following on from the having children thread!

red_devil

Odette wrote: »

I don't have anything to do with kids in my family or outside of my family for that matter. I will avoid children and babies actively. I am a 27yo woman and have had mixed reactions about this as you can imagine! I wouldn't cut ties with someone who had kids though but I wouldn't necessary go out of my way to see them with the kids ie. during the daytime.

are you scared of them!

Saturnalia

VestanPance wrote: »

I do tend to be in awe of toddlers. That sense of discovery and making up fantastic adventures out of nothing is a joy to watch. Just a shame they grow up to be as jaded as the rest of us!

marisco wrote: »

I agree with this. Childrens imaginations are fantastic. They learn so much just by having fun. The adventures they can take themselves off on with very basic materials is amazing. I am blessed to work with 7/8 year olds and they can be very creative. It surprises me the amount of people who dont get enjoyment from getting down with kids and playing with them. They really miss out on a treat

Me too. I love the utterly random and abstract conversations you get into with little'uns that are full of curiosity about the world. They get you questioning your own beliefs and you need to know what you're talking about as a 3-year-old certainly will hang you on a comma! It's like seeing the world through new eyes at times.

And oddly, kids seem to listen to me and do as I ask them, goodness knows why! :rotfl: And I'm one of these people that seems to mesmerise babies and little children at the shops!

But it's big groups of toddlers being loud and running about that I find tricky. I don't dislike children, I dislike very hectic social situations, regardless of the people's ages.

bagpuss38

I have four kids, love them to bits.
love babies, but find dealing with other people kids in this day and age a nightmare.
If you ignore a child you are rude and odd but if you try to interact with them you are a !!!!!!

Yes my kids are the most precious thing in the world to me, but to anyone else they are noisy, crazy, sometimes dirty faced and mucky!
When my toddler is on one even i want to avoid her lol.:rotfl:

lostinrates

VestanPance wrote: »

To be honest that sounds like a lot of 30-somethings I know! :rotfl:

I don't mind kids at all. In fact I dislike the British attitude towards children that they should be shut up and locked away until they are adults. Some kids are funny and fun to be around. Some are waddling nightmares with lungs. Pretty much the same as the adult population.

I do tend to be in awe of toddlers. That sense of discovery and making up fantastic adventures out of nothing is a joy to watch. Just a shame they grow up to be as jaded as the rest of us!

I love kids, I love well behaved kids in restaurants and lots of social situations, but I also enjoy some events without them. My Italian friends, a nations of people who almost worship children, have told me the way they have encountered British children behaving in UK restaurants has shocked them. I assure them this is not all British parents and children, indeed I know lots I love eating out with and often complement people on their kids' behaviour.

Countries where children are adored and enjoyed (as they should be) also seem to expect the children to 'fit in' rather better too.

LittleMissAspie

I don't like being around children. I have nothing in common with them and don't know what to say to them. I only know two people who are under 18 and they are very nice and well brought up, always well behaved and never shouty or messy or naughty. I would never avoid them on purpose but I find it awkward when they talk to me. I don't know what "level" to talk to them at so I talk to them at my level. This seems to confuse the younger one but anything else feels like I'm talking down to her as if she was stupid.

A couple of times there have been other children I don't know at family gatherings and I found that awful as they were really noisy and running around and boisterous. I can't handle that, I hate disorder. It made me want to run away and lock myself in a sound-proof room. Thank goodness the two I know aren't like that, otherwise I would be trying to avoid them.

BritAbroad

GracieP wrote: »

If you actually think that all children are like this, my point is made because that's nonsense. Plenty of children display none of those behaviours at all and in almost all cases babies have clear personality traits and vary hugely from one another from day one. I know this because I don't make the mistake of avoiding children and therefore have the experience to know just how different they all are from one another.

My point is not nonsense, and my opinion is just as valid as yours. As I said, the individual personality traits of babies are not obvious TO AN OUTSIDER - to their families they will be perfectly obvious. And avoiding children is not 'a mistake' - it's something I choose to do. Why would I choose to spend my time with people whose company I don't enjoy?

We'll just have to agree to disagree.

marisco_2

Saturnalia wrote: »

Me too. I love the utterly random and abstract conversations you get into with little'uns that are full of curiosity about the world.

This is why I love my job as a teacher. I can do hours of lesson planning, have it in my mind how things will progress. Then we start and there are all these little children looking at and listening to me.

I watch them and I can envisage their little minds ticking over. Once I have introduced what we are learning I ask them questions. This is when my heart soars. The responses, the eagerness, their wonderful ideas and interpretations of the world around them is so lovely.

They are young and innocent and their perception of all kinds of things is so fresh and inspiring. The things they come out with at times really make me laugh. One boy in my class since September is the funniest little fella. He cant get the hang of my surname so in answer to anything I ask of him its 'yes sir' :rotfl:I am a lady!

I cannot imagine doing any other job. Kids are fab