Day Five of World Childless Week 2024 is about comments that hurt -- with a particular focus on the tired old "joke" "No Kids! Do You Want Mine?"
From the website description:
How does this comment make you feel? Does it feel ridiculous or make you angry? Do they not think we may have considered adoption or fostering and their words could be opening up a whole can of worms? Should we say yes please, pack them an overnight bag and I’ll be around with a van to collect the rest of their stuff tomorrow! Is it simply cruel because of the disregard it shows for our situation, and the implication that their children could fill the hole left in our hearts at never having our own.
Is it meant to be a joke, because I don’t hear anyone but the parent laughing?
Needless to say, over 17 years, I've written a LOT of posts venting about the really dumb, hurtful things that people have said to me or within my hearing. :p No specific posts that I can point to, but you would find some of them under the labels "annoying things" and "WTF?" ;)
Re: the specific question in today's theme: I HAVE been asked that ("you want to take her??"). Even more annoying, it was someone who really should have known better (a fellow loss mom who had been through infertility and eventually adopted).
Also: an online friend from my original childless living group once had someone ask her "the question." She told us she enthusiastically responded, "Okay!" and knelt down to talk to the child. "Guess what, you're coming home with me! We're going to have a lot of fun..." and blathered on in that vein until the mom hustled the kid away, with a few strange looks back at my friend, lol. (Well, she ASKED...!) This was years ago, but I like to think she thought twice before asking that question again...!
Check out today's content on the WCW site, including community members' contributions, and three free, live webinars related to this subject. They will be recorded and the links will be posted later on the Day Five page for anyone who cannot make the live event.
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