I've never felt that you treated me any differently as someone who is childless by choice and will remain such. Your entire life changes when you become a parent. It's a HUGE responsibility, and means a great deal of personal sacrifice.
I applaud my closest friends, most of whom who are parents, and manage to keep their lives together and raise their children well. It's no easy feat.
AJ and I try to be very understanding to our child rearing friends, but like you said, we don't know what it is like therefore to an extent we can't understand. However, what I really hate is when we get shit from people (not saying you have done this) about how much easier our lives are for not having kids
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I've made some edits...lordandreiDecember 23 2008, 19:45:41 UTC
I think most of my ire is aimed at those who don't put the effort into considering what a child means.
It is clear you are well aware of the sacrifices parents live with and also with the decisions you've made. I don't think any of that should be disrespected.
I do love Liber Librae, v. 15 in particular, but 5 & 6 are also goodies. There is truly nothing like raising a child to expose you to so many things on so many levels that you never considered before. Humbling, exalting, always character building. Your consciousness expands in ways you could never imagine. My head still snaps around every time I hear a toddler cough (Richard had asthma (which he outgrew in his teens) starting at about two - he's 26 now.)
I remember, not so many years ago, having a talk with you about the number of commitments you intended to maintain while raising a child, and suggesting that it might be...challenging...o.k., I suggested you were smoking crack...
But the point is, you cannot expect someone who has not raised a child to understand it any more than you can expect someone who has never fallen in love to get it.
And I did not expect you to get it back then...I just enjoyed letting you know I thought you were on crack.
(and now I am getting a cheap "told you so" giggle out of it...I am soooooooo shallow!)
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I applaud my closest friends, most of whom who are parents, and manage to keep their lives together and raise their children well. It's no easy feat.
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It is clear you are well aware of the sacrifices parents live with and also with the decisions you've made. I don't think any of that should be disrespected.
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But the point is, you cannot expect someone who has not raised a child to understand it any more than you can expect someone who has never fallen in love to get it.
And I did not expect you to get it back then...I just enjoyed letting you know I thought you were on crack.
(and now I am getting a cheap "told you so" giggle out of it...I am soooooooo shallow!)
Take Care, Stay Warm, Hugs to All!
Jon
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ha.
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