The New Minority !

[phillyidol]

In America, married couples have just become the minority. New York Times said. That says alot about the youth of today not having both parents.

[My Aural Stimulator]

I concur: in the complex where we live, out of the seven folks who have kids, only two of those are married.

My folks are still married (to each other), so I've never had to deal with separated parents. Though, I do wonder how children of separated parents handle their folks being divorced.

[phillyidol]

I never even heard of parents getting divorced untill I was 18!
A big problem with some "groups" is that it is a normal way of life. A guy gets the girl pregnant, he leaves, her mother helps bring up the kids. The problem being no male role models or authority figures. This is very clearly a problem when the kids are boys.

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by phillyidol[/i]
<br>A big problem with some "groups" is that it is a normal way of life. A guy gets the girl pregnant, he leaves, her mother helps bring up the kids. The problem being no male role models or authority figures.
[/quote]
HEY! White Trash are people too you racist bastard!!! [}:)]

[SomebodySomewhere]

How would I have handled it? I would have handled it a lot better at, say, 5 than I did having to go through my entire childhood with them married to each other.

[marie3]

That is crazy.
It is so much easier to get a divorce then work things out. And with the internet it is even easier for people to stray from their spouse.
My parents are married 44 years last week. They have been together since they were 14 years old. Hard to believe in this day and age.

My Aural Stimulator, that is a sad statistic.

[My Aural Stimulator]

SomebodySomewhere brings up a good point. My grandparents were married for several years (they divorced when my mom was a teenager), and my mom would tell me horror stories of her parents fighting constantly. Certainly, there's nothing to change the past now, but we can learn from it. It's disheartening that people don't work out their problems in a more civilized manner.

It seems to me that the modern definition of marriage has evolved into a sort of formalized dating, with the option to bail when the least of problems arise.

[darwinsky]

In our part of the world, I don't think I'd live to see the day divorce becomes legal.

Why was I born in this part of the world? [:D][:D][:D]

dar

[The_Freeman]

My parents divorce has been enough to convince me never to get married. If you're commited and living together with a shared mortgage etc, what extra security/commitment is there to be gained by getting married?

[birdmadgirl]

My parents have been married 36 miserable years. When I was a kid, all I wanted was for them to spilt up so I wouldn't have to deal a), with the constant fighting and b), with the cool politeness that took over once the screaming stopped.

I've never understood people who say they are staying married for the sake of their kids. Kids aren't dumb. Even if their parents aren't screaming at each other, kids can pick up on things. I guess I'm cold or something, because I can't see putting up with misery just so my kids can say they have two miserable parents who live together.

I don't know. When my marriage hit the skids a while back, it took me about 2 seconds to decide that us staying together "for the kids" was not a Good Thing. My son was learning that it's OK to crap on people and my daughters were learning that it's OK to take it. That was more horrifying to me than the thought of them having divorced parents.







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[SomebodySomewhere]

birdmadgirl pretty much said it all. Although I didn't mind so much when they were abusing each other. It meant a break from time that would have otherwise been spent abusing us.

If they had stayed "for the kids," I would have at least understood. No, he stayed because people with Borderline Personality Disorder need a target (but then cry and whine when that target tries to get away). She stayed because she had a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome and liked to be "taken care of." Finally when I was 20, she found somebody richer, better-looking and more willing to wait on her hand and foot, and that was that. Of course by then, the damage was long done. They had four children, none of whom ever got married or had any kids of their own. That, too, says it all.

[KYYX4ever]

I feel really fortunate that my parents are still married--next year it'll be 40 years--and that my husband's parents are also still married, 44 years for them. We both have great (role) models. And I fully realize that that's a minority. Sure, my parents argued, but it was never divorcish. Today, it seems that too many married couples give up too easily. But if it's bad, you gotta go. No sense staying trapped in a miserable marriage if it's truly miserable.