InkkyTinkks

At 14, I told my guidance counselor that I didn't want kids. He chuckled, patted me on the back, and informed me that when I got a little older, and I was with a guy, I would change my mind.

At 16, my grandmother nearly had a heart attack because of her three granddaughters, myself and the youngest agreed we didn't want to uave babies. Ever.

At 17, my father asked about my life plan. I told him: graduate high school, get my college degree, do some traveling and writing, go for this particular job I wanted, retired around X age, take month-long vacations to places I wanted to spend time in, etc. He asked, "What about a husband? Children? Normal things a girl is supposed to think about?" My response- a husband if a man came along that could share an adventure with me, kids were a No Go. He assured me I would 'grow up' qnd change my mind.

At 19, I shocked my former babysitter who had known me since I was a toddler, when I confirmed the rumour she'd heard that I didn't want kids. She patted my mom's arm and reassured her in a sweet voice that, "Don't worry, girls say a lot of silly things before they meet the right fella, and wise up. She'll give you grand babies"

At 22, I was talking to a college professor who chuckled at my making a comment about how, "thank goodness I'm never going to have to worry about juggling child rearing eith marriage, work, and life", then she realized I was serious. She asked if I was alright, thinking I could-not (not didn't-want) kids. I told her the truth, could have but didn't want to. She was aghast, then told me that I'd change my mind when my husband wanted some kids.

Well, I'm over 30, still have absolutely no desire to give birth, adopt, raise, or have much of anything to do with children. I don't hate children, I don't think people who have them are crazy (more power to you, to create and/or care for another person), and I don't think it's impossible to have a life AND have children. I recognized at an early age that I don't have that biological imperative to procreate, I don't have the patience to deal with children (something that has shown very little improvement as I've gotten older, in fact it might be getting worse), and I don't feel my life is incomplete without creating another life- I am good with living my own and doing my best to enrich the lives of those I care about (I try my best to be a good friend, to be a good sister, good daughter, good pet-owner, and a good person in general).

So please, please stop telling girls (or really kids at all, but especially girls) that they will change their minds. Please don't tell them that meeting 'the right guy' will make them suddenly feel broody, that their potential future husband's desire to have children will make her reconsider and see things his way. For one, a couple should have had that conversation and decided if it was a deal breaker, LONG before they got hitched. For another, it's her body that gets to grow and birth another human being- her husband's desire to be a father doesn't supercede her autonomy.

Please, let girls make their own choices? Girls are forced to mature too fast as it is and are bombarded from all sides with SHOULD (you SHOULD be a size 2, you SHOULD wear this dress, you SHOULD have a boyfriend to be a normal teen, you SHOULD always smile), they don't need another judgement from someone who hasn't walked a mile in their particular shoes. Respect teenage girls and their ability to look at the world, themselves, their situation, and their future, and make an important choice.

*gets off soap box, slides it back under the sofa, lets out a sigh*

I was raised Mormon, so I was told that I wanted kids. Not I said I wanted them, I was told from the time I was eight that I wanted them. For a long time, I believed that I did want them.

Then my sister started having kids.

That was when I realized that, no, actually, I did not want them. I had been told for over twenty years of my life that I wanted kids. I saw my sister go through pregnancy and birth and realized that nope, I loved my niblings, but being a mom wasn't for me.

🛑🛑important 🛑🛑

This is the reality of Gaza today: endless displacement, hunger that ravages the children before the adults, and a harsh winter knocking on the doors without mercy. Amid the rubble and destruction, Gaza stands alone, crying out with a hoarse voice that the world refuses to hear. It pleads for help, but no one answers. How can a mother explain to her children that life has become impossible and that warmth is now just a distant dream? While cities prepare to celebrate the winter holidays, Gaza faces a different kind of winter — one that brings more pain and hunger. Every cold night renews the tragedy, writing another chapter in the story of a city that bleeds every day, every hour.

My family is in desperate need of your support and assistance in facing these harsh conditions. We need your donations, but we also need your moral support by sharing and reposting my story with others. Your voices can make a difference in our lives, and every word or reblog could be a lifeline in this sea of suffering. Solidarity is what we need now more than ever.

but they still committed a crime! it was illegal then, and they broke the law! except "breaking the law" isn't the bad action. the bad action is the thing that's illegal. if "breaking the law" was the issue, then all crimes would be equal.

we don't punish people for breaking the law. we punish them for doing something bad. if we as a society have declared something that used to be illegal now legal, then we've decided it's not a bad thing. so we should stop punishing people for it.

clark reupload

'Through some strange alchemy(crochet) they turned a bundle of yarn into a stuffed giraffe'

'Through some strange alchemy(bad cooking) they turned a perfectly marinated steak into a charcoal briquet'

'Through some strange alchemy(good cooking) they turned a pile of slop into the fluffiest bread loaf I'd ever seen'

'Through some strange alchemy(bad reading comprehension) they took my polite statement and turned into a disgusting act against the poor'

Done more than double the original notes.

I have mixed feelings. It's mostly amused bewilderment, with a healthy dose of 'I'm happy that so many people think my dumb joke is funny and that someone elevated it to a fiber-craft that even more people love'

But there's also a definitive pinch of 'fuck you what have you done'