Thanks for responding and for taking a step back in regards to my response. What I will say is that this whole thing about "not knowing anything about children because you don't have any" is not fair and it's amazing how when a non-parent say something even if it's well intentioned and one gets immediately ganged up on from parents if they have an opininion on something related.
So you think it doesn't matter that I have "participated in the lives of many", well I think it does. And here's why: When I was 23 years old back in New York, my cousin was getting beat up by her husband daily, and her kids were subjected to this drama every day, we lived in the same neighborhood, she would escape to my 1 bedroom apartment, would sleep there with here 2 kids, 3 and 5 years old, worked weekends, so I had my whole 2 days off every weekend during a whole year turned into a babysitter - I cooked, cleaned, told them stories, played, said yes and no to many of their requests and did everything that a parent did. A few years later, I had a neighbor who was a single mother with an 10 year old son, mother a former drug addict, father unknown, the kid was so nice, he loved cars just like I did when I was a kid, I took him to the auto show, drag races, bought him a first set of tools, showed him how to change oil, brake pads, let him always put air in the tires of my car, spent hours at the video arcade, flying kites, playing frisbee, going to the beach, etc. So maybe SOME of us who aren't parents understand A LITTLE about kids, is that possible??
David, I agree with what you say about having some understanding based on spending time with other families. I hope my response didn't come across as confrontational, if it did I apologize too.
