Who Knew?
February 25, 2009Shortly before Parker arrived on the scene, I stumbled upon this post at Childfreedom. As I was 9 months pregnant, I thought stork spots were a pretty awesome idea. However, I’ve never actually seen a stork spot here in NH, so they were a new idea to me. I could sort of understand where the author was coming from – as one of my co-workers loves to regularly remind me “children are a choice”. He’s right, I did choose to have children, and I accept all of the trials and joys that come along with that.
I think what bothered me most about this post, and this site in general is that I had never realized that there was this whole population of people out there who not only choose to not have children, but are actually offended by people like me who choose to procreate. I can still recall my life before kids, and I don’t ever remember colliding with the kid friendly crowd when I didn’t want to. Aside from being irritated at parents who bring small children to adult movies (a topic which deserves its own rant), I can’t think of a time when a kid inconvenienced my lifestyle before I had my own kids.
I never thought of our society as “child-centric”. I think it’s pretty easy to avoid kids in places like bars, and late movies, grocery stores at the right time of day/week, etc. Even if you don’t want to actively avoid me and the rest of the kid-friendly crowd, I am very conscientious of my children in public – making sure they are not noisy or disruptive in adult situations, making sure they use their manners (well, I haven’t really started the 2-month-old one on manners yet – he still spits up on people without warning…) I guess I don’t like being stereo-typed. Sure, some parents probably do let their kids run wild, but there are at least an equal number of kids and parents who are nice, kind, polite people who do not belong in this category, and do not deserve the disdain this site doles out.
So, the stork spot post in particular, and this website in general really bothered me. What do you think – is this lady right, are the child-centric people encroaching on the child-free people of the world or is she unfairly stereo-typing families?
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Wow, what a bunch of hateful crap that woman spews on her blog! I wonder why she cares so much? Maybe she should use some of that energy figuring out what might make her happy in her own life so that what goes on in other people’s lives won’t bother her so much! I think it’s nice that stores recognize that pregnant women and/or mothers with small children could use a little special treatment.
WOW. An entire site devoted to, of all things, not having children. I loved what I am assuming was your comment. Kudos for being brave and putting your thoughts out there. I was VERY tempted myself to comment that before I had kids I would have felt exactly the same way, but until you are there: 9 mos pregnant schlepping a toddler into Walmart, you can’t even imagine…let alone compare it to menstrual cramps?! Additionally, my choice to procreate is actually a whole lot less selfish than she seems to assume.
I am actually ashamed that I am devoting this much energy…
I do think my favorite is the,
“The Multi-Cat Household Premium Parking Spot: If you have more than one cat, you know that pushing those 40-lb. boxes of cat litter around in the shopping cart is like competing in the Strong Man Competition. Regular parking spots in the back of the lot just will not do!”
As a Multi cat household myself, well… i don’t carry them, I use a cart. So yeah who carries around a 40 lb bag of cat litter?
I think that the poster should read up about that religious family with 18 kids (and counting?) and criticize them. Not people who for the most part are having 1-2 kids and trying to raise them right. like you
i know when Im pregnant, if i go somewhere with a “stork spot” i will go in and tell the manager, THAT I APPRECIATE THEM!
Clearly, some pregnant person did something to this woman. Or maybe she is angry for another reason? But angry is the right word for her. Those parking spots are a marketing ploy. If she doesn’t like them, it shouldn’t be because she doesn’t like the pregnant girls it should be because she doesn’t like a free market society where the dollar is what sets the rules. Pregnant woman and the families that come from them are huge economic drivers in our society. Besides, when I was pregnant I never once saw one of those stalls available. I am sure because Daisy Duke got to the mall before me. However, I appreciated the thought of them being there. Made me want to shop at that place more and that is whole point. I did not see myself as handicapped but it is just kindness to other humans that would make a person give up their seat for a pregnant woman or an elderly person. I think this woman is sad. I hope she can find a way to be less angry at the world.