I love my kids, I love being a mom but if I didn’t I sure wouldn’t want someone telling me I was selfish for not having kids, that my life would be less than it could have been, that I would be missing out on life’s greatest joy, etc. THAT would get old.

That being said, I think an important point was missed here…

People who are smug about being “ChildFree” and rub it in the faces of mothers everywhere are obnoxious and should go find a corner to hide in. On the other hand, I can kind of see how people could argue against the glorification of motherhood.

Young people don’t see the “splattered half way up my back” poopy diapers and sleepless nights and colic when they watch shows like John & Kate or see news about Angelina adopting another baby. They see John & Kate’s new house courtesy of the networks, or Angelina brimming about the joys of motherhood and all the media attention she receives.

…Which leads to shows like 16 and Pregnant. That show might not glorify motherhood, however, it does put those kids on television and for some kids that’s all they want. It sends the message that “if you get knocked-up at an early age, we’ll make you famous by putting you on TV.”

Those kids don’t realize that the world is laughing at them, not with them, and they certainly don’t realize that their days of hanging out at the mall and being a kid are certainly over. These kids are grossly unprepared to be parents and usually their parenting skills beget more bad parents only a few more years down the line.

The problem with the “ChildFree” crowd is that they don’t take their beef up with TLC or MTV, they take it up with their friends who are caring, loving mothers and should certainly be offended when someone tells them that the job they’re doing shouldn’t be glorified.
.-= Grizzly Kitteh´s last blog ..COOOOOOORRRRRRRNNNNN! =-.

So glad I found your blog today… I feel a little more connected to a world I thought I was swimming alone in.

and thinking of you in this sad time.

Selfishness is assuming that yours are the only valid interests and concerns out there. I look forward to a time when the loudest voices on both sides are the tolerant ones.

I wrote my response to the Macleans article as well as linked to your post over on my blog: http://dawnspregblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/just-mom.html Thank you again for writing such an empowering and insightful blog!
.-= Dawn´s last blog ..Oh Bryn! You see in the dark… Right past the fireflies that sleep in my heart =-.

—
.-= Lindsay´s last blog ..Is there anything grosser than the wet cough of a stranger? =-.

i LAUGH when people warn me about the teenage years because they simply cannot be harder. They just can’t. I was alone in a house being screamed at by my baby for up to 12 hours a day for months and months and months (a gastro-intestinal problem was diagnosed at 10 months). I was so utterly, helplessly in love with that baby and each and every cry ripped my heart apart. It was pure, unadulterated agony which i cannot believe that i survived. Apologies for the dramatic language but that is simply how it was for me.

so no, the cost of university texts is not keeping me up at night.

also, i think a lot of parents kind of drop the ball in the elementary school years. the difficulties of babies and toddlers behind them a lot of parents just get too comfortable … then the teenage years hit and they have to saddle-up and do some intense parenting…. and most just don’t. Instead they sit back and complain about awful teenagers are. IMO.

1. Huh? Why bother blogging post after post about something you don’t have and don’t want to have?

2. The commenters, including the ostensibly female ones, were surprisingly misogynistic. They made it sound as if some crazed (hysterical, perhaps?) woman had forced a man at gun point to have kids and then refused to go to work, picked up the gun again, and forced him into hard labor to pay for “her” lifestyle. Actually, I’m not sure if that reflects more poorly on the woman or the man if you believe that tripe. At any rate, it was nasty.

Excellent post.

Motherhood may not be for everyone, but it shouldn’t be something we have to defend.
.-= Candace´s last blog ..Marketing to Moms 101: Don’t Diss the Babies =-.