If your too damn stupid to have kids, DON'T!

[Penguinfan]

Some people really want to make you just lose control. This one really bothers me simply because my mother and I rarely talk anymore because of stuff like this. It seems like a no-brainer to me that you take care of your kids at all costs, now admitidly I probably go overboard, but I don't care. My mother has taken my brothers kids without them being in car seats nad she says shit like "I'll be careful" and "Oh they're big enough", well bullshit. I don't allow her to take my kids anywhere because of that, period. She just doesn't get to take them anywhere and it pisses her off, but I don't trust her and they are my kids. Well sure enough a guy my wife knows take his kid and his kids friend out and doesn't put them in a car seat or seat belt (ages 5 and 6) and some drunk plows into them, the guy is killed on the spot, his son is in the hospital (and fatherless) and the kids friend is in critical condition. According to the police the majority of the injuries would have been avoided if all parties were not thrown from the car, in other words, WEARING SEATBELTS. Now I know the accident wasn't his fault, but that attitude of "I'll be careful" just like my mother has doesn't take into consideration the other assholes on the road, boy my blood is boiling right now. If your an adult and don't want to wear a seatbelt that is your choice, I always do simply because I need to be here for my wife and kids and not drooling on myself in the hospital, seriously, I could care less if I wake up tomorrow, I've been through enough in this life good and bad to care any more, but the wife and kids need me around. Take care of your kids, it's extra work but thats what you signed up for when you had kids.

 

[Nole]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

Well said P-fan.

Don't even get me started about my in-laws!

Sorry for your wife.

nole

 

[White Shadow]

Couldn't agree more P-Fan. My ex-wife and my daughter were in a crash when she was three. It was my ex's fault as they were out driving around looking at Halloween decorations and she ended up losing control and taking out two mailboxes and a telephone pole. The car was totaled but my ex (wearing a seatbelt) was uninjured and my daughter (in a car seat) suffered only a broken arm.....very lucky and would have been much worse had they not been buckled in. Even if I'm just going down the road to the store and back, we're all buckled in.

 

[Penguinfan]

Sorry for your wife.

Thanks Nole, she's just sick about the whole thing.

White Shadow, that's exactly what I am talking about. I am sure it was horrible she broke her arm, but I'd like to think she's all better from that now and there's no lasting effects from it, don't use the car seat and the story probably has a much worse ending that nobody wants to consider. Honestly, how long does it take to buckle them in the car seat? Yes I know it's a pain, but in that case it may have been the difference between a broken arm and a broken neck, just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Schouest]

Some people really want to make you just lose control. This one really bothers me simply because my mother and I rarely talk anymore because of stuff like this. It seems like a no-brainer to me that you take care of your kids at all costs, now admitidly I probably go overboard, but I don't care. My mother has taken my brothers kids without them being in car seats nad she says shit like "I'll be careful" and "Oh they're big enough", well bullshit. I don't allow her to take my kids anywhere because of that, period. She just doesn't get to take them anywhere and it pisses her off, but I don't trust her and they are my kids. Well sure enough a guy my wife knows take his kid and his kids friend out and doesn't put them in a car seat or seat belt (ages 5 and 6) and some drunk plows into them, the guy is killed on the spot, his son is in the hospital (and fatherless) and the kids friend is in critical condition. According to the police the majority of the injuries would have been avoided if all parties were not thrown from the car, in other words, WEARING SEATBELTS. Now I know the accident wasn't his fault, but that attitude of "I'll be careful" just like my mother has doesn't take into consideration the other assholes on the road, boy my blood is boiling right now. If your an adult and don't want to wear a seatbelt that is your choice, I always do simply because I need to be here for my wife and kids and not drooling on myself in the hospital, seriously, I could care less if I wake up tomorrow, I've been through enough in this life good and bad to care any more, but the wife and kids need me around. Take care of your kids, it's extra work but thats what you signed up for when you had kids.

