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I am bringing up my kids fine, thank you. I guess I'm stupid for not wanting to go to all these other places right? Well let me just say that it is ignorant to say that I have no desire to learn about anything "outside my little world." Who are you to tell me that being a parent is not sufficient in life? Really you are ent_tled to your own opinion, but that is just it, OPINION. I would rather not travel out of the states, but I have been to Colorado and Florida and that is fine for me. Excuse me for not wanting to get some foreign disease. You must have ingored my other posts. HELLO MY KIDS WERE NOT PLANNED. But just because you have killed your kid doesn't mean that everyone who finds themselves in a less than perfect situation resorts to selfishness. FYI, being a parent IS a way to be a responsible part of society because duh, you are raising the next generation. Once again you are being selfish in terms of just thinking about here and now. How much do you know about my education? Right now I'm actually preparing to start college. Besides, what you are saying is just what you think, not facts. Unless you are paying for my kids, and living my life, I suggest you b___t out. P.S. The money I could pay for a round trip to wherever would pay for a couple college courses right? But rather go FURTHER my education, I should travel. I guess it is important to have been to France when you are changing a diaper or giving a bath...

Why is traveling so important? That seems to be what some woman have been saying that unless you dont travel then you havent experienced life? Thats BS. It does not mean "that no desire to investigate what goes on outside your own little world, and that is just irresponsible".

I never said that people *have to* travel. It's certainly not a necessity, so long as one educates oneself on other cultures in some other way, like reading books on the histories of other societies than their own (but this, of course, would most likely inspire one to travel anyway). But the plain truth is that the majority of people who don't travel don't do this. The large majority of people in the world are incredibly self-centered, caring only about what affects them in their daily lives. Travel isn't the be all end all path to enlightenment, but it can certainly provide a perspective on the world that is easily lost by remaining absorbed in a single culture. And that perspective is essential in making political decisions that affect everyone. This is especially true in the US, where our political decisions affect everyone in the world. On top of that, anyone who doesn't travel is simply doing themself a disservice in denying themself a fantastic experience.

I have no problem with the concept of travel.I do not have to travel all over the world,that is not high on my agenda,plus I would not want to go to places just to say I have been there,I am selected where i go.The places I have been though,I am glad I visited before I had children,although if I had not been there I would not miss it,what you don't know you don't miss.However,these young girls on here either having got married when they are still school age,or wanting a baby when they are still at school or just leaving are in my opinion wasting their lives.Maybe for travel,but for me its not that,its just you have to be responsible,show your growing dependent examples,and be able to financially support the child,plus be in a very deep relationship first.To have a child at the age of say...16 is no example to set for yuor child,you have no money to support it,because you have only just left school,have no idea about expenses in life,because you have hopefully,lived with parents before then,if you meet a boy,you cannot say in a years time that you will love him forever,because at that age your view on life change,and your knowledge grows.You may stay together for life,or drift apart,the point is you do not know,therefor cannot commit together for life with marriage or a child,it is not fair for the child,whose interests should be the most important.

*If you don't have the money to travel, then you don't have the money to bring up children. I've been broke for as long as I can remember, and I've still managed to travel to a dozen different countries, living extended periods in four of them.* I really object to this comment by X. I don't consider myself as having the money to travel, but that is because travelling is not a PRIORITY for me, and I suspect not for Mommy either. If she REALLY wanted to, she could have saved the fortune it would cost to travel to Lily Beach in the Maldives and stay in a water bungalow........but like myelf, that is not a PRIORITY for her. Some educated people can be so narrow minded and ostentatious. Why is nobody paying attention to what Mommy is actually SAYING ? Really READ her posts - she is articulate and intelligent, and is demonstrating that she is a valuable member of society. Why are people ignoring this ?

Thank you very much Kerry. I really appreciate you coming to my defense. It is not at all important for me to travel. You also seem like a very open-minded and intelligent person. Nice too, unlike so many on here. Again thank you. :o)

Kerry, that was a very unfair statement. Nowhere did anyone say that she is not an intelligent person. I was referring to perspective, not intelligence. Yes, you're right, she does seem like a very intelligent girl, but intelligence isn't everything. One must have knowledge to go with it in order to function responsibly in society. My brother is a very intelligent person, but his US-centrism due to his never having experienced anything outside the US is irresponsible. This is not something that is unique to him but is a pandemic.

