[besson3c]

Babies rule the world.

A family member died recently, and it of course brought in family that we don't get to see all that often from out of town. We were kind of hoping to spend some time reminiscing about the deceased, and also talking about the health of Grandma, and other sort of family matters. Instead, because they just had a baby and my wife's sister recently had one too, the whole get-together became BabyFest 2010.

I'm not bitter about that, I understand how having a baby changes your life, I was obviously expecting some baby stuff, but to people who don't have babies of their own it is also a little frustrating that everything is always about baby baby baby. We let it go, it obviously would have been rude to try to steer the conversation in some other direction, but at times I wanted to say "okay, we get it... baby cute. Baby has some cute tricks. Can we talk about something else for a little while, like maybe what brought us here in the first place?" I mean, the number of times the baby takes a money, wakes up the parents, what the baby likes to stare at, what formula the baby likes, etc. is sort of limited interest to some others who are not operating in baby mode, ya know?

Have any of you guys been in a similar situation? Find a good way to deal with it?

[downinflames68]

Don't hang out with breeders. They are usually lame.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

Don't hang out with breeders. They are usually lame.

What happens when people in the family breed with one another?

[besson3c]

Breeding is definitely not for me. I like eating at cool restaurants, going out to the movies and stuff like that without having to get a babysitter, traveling, not shopping at places where I can get stuff cheaply, having time to do my own stuff, sleeping, shopping less frequently, not cleaning up ponies and rainbows, not having to have all of this extra stuff around the house, not having to devote my entire life to a crying baby, being able to leave the house and do stuff without having to plan this out carefully, not having to worry about daycare, not having to worry about the baby's health, not having to have clothes spat up on.

That being said, some baby food is delicious.

[Spheric Harlot]

Unto each his own.

Do save that rant, though, just for the laugh you'll have about it later on.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Unto each his own.

Do save that rant, though, just for the laugh you'll have about it later on.

That's why I use triple coat my junk with 3 condoms.

[Phileas]

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

Don't hang out with breeders. They are usually lame.

Do you share these opinions with your mom and dad? I mean, them being lame and all that.

[Spheric Harlot]

Ones own parents are, almost by definition, lame.

[Face Ache]

Competing with babies is easy. Sit in the centre of the room, poop your pants and start wailing.

You will quickly become the centre of attention.

[Phileas]

Originally Posted by Face Ache 

Competing with babies is easy. Sit in the centre of the room, poop your pants and start wailing.

You will quickly become the centre of attention.

That's ridiculo...


Hold on a minute. I see what you did there.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

Don't hang out with breeders. They are usually lame.

Eh?

Rob came out?

How’d I miss this?

[Spheric Harlot]

People have different ways of coping with failed marriages.

[sek929]

I love having babies around for the holidays, no mundane questions about what I'm doing from people I barely see, everyone simply pays attention to the babies.

[Eriamjh]

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

Don't hang out with breeders. They are usually lame.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by sek929 

I love having babies around for the holidays, no mundane questions about what I'm doing from people I barely see, everyone simply pays attention to the babies.

That's true. I've found babies to be excellent distractions, useful for robbing banks and such.

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally Posted by Face Ache 

Competing with babies is easy. Sit in the centre of the room, poop your pants and start wailing.

You will quickly become the centre of attention.

Shhh . . . don't let besson know that he is a baby.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy 

Shhh . . . don't let besson know that he is a baby.

That would explain my liking baby food, although I am potty trained.

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

Don't hang out with breeders. They are usually lame.

Your cynicism is so over the top it kind of makes me laugh a little.

Originally Posted by besson3c 

What happens when people in the family breed with one another?

You end up with the banjo player from Deliverance.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Your cynicism is so over the top it kind of makes me laugh a little.

I guess you mean in a "I threw up in my mouth a little" way ?

-t

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

Eh?

Rob came out?

How’d I miss this?

The childfree community is orthogonal to the gay community.

[besson3c]

So, any thoughts on competing with babies?

[Chuckit]

Talk to people who are not new parents or grandparents. Congrats, you've won over a baby.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

The childfree community is orthogonal to the gay community.

The term "breeders", however, is directly correlative.

I don't think I've ever heard a straight person use it.

[Chuckit]

It's used by childfree people to describe those with whom they disagree. It's actually more accurate in that context since many gay people do raise children eventually.

[Phileas]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

It's used by childfree people to describe those with whom they disagree.

Not in my cultural environment, where it is strictly used by a, mostly younger, subsection of the gay community. I've never heard any of my "not planning on any children ever" straight friends use it.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

It's used by childfree people to describe those with whom they disagree.

The heterosexual connotation in "breeder" is undeniable.

Urban Dictionary: breeder

-t

[SpaceMonkey]

I've heard it used by people who find children an inconvenience, like people who object to babies in bars (although I guess the posters there might be gay).

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Talk to people who are not new parents or grandparents. Congrats, you've won over a baby.

Sometimes this is not terribly easy when the baby attention really takes everything over.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Sometimes this is not terribly easy when the baby attention really takes everything over.

This obviously bothers you, judging from all the attention grabbing threads of yours.

-t

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

Not in my cultural environment, where it is strictly used by a, mostly younger, subsection of the gay community. I've never heard any of my "not planning on any children ever" straight friends use it.

Well, like I said, it tends to be the more militant folks who also identify as "childfree" rather than just "No children for me, thank you." You probably just don't know many of them.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Sometimes this is not terribly easy when the baby attention really takes everything over.

I've never found that to be a problem. After a couple of minutes, most normal people lose interest.

