Random Thoughts....

Really fascinating are the people that still think having another child is a good idea after having to care for their first one.
 
This is why I don't have a second. We (Gena more than I) went through a lot for Caden to be born and he spent a month in the NICU after his birth. We decided one was enough after that. And now that he's 10, we've decided one was too many. :D

I'm joking of course. He's a good kid, just hard to get him to focus on something.
 
Oh... there’s some people who either think they’re building an “army for God” or really like riding bareback/don’t consider surgery.

No joke @CraigB, a friend of my brother is set on 5 biological kids and 5 adopted. They’re very active in their Pentecostal church that for some “unknown” reason can only manage 50 people every Sunday.

ask me if they can support themselves and 3 kids they currently have with a 4th on the way?
 
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I know a couple that had a kid every third year for 21 years (that's 8 kids). They were planning more until the last child died at a very young age. It was and is a bit ridiculous.
 
I come from a larger-than-average extended family, and some people just like having children around, so they have kids to extend that. Or they want siblings for their kids, or simply love being a part of a large family. I can't really hate on that, because there can be a lot to like with that scenario, especially when you're in a small town and there's not a whole lot else near you in terms of other kids to play with.

My dad was 1 of 7 (3 brothers, 3 sisters), and my mom was the youngest of 5, all 4 siblings were older brothers.

On my mom's side, there's only 4 "grand kids": Me, my younger brother, one older cousin, and one adopted older cousin.

On my dad's side, there's 19 "grand kids", with all families having at least two, and one family having 5. They would have had 6 if they didn't lose 3-4 of the last pregnancies in a row.

In 3 of those familes, they wanted at least one girl. One had a single boy, then stopped when they had a girl. Another had three boys in a row, then threw in the towel. The family of 5 above, their 1st was a girl, then all boys. They saw how the boys bonded with each other and wanted a sister for their oldest girl, so they tried for another daughter. All of those subsequent (lost) pregnancies were girls.
 
I'm happy that someone posited that some people, perhaps, just really like kids. I would not mind having a couple someday, but I won't be like my mother's family, where they had 8 kids. 2 max seems like a nice number.

There is something to be said about the economy being forced to transition into a system which does not rely on a constant growth of the population. However, whichever shape that takes, I expect the transition will be deeply unpleasant for everyone that lives through it.
 
I come from a larger-than-average extended family, and some people just like having children around, so they have kids to extend that. Or they want siblings for their kids, or simply love being a part of a large family. I can't really hate on that, because there can be a lot to like with that scenario, especially when you're in a small town and there's not a whole lot else near you in terms of other kids to play with.

My dad was 1 of 7 (3 brothers, 3 sisters), and my mom was the youngest of 5, all 4 siblings were older brothers.

On my mom's side, there's only 4 "grand kids": Me, my younger brother, one older cousin, and one adopted older cousin.

On my dad's side, there's 19 "grand kids", with all families having at least two, and one family having 5. They would have had 6 if they didn't lose 3-4 of the last pregnancies in a row.

In 3 of those familes, they wanted at least one girl. One had a single boy, then stopped when they had a girl. Another had three boys in a row, then threw in the towel. The family of 5 above, their 1st was a girl, then all boys. They saw how the boys bonded with each other and wanted a sister for their oldest girl, so they tried for another daughter. All of those subsequent (lost) pregnancies were girls.

I understand where you are coming from. My mother is 1 of 8, but dad is only 1 of 3. Mom's family averaged 2 kids per (that we know of). Those kids are going nuts, some had one, some had 4 or 5. I know there was an Easter where there was nearly 100 people and I hadn't even had a kid yet. There were a number of those that are sort of bolstered by people I do not know, they are "adopted" by family members and brought to family functions. At least one of my cousin's kids had a kid. So with granny still alive, there can be 4 generations at family gathering (I did not go to Christmas this year). There was only one brother that passed this year and a cousin took his own life, so that was something not to look forward to.

Dad was the only one to have kids, my brother and I. Oh crap.... I forgot my dad's sister who passed last year of cancer had a kid and put it up for adoption. She found us about 20 years ago, but I think was trying to find money as there was never much more in the way of communication after a handful of interactions.

I'm rambling now...

I do understand that some people love kids. I love mine, I can put up with most people's, but I personally don't relish the idea of having 4 or 5 of them running around.
 
Please note that today is the day I made the best attempt and making the @ sign. It was at a time I was quickly writing down a persons name while on call.
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DON’T FUCK WITH THE SCIENCE TEAM
 
The kids thing is interesting. It baffles me when people who aren't in a good position to raise multiple children try to do so, perhaps that's brash to say but looking at it from a wide viewpoint I feel like it's just more of a strain not only on society as a whole, but the actual parent(s) when there's a constant struggle from them to keep their heads above water with a gaggle of children. I get the whole "who are you to say what a person can and can't do" aspect as well, and if having so many children is what makes someone happy then I guess more power to them, but that doesn't mean I can't also think it's a poor decision if they're in a position where it's a constant struggle. I don't know that I'd go so far as to say it's like smoking, but there are probably some parallels.

Anyway, I do have some perspective on this. My father is the youngest of 13 kids. My grandparents were fairly well off and never struggled, so there was never any issue raising all the kids, and all the family is still quite close. I forget the exact number, but just on my dad's side I have 46-49 first cousins, and now with a bunch of them in my generation starting their own families our headcount is in total over 110.

Meanwhile I'm an only child, which I'm pretty sure is because my dad is the youngest of 13 :grin: I'm not against having kids, per se, but given the lack of any relationship that's not on the table in the near future anyway.
 
A nice reminder tonight to hate winter. Got home, parked, as I put full weight on my foot to get out of the car, I slip on the ice I parked on and have to grab my steering wheel to prevent myself from falling out of the car. Haven’t yelled “fuck” like that in a while.
 
A nice reminder tonight to hate winter. Got home, parked, as I put full weight on my foot to get out of the car, I slip on the ice I parked on and have to grab my steering wheel to prevent myself from falling out of the car. Haven’t yelled “fuck” like that in a while.

Had something similar last weekend. Had a whole bike trip planned out with my kid, we get our bikes out and even before we’ve properly left he fell (not even sitting on the bike).

2 corners, one near fall and one actual fall later we decided we didn’t want to ride that badly. Fuck black ice.
 
I was hearing a podcast and someone asks "I recently got a kid and I need a bigger car. I have a Golf R."

NO YOU IDIOT, YOU DON'T NEED A BIGGER CAR.
You might want a bigger car, but you dont NEED it.
Ugh.
 
Well... depends. Some people especially moms want to take every possible item the child may need at all times. And that, combined with how massive a stroller + child seat is nowadays, may call for a larger boot.

OTOH I know someone who needed an A6 Avant to do this... which is a bit much
 
So you have to remove the trunk cover. I tested my brother's carseat for his baby a couple years ago. For my seating position, it's just enough. I'm also 5'8" or 172cm. So really, a car seat just enough.

Do you need a car with a 3rd row and all the gizmos because of one or even 2 kids? Fuck no, buy a Honda Civic..
 
So you have to remove the trunk cover. I tested my brother's carseat for his baby a couple years ago. For my seating position, it's just enough. I'm also 5'8" or 172cm. So really, a car seat just enough.
I had to read this several times and then the post above for context, I really had the image of you sitting in a kid's car seat. :ROFLMAO:
 
I would like to do a long distance trip at some point. Chicago to Seattle sounds like a pretty one, but would have to be done in the late spring or summer.
 
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