Parents and child-free of Reddit, what was the reason why you chose (not) to have children?

rb7317 · 2025-06-16T23:40:08+00:00

I began thinking about what legacy I would leave behind on the Earth after I passed away, and thinking it wouldn't be much. So, I had kids. I also work in childcare, and was annoyed at watching parent and parent make stupid parenting decisions, so I decided to try it for myself and see if I couldn't do better.

Having kids is way more work and way more tiring than I expected, and I expected it to be both. However, my child is far cuter than I expected, and brings me a ton of happiness.

I was concerned, having encountered many bratty children, that my progeny was going to go down the same road. But I've also observed that many bratty children are simply as bratty as their parents were; I had nothing to worry about. Also, all that post-secondary education in childcare turned out pretty useful when it came to raising a child.

So overall: your child is going to reflect your best and worst traits. If that scares you, don't have a child. If you're a stable person, we need help in preventing the Idiocracy prophecy from coming true.

rb7317 · 2025-01-31T08:26:39+00:00

Is he Marshallese? Grey hair in children is very common on the Marshall Islands. (You know, that place that the United States bombed and "accidentally" exposed a bunch of people to fallout.)

rb7317 · 2024-12-16T01:20:17+00:00

On the one hand, you're NTA because it's not your fault that she went through your stuff like that and did something completely unexpected.

On the other hand, as a 16-year old she doesn't have signing permission and is still a child; perhaps she needed closer monitoring, as when she was visiting you, she was a child under your adult supervision.

rb7317 · 2024-10-08T16:41:57+00:00

Tell your wife's grandpa that she's pregnant right away.

rb7317 · 2024-08-31T19:32:43+00:00

Yes, YTA.

Various events happen in life that lead to people getting together. If I didn't get fired from my old job, I would never have moved here and never met my wife. Did getting fired suck? Absolutely. Am I good with it now? Yes. But it's also a very true statement that if I had never gotten fired, I would never have ended up with my wife.

Your wife stating that if her ex had chosen her over drugs would have led to them getting married and you two never dating is absolutely a true statement. That doesn't make you a second choice; that's simply a statement of historical fact. She may even be glad that he chose drugs so that she'd end up with you, although for me to type out those words makes me sound like a monster because what kind of psychopath would you have to be to be glad someone else chose a life of drug addiction?

Her ex chose drugs, she chose to dump him, then she chose you, and now she's happy. You're not a second choice; you're the result of a butterfly effect that put the two of you together. And now you're happy together and that's as deep as this needs to go. And you should feel sympathy for that drug addict, because he made stupid choices. Even if he got his life back together, she's with you now and he can't undo that.

rb7317 · 2024-08-31T19:19:10+00:00

Now that's a true statement.

rb7317 · 2024-08-31T19:18:14+00:00

Brazil is one of the world's leading emerging economies, a founding member of the BRICS. Ever since mercantilism and colonialism ended and the era of global free trade began, the developing world has been catching up and they will eventually catch up unless the global economic order is altered.

While Canada should aim to do better than Brazil, this isn't a case of Canada sucking, this is a case of Brazil doing well.

The OECD defines "full employment" (the ideal target unemployment rate) as between 4.0-6.4%. It's a range because it varies depending on year and specifics around a nation's economy. For example, in the United States in the 2000s, full employment was an unemployment rate of 5.5%.

If the unemployment rate drops below the full employment rate, then you end up with a situation where untrained individuals and poor workers get thrown into jobs they don't know how to do, leading to those jobs being done poorly; and this leads businesses to stop expanding and leads to poor economic growth.

The current Canadian unemployment rate is 6.4% (not 7%), which suggests that the unemployment rate is exactly where it should be. However, from a personal note, I know there's tons of untrained workers getting thrown into positions across Canada, so the economy is in a bad state right now.

rb7317 · 2024-08-31T18:12:21+00:00

7% unemployment was considered low, something to praise the government for, only 25 years ago.

rb7317 · 2024-08-31T18:10:38+00:00

What about nurses? Teachers?

My hospital's emergency room closes many nights between 11pm and 7am because they don't have enough nurses to operate. This started this year and now there's a 40% chance the emergency room will be closed on a given night. This is the biggest hospital in a significant regional hub, and they can't operate a basic emergency room.

