I just found out that my younger cousin (my UNMARRIED cousin who flunked out of college and is still living with her parents) is pregnant from her MySpace page. Between her, my brother knocking up his girlfriend last year, and just finding out that another cousin is set to have a child with his girlfriend (he already has three with a former girlfriend), I'm really starting to wonder if I'm the only freakin' person in this family that doesn't apparently have unprotected sex. Jesus.

I see a trend. Here's our female offpsring make-up:

Me (31) - married 10 yrs, good career, lots of professional accomplishments, lots of personal accomplishments, currently completing Master of Science #2. Would like kid, but not having much luck & starting to wonder whether or not it's medically a possibility.

Female cousin 1 (27) - married about 6 years, ceremony when she was 7 months into unplanned pregnancy 1. She said she was done having kids after that one, but has since had 3 additional unplanned births, and is currently pregnant with unplanned #5. She attended 1 year of college, flunked out, and told her husband he would have to support them because she just didn't want to have to worry about work or school. Oh and one professional accomplishment - she has worked two jobs her entire life. On the second, she was dismised for suspicion of theft.

Female cousin (25) - Became pregnant at 14 by a boy she had a crush on and came close to stalking, let use her. Claims it was her first time and they used a condom. Father has never been in the picture. Still lives with her parents because they're free babysitting. Works a steady job, but parties non-stop when work is over. Sometimes makes an hour or two to spend with her kids between work & party, but usually does not. Doesn't understand why she has a hard time finding "a good man." Sister of 27 y/o cousin.

Female cousin 2 (19) - Unmarried, dropped out of high school due to unplanned pregnany. Never went back. Works part-time as a waitress, runs with the wrong crowd when she's not waitressing, and takes advantage of her parents who for some unknown reason are willing to pay her rent when they have a 5 bedroom house. Lots of mental problems with this one, she's currently in a stage of hating the world for her problems.

Female cousin 3 (17) - Unmarried, no children, not pregnant. Academic suspension twice in high school, the result of skipping classes. Only graduated because her parents drive her to school, called the school every 30 mins to ensure she was still there (if she wasn't, they tracked her down), and picked her up. Just finished flunking her first semester of college. Is at least using pot and LSD on a regular basis, if not more. Last I heard was she broke her wrist trying to drunkenly sneak out of her parents house.

We moved here, where everyone else already lived. I was always a black sheep to my aunts/uncles because they thought I was a troublemaker based purely on how I looked (yes, this is the depth of my family, sooo amazingly shallow in sooo many ways). I ran with the grunge/alternative/skater crowd when it hit, wore some pretty funky things, had some pretty funky hair colors, but was a good kid. That didn't matter, because I didn't look mainstream and the guys I dated were too "dirty" or "scary" for their taste. For about 8 years my parents had to listen to how they weren't good parents, how they weren't raising me right, how I got away with too much... how THEY were wrecking my future (this came after I showed up to a family event with "Deadly Nightshade" hair color, and when one of my aunts turned to my mom and said Can you believe she'd do that and embarass us all like that?? my mom responded, I'm the one who helped her dye it.), etc. It was a full lecture/argument every single time they saw my parents.

Now my parents sit back and have good belly laughs, because they love the irony, and love people able to sit back and truly have nothing to say when the family gets together and everyone starts bitching about their kids.

I see a trend. Here's our female offpsring make-up:

Me (31) - married 10 yrs, good career, lots of professional accomplishments, lots of personal accomplishments, currently completing Master of Science #2. Would like kid, but not having much luck & starting to wonder whether or not it's medically a possibility.

Female cousin 1 (27) - married about 6 years, ceremony when she was 7 months into unplanned pregnancy 1. She said she was done having kids after that one, but has since had 3 additional unplanned births, and is currently pregnant with unplanned #5. She attended 1 year of college, flunked out, and told her husband he would have to support them because she just didn't want to have to worry about work or school. Oh and one professional accomplishment - she has worked two jobs her entire life. On the second, she was dismised for suspicion of theft.

Female cousin (25) - Became pregnant at 14 by a boy she had a crush on and came close to stalking, let use her. Claims it was her first time and they used a condom. Father has never been in the picture. Still lives with her parents because they're free babysitting. Works a steady job, but parties non-stop when work is over. Sometimes makes an hour or two to spend with her kids between work & party, but usually does not. Doesn't understand why she has a hard time finding "a good man." Sister of 27 y/o cousin.

Female cousin 2 (19) - Unmarried, dropped out of high school due to unplanned pregnany. Never went back. Works part-time as a waitress, runs with the wrong crowd when she's not waitressing, and takes advantage of her parents who for some unknown reason are willing to pay her rent when they have a 5 bedroom house. Lots of mental problems with this one, she's currently in a stage of hating the world for her problems.

Female cousin 3 (17) - Unmarried, no children, not pregnant. Academic suspension twice in high school, the result of skipping classes. Only graduated because her parents drive her to school, called the school every 30 mins to ensure she was still there (if she wasn't, they tracked her down), and picked her up. Just finished flunking her first semester of college. Is at least using pot and LSD on a regular basis, if not more. Last I heard was she broke her wrist trying to drunkenly sneak out of her parents house.

