So I was recently reading a post on a message board I've been getting on since I found out I'm pregnant about a "new" thing that first time (and sometimes second or third time) parents are doing before the mother starts to show too much. It is called a Babymoon.
Some of you may be asking, "what on earth is a Babymoon?" The idea is that the parents get one last hurrah before baby arrives. They are living it up as a still childless couple.
Huh?!? I don't get it. Maybe I am in a minority because I believe that if you are mature enough to have a baby (even if the baby was unplanned, you should know that a baby is ALWAYS a possibility if you are intimate with someone), then you should step up and realize that you need to change.
I guess this is a deeper problem in our society that teaches us that having a baby doesn't change your life that much. Have a baby? That's okay...you can still go out and party with your friends. I feel the same way about Babymoons as I do with those parents who have a baby, then go party every weekend while getting a babysitter or dropping the little one off at grandma and grandpa's.
I am NOT saying that parent's shouldn't get a babysitter every once in a while and go out for a date night. To keep your marriage from becoming all about the kids, a husband and wife need that. But if every weekend your child is at someone else's house ...there is something wrong with that. (This is not taking into account the single parents or the extended families which are close enough that aunts and uncles are like grandparents. Those are completely different situations.)
I guess what it comes down to is the INTENTION behind the action. Why are you getting a babysitter every weekend? Is it to work? Then no problem. Is it because you don't want to give up your fabulous social life you had before you had a child? Go home and RAISE you child.
Babymoon's on the other hand...I don't get at all. Even if you want to go on vacation because you won't have money when baby gets here...um..save you money you would spend on your Babymoon and put it in a college fund. Vacations are not a NECESSITY. They are a PRIVILEGE. I grew up not going on vacation, unless it was to grandma and grandpa's for the summer. But you know what, I loved spending time with my grandparents more than I would have going on vacation somewhere and then not being able to visit them later.
Wake up and grow up, people. Having a baby DOES change your life. It doesn't matter whether the baby was planned or not, that is still a baby that is DEPENDING on you for their life.
