What's more repulsive, babies or parents?

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Even mosquitoes do it!

― dave q, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i hate babies.
my sister hates babies (and in a job interview for her placement told the interviewer that babies hated her 0 and got the job!).
even my mum hates babies.

― gareth, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I hate baby-talk. "Oh sweetie did you just poopoo in yer panty pants." Do you want yer kid to talk like that later in life? No. So talk normal.

― nathalie (nathalie), Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

There are good language development reasons for the 'sing song' style people adopt towards babies. I can't remember the specifics of this, but if you just talk to them like an adult it's not a good idea. Psychologists call it 'motherese'.

I love babies. I love everything about them. I want one. Will anyone give me one?

― Nick, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Unfortunately my first born has already been promised to Stevie T in compensation for me punching him.

― Emma, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Nick, I am sending my ex-child psychology professor to you so she can expand on her dislike of motherese. ;-) I think it's silly. My mother never used it. Nor my father.

― nathalie (nathalie), Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Nick if you'd asked a few months ago, I could have provided you with a baby.

― Kate the Saint, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I hope the baby went to a good home, Kate.

― Emma, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

they all should be aborted.

― Geoff, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I prefer goldfish. And you can get them in less than 9 months.

― Martin, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

No contest. Babies.

― Mascara, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You are all mean. I love babies, I just don't want one squeezing its huge baby head past my cervix right now. Someone at college once told me I had child bearing hips. If only I had known then about my violent streak.

― Emma, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I used to think babies, but now parents. The baby has no choice what's done to it yet, and the parents do. Hmmmm. Not something I really want to talk about, I guess. Everyone I know who has had a baby has turned into this weird human being obsessed with nappies, varicose veins and breasts.

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You're already obsessed with breasts, Paul.

― Kate the Saint, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I am?! Since when?!?

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Paul you're always looking at my breasts. Its very disconcerting.

― Martin, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yeah, but you're the one always looking at my legs. Very hard to conduct a conversation with you.

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Not as hard as you are. Which is what I can't help but look at.

― Martin, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I only have that problem when I'm confronted by your breasts...

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Martin, stop looking at my boyfriend's legs or I'll smack you. Paul, stop looking at Martin's breasts or I'll smack you, too.

Paul is too obsessed with breasts! We were watching some dumb Aussie soap on C4 last night, and there was this scene where this poor man was confounded by having to go and buy a bra for his girlfriend, and being totally bewhildered by the sizing. Paul not only knew about how the sizing worked, but he knew my bra size as well! I'm not sure if I should be disturbed or flattered.

Unless I've posted it here before on some rude thread or other...

― Kate the Saint, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

What's wrong with a man understanding bra sizing? An invaluable piece of information if ever there was one. Learned when I had to buy myself a bra in order to dress in drag on one occasion. Long story.

And surely all boyfriends know their girlfriend's bra size as well as other clothes measurements? What if you want to surprise girlfriend with clothes as a present, or something like that? Kate - you must know what size jeans, shirt, underwear and so on size I take?

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Babies only suck when their parents don't do something to stop them squalling away in public. Tell me, has anyone heard about the brain receptor which creates agitation in women who hear the crying, but men can zone it out because they lack the receptor?

Parents only suck when they're being nasty to their kids in public or going smugly My Child-centric despite previously being completely engaged, with-it folks.

Baby talk drives me up the fucking wall and I was never the recipient of any. Inane repeated questions with upward inflections at the end, however, much more common to my toddler ears, though my mother never asked me if I made tinkle

― suzy, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Crying babies agitate the hell out of me, and make me feel I have to do something to make the baby feel better. So unless I have the brain of a woman (hence I understand bra sizes!) then I guess it's not exclusively female.

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Paul, you are a girl. This has already been scientifically proven.

Kate - you must know what size jeans, shirt, underwear and so on size I take?

Uhhh... no. Should I? I guess I know your jeans size from back when I was skinny enough and you plump enough to wear each others clothes, but otherwise, no.

I blame parents for crying babies, not the babies. I mean, they're babies! They're body function machines, it's not their fault!

― Kate the Saint, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

If there is a special receptor in the brain for producing agitation when in the presence of crying babies, I've certainly got it. Howling children agitate me no end.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Paul, the reason men are not supposed to know their girlfriend's bra size is so when they are in lingerie shops they can go 'oh, er, I dunno what size she is, about the same as you' while leering at the salesgirl's tits. Or, with dress size, so they can buy you a dress a size too small then make you wear it out whilst you are bursting from said dress Emma Bunton style.