We moved here, where everyone else already lived. I was always a black sheep to my aunts/uncles because they thought I was a troublemaker based purely on how I looked (yes, this is the depth of my family, sooo amazingly shallow in sooo many ways). I ran with the grunge/alternative/skater crowd when it hit, wore some pretty funky things, had some pretty funky hair colors, but was a good kid. That didn't matter, because I didn't look mainstream and the guys I dated were too "dirty" or "scary" for their taste. For about 8 years my parents had to listen to how they weren't good parents, how they weren't raising me right, how I got away with too much... how THEY were wrecking my future (this came after I showed up to a family event with "Deadly Nightshade" hair color, and when one of my aunts turned to my mom and said Can you believe she'd do that and embarass us all like that?? my mom responded, I'm the one who helped her dye it.), etc. It was a full lecture/argument every single time they saw my parents.

Now my parents sit back and have good belly laughs, because they love the irony, and love people able to sit back and truly have nothing to say when the family gets together and everyone starts bitching about their kids.

Wow, Wheetsin! You're kind of a changling, when you consider the rest of your family! I think you probably lucked out with the parents you have!

I see a trend. Here's our female offpsring make-up:

Me (31) - married 10 yrs, good career, lots of professional accomplishments, lots of personal accomplishments, currently completing Master of Science #2. Would like kid, but not having much luck & starting to wonder whether or not it's medically a possibility.

Female cousin 1 (27) - married about 6 years, ceremony when she was 7 months into unplanned pregnancy 1. She said she was done having kids after that one, but has since had 3 additional unplanned births, and is currently pregnant with unplanned #5. She attended 1 year of college, flunked out, and told her husband he would have to support them because she just didn't want to have to worry about work or school. Oh and one professional accomplishment - she has worked two jobs her entire life. On the second, she was dismised for suspicion of theft.

Female cousin (25) - Became pregnant at 14 by a boy she had a crush on and came close to stalking, let use her. Claims it was her first time and they used a condom. Father has never been in the picture. Still lives with her parents because they're free babysitting. Works a steady job, but parties non-stop when work is over. Sometimes makes an hour or two to spend with her kids between work & party, but usually does not. Doesn't understand why she has a hard time finding "a good man." Sister of 27 y/o cousin.

Female cousin 2 (19) - Unmarried, dropped out of high school due to unplanned pregnany. Never went back. Works part-time as a waitress, runs with the wrong crowd when she's not waitressing, and takes advantage of her parents who for some unknown reason are willing to pay her rent when they have a 5 bedroom house. Lots of mental problems with this one, she's currently in a stage of hating the world for her problems.

Female cousin 3 (17) - Unmarried, no children, not pregnant. Academic suspension twice in high school, the result of skipping classes. Only graduated because her parents drive her to school, called the school every 30 mins to ensure she was still there (if she wasn't, they tracked her down), and picked her up. Just finished flunking her first semester of college. Is at least using pot and LSD on a regular basis, if not more. Last I heard was she broke her wrist trying to drunkenly sneak out of her parents house.

We moved here, where everyone else already lived. I was always a black sheep to my aunts/uncles because they thought I was a troublemaker based purely on how I looked (yes, this is the depth of my family, sooo amazingly shallow in sooo many ways). I ran with the grunge/alternative/skater crowd when it hit, wore some pretty funky things, had some pretty funky hair colors, but was a good kid. That didn't matter, because I didn't look mainstream and the guys I dated were too "dirty" or "scary" for their taste. For about 8 years my parents had to listen to how they weren't good parents, how they weren't raising me right, how I got away with too much... how THEY were wrecking my future (this came after I showed up to a family event with "Deadly Nightshade" hair color, and when one of my aunts turned to my mom and said Can you believe she'd do that and embarass us all like that?? my mom responded, I'm the one who helped her dye it.), etc. It was a full lecture/argument every single time they saw my parents.

Now my parents sit back and have good belly laughs, because they love the irony, and love people able to sit back and truly have nothing to say when the family gets together and everyone starts bitching about their kids.

Sounds as if you are really fortunate for the support you got from your parents while you were growing up. Lucky you! That makes all the difference in the world and so many kids don't have that.

I see a trend. Here's our female offpsring make-up:

Me (31) - married 10 yrs, good career, lots of professional accomplishments, lots of personal accomplishments, currently completing Master of Science #2. Would like kid, but not having much luck & starting to wonder whether or not it's medically a possibility.

Female cousin 1 (27) - married about 6 years, ceremony when she was 7 months into unplanned pregnancy 1. She said she was done having kids after that one, but has since had 3 additional unplanned births, and is currently pregnant with unplanned #5. She attended 1 year of college, flunked out, and told her husband he would have to support them because she just didn't want to have to worry about work or school. Oh and one professional accomplishment - she has worked two jobs her entire life. On the second, she was dismised for suspicion of theft.

