Dear Dish-It, I Want to Have a Baby

Dish-It serves up advice about the realities of getting pregnant.

Dear Dish-It

Dear Dish-It, is here to whisper "ttyl after I've thought about this some more".

Dear Dish-It,

I'm 13 years old and have a busy life. I have always loved little kids, ever since I was little. I like to take care of them too, and I really want to have a baby. Do you think I am ready? I am not sure.
kittekatt

Dear kittekatt,

If I really love giraffes, do you think it's a good enough reason to buy one and raise it in my bedroom? Probably not, right? Well, the same goes for you. Just because you love kids doesn't mean you should go out and have one of your own. At 13, you're barely out of the kid zone yourself. Are you planning on dropping out of school to become a teen mom? Where would you work? Who would take care of your baby while you were at work? If you had a kid now, you wouldn't be going on any dates, or heading to the mall with your girlfriends on the spur of the moment. Children come with huge responsibilities and you do not bring them into the world so you can have a plaything. This is a human life that you would be responsible for, for the rest of your life. Do you think you're ready for that kind of commitment?

It's possible you are interested in having a baby because you're bored, lonely, or otherwise looking for a distraction. Why not make an effort to boost your social life by joining more activities? I'm sure you have a really bright future ahead of you and being a teen mom is not going to help you achieve your life goals, is it? It's much more fair to any future children you might have that you wait until you're responsible adult to have children. You'll have a lot more experience, patience, and resources to offer a child then. For the time being, I say stick to babysitting and leave the child-raising to people who are actually ready and old enough to be parents.

So, ya gotta burnin' question? Need some love directions? Thinkin' 'bout stuff like depression, sex,how ya feel 'bout YOURSELF (that's called "self-esteem"), boyfriends, girlfriends, losin' old friends, bullyin' or peer pressure, but too scared to ask the parents? Don't be scared to Dish-It here. Send all of your questions to deardish@kidzworld.com. But 'member, if ya hang out in Chat with other Kidzworld members who know ya by your 'username', ya might wanna use a secret nickname when ya write in. That way no one'll ever know it's you. And, just in case ya don't know, Dish-It gets a lotta letters everyday, and she can't answer 'em all. So keep checkin' the column cuz she's prob'ly answerin' somethin' very similar to your question while you're out doin' somethin' else. K? And Thanks! Ya keep her outta trouble. Oh! And if ya've got words of wisdom you wanna share,We'll dish 'em up, too.