Alikkon and my pets are what makes my life complete...but I don't gush about them constantly! I DO talk about school more than some people are interested in, methinks, but I try not to and I think I do a fair job.

Is a baby a "complete blessing" if it's born to a 16 year old mother still in HS who is not financially/emotionally prepared to deal with such a thing but keeps it anyways out of obligation? Is it a blessing if a woman stops taking the Pill so that she can force her boyfriend to marry her? Is it a blessing if a man get a woman pregnant without her consent to force her not to leave him, make her dependent on him? What if a couple is on welfare and struggling to survive? Homeless? Passes on some horrible genetic defect? Just don't have the common sense to raise a child that will be a decent addition to the human race? Has HIV?

Don't think that I don't appreciate being proud of accomplishments kids/pets have made, or just being proud of them in general. However, I don't give myself the illusion that everyone, or even most people, are interested in every new thing Chubby does, or the fact that Midori moulted and doubled in size.

It's not just proud parents either, Brian's SIL has a disgusting habit of telling me all about her kids' bodily functions. Potty training and spit-up make me want to gag! I don't sit there and tell her about the time Chubby regurgitated a rat pup into her water dish on a hot day! (Although perhaps I should)