The people I have interviewd are freinds and family. first I interviewed one of my friends.
QUESTION: Do you want kids?
FRIEND: yea I want kids. They're so cute and i think that having one will be good because it teaches you responsibility and being an adult. Being a parent must be hard but when yu think about it, 99 percent of people want to be prents one day.
QUESTION: Dont you think that You will be a good parent? What have you learned in your childhood that may carry on into your parenting?
FRIEND: Umm i think that i will make my kid or kids really good. I want to raise them well. I want to be strict with them so they know that respect is important. When i was growing up, i wasn't allowed to be with friends for long and my parents would always sit wit me and help me with my homework. I will be like that with m kids because they will grow up and do good in school which is very important. Also i want to be successful in my life so that i will provide a lot for my child. things that i never had, i will want to give to my kids.
QUESTION: What environment would you want your kids to be raised in. Would you want to raise your child in a specific way?
FRIEND: i dont want my kid to eat junk food at a young age because that will just mess him up. I will not spoil my kid rotten. I don't want a daughter either, i just feel like they are more responsibility and i will be very protective of her for obvious reasons. I want to be stable with a career and a wife or at least someone who i love and who loves me back. I dont want my child to be raised by only me or only the mother. I think that a double family household is the best because the baby will grow up feeling secure and knows that there are 2 important people who really care about the baby. Also i want my baby to be bilingual and i want the mother to have good genes because i want the baby to be cute not weird looking.
I noticed that with my friend, there was a lot of studdering, and that gave methe idea that really he can say all of these things but in reality, he doesnt kno what he will do. Being a parent is very hard and we can plan all we want for it, but things won't always be perfect.
The next person i spoke to was my girlfriend. I spoke to her because she always speaks about being a mom and most women i know always speak about being a mom.
QUESTION: What do you think about becoming a parent, do you want to become a parent?
GF: YES! I think being a parent is the closest we get to seeing and creating miracles. I want to have a kid so bad. Just to think that i brought him/her into this world would be the best. It helps you grow up too.
QUESTION: Do you think that being a parent is stressfull. Do you think you will be able to handle being responsible for someone besides yourself?
GF: Well yea it's going to be stressfull at times because all parents and their kids have their bad daysso it is not going to be perfect, and ye ai definitely know i can handle being responsible for my child. That's why people have to learn to be mature. And have a job! :)
QUESTION: What age do you want a baby?
GF: by the age of 22 or 24ish.
QUESTON: Don't you think that you will be too young to have a kid? 24 is pretty young, i mean you will only be a few years into pure adulthood. Why do you want to be a parent so young?
GF: Young? No. Most people hav kids while they're still in their teen years. I just don't want to be old and have a kid. I think around my mid 20's would be the perfect age.
QUESTION: Ok but don't you think thatwhen you are older you have a moe stable life?People who have kid in their 20's usually tend to become single parents most times because they are too young to know what they want in life. Do you think being older and more stable will be better for your child's future?
GF: I dont think that has anything to do with my child's future. I mean as long as i have a good paying job, not in debt, and i have time for my child, everything will be fine. Even if i do end up being a sinlge mother, it doesn't mean i won't be able to give my child what they need. They can always visit their father too i dont care! :)
QUESTION: Do you have any idea how you want your child to be raised? Are there any restrictions you have in mind for your child?
GF: Not sure. Im going to be different. I don't want mto be all on top of my child. I'm going to give them spaceand stuff. As a baby i'm going to take care of them but i will not spoil them.
What i noticed about this interview was that there were a lot of "likes" used. My girlfriend seems pretty sure about having a baby but i feel that we all do because we can all imagine ourselves being parents because we feel that all we have to do is make sure the baby is fed and clothed and taken care of with basic needs. We don't take into accout all of the activities we have to do witht them, or what to do once the baby begins school or even what to do if there is nobody to take care of the baby when the parent has things to do. I feel that young parents like the idea of being parents, but once that baby takes its' first breath, that's when things become real and we have to completel devote all of our time and energy into the child
The third person i interviewed was my mom and of course she has a lot to say because she has 2 other kids besides me and she got pregnant when she was 19.
QUESTION: Do you think you have been the best parent you can be?
MOM: well certainly not the best, but you guys aren't bad kids so i feel that i have done a good job. You and your brothers aren't on drugs or in gangs or none of that so i feel that i have led you and dsiciplined you guys into becoming men which is very imprtant.
QUESTION: What was your experience like being a mother a 19?
MOM: Well your father was so happy to be having a baby. It stopped my life from progressing though. He took me out of school where i wanted to become a nurse or go to med school. I had to make sure your brother was clothed and grew up ok. Things withme and oyour father were always bad but i managed to raise you guys well and it was also due to te fact that your grandparents would help out. I had to freedom to go out with friends because your father wanted me to be home to take care of your brother. When all of you guys were born that was when things got bad, as you remember all the fighting with your father that i had. I never wanted you guys to grow up in that situation but in seeing all of that, it made you guys aware of the world and how things were.
QUESTION: If you can go back in time what would you change abou being a mother?
MOM: I would have done better in school and tried my best. I would have raised you guys without your father because he was so violent sometimes and he barely helped with anything.
QUESTION: Was raising 3 kids a challenge for you?
MOM: Of course it was. I made sure you guys went to good schools and i made sure you guys had everything yu needed. I guess when i had you guys, i had to grow up and do it quick but i do nt regret ever having you guys and i am happy that you are all good people who care and who are not out in the streets with other kids. I have done my best to raise you guys, but now you guys are all older and now it is up to you guys to watch out for eachother and to make sure im okay now! :) I brought you up but now you are almost 18 and you have a good view on the world so that is why i give you the freedom to do things and i want you guys to experience life but i will still baby you guys if i have to.
After the interview with my mom i realized that she has raised us well and i want to be a parent like she was.she hustled to get us to the point we are at now. Being a kid, I witnessed what my mom faced on a daily basis and she is a strong woman. Raising 3 kids practically alone and doing such a good job at it must have been hard and i cannot believe he did it but that is one of the resons why I love her so much. She threw away her life to make sure ours wee great, i feel like being her son, i have to repay her for her sacrifices.
Patterns I noticed during my interviews were that the older people always had better answers and younger people had stereotypical answers. some people I spoke to just shot out their thoughts but could not articulate, and others spoke very well. Overall i feel that the younger we are the less we know about birth and babies, but we all want to have them. I have seen a lot of teen mothers and young mothers and what i notice about them is that they seem to be stressed all the time and they also have no freedom anymore.
Being a parent or wanting kids is someting that we as a whole need to plan carefully because we all want to be the best parents we can but honestly I look around at some people i know and i don't think that the situations that they are in are suitable for a baby. It is a big decision to have a child and the way i see things are that i don't want to be a father until I have MY life in order. Like my dad always tells me, Don't have kids until you have your career because if you do, you will have to give up alot. That was probably the best advice he has ever given me.
