I did. Why even mention your problems on other threads if you're going to "forgive us our trespasses" here?

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About a dozen years ago a very large family lived across the street from us for a few months. I think she was pregnant at the time, and they had six kids already. "I just love hearing childbirth stories" she said. I guess so! Another woman up the street had six children, and though she taught piano during many of the years, and always SAID she wanted to go back to school (she finally did) and go back to work (she didn't) she wondered why her oldest daughter dropped out of college after less than a year, got married, and immediately got pregnant. The example was in front of her.

I've tried to not push my daughter too hard in any particular direction--I heard stories all of my early life about how my parents married fairly late and Mom was 34 when she had me (her first) and it was like it was etched in stone. "The Irish have their families late," they said. And I ended up waiting and then realizing if I wanted to have kids I'd better get going. I hope she'll wait until she finishes school and has had time to work and decide if she likes it. But if she wants to have her kids younger it is healthier for her and she'll be more the age of the rest of the parents of her children's friends. I always felt ancient around many of the other parents down at school. I haven't told her that, either.

Whether or not I am ready to be a grandparent really isn't a consideration here, either. I've heard friends complain about it, but get a life. Why make your kids feel guilty if they want to get on with their lives? Even if they do it is still difficult to ignore a whining parent. I figure it's better to be a younger, healthy, vigorous grandmother than to be barely ambulatory and at most a lap to sit on. If that's all you can do, that's all you can do, but I expect to teach my grandkids about hiking and climbing and fishing and gardening. . . and when that time comes, to be there to see the birth of my grandkids. I couldn't see much of what was going on when I was having my own (there was a convex mirror mounted on the ceiling over the foot of the birthing bed the first time, and they had the silly idea that I might be able to open my eyes and focus on the silly thing while I was pushing!)