X. Mommy can gain perspective by reading the newspapers and watching the news, and interacting with other people. Travelling is not necessary. Your argument is obtuse. In your posts you deem travelling as one of the MOST valuable life lessons to be learnt, without accepting that a) not everyone wants to travel, for any number of reasons, and b) education of any kind can be certainly gleaned by other means. I understand that you argue that to broaden a persons horizons is a good form of education, but that does not mean that they are not responsible because they do not wish to leave their country. And in all honesty, I know very few people who actually travel in the sense you mean. Most people spend boozy fortnights in Spain or weeks lying on sun loungers. Not my idea of strengthening the mind.

"I find it incredibly embarrasing that when my DH says he is British people automatically a__sume he is from England." -- Ha! That's funny. When my husband says he's Australian, people automatically bring up Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. :D

Lol, he must love that. My DH gets pretty p__sed at times with people. Scottish mentality I guess.

My bf is 27, & I'll be 30 when our little boy is born in April. And we are STILL scared & feel too young sometimes. It's not like we're the type of people who are immature throughout life... it's just a natural feeling among parents-to-be, I think. But I know how much more mature I am than even five years ago; how much more okay this is now than it would've been any earlier.... let alone as a teenager! Yes, I thought I knew it all back then too, just as in five years I'll look back on 30 & say to myself "Damn, I knew nothing back then!" Yet I still feel like there's no way a child can raise a child... or should have to. I've lived a lot in my 20s, had lots of adventures. And I'm glad!

Changing subject !! Bonnie, you have me intrigued ! What is your news coverage like over there then ? I admit that ours (UK) is very comprehensive, covering most of the world, aswell as what goes on in our own back garden. I remember once somebody commenting on the lack of world coverage in America, but I a__sumed that was just the one persons opinion. When I went to Cyprus they were able to cover news from all over the world - I was able to watch the follow up on the London bombings.

It's not that we don't have world news, it's just very limited and very biased. Things that happen in the world (including things that happen here)show up a lot of faster on BBC than in the US. I really don't know why this is. I was living over there when the tsunami hit and the coverage was amazing (if quite graphic). I have also never seen so many newspapers and magazines, lol. You guys REALLY like your newspapers. :P Anyway, I moved back here to have the baby and I find that quite often I check BBC and Daily Record Web sites for the news. I'm certainly nto bashing my own country as after living in both places there is good and bad points to each place. But world news is certainly not a strong point here.

our (america's) news is censored (sp?) a lot too. We don't see graphic images a lot. I wish that we did, I think it would help for people to understand things better-does that make sense? My brother went to med school in Hungary and he said that it was soo different there. Our basic news is just local c___p and then we do have channels for world news but you get it from the "view points" of the stations. What they want you to see. It's like we live on this big detached island and they tell what they want us to know and that is it.......

We do get BBC in the States, but the news is limited to a few times a day. CNN Internation that's on in Europe is *totally different* than CNN within the US. The "world news" that you see on American television is more like "how the world has to do with the US." It is possible to watch lots of different stuff on US television - including Deutsche Welle news, BBC news, cricket, Skippy (the bush kangaroo) or whatever, CNN International (available in some places) but the problem is it's only available a limited amount of time each day and is hidden within 100 channels of junk.

(Quote: The "world news" that you see on American television is more like "how the world has to do with the US.") Yes, that's a better version at what I was hinting at. We certainly have world news but it's very self-centered. And when you add that to the fact that we are so far away from most other places, most people really just don't comprehend other things that go on in the world. I know that the US gets looked down a lot as being arrogant. But I don't think it's arrogance, I think it's ignorance and a lack of understanding. When you hear of things like bombings, Tsunami's, etc. it is very hard for people here to comprehend how devastating it can be as we are so far removed. That's why I think it is important for people to travel and get a broader understanding of the world. Traveling won't help you change a diaper thus I don't think it a necessity before having kids. But doing some serious traveling (beyond a small get drunk and party week) with or without children will certainly change your life, your views, and things that you teach your chidlren. Just my 2 cents.