Babies!

I don't intend to have children.

For years my grandmother (among others) has been telling me that some day I would change my mind. Well, I'm 27 now, and I'm still feeling no desire for them. Plus, I'll be in school for another three or four years at least, and that's if I don't go for a PhD. If I do, who knows? Another couple of years after that, more if I decide to try to work while I do it. And I would want to get established in my career, before I even thought about children, plus I would want the father to also be in a good, steady career, since I would have to take some time off for maternity leave... long story short, even if I were to change my mind at some point, it's going to be at least ten years before I'm ready, and 37 is a bit old to start a family. But really, those are just excuses. I don't want children.

Even so, they can be really cute sometimes.

Today I went to a little girl's first birthday party. Amira is my brother-in-law's sister's child. I have no idea what relation she is to me. She's a sweet little girl, though. When we got there she was playing with a partially deflated balloon that her parents had given to her because it was not likely to pop if she played with it too hard. A little while later she had been given a helium-filled balloon, which she held by the ribbon and carried around for at least twenty minutes.

After lunch we opened her presents, and that was delightful, too. It didn't take her long to learn how it went-- her dad would give her a box whose paper she could tear to her heart's content, or a bag that had more paper in it she could crinkle and tear. Sometimes she would even notice that there was something else in the bag or the box and get that out, but often she was more entertained by the paper. She got a lot of things that weren't that entertaining to her-- clothes and things in boxes, like a baby pool-- so that makes some sense. Some of the things she was delighted by-- toys that she could make do things or make noise, or things that were soft. My mom had gotten her two little stuffed kitties (because Amira loves my mom's cats) that she rolled around on the floor with and squealed delightedly over.

Then came the cake. Her parents had not, up until today, given her anything with refined sugar. She has had fruit, and she loves the sweet things that she has had, but she had never had anything like the decadent flourless chocolate cake that they gave her today. When they put it in front of her she didn't seem to recognize that it was food at first. Then she poked at it gently, but wouldn't dig in until they gave her a fork, which I think is amusing. Of course, once she got a taste of it, she was delightful, and it was all over her-- her face, her hands, her hair, her dress, everywhere. Which is exactly as it should be. Probably my favorite picture of myself as a baby was from my first birthday. There's a before and after to it: the cake, a glorious, light blue care bear cake, actually in the shape of a bear... and then me, fistfulls of icing, icing all over my face, looking like the happiest kid in the world. It's adorable.

So yeah. Children can be pretty adorable. As long as I'm not the one changing the diapers and dealing with the tantrums and such.

(I know, I missed a golden opportunity to make baby-eating jokes, and it's Easter*, but this post was long enough.)

*Atheists traditionally get together for a nice baby roast** on Easter, you know

**Some prefer fetuses, but I have a pretty big family, and babies serve more people