― Emma, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Bursting from said dress Emma Bunton style - classic or dud? Some of my female friends think she really overdid it in that video. Not only was she falling out of her ginham dress, but she was pulling up the hem at the same time to expose her gingham knickers. I thought this made it even better, but they say no, worse.

― Nick, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Bursting from dress seemed to be a classic on this particular occasion, I am sure if you asked the ex in question what his highlight of our relationship was he would have put this in his top 5.

― Emma, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

AH yes, I can still remember the rude nurses dress you mention. Didn'y he give it to you saying - "here Emma have a rude nurses dress."

Parents are more repulsive. Young babies are supposed to suck. Or at least suckle.

― Pete, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

When women buy underwear for their boyfriends do they say to the shop assistant, when asked what size he is, 'About the same as you'? They should.

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well remembered Pete. I still have that sodding dress in case I ever decide to follow a career as a porn star.

― Emma, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You want me to run off with a counter clerk from Next, then?

I must admit that I actually know Dan C6's pants size, for the simple fact that his indie boy plumber butt is so extravagent that I see practically his entire underwear every time he bends over! "Dan, I'm having a problem with my amp, can you just check it for me... mmmm..."

― Kate the Saint, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh for heaven's sake. You don't even know what size *I* wear, and you have to look pretty damn closely to ascertain the size of underwear a person is actually wearing. First you suggest you are having an affair with Chris Evans (gingery legs!) and now this!

*sob*

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Today online, I found out that I am having an affair with 1) Chris Evans 2) Dan Clark and 3) Stuart Murdoch. I also found out that I have a mysterious aversion to frogs.

Wow, I need to go on the interweb more often to find out these fascinating facts about myself that I didn't even know!

You know, if Dan Clark had the slightest inclination on earth to have an affair with me, it would have already happened a very long time ago, so worry not.

― Kate the Saint, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Walking round Romford yesterday I came to the conclusion that most people (or at least people round here) only have kids so they can hit them.

― DG, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It seems that in England children suffer a lot of physical abuse. Sadly this isn't the custom here: people would rather have their kids hit them than vice versa. Yesterday I had the privilege to meet the most obnoxious kid in the world. Pure evil bastard. I should have just killed him. The world would be a better place.

― nathalie (nathalie), Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Depends what you classify as "physical abuse" thought, doesn't it? I was raised the traditional British way, as made famous by comics like The Beano, with all transgressions punnished by liberal applications of "The Slipper". Hasn't made me a better or worse person, I don't think, self esteem problems are not related to this, and I don't think I have any residual bizarre sexual fetishes involving spanking.

When I was older and we moved to the States, I was informed by concerned persons that this was tantamout to child abuse. Say WHAT?!?!?

― Kate the Saint, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Even being witness to physical abuse can scar you. I still remember seeing my friends being hit upon by their parents. These children suffered immensely. I oppose to whatever form of physical punishment. You can correct a child's behavior by simply explaining it or in another ways.

― nathalie (nathalie), Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I lvoe all babies over age 1 year and under 6

― Mike Hanle y, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I still remember seeing my friends being hit upon by their parents. These children suffered immensely.

Were their parents really ugly or something? (Sorry...)

― Dan Perry, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

If you are trying to tell me that what I just stated was child abuse, then I will refer you to my friends who have been raped, beaten within an inch of their lives and thrown out on the streets by their parents and caregivers.

Don't diminish *real* child abuse by saying that mild physical discipline is child abuse.

― Kate the Saint, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

But that's basically saying that there aren't different levels of abuse; you're either getting murdered or you're fine, which isn't true at all (please note this is playing Devil's Advocate; I don't personally believe what you described sounded like abuse).

Anyhow, to answer the question, they're both pretty damn awful and repulsive. Reproduction is the worst thing ever, no one should do it, the human race should just die off. This of course means I'll be pregnant within the year, because I'm a hypocrite.

― Ally, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Child discipline is obviously an incredibly thorny issue. I was smacked as a child, and I'm sorry to say it worked for a while, but stopped when I realised I could prevent my dad from hitting me by making him laugh. I doubt I could hit my own children, if I had any, excepting if they were physically hurting their younger sibling or something, just to show them how unpleasant it is. But walking around Romford I always seem to come across parent/child 'disputes', and mostly the child is doing something that at the most could be called 'irritating', like trying to get the mum to go to a shop they want to go to. This is usually met with violence, which I think is appalling. Just fucking reason with them, or punish them by not buyng them sweets or something, don't hit them.

