tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983386.post7667739031191671820..comments2024-03-12T04:51:46.468-05:00Comments on Blue Gal: The (failed) politics of (failed) mommy-hood.Fran / Blue Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18293627981248346055noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983386.post-22356625688143224532008-11-28T17:02:00.000-06:002008-11-28T17:02:00.000-06:00The thoughts I'm having in response to this ar...The thoughts I'm having in response to this article are agonizing. I've had an idea for a while now ... and it breaks my heart to even consider it as something that ought to be done to every human being when s/he is born: reversible sterilization.<BR/><BR/>By this measure, no human can conveive a child until s/he has passed a series of stringent practical and ethical standards by which a child may be raised ... Standards would include steady, reliable, loving and nonviolent relations in the potential parent's/parents' life ... education, education and more education about everything from infant care to emotional moderation to the financial implications of being parents ... you name it -- every aspect of life would be included and considered --<BR/><BR/>Standards would also be applied to the larger community -- society -- that would delegate appropriate responsibility there, too ... starting with APPROPRIATE SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE PARENTS!! i.e., maternity/paternity leaves that enable parents to actually *bond* with their children, and adequate income for the duration ... a decent standard of living for EVERYONE, top-notch medical and health care for ALL ...strict conditions placed on institutions in terms of how much influence they may have on qualified parents (as in, They’ve done their job; now let the parents/children/families develop natural bonds) … intelligent education and mentoring for all ages & stages ... NO WAR ... communal standards of clean water, healthy food, shelter, etc. FOR EVERYONE, etc. …)<BR/><BR/>I could go on for ages ... It frightens me how many babies are born to people who are simply not qualified, able, ready, and sometimes WILLING to be responsible, balanced parents.<BR/><BR/>We humans breed far too young and easily.<BR/><BR/>I know my thinking may sound totalitarian -- I'm a very "live and let live" kind of person in just about every other way ... but this scenario in its ideal would include EVERYONE ... material stability/wealth would be just one factor in deciding who can breed.<BR/><BR/>If all standards were met ... only THEN would any of us be allowed to conceive a child.<BR/><BR/>Compassionate, practical, consistent RESPONSIBILITY -- a thorough understanding of causes (conception) and their consequences (a lifelong responsibility towards a child) would be the most important factor -- the "yay or nay" clincher.<BR/><BR/>How much wisdom and practical help do our institutions *really* pass on to people who are parents (or caregivers of any kind, come to think of it)?<BR/><BR/>What have any of us *really* learned about how to simply GET ALONG and be relatively decent, kind, and generous towards one another and ourselves?<BR/><BR/>I'm 50ish and I didn't know myself to be capable of even basic competent parenting until I was 40. I have no children, and it's just as well (there are several little ones I'm bonded with via relatives and friends...and they give me as much of a "child" presence as I can tolerate in this life ... I'm also a person who lives with a chronic and sometimes debilitating illness -- my nervous system can only take so much stimulation ... I "crash" often because that's just what my body and brain do).<BR/><BR/>I've had to reconcile this within myself: the *knowledge* that I would have abused a child had I been given responsibility for him/her. It took me 'til I was 40 to *feel* any desire for a child. For lots of reasons, I continued to say "No" to the possibility. It just isn't in me to be anyone's parent.<BR/><BR/>How many of us really *think* and *feel through* the implications of bearing a child?<BR/><BR/>The ability to breed and the profession of love aren't enough. We all know what we're capable of for whatever we think "love" is ... from "God" on down.<BR/><BR/>Look at the consequences ... they're all around you, perhaps in your own home.<BR/><BR/>(Written with an open, and broken, heart...)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983386.post-17943925961477145962008-11-28T15:02:00.000-06:002008-11-28T15:02:00.000-06:00We, also, are always late for church. And since ou...We, also, are always late for church. And since our family comprises about a quarter of the church membership, and a third of the church band, it's not great. But at least we do make it there, and that's a good thing.Alicia Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14458700009032102949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983386.post-26459248658892005372008-11-28T07:47:00.000-06:002008-11-28T07:47:00.000-06:00What's kinda sad is when you remember that you hav...What's kinda sad is when you remember that you have to have a license to drive, a license to own a dog, you have to pass a test and be licensed to be a pharmacist, a geologist or a manicurist but two morons with ten minutes to spare and a flat piece of ground can create a kid. Makes ya wonder...<BR/><BR/>Guess I'll cancel the reservation to Lincoln for the Peeper...<BR/><BR/>Naaaw! I loves you, Peep!!!)FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983386.post-26824633481438356382008-11-24T14:01:00.000-06:002008-11-24T14:01:00.000-06:00"It's high time we begin to handle the issue of qu..."It's high time we begin to handle the issue of quality of life for children..."<BR/><BR/>Yeah, I'm sure they'll get to it, right after they deal with the quality of life of Wall Street types and Big Three CEOs.<BR/><BR/>I was "hoping" for better. I'm stuck praying for just a little, I think.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983386.post-47373072836558455732008-11-24T13:04:00.000-06:002008-11-24T13:04:00.000-06:00To abandon a perfectly healthy child because you c...To abandon a perfectly healthy child because you can't afford it is just ridiculous. Those children are old enough to know what's going on. They will be scarred for life. And then there are the children the parents can't control. Drop them off too? Where is the help these families need? Can Obama provide it? We shall see. My two daughters were abandoned as babies in a foreign country and adopted by us as 1 year olds. We in this adoption community worry enormously about their mental scarring. What of that child who is 10 or 12 or 16 and just left at a hospital. We can't be a nation that allows that. There has to be a better way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983386.post-48044110273873304632008-11-24T12:22:00.000-06:002008-11-24T12:22:00.000-06:00i thank god that they did drop off their kids. peo...i thank god that they did drop off their kids. people do not understand mental/physical illness and being at wits end.<BR/><BR/>better they were dropped off that trown into the steets or become just another statistic od murder/suicide.<BR/><BR/>we need help and true compassion not just the mouthings of the "compassionate" bunch that has been at the helm for years now.Sherry Pasquarellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06107407102753464356noreply@blogger.com