*really* young mommas! - Page 8

[CaraNicole]

subbing....

i want to join...i'm 21 and i got preggers at 20 and had my ds not too long after i was 21...he just made 6mo yesterday...i wouldn't trade him for anything!

[Lovemy3babies]

HI there! I am 21, and have 3 babies ! I have 19 month old twins, got pregnant when I was 19, had them when I was 20... then got pregnant again when they were 3 months old, and have a 7 month old now

People think I am CRAZY when I tell them I am 21 and have 3 kids....

[Khourtniey]

I am 21 and had both of my babies at 19.. Yep BOTH.. They are 9.5 months apart (Preemies). I got pregnant with my first baby at 18.

[BelovedBird]

20 is young for your first baby?? I never knew.

Hi all!

[hibana]

Hi fellow young mamas! I think I posted in here before... can't remember. I got pregnant at 18, had dd at 19 and am now 20. Anybody else find that their childless peers have no idea how to react to you? I've managed to make a number of single, career-driven women in their early 20s QUITE nervous and uncomfortable, simply by being a sahm who is content with her situation in life and enjoying being a mama.

[Tishie]

Is this for people who are still young? I'm 34, but my kids will be 15 and 11 this summer. I'm always the youngest mom, especially at the high school functions!

Now that I'm older, I get more respect from people, but when my kids were little, and I looked even younger than I was ... agh. I got so sick of the condescension and advice and assumptions that I didn't know/care what was best for my kids. I think the worst was the shocked "compliment" that I was a good mom.

Bleh.

But, for those of you who aren't doing the QF thing, the nice thing about being a young mom is that I'm 34 and the empty nest is within sight! We're already planning our romantic European trips...

[CTH3989]

Hi ladies, my name is Chelci and I am 18. I got pregnant and had my son at the age of 17. He is now 6 months old.

Chelci

[holyhelianthus]

hi to all the new mamas!

[3lilmonsters]

I'm not a really young mamma, but I wanted to stop in and say hi. I had my first a week and a half before I turned 21, but I look young, I guess. Two years ago (I'm now 28) I was carded trying to buy an R rated movie. when I had my first I got lots of disgusted and sympathic looks. When my sister and I went out walking with him people assumed SHE was the mother...and she's 6 years younger than me! I've been cornered in public bathrooms asking about the details : , and the worst thing ever was when my mom and I went to a restaurant and the staff was talking about me very loudly...saying stuff about how I'd probably have to drop out of school now and how they'd hate to have a baby as young as I am

I was better behaved back then so I didn't really say much, but it did a number on my self confidence at the time.

Oh! I forgot about the time when I was at the grocery store with my (at the time) 2yo and 4mo and was getting the 2yo to 'help' with the baby...I was stopped by an older woman who asked ds "aren't you a good boy to help your sister with the baby?". Then dp walked up and she told him he had some good kids here. He had no clue so he just said thanks

But anyway, I applaud you all for being good mamas...regardless of your age

[californiajenn]

Hi everyone

I'm 26 so I'm not as young as most of you (that is the exact opposite of what I normally say, lol) but was 18 when I had my now 8 year old dd. I totally relate to what most of you say! I still find it hard to make friends and I can pass for 19 easily. In fact, I subbed for the secretary at our school board meeting and most of the board thought I was a nice neighborhood girl that the secretary hired. When I let them know that I was a parent, their attitudes changed tremendously.

Slight vent: I'm tired of not having many friends I can relate to. All of the Moms at my dd's school are in their mid-30's to mid-40's. The few mom's with kids remotely close in age to my dd (none at our school) are uneducated (degrees don't matter, just know what going on in the world) and unmotivated. I think we all know it's harder to meet AP Moms. ;-)
My ex is in the military so I didn't feel so lonely at first but then I got divorced, moved to a city to finish college, and entered the business world. My closest family member is about 2000 miles away and the ex (who is a good dad and person) just transfered to Hawaii.

I have a B.A. and am going back for my Master's this spring, yeah!

It's great to "meet" so many great young mamma's! It's nice to know I'm not the only one.

[thunderkitty]

I am a single mom of one I was 17 when I got pregnant but, 18 when I had her. I don't know if I thought I was ready at the time but, I MADE myself get ready and it was the best thing that ever happened to me! I got my GED went back to college (now), quit smoking, having "casual relationships", etc. and she turned my life around as a result...I can't imagine it any other way now! I've turned into a crunchy mom, I just never woulda' thunk' 5 years ago...oh and I'm 21 now, which I can't believe either it flew by!

[earthyamber]

Hi everyone! My name is Amber. I am 24 and my husband is also 24. I had my first daughter when I was 18 (in my senior yr of high school). I had my second daughter when I was 22. I hated getting comments like, "you just ruined your life", "Are you the babysitter?", "What are you thinking?", and all the rude looks and remarks. It was tough! I like being a young mom (although I am not all that young now) and I have no regrets. It was a bit unexpected, but they are my life. After I had my first daughter, I volunteered in teen shelters for young pregnant teens. It was great being able to support other young moms and I even held teen parenting classes which was a lot of fun. I would love to do that again. I believe age doesn't matter and it is more about the maturity. I have a friend who was 14 when she had her 1st baby and she is such a great mom. She stayed in school, took care of her baby, and is now in college.

[Moonprysm]

Joining. I'm 21 and DH is 22 (about to be 23). We have a 14 month old son and are preparing to try for #2. I think the hardest part was the assumptions people make. We got married at 18 and had been married almost 2 years when we started TTC. We owned our own home and everything. But most people assumed we got married BECAUSE we got pregnant (I LOVED telