
My son was not planned, and although I am very happy to have him, I fear immensley for his existance in the world as it is today. There is no real point in being concerned about the planet ATM as we should be more concerned with the people who think that they own the damned rock. So my son will be well prepared to face the reality of the future that we are drifting into and hopefully he will not have fear and I will not fear for him, at least not any unreasonable amount of anxiety. I mean sure our society is insane with over consumption, and one way to help battle that is to simply stop buying. But, look at how well that has worked. The majority of people will STILL heat their homes with oil, still drive cars everywhere, and still sit by idly in comfort while the personal rights and freedoms of every human being are being stolen from right underneath them. So I feel that in the future I may have to make the choice of sacrificing my time and personal growth by dedictating my entire life to bettering this country while most will sit at home, happy with the fact that at least they can sleep in a warm house, and in doing so I hope my son will understand when he is older why some people have to stand up and take on the resonsibilty of everyone else.