― DG, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Kate, I wasn't putting it on the same level. I can tell the difference. However I will not tolerate any kind of physical punishment. Not even when it comes to adults. Physical punishment is pointless. You need to explain to children what they did was wrong. I have seen children being smacked and they didn't even flinch. It was of no use because they did not understand why they were being hit. What good did it do? Nothing because it didn't change their behavior. I was of course being hasty posting my view (as usual).

And by the way, Dan, it isn't funny. My poor English can't put into words what my friends had to go through.

― nathalie, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

By the way, I wasn't referring to your post. I was simply stating that I oppose to physical punishment. It may not be abuse,it can still influence you.

― nathalie, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Nathlie, my intent wasn't to make fun of your English or to make light of the situation that your friends went through. My intent was to say that I thought that altered meaning of the sentence was funny. I'm sorry for offending you.

― Dan Perry, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ohfuggetaboutit. I actually think I am the smrattest chick on this board. ;-)

― nathalie, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hrmph.

― Ally, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was smacked twice as a child. Once a slap on the leg for talking with Dickie Dodd after Mrs Boyce had told us to stop: it really stung and I am still outraged and humiliated 35 years later. And once a brief and totally ineffectual spanking by my dad for chasing my sister noisily up and down stairs in order to throw a handful of cold spaghetti at her (I missed, and it stuck to the wall but was invisible in the laura ashley wallpaper and only I ever knew). Anyway, point is: I remember these two more-or-less non-events VERY clearly, because they were neither of them really just, even tho they "worked" (I was on the whole a v.quiet child) and did me zero harm physically. I think Mrs B. and my dad were both wrong, to hit a child (let alone ME): I also assume they were at the end of their tether that particular day. Sometimes even the moderator nods...

― mark s, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ally, I am a borderline moron. Research has proven that. hah! Actually that Madonna tune was about me.

― nathalie, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I didn't get that many spankings when I Was a child. The worst one was when my mother caught me shoplifting. (I was 4.) Got whipped with a belt for that one.

― Dan Perry, Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Do you do hanky spanky now? WINKA WINKA (that one's for Eve/Adam)

― nathalie (nathalie), Thursday, 9 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I am with Emma Hamilton. You guys are all too modern for me with your nihilism and concerns about overpopulation. But is this just another example where nobody is sposed to say they like babies in case sexual partners get scared off? Like it is contemporary etiquette to think pornography is funny. These new rules of politeness only give you more opportunities for jokes though, eg you can startle people by saying things at modern dinner parties in front of your boyfriend like 'I think I will have a baby this year'. And they all look shocked like 'Oh aren't you scared he will dump you now?'

― maryann, Friday, 10 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

maryann is dancing on the money

― Nick, Friday, 10 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I thought I was in trouble when Maryann used my full name. I don't think that saying I want to have your babies would be a great first date thing mind you.

― Emma, Friday, 10 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I have no objection to impregnating someone, I just don't want to see them or the result after. If the world is to be overpopulated it might as well be with my spawn rather than somebody else's.

― dave q, Friday, 10 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Maryann I tht you were half-wrong on the porn thread and I think you're half wrong here: in each case you set two instincts against each other and back one as undeniably Good and Natural and Healthy, and the other as Modern and Decadent and an anti-feeling. But we all have both of them, in difft mixes obviously, and we shd all recognise the need and value of both (the normalisation of porn is NOT 100% negative: for one thing it's DIRECTLY linked to the increased tolerance of sexual minorities). I don't much like babies: not least cuz I am only too aware of the way the Sanctity of Reproduction is used as a club to beat us non-Breeders. "Children" are used as a weapon against weirdos all the time; "think about the children" is a (modern) reactionary anthem.

I wd also somewhat defend nihilism, but that's a difft discussion, probably.

― mark s, Friday, 10 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Parents can be great or not so good but babies are so interesting because they still have the potential to do anything. This morning I got up at 6 in th emorning to look after babies and toddlers and I can't think of any other job I would want to do that for. Babies are not more special than adults but they have the type of enthusiam and freshness that makes them exciting to be around. Parents are adults and most have lost excitement for life, the best seek to make a good life for their children and enjoy them , some crush the children and contribute to the harshness of the world. it su

― Isabel Smith, Friday, 10 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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