Ahhh man....Can't I just drift aimlessly though life?      lol.

Sock

You all were kids at one time. It is true that they can be a real handfull, and downright annoying, however they basicly do and act by watching and hearing. It is true that they are a reflection on how the parents raise and treat them.
Never say never also. It will bite you in the a$$ later in life
Next time you have to deal with a child, try to find something they might like. Think OUTSIDE the box. Dont try to intrest them with a child activity, try firing up your flight sim, your driving game. Put an aviation video in the VCR. They is a load of stuff to try.
Look up to the left under my name. That little girl is my daughter. She will be two in November. At 6 Months she loved to watch NASCAR, now she likes to watch planes.

Ya never know
Chris

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 I have never once said "man, I wish I was a kid again", I'm much happier being an adult and working for a living than I ever was going to school, I hated school with a passion and quit as soon as I was able.
Yes, maybe that meant going to work when I was 17 and not having some fancy desk job, but I've done alright and I am by no means stupid or uneducated.

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 Most everyone I know that have kids did not plan to have them, it seems to me like most kids are accidents.
Sure once you have them, what can you do?

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 I really hate noisy screaming kids in public places, leave the screaming kids at home or at least get them out of the store, kinda like disturbing the peace you know. (Just my opinion).

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 Easy to avoid by staying away from people with kids, except when shopping in public places, then it's just unavoidable, someone will always let their kids run loose in the store, I have always wanted to trip kids who run in stores, but never have because as satisfying as that would be, it would still be wrong.

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 I have nothing against people who raise their kids properly, and the things I say about kids are just my opinions and feelings on the matter, so no one take it personally please.
 I have a very low tolerance for unruly children and do all I can to avoid being in their presence, I don't mind good kids so much, they can actually be kind of cool.

So for those of you who are raising a family, I say more power to you, I hope you have good kids and not those little brats that I have seen so often that it has formed my mostly negative views on children.

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 You can be sure of that!

I have 3 natural kids (26, 25 & 23). I have another 7 step kids (from 30 down to 22). So they are all grown up and able to look after themselves. (well at least my 3 are....lol )

I brought up my 3 (and another 3 step kids) with my second wife, from the ages of around 8 - 15 onwards. I was reasonably strict but fair. The Mrs was the tempering influence, where the kids got the sympathy and the emotional stuff.

I taught my kids to look after themselves (cooking, cleaning, shooping, finances etc) as soon as I thought they were ready for it. I recall being criticised by many (their natural mother, for one) for being too serious or not caring enough.

I have a wonderful relationship with my kids. They appreciate what I did for them. They know that I was there for them through the worst of moments. They won't speak to their natural mother, she left them with me when they were 8, 10 and 11. Now who's the good parent and who's the 'no-hoper'?

The point of all this? I never really cared for kids. Not until they got to about 18. I didn't know what to say to them, and I never understood a single thing they did.

But then, now I have grandchildren and I love them to death, we have wonderful, peaceful and fun moments, every week.
My kids say to me, why weren't you that physical and attentive to us, and not so strict and serious and practical?(jokingly). I say to them (seriously), "that's your job now!" I'm here for the fun bit. For the serious stuff, you get them back.  

ooohhh lord.
this wasnt really meant as a way to criticise the way parents raise their kids, Just my cousin:)
having been stuck on a 10 hour night flight with a screaming baby and the flu, it started making me have doubts, the facts the parents did nothing, didnt help, and whoever said that helps... it doesnt. that night i got no sleep, i had to listen to another passenger complain, and we all had to deal with the urge to send that baby and its family out the door:)
i just really dont want kids, why is that a problem. some people are made to be parents, some are made to become parents, and others arnt:) i am just not

It's obvious that not everyone likes children (I never liked the word kid unless it's applied to a young goat) or wishes to have them. That is a personal choice which is not always so easy to accomplish. It seems an unfortunate trick of nature to me that the people who want them the least are usually the ones who end up with the most.

Although I like children in general this does not apply to them all. In fact, there are a few I could quite happily strangle. (I don't really mean that.) Maybe I was lucky but my own daughter knew what she could get away with & rarely played up. I don't remember her ever having a tantrum or showing us up in public. She brought a great deal of pleasure into my life & continues to do so as a mature woman. She once thanked me for her relatively strict upbringing although I know she hadn't always appreciated it at the time. Nobody teaches you to be a parent & you have to do what you think is right. I remember the helpless feeling when we brought that little bundle home & realised that we, & we alone were responsible for her welfare. As has been pointed out, children's behaviour is a reflection on the parents & is not their fault. I always said that if I had a troublesome child for a few weeks I could do something about it. They usually like me as they know I like them. I have also mellowed with age as most grandparents have found out, much to the despair of their own children whose offspring they spoil something rotten. It's a funny old world.

   Fozzer  Either your sig is an old picture, or you had your daughter at an early age, (around 6yrs old).  ??? Still wouldn't want to see you in shorts and braces though.    Considering I turn 54 in 11 days, I really have no run to talk, but the facts have never stopped me in the past, and age does hath it's privileges. 

                            Fido

kids....well,i don't like them ,too. this has a simple reason: my younger brother. he's almost 7 (ten years of age difference btween me and him!) and is an...erm...don't know how these people are called in english, somebody like Dustin Hoffman played in "Rain Man". my brother isn't that worse,but you can notice that he's somehow "strange". he's quite cute,but he gets onto my nerves much too often. i'm kind of an idol for him; a role which i don't want to play in,because you have a certain responsibility of keeping good behaviour and a good way of living.
later,when i'd have children myself, it'd be the same. i couldn't live the way i wanted to, i'd have to live in a quite more unpleasant way (playing with 'em,teaching 'em ,no more time for me....).
so i think that you live a lot more freely without kids.