Octo-Mom

Alright, I'm just going to come out and say it: I want to slap the "octuplet mom" right across her stupid, collagen-injected face!

Ahhhh.

Having said that, let me explain. I have tried to ignore the recent news about the octuplets. I am a parent of 2, and I fully understand what a tough job parenting is, and that you should never judge someone else's parenting choices. This was why I chose to ignore Octo-Mom. I knew I wouldn't have anything nice to say, so I didn't want to know. Unfortunately, all that ended at about 3 AM, when I saw clips of her interview with Ann Curry playing on CNN.

The first thing that struck me was her collagen-injected mouth and flawless makeup. No new mom looks like that, and certainly not the mom of 14 who is younger than me. For that matter, no new mom has the time or energy to be making TV appearances. Before I could even process the words coming out of her mouth, the smug, self-righteous smirk on her face told me more than I ever needed to know about this selfish attention whore. Then my ears caught up with my eyes, and unleashed a whole new wave of hatred.

I listened to her confirm that yes, she had all of her children via fertility treatments, so the doctor's knew exactly what her circumstances were. I heard that she lives on disability payments currently, certainly not a fortune. But the thing that put me right over the edge was when she told Ann Curry that she would be the best kind of mother because she would be able to devote all her time and energy into raising her kids, and isn't that best?

Well, Octo-Mom, my husband and I have 2 children. I would love to have more children, because the experience of being a parent has been the best and most rewarding of my life. However, I am committed to giving my children the best life my resources have to offer. This means I am not banking on lucrative offers from TV and magazines to help raise my kids. My husband and I both work to support our family. It also means that I want to have enough to do more than live paycheck to paycheck, with barely enough money for food.

I also believe that, while money makes the world go round, it's not the only resource that's important in parenting. Time, energy and patience are also critical. I find that between a preschooler and an infant, we are stretched in this area, even with a 1:1 ratio. A 1:14 ratio? Impossible. Unfair. Bordering on child abuse, certainly child neglect. Love does not grow in a vacuum. You need to be able to know and appreciate each child for the little person that they are in order to help them grow into the best adult they can possibly be. Can you really process that level of nuance with 8 at a time, with another 6 on top of that?

And why do I get the feeling that you don't give a shit anyway? Based on your blathering to Ann Curry, it sounds as though you are having kids to validate YOURSELF, to make YOURSELF feel better, to give YOURSELF the love that you were denied all your life. Did you ever ask YOURSELF what you could possibly give these children besides drama, a freakshow lifestyle that will certainly hound them until the end of time, and plenty of fodder for their inevitable therapy sessions? Which, by the way, should occur in the privacy of a drs office, and not on NATIONAL TV! I won't hold my breath for an answer.

Two more reasons why I hate you, and then I'm moving on. I hate that you manipulated science that exists to help people who struggle with infertility into a means to facilitate your attention-whorish ways. The doctors who enabled your pathetic narcissistic needs have a special place in hell. The risks that you took with that pregnancy could have had dangerous, devastating effects on your children. If this trend continues, and based on the media attention your receiving, I don't doubt it will, regulations might be put into place that might hinder those couples that truly need this science, and for that alone, you make me sick.

The final reason I abhor you: As a democrat, I defend a lot of government programs that exist to help those who are struggling, making the case that the vast majority of folks are looking for a way OUT of the system, not a way in. And then someone like you comes along, throwing that tired cliche of a welfare mom who can't get a job or feed her kids, but always has money for god damn collagen injections, right back in my face. You are the reason that a lot of good people who just need a leg up consistently get the shaft in this country. You are pathetic, ridiculous, a joke, and I honestly think you are borderline evil for bringing children into the world under these circumstances.

Now I'm going to shut up. I don't want to have any part in enabling your selfishness. I just needed to get that off my chest.

ETA: I know, I know, she says she's refused welfare. Bully for her. However, is banking on an endorsement deal any better? That is all.