It would be really nice if parenting was not seen as something that either (a) everybody has to do whether they want to or not, or (b) the supremely selfish act of burdening society with totally unnecessary parasites.
YES.
Also, by way of defending myself (and consequently, your classmates), please believe that some of us aren't out there trying to make your life difficult. We just don't *know*. I'm three weeks from twenty-six and have pretty much just gotten the hang of building a support system from absolutely nothing and have finally figured out how to balance school and the rest of my life in a way that is mentally healthy. I'm a full-time student. I don't have a husband. I don't have kids. Things about a parent's schedule *just* *don't* *occur* to me, not because I hate parents or think children are evil, but because I *don't* *know*.
Many of my friends are married, but only one or two have a child. I haven't gotten to the point in my life yet where I automatically know all of the parent scheduling stuff that is second nature to you by now, because I haven't really had to deal with it yet. It doesn't mean that I want to make my life difficult for my friends who have kids -- just that I have absolutely no frame of reference whatsoever. So yeah, some of your classmates *are* probably asshats, but while parents can remember what it was like not to have children, those of us without can't really grasp what it's like to *have* them and need to be reminded when the occasion arises.
(Um. That was a more-defensive-sounding-than-I-intended way of saying that if my attidute toward parents/parenting has ever made you uncomfortable, I apologize -- rest assured it comes from ignorance, not malice.)
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 03:46 pm (UTC)YES.
Also, by way of defending myself (and consequently, your classmates), please believe that some of us aren't out there trying to make your life difficult. We just don't *know*. I'm three weeks from twenty-six and have pretty much just gotten the hang of building a support system from absolutely nothing and have finally figured out how to balance school and the rest of my life in a way that is mentally healthy. I'm a full-time student. I don't have a husband. I don't have kids. Things about a parent's schedule *just* *don't* *occur* to me, not because I hate parents or think children are evil, but because I *don't* *know*.
Many of my friends are married, but only one or two have a child. I haven't gotten to the point in my life yet where I automatically know all of the parent scheduling stuff that is second nature to you by now, because I haven't really had to deal with it yet. It doesn't mean that I want to make my life difficult for my friends who have kids -- just that I have absolutely no frame of reference whatsoever. So yeah, some of your classmates *are* probably asshats, but while parents can remember what it was like not to have children, those of us without can't really grasp what it's like to *have* them and need to be reminded when the occasion arises.
(Um. That was a more-defensive-sounding-than-I-intended way of saying that if my attidute toward parents/parenting has ever made you uncomfortable, I apologize -- rest assured it comes from ignorance, not malice.)