[pooka]

Plenty of straight folks use "breeder" to describe inconsiderate pricks that bring scream machines into restaurants or movies sans suppressing device (aka pillow).

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I've never found that to be a problem. After a couple of minutes, most normal people lose interest.

Maybe this family is not normal

[SpaceMonkey]

I think the opposite of "breeder" is "destroyer of humanity." As in: "Why aren't you making any babies? You must be out to destroy humanity."

[paul w]

I object to the term breeder on the grounds that I'm not allowed to sell my baby.

[ort888]

If you can't beat em, join em. Pop a few out and soak in the golden rays of attention.

One of the best parts about having a baby is that I now have something to actually talk to people about. I loathe small talk... idle chit chat about nothing because silence is awkward.

Well, now I have a solution. Everyone wants to talk about the baby. Problem solved.

The flip side is that the annoying amount of attention you get going out with a baby is ridiculous. Random strangers just come up to you and start touching your baby, talking to you, ooging the baby, etc... it's a little bizarre.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by ort888 

If you can't beat em, join em. Pop a few out and soak in the golden rays of attention.

One of the best parts about having a baby is that I now have something to actually talk to people about. I loathe small talk... idle chit chat about nothing because silence is awkward.

Well, now I have a solution. Everyone wants to talk about the baby. Problem solved.

The flip side is that the annoying amount of attention you get going out with a baby is ridiculous. Random strangers just come up to you and start touching your baby, talking to you, ooging the baby, etc... it's a little bizarre.

To me talking about the babies *is* small talk.

[MrsLarry]

While we were away on our honeymoon, my stepmother's aunt died. The wake was the first time we'd seen most of the family in the ~2 weeks since the wedding. So all anyone could talk about at the wake was how much fun they (and the deceased) had at our wedding. How great the food was, the band, how drunk they all were...

It made us both VERY uncomfortable.

[ort888]

Well, I'm sure if we worked together we could find something more interesting to talk about... but for me, when I'm getting coffee and have to have a 5 minute conversation with the woman who works on the other side of the office and does something that has to do with buying TV ad time slots or something... it works out pretty well.

For everyone else, I stick to better topics, like raping pandas, or my thoughts about penis flavored gum.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by MrsLarry 

While we were away on our honeymoon, my stepmother's aunt died. The wake was the first time we'd seen most of the family in the ~2 weeks since the wedding. So all anyone could talk about at the wake was how much fun they (and the deceased) had at our wedding. How great the food was, the band, how drunk they all were...

It made us both VERY uncomfortable.

MrsLarry understands me!

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Well, I'm sure if we worked together we could find something more interesting to talk about... but for me, when I'm getting coffee and have to have a 5 minute conversation with the woman who works on the other side of the office and does something that has to do with buying TV ad time slots or something... it works out pretty well.

For everyone else, I stick to better topics, like raping pandas, or my thoughts about penis flavored gum.

For the record, I was not implying that you'd be the boring type with no life outside of your baby

[ort888]

Oh, no no no...

I am completely boring and I don't have a life outside of my baby. This is a fact.

I didn't mean to make you think otherwise. Nothing ****s your life quite like a baby.

That's why I waited until I was older and sick of doing things.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Well, I'm sure if we worked together we could find something more interesting to talk about... but for me, when I'm getting coffee and have to have a 5 minute conversation with the woman who works on the other side of the office and does something that has to do with buying TV ad time slots or something... it works out pretty well.

For everyone else, I stick to better topics, like raping pandas, or my thoughts about penis flavored gum.

I'd take the opportunity to learn about TV ad time slot buyers or something.

[ort888]

No. that's part of the sickness.

I actually want to hear what she has to say about babies... because she has raised 3 of them and has advice.

[Chuckit]

Oh, that's different than how it sounded. When most people talk about their children, it's of the form, "Oh, she's getting so big! The other day, she walked all the way to the bathroom! Oh, but she couldn't get her pants down!"

[el chupacabra]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

what the baby likes to stare at, what formula the baby likes, etc. is sort of limited interest to some others who are not operating in baby mode, ya know?

baby talk about as interesting as listening to people talk foot ball for hours at a time.

[Railroader]

.......

[finboy]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey 

That's true. I've found babies to be excellent distractions, useful for robbing banks and such.

That too.

Babies are the now, so they are the center of attention. If you have a baby, it is all baby, all day long, for the foreseeable future. So it consumes you if you let it.

Second, babies are the future. We focus so much on them because they are literally everything that will evolve to fill out our lives. Our primary responsibility, pastime, and mission. Plus, they are incessant attention-hounds.

Finally, especially at a funeral, babies are something to talk about instead of "well, they're in a better place now" or "Did you see who brought his new floozy to the wake?". Babies are hope. And in many cases, the recently deceased may have thought about the babies a lot too, so it's honoring them to some extent.

Believe me, I've seen this phenom. When my father passed a few years ago, the wake was all about our new baby. Of course, there was some mention of what my ex-girlfriends wore when THEY showed up -- thankfully that passed quickly.

People want to see hope, the future. Just human nature.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by el chupacabra 

baby talk about as interesting as listening to people talk foot ball for hours at a time.

Do people talk about football like this year round?

[andi*pandi]

Originally Posted by ort888 

One of the best parts about having a baby is that I now have something to actually talk to people about. I loathe small talk... idle chit chat about nothing because silence is awkward.

Well, now I have a solution. Everyone wants to talk about the baby. Problem solved.

In a way I agree with you, talking about the baby is easy. However, before I had children people used to talk to me about other things. I think.