mega rant

ok- i want to know- why do people have children? i am really curious and i just am not getting it. kids are a life changing, life altering, life long committment- and, and, and- they are people. yes, i realize that this may be a news flash to mainstream america- but children are not extensions of you and your life style like a fine leather handbag or gold watch. they are actually human beings who do not start out life knowing anything. yes- i know it is another newsflash- you actually have to teach your children how to live life. that means teaching them more than how to brush their teeth or tie their shoes- it means teaching them how to behave in public, how to maintain themselves in society- what's appropriate and what isn't. teach them how to relate to other people and that the entire world does not revolve around them.

why am i going off on a tear when i don't even have children? wait, wait for it- i am baffled as to why people have children. it is a conscious decision for my husband and me to not have offspring. we don't want to commit the rest of our lives to that task. it is a huggge! undertaking because we happen to take it seriously. i know that i am going to piss a whole lotta folks off with this one- most people who have children should not.

what got the ball rolling was a long simmering annoyance that came to a boil with an article my fellow blogster- deb- posted. it was about this abominable family who couldn't understand why they were banned from the chinese buffet for wasting so much food. i have a feeling that we all have a memory of those kinds of families- they apparently are the norm- you know the ones- the kids take plates and plates of food and decide that they don't really like the dim sum and eat the french fries instead? or my especial favorite- the parents who let their children crawl under the tables or play in the aisles and trip the waiters instead of teaching them table manners and making them sit at the table? apparently, i am not alone- i came across a blog that is devoted to bitching about this. the restaurants are not taking it lying down either- more than one has posted signs in their windows saying basically- make your kid behave or don't come in. i would patronize any restaurant that did that because i know that they take their customers comfort to heart.

the other thing that i can't understand is why parents are not instilling the importance of learning into their children. in today's world, a college education and beyond is required to work and live in an increasingly global society- and yet, many of these kids have no clue where any of the countries on the globe are. geography is not the only area where kids are behind- ABC news did a special about how stupid american kids are in comparison with the rest of the planet. now, being that it was a made for tv special and was a bit sensationalized- take it with a grain of salt- but the basic premise is sound. jay leno can prove that any night of the week when he does his walk abouts and asks people on the street- 'who is the vice president of america?' and people say- i don't know.

so, my question still is- why the hell do you think that you are qualified to be a parent? 'because i want children' is not acceptable. just because you can procreate doesn't mean you should. loving your child and giving him or her a home is not good enough. if you are not prepared to teach your child what he or she needs to know to become a successful, productive human being and member of the global society- please use contraceptives. you are not doing your children or the rest of the planet any favors by procreating.