Saturday, November 12, 2011

Pregnancy: The Hottest New Trend

I love kids. Maybe I should specify... I love other people's kids. I am no where near ready to love my own kids yet.

Recently, I went to see my brother, his wife and my two wonderful nephews. It was the perfect time for a last minute trip because it was the same time as my youngest nephew's birthday party. We went to a gymnastics facility, and all of the kids got to run and play in the foam pit... the adults may have jumped in as well, but that's neither here nor there. I played dino-opoly with my older nephew and read my youngest nephew his night time story. It was fantastic bonding time, and I am so glad that I was able to see them.


Another bright side to visiting my nephews is that I don't need birth control until 2012.

As adorable as children are, there is no denying that they are a major life changer and time commitment, and being a parent is the hardest job in the world. Kids change your life, and as magnificent as that life change is, I believe I would like to wait another ten years before making that change.

Every few weeks, it seems that someone I'm friends with on Facebook is now pregnant. When I was younger, I can remember teen pregnancy being such a taboo, however I cannot count the number of times I read congratulation notes on people's ultrasound photos every week. I have found myself constantly asking myself why there are so many young parents, and ultimately, I've come to only one conclusion: MTV's 16 and Pregnant.

Logically, one can come to the conclusion that MTV can not possibly feature every pregnant teen on their television show, but teenagers don't think logically (I certainly don't always). There is no denying that MTV and the media has glorified teen pregnancy far too much.  In fact, I'm sure that soon you will see "MTV Pregnancy Tests" on the shelves at your local market. Instead of a plus sign for pregnant, it's a dollar sign (Side note: this is not a real product, don't look for it).

Last night, my friend came to my house to eat dinner and watch the new Harry Potter movie with my mom and I. After the movie, my mom got up and out of nowhere, began showing my friend my baby photos. I was of course embarrassed and glared at my mom while she bragged about how cute I was, what an adorable child I was and that I only got cuter as I got older. What is it about being a parent that makes you suddenly have the greatest knack for embarrassing your child? It's like the second a new person comes over, Parents open the door, greet the person and immediately begin showing them their children's baby photos and commenting on how small your naked butt used to be, all while ignoring the fact that the child who has been out of diapers for a good 17 years is in the corner having a stroke.

After getting over my initial embarrassment, I realized that it's actually kind of sweet when parents show off their children to their friends, other family members or the new UPS guy. Instead of looking at the photo of their child and seeing the degree they didn't get or the job they turned down on the other side of the country because they had a baby too young, they only see the child that they raised showered in love.  When I see my brother and his wife with their children, there is clearly no regret surrounding the births of their two sons.

I find it so important to live the life you've been given and not rush all of life's joys into the first twenty years of life. I've got a good sixty or so years left to live and I don't want all of the fun stuff to happen to early.


3 comments:

Joe said...

:) you are wise beyond your years. speaking of kids, when are you coming down to see Kiley? :D

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jewel said...

Joe: I'll probably be in Bzn for all of christmas break, but right now I'm trying to save as much money as possible for Argentina, so large trips aren't really doable. =[
Winda: Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoy my blog and I'll for sure take a look at yours.