Well said, and you know I' love to have something smart ass to say here...but I think you nailed it !

 

[Chopsticks]

I know how you feel penguinfan, my ex-wife, on the days she has the kids still smokes with them in the car. She says she rolls the window down and that she's an adult so she can do whatever she wants. Sure, but do the kids have a say in what you do? That has got to be the most neanderthal thing to ever say. She even has the audacity to take them to eat and sit in the smoking section at a restaurant. The thing that kills me is I can do absolutely nothing about it. My twins just turned 5 this year and it kills me that she does this. So, I feel for you man. It's bad enough my son is asthmatic and the smoking probably will cause his twin sister to develop some kind of breathing problem too.

 

[IntenseOperator]

My next door neighbor is a fireman and has paramedic training. He and his wife are in their mid forties. They both smoke and she is PREGNANT! You would think somebody in this relationship would be mature enough to make wiser decisions.


Stupid people breed

 

[Captain Crunch]

Well said Pequinfan. I got into a shouting match with some ahole a few years ago when we were next to each other at a stoplight. He was driving a pickup and had three kids in the front who weren't strapped in. I might have over stepped my boundries, but I initially said "Hey why don't you buckle those kids up" and it got progressively worse from there. He even dropped a few F bombs along the way in front of his kids. I know I didn't do any good with that guy, but it just rubbed me the wrong way about the potential things that could have happened, like some of the instances stated above. Your definiteley doing the right thing. Keep up the good work.

 

[Penguinfan]

Chopsticks and IO, don't get me started about the smoking around kids/pregnant issue, Jack will probably have to ban me.

Captain Crunch, kids unbuckled in the front of a pick up truck huh? That's brilliant, what could go wrong there? Kudos to you for saying something, you never know, just maybe he will think about it and strap em in next time, maybe.

Seriously people, if your too damn stupid to have kids then please don't, the gene pool in this country needs some cleansing as it is. Even if your kids survive they will probably end up as stupid as you and thats a look were trying to get away from.

 

[eman]

Penguinfan,

I can relate to your story 100%. I normally will not allow my kids to my parents house. My mom does not do anything with them because she is to damn lazy to get off the couch or the computer. My dad does get up and take the kids to the park. The smoking thing just gets to me. When my first daughter was born she would go outside to smoke ( as my wife and I don't smoke around the kids). For whatever reason as soon as my twins were born she started not caring and smoking whenever and where ever she wanted. I do understand it is her house but I don't want my kids to suffer because of her. Getting back to her being lazy. She used to come over to my house when my first daughter was born all the time. Again as soon as the twins were born she saw them the day after and did not see them for 2 months. Her theroy is we can go to her house. Well when you have to pack up three kids it is tough.

My mother is law is a different animal. She has the kindest heart towards my kids and has done more than you can expect from a Grandma. Her issue is she can't shut her damn mouth. Always over critical and needs to be talking about someone all the time.

Enough of my ramblings but I thought this was a very interesting topic.

 

[ceciol]

I can relate, too. I'm so hung up on it, even if the car is only going 100 yards, I insist the kids buckle up. Not everyone in my family agrees with me, and it makes my head spin.

 

[KJNY2]

This doesn't entirely relate to the topic of bad parenting, but THIS is a good illustration of just how much seat belts can do. This car used to be a trans-am until about a week and a half ago, when me and two friends hit some trees and flipped it. All three of us managed to walk away from the car and are fine.

