18469LikesMaybe. Definitely not yet or anytime soon though.Originally Posted by NorwIndian
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Having kids young isn't for everybody and I definitely do not recommend it at the ages I did. I got married and had kids at the age I did to get the heck out of my house. My brothers had got out by joining the military 7 and 8 years before. That was my out.
Gutmutter you sound like such a good mom. Your kids are lucky to have you.
My mother got married at 19 to get out of the house. That must not be an uncommon thing for women to do. I wish we had talked more about that.
Gut, you sound like me (minus the cancer part) - I spent time in Hawaii in my 20's working and playing in the sun. I met my husband at age 23 and we married and had our first child when I was 29. Our daughter was born when I was 34. I stayed at home for most of the time when my children were very young. I started my job at a school library at age 37 and that was the job for me. I have been with my husband since 1976! One problem with having all that "me" time was that my financial situation was not great for many years and now that my school job has been cut so drastically, I need to keep working for much longer than I had planned. My husband has been self employed for many years so my job is the one with medical benefits. I don't regret my choices as I have always had quality time with my children and got to spend lots of time with them. Our modest house is paid for so we are very fortunate in that way and can have a comfortable life.Love the expression "doing me"... I was seriously "doing me" in my teens and 20s also. I was almost 30 when I had my kids, but I loved every minute of it. I was a stay-at-home mom until my youngest started full-day kindergarten. Then I became a substitute teacher so I could have the same vacations as my kids and turn down jobs if my kids were sick. That eventually turned into a full time gig and I got my certification. The hardest time was when they were 3 young teens. I got divorced, had all 3 living with me, was working full time while getting my masters in early adolescent education, bought a house, and then got cancer. I paid my dues!Now they're all grown with jobs they love and I am incredibly happy with my little cottage and 3 cats with a little disposable income. There were some lean mac'n'cheese years in there. I'll tell you what, though. I gave my kids a great childhood. I'm proud of them all. No grandchildren yet, but they're all in their 20s.
Let's not forget the Catholic Church's teaching against birth control. Some people actually followed that. (For a while!) Made for lotsa' young moms.
I'm Grandma Punkin and she is Grandma Lolly and although we started out a little distant and perhaps a little competitive (I'm so much better a cook!), we've had 25 years to build a genuine friendship. We vacation together every year over 4th of July week at Northshore Tahoe with all the kids and grandkids.
I had some very distressing news yesterday. My oldest (dearest) grandson is Moving to Texas! Dallas!! OMG! It never occurred to me that anyone in my family would ever think of moving there. (Cruz country.) Tyler just graduated San Jose State and though he's worked for Apple for 5 years, I knew he was looking for another job. So he got another job. It's with IBM and it's in Dallas. Mitigating my distress somewhat is the happy fact that his best friend, Jimmy< is getting the same job and they are going together. Jimmy's folks are friends with our family so it's like we're all in this together with our baby boys leaving home. They plan on leaving on the 20th (already!), Jimmy's dad will drive down with them (and both cars) and he'll fly home. The job is apparently a huge opportunity, gained through the relative of another close friend of theirs. They've been told that after a couple of years they should be able to transfer back here to IBM in Silicon Valley, and I'm going to hold them to that!
Am I the only person who thinks that Ted Cruz looks like Mr. Haney from Green Acres?
Aw Punkin, how bittersweet for you. It must be hard to see him go but I bet you're just so darn proud of him.
The "other" grandma doesn't like me much. I don't know why to be honest. I have been nothing but nice to her. At family get togethers the kids are always around me but I encourage them to go spend time with granny too.
This woman just sits and glares at me. Its not like I call the kids over to me when she's there too, I wouldn't do that. I just act like me. If my daughter tells my granddaughter that she's going to grannys house, she has a fit that she wants to go to grandmas instead. I talk this woman up so much to the kids but she still hates me. I get her a gift every xmas and barely get a thank you in return. I don't know what more I can do.
Hopefully one of these days she'll pull that stick out and get to know me but I don't think that will happen any time soon.
I'm starting to realize that its her problem, not mine.
It sounds like a whole lot of jealousy on her part. I don't know that there's anything you can do. Just keep being as kind as you can be. Maybe she'll never come around, but at least you're being a good person. IMO, being kind like that (especially because of the relationship) is never wasted.
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' - Isaac Asimov
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
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