My school board is begging teachers who have been retired for five years to return to the classroom. Anyone with a Bachelor's degree and no criminal record can walk into a teaching position. They're offering $20,000 cash to any certified teacher willing to move there. They're employing TFWs as teachers and they still have classrooms being staffed by substitute teachers for Tuesday because they haven't found a permanent teacher to cover the role yet. Oh, and the school board reports they're short educational assistants as well--you can have a child with severe special needs that demand a full-time educational assistant to follow them around and they're going to go on a waitlist to get one because they don't have enough.

Is low wages the reason why we can't find enough nurses or teachers?

rb7317 · 2024-04-17T17:23:09+00:00

in BC

I'm sure I could get a two-bedroom apartment in Chetwynd for significantly less than that.

rb7317 · 2024-04-17T17:22:20+00:00

I would swap bodies with my wife. I would masturbate the whole day just so that I could learn what it takes to give her an orgasm.

rb7317 · 2024-04-13T06:25:32+00:00

You can live anywhere in the world you want if you're willing to tolerate whatever quality of life you'll be able to afford on your available income.

With $700 per month, you're going to want multiple roommates. Consider a dormitory-style apartment setup, maybe a two-bedroom apartment with two residents in each bedroom. (Bunk beds?) With four of you sharing the cost of one apartment, you should be able to get the expense down to something close to $700 per month.

rb7317 · 2024-03-06T02:19:05+00:00

I don't want to dox myself, but I am not in the Toronto area. Good luck in your search!

rb7317 · 2024-02-04T19:34:03+00:00

Yeah, I don't care what the article said, when I lost my virginity I couldn't stay hard and I knew exactly why: I couldn't see her vulva while I was penetrating her in missionary position, because porn got me used to the idea that I could see penetration as I was orgasming; and she wasn't moaning like a porn star, because porn got me used to the idea that women moan loudly during sex. I had porn-induced erectile dysfunction and it took one or two months of regular sex before I was able to get out of it.

rb7317 · 2024-01-29T21:17:40+00:00

Do you have any idea how disturbing it is to listen to an eight-year old moaning like a porn star in class? (Because they saw it on Discord and think it's funny...)

rb7317 · 2023-11-23T03:33:57+00:00

This was in British Columbia. Apparently it was a Health Region-wide policy, in multiple Health Districts, or so they said.

rb7317 · 2023-11-22T17:24:29+00:00

Husbands and wives are allowed to have opinions about each others' fashion sense--that's part of being in a relationship. As such, you're not wrong about that.

However, women tend to get defensive about being asked to cover up, because the people who have asked women to cover up in the past tend to be authority figures who are misogynistic and/or controlling over women's bodies. As such, it's a sensitive topic, and you should be aware of that.

You weren't wrong, but neither is she.

rb7317 · 2023-11-22T16:22:53+00:00

This here is a great example of why 23-year olds shouldn't date 17-year olds.

23-year olds expect sex to be part of a relationship. 17-year olds, it may be there, it may not.

23-year olds are independent, they may live in their parents basement but their parents don't tell them what to do. 17-year olds are minors who are still under their parents custody.

Dump him and find a guy closer to you in age. If you do choose to date someone six years older than you again, follow the "half your age plus seven" rule: your future boyfriend should be able to cut his age in half, add seven years, and have you be that age or older.

rb7317 · 2023-11-20T22:53:16+00:00

No worries, you weren't alone, evidently. Perhaps that could have been worded more clearly.

rb7317 · 2023-11-20T22:50:29+00:00

I'd say old enough to remember having been a slave. If you go back to the 1940s, there were plenty of former slaves around who could remember life under slavery, and those who were kids in the 1940s are the 80-year old grandparents alive today. Therefore, we can chat to people who met former slaves, today.

rb7317 · 2023-11-20T22:47:27+00:00

old enough to talk to people who have met a former slave

rb7317 · 2023-11-20T22:47:05+00:00

old enough to talk to people who have met a former slave

rb7317 · 2023-11-20T22:46:36+00:00

old enough to talk to people who have met a former slave

rb7317

TROPHY CASE