 

[BahamaMama]

oh man, is THIS story gonna be unpopular in here......

i don't wear seat belts, nor have i insisted my kids buckle up since they were too big for baby car seats. (yes, as tiny infants they were belted in). i smoked during pregnancy (with my dr's. okay, but not *advice*)

SEAT BELT ISSUE:

how many of you survived until today while growing up riding in the back of pick up trucks, unbelted in cars....etc?? ..... hmmmmm....ALL of you that are reading this likely did!!!

i won't argue that seat belts likely *save* lives, but they also TAKE lives. i have personally known 5 people to die in car accidents.... all FIVE of this it was stated have they not been belted in or in car seats may (2), likely (3) have survived the accident.... yes, have read about many that they say would have survived had they been belted in, but that is *reading about*, not KNOWING. will remain a firm believer that seatbelts should be a personal choice and not a law. my uncle and cousin were killed in a gravel road accident where they say that they may have survived had they been able to be thrown from the vehicle.... and triplets of a kid i went to high school with were all 3 killed on interstate 80 when their SUV was rearended while parked and helping at another accident. they were all in car seats, it was a very minor accident, but caused the vehicle to burst into flames, and they were unable to get the infants out of the car seats.

(i will also add that i was in an accident unbuckled where if my kids had been with me, likely would have been killed, but thank GOD they weren't along.) rolled a vehicle, came out of it without a bruise, but everything besides me that was in the front seat ended up in the back seat of the car, and everything that was in the back seat (which would have been the kids) went out the rear window and into a pond)

still i think it should be choice. if the law was SOOOOOO concerned with child safety, why do SCHOOL BUSSES (which are mainly for transportation of children) have no seat belts????

now on to the smoking thing...... my dad was a smoker (but quit when i was 2 years old), and i am a smoker. in my first pregnancy in 1982, i quit smoking/drinking....etc..... at 5 1/2 months along i developed what is now known as toxemia. (pre-eclamptia in those days) ......they delivered my baby at 6 months along by c-section, he weighed just over a pound and died at 16 days old.... (that pregnancy was a result of mild fertility pills and drs told me that i would never be able to get pregnant without them, and because of the EARLY onset of toxemia, it was highly likely i would develop it again in any future pregnancies.) along comes 1992....SURPRISE!!!!!! pregnant (no fertility drugs) ... my dr. in minnesota would not come straight out and say he would ADVISE that i continue smoking, but he said he thought i shouldn't do anything to change my routine that could cause undue stress resulting in a blood pressure rise) he said to keep it under a pack a day, and to continue to do anything that was normal in my life. HMMMM, on my daughters due date i was playing centerfield in a softball game....LOL. he also said an alcoholic beverage here and there would be okay, but don't get *drunk* ... well, my body had other ideas on that one.... i swear to god, EPT's cost about $10 bucks, but i could get one for free at any bar a cocktail was the perfect pregnancy test for me, cuz one drink and i was sh*t face and then sick for at least 24 hours....(that kinda eliminited the drinking while pregnant thing)

1995....SURPRISE, another baby without fertility drugs.... same story on the smoking/drinking (drank WAY too much caffiene while pregnant with the boy child tho )

as far as kids birth weights and health, well, it couldn't be any more perfect (knock on wood)!!! besides a broken arm (and croupe as in infant for #2), neither of my kids has even needed to go to a dr. for anything besides *well checks/shots*. darn good record for 12 and 10 years old.

hey, different strokes for different folks, and parents should have choice over the government, IMO....if i survived it so can they, and they should have the same right to the same fun.

how many of you were forced to wear helmets when you rode a bike??

how many of you rode in the back of a pick up truck??

how many of your mothers smoked while they were pregnant with you??

 

[RexBudler]

if the law was SOOOOOO concerned with child safety, why do SCHOOL BUSSES (which are mainly for transportation of children) have no seat belts????

Very good point

 

[taoist]

:iagree: ...dammit, i knew there was some reason that I liked you, sugar. I've hesitated about posting in this tread for 3 days, but I gotta agree with Annie here fellas....


...verifiable story. Flipped a jeep...no seat belt on...thrown out the passengers side rear window.... Vehicle rolled...kinda a forward flip with a half twist...pinned my noggin' under the fiberglass brace between the tail gate and the roof. Damn steering wheel was pinned against the driver's seat.... would have crushed my chest.

Yep...had to cut ole dumbass out with the "Jaws of Life." ...stood up and actually told the officer, "I'm alright.... I just live right up the street.... I'll walk home."

