Goodness, I find it hard to believe that such stupidity exists, but then stupidity comes in all shaped and sizes. I never had children, which is a sadness in some ways, but I have a posse of nieces, great nieces and great nephews. Not the same thing, people say in a condescending fashion. These are sometimes the same people who are in floods of tears down the telephone because their offspring haven't contacted them for months, won't let them see their grandchildren, have moved to other side of world, etc etc.
The more I think about your comment, the odder it seems. "You can't trust someone without children". Trust them to do what? Change a nappy, push a pram, build Lego, help with maths homework?" And does the trust then increase with the number of children? I fear I would be tempted to say I didn't trust her to know about contraception. What a very sad person, to cut a whole swathe of people out of her and I suppose her children's lives.
I've been told many times that I don't know what it's like to be a mother. That I quite agree with and understand. I don't. I also don't know what it's like to be an astronaut or a brain surgeon!
As to the trust thing, I can only assume from the context that she meant it as a general comment on honesty, integrity and whether the person would do what they said they would. To balance that out, I know I was valued particularly as a child- minder (I would say baby-sitter, this was an occasional non- paid event but delightful child 2 decided at 6 that he preferred not to be called a baby.) by one couple of friends, who appreciated that when I was in sole charge of their (delightful) children, they knew that my absolute priority would be the safety and well-being of their children. I'm not bad at Lego, and am also experienced at guinea-pig care and making get well cards for goldfish.
Anyway, I don't think this is the last I've written on the topic now that I've got started.
In fairness to mother-of-4, she seemed to have an adequate knowledge of contraception. She was also very critical of people who became unintentionally pregnant. She made it very, very clear that she was mother-of 4 because she chose to be and considered herself worthy of the role.
The more I think about your comment, the odder it seems. "You can't trust someone without children". Trust them to do what? Change a nappy, push a pram, build Lego, help with maths homework?" And does the trust then increase with the number of children? I fear I would be tempted to say I didn't trust her to know about contraception. What a very sad person, to cut a whole swathe of people out of her and I suppose her children's lives.
I've been told many times that I don't know what it's like to be a mother. That I quite agree with and understand. I don't. I also don't know what it's like to be an astronaut or a brain surgeon!
Reply
I'm not bad at Lego, and am also experienced at guinea-pig care and making get well cards for goldfish.
Anyway, I don't think this is the last I've written on the topic now that I've got started.
In fairness to mother-of-4, she seemed to have an adequate knowledge of contraception. She was also very critical of people who became unintentionally pregnant. She made it very, very clear that she was mother-of 4 because she chose to be and considered herself worthy of the role.
Reply
Leave a comment