Female cousin (25) - Became pregnant at 14 by a boy she had a crush on and came close to stalking, let use her. Claims it was her first time and they used a condom. Father has never been in the picture. Still lives with her parents because they're free babysitting. Works a steady job, but parties non-stop when work is over. Sometimes makes an hour or two to spend with her kids between work & party, but usually does not. Doesn't understand why she has a hard time finding "a good man." Sister of 27 y/o cousin.

Female cousin 2 (19) - Unmarried, dropped out of high school due to unplanned pregnany. Never went back. Works part-time as a waitress, runs with the wrong crowd when she's not waitressing, and takes advantage of her parents who for some unknown reason are willing to pay her rent when they have a 5 bedroom house. Lots of mental problems with this one, she's currently in a stage of hating the world for her problems.

Female cousin 3 (17) - Unmarried, no children, not pregnant. Academic suspension twice in high school, the result of skipping classes. Only graduated because her parents drive her to school, called the school every 30 mins to ensure she was still there (if she wasn't, they tracked her down), and picked her up. Just finished flunking her first semester of college. Is at least using pot and LSD on a regular basis, if not more. Last I heard was she broke her wrist trying to drunkenly sneak out of her parents house.

We moved here, where everyone else already lived. I was always a black sheep to my aunts/uncles because they thought I was a troublemaker based purely on how I looked (yes, this is the depth of my family, sooo amazingly shallow in sooo many ways). I ran with the grunge/alternative/skater crowd when it hit, wore some pretty funky things, had some pretty funky hair colors, but was a good kid. That didn't matter, because I didn't look mainstream and the guys I dated were too "dirty" or "scary" for their taste. For about 8 years my parents had to listen to how they weren't good parents, how they weren't raising me right, how I got away with too much... how THEY were wrecking my future (this came after I showed up to a family event with "Deadly Nightshade" hair color, and when one of my aunts turned to my mom and said Can you believe she'd do that and embarass us all like that?? my mom responded, I'm the one who helped her dye it.), etc. It was a full lecture/argument every single time they saw my parents.

Now my parents sit back and have good belly laughs, because they love the irony, and love people able to sit back and truly have nothing to say when the family gets together and everyone starts bitching about their kids.

Maybe it would be easier for me to see the humor in all of this if there weren't so many children involved who are obviously growing up with irresponsible parents. What a life for them. Any satisfaction I got from doing well after not being expected to would be overshadowed by extreme pity and concern for the little ones.

So whatever you do, don't be a cousin in Wheetsin's family...? (It's a joke people. I like the lady. Get a grip. (Had to cover my bu++ so people don't attack me))

Nah, feel free to poke at my family -- I do.

Maybe it would be easier for me to see the humor in all of this if there weren't so many children involved who are obviously growing up with irresponsible parents. What a life for them. Any satisfaction I got from doing well after not being expected to would be overshadowed by extreme pity and concern for the little ones.

Well, I'm not sure there's any humor there to see. I don't see any, anyway.

The kids don't have the most stable parents, but I will say that the grandparents on both sides (my aunts & uncles) have stepped up and are showing more sense & judgment raising their grandchildren than their children. Hopefully they learned from their parenting mistakes, and will not see fit to a repeat performance. In the case of each child, I can remember back to how they grew up, and I can see now how their current behavior was pretty much a predictable guarantee based on how they were raised.

Anyway, what I meant to communicate, that didn't really come across, was the proximity of all these pregnanices and births to each other. There's only a handful of years separating all of the above.

Interesting. The Green family is kind of the other way around. We are like an inverted pyramid, population-wise. Each generation produces fewer and fewer of us. My parents had 3 kids and only one of us went on to have kids of his own. This sib now has 2 grandchildren and he is in his mid-fifties!

I have a close friend whose parents had 4 kids and none of them have produced children of their own. These kids are now all in their 50s and so that genetic ship has definitely sailed.

In the case of my husband, his parents had 3 kids and only his sister went on to have children of her own. His parents have 2 granddaughters, a lousy return considering that they had 3 kids.

They sure were hoping that he and I would produce a kiddy when we first got together even though I am a dirty divorcee who is 9 years older than their son. The ma-in-law persisted in asking me about my periods for the longest time until I finally told her that it wasn't going to happen. Then the pa-in-law told my mate that he was hoping that we would adopt. I was very touched by this but this, too, wasn't going to happen. And the mate's brother married a woman who was unable to have children.

This is why Canada depends upon immigrants. Many of us just can't be bothered with the work of having children.

OH I totally get cha...half of my close friends are pregnant and getting married in the next 6 months...I think I have one or two a month to attend!! It's crazy I am definatley staying away from the water!! It's like another baby boom!! People are not using their heads anymore! It's not the end of the world but it's gonna be a long road ahead for them

hahahaha....

actually all my freinds are preg atm all at basically the same time.. its werid... all i can say is .lol i ant having nay more..