...officer says, "Boy, you got two choices.... With me to jail or in that ambulance to the hospital..."

...uh, yeah buddy... I'm wasted, but I know the answer to this one...

...at .30 on the richter scale, I never noticed. :mj14: ...not a broken bone in my body, but had about 100 stitches in the melon. Thank God I didn't hurt anyone other than myself.... Thought, someone is keeping me around for a reason...and finally, made it through my early 20's. :mj14:

...where was I? Oh yeah, dammit, annie.... YOU'RE RIGHT!!! :mj07:

...my dad cut the seatbeats out of his el camino... I rode in the back of a pick-up more than I did in the front.... Who didn't sleep on long rides in the back of a stationwagon? Have you ever rode in a dunebuggy? I flipped a go-cart more times than I can count.... :scared

Let's stop whipping our kids?!?!?!? My grandfather died and he had whipped the pastor and all 6 palbearers at his funeral.... My mother was a elementary school principal in the south.... She'd drop a dime and say, "Pick it up, but don't bend yer knees..." WHAM!!! Right in the sweet-spot...between the muscle and the flesh.... I was whipped by a fawking professional!!!


...where was I...oh yeah, Mr. Daniels.

 

[usbbroker]

I am sure this wont shock anyone and I know Taoist can relate. Down around these parts it is not uncommon to see children in a car without car seat. Around Alabama is not uncommon to see children in the bed of a truck riding down the highway with their mother at the wheel. Up until roughly a year ago, nobody even payed attention to whether not you were wearing your seatbelt. Cops and Troopers didn't ask or even care if you were wearing one. Thankfully, cops are now checking and writing lots of tickets for not wearing seat-belts. I know that sounds crazy but people from Alabama like to make changes very slowly.

 

[eman]

I don't disagree with any point that has been made in this thread. One thing we all must remember is these are our kids and as parnets we make the decisions as to what we want our kids exposed to. If I choose to not have my kids around smoking I expect that decision to be respected by all. If there is someone that does not respect that well that is there choice. I then have to make the choice if I want my kids exposed to that.

 

[Penguinfan]

Annie, I never said it shouldn't be an adults choice weather or not to wear a seat belt, I suspect that is more of an insurance issue than a safety issue as far as it being law. I will have to dig up the article on why there are no seat belts in school buses rather than try to recall from memory. I have to imagine that many more people have had thier lives saved or avoided injury by wearing a seat belt than actually having injuries or fatalities CAUSED by seatbelts. Again if your an adult then by all means make your own choice and live with the consequences, when it comes to your kids or someone elses kids I think you error on the side of safety. Yes we have all done the things you mantioned and lived to tell about it, some didn't, my wifes friend would still be here if he had a seatbelt on and two kids would not be seriously injured with one fighting for his life as we speak. Could the seat belt have strangled them on impact, I guess so, but if he could go back and do it again I bet he buckles everyone up. Things you brought up never seem to be about the people who lived to tell about it rather than the people who didn't

 

[rrc]

Did our parents smoke in the house when we were little kids? Yes and we somehow turned out ok.

Did we drive in our parents car without seatbelts as little kids? Yes, and we survived.

When we were teenagers and in our 20s and even now did we ALL drink and drive while drunk? Yes and we somehow survived.

HOWEVER...3 wrongs do not make a right. It should be clear that it would be better for all concerned if...
1. Parents did not smoke in the house with their kids.
2. Children wore seatbelts.
3. People DID NOT drive while drunk.

These are not personal freedom issues, they are common sense issues. Just because a person "got away with" certain idiotic behaviors in the past does not make it ok to repeat said behaviors.

Is there anyone that believes it is ok to drive drunk and smoke around children. I'd love to hear your rational.

As far as the seatbelt issue goes I'm sure there are statistics supporting their usage but I don't have those facts at my fingertips.

Interesting thread to say the least. l

 

[Chopsticks]