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What were you doing at 22 years old? People seem to think 22 is not old enough to be responsible for child care and I'm floored - at 22 I was already done with my MBA and working professionally. Were you "young" at 22?
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UT Austin..top 20 but not expensive. couldn't get in now probably without a few years of working first, but at the time it worked.
[ Reply | Options ]just asking since 22 is really young if you get an undergrad degree and then a master's. in any case, at 22 i was finishing my degree while working for an ISP and learning programming. i was going out and being an "idiot", but looking back i did nothing particularly stupid or wasteful.
[ Reply | Options ]oh, to answer your child care question - i would have definitely been responsible for a child at that age...i started sitting at 13 and have always been a reasonably responsible person. that being said, i am (quite) a few years older and my ability to truly care for a child is 1000x what it was at 22.
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Oh my god was I ever. I was still drinking too much, smoking pot, generally partying my ass off and doing the walk of shame on a regular basis. Ahh, I miss those days :-)
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UBers also feel sorry for 25-year old moms. Most women on here don't realize that not everyone was fucking everything that walked, drinking themselves silly every night and sleeping on friend's couches. Oh, and they feel sorry for you when you bring this fact to their attention if this was not your experience at 22. As for me, I was finishing up my MA and working for the American embassy in Paris when I was 22/23.
[ Reply | Options ]When I was 22 I had my masters and was consulting for McK. But take care of a baby? NFW. Education, qualifications, even maturity is not the same thing as being able to care for a newborn.
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OP here, yes, talking about nannies. if your career choice had been childcare and you sought experience and education in it the way you pursued your own career by age 22, would you have been responsible enough?
[ Reply | Options ]i'm poster above who asked you about where you went to school...and yes, i would have definitely been responsible enough to care for a child. not quite like i am now, but completely dependable, honest and caring.
[ Reply | Options ]--may i add though that if i had to hire a nanny, i would probably choose someone older. i know it sounds incongruous but compared to my female friends at 22, i was the most responsible...and knowing what i know about THEM would make me pause before hiring someone who wasn't a bit older.
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I think there is a difference between child care and being a parent. I was definitely mature enough at 22 to take care of other people's kids. It's a job and not a full-time, life-changing sacrifice that parenting is. At 22 I was in grad school and learning about the real world. I would have made an okay mom then, but there is no doubt I am a better mother in my 30's.
[ Reply | Options ]It depends. One of the best sitters we ever had was the eldest of 4 children. Her mom was a single mom, so this sitter had been caring for younger children most of her life. She loved children, she was good at it, and she was all of 20. If, OTOH, someone's total life experience with children is taking them to the park and texting while they run around, that's different. You can know a lot about kids at 20, and nothing about kids at 40. It is the life experience not the age. I'd also add some people just have a gift for understanding kids and the patience to be understanding.
[ Reply | Options ]At 22 I was pregnant with my DS. I am now 27 and getting divorced. I think you CAN care for a child at that age... You'll do what it takes... However, I do think you are too young to be sure your man is THE ONE. Chances are, you'll grow up, know yourself better and realize that it is not IT. What is wrong with waiting anyways ? I wish I had waited.
[ Reply | Options ]I was working. But I do think you can be responsible enough to watch kids at that age - heck, my Mom had me at 23 and was the best Mom in the world. And I babysat a 6 month old for one of my teachers when I was 12 - from 7AM to 3PM. And I was very responsible at that age (though I would NEVER leave my own kids with a 12 year old, of course!!).
[ Reply | Options ]it was my first year of grad school. looking back, i was young. i was shallow and a big huge baby a lot of the time, even though at school i always did very well and was responsible. i had my son at 23 and grew up fast! i like to think that i was responsible enough to care for him :) he seems to have turned out pretty well so far. i have a lot of single friends in their 30s who acted a lot like i did at 22. i think for a lot of people--not all, but many--maturity truly comes when you have a child.
[ Reply | Options ]I had just graduated from college and was living in a tiny studio in Soho and freelancing for a college guide book company. My boyfriend at the time was in China, and so a lot of my work revolved around when I could get there. I did a lot of backpacking, sleeping in train stations, at airports, etc. But if you're asking about a nanny, we have one who just graduated from college and she's great! She is young and energetic and remembers what it is like to be a kid, which I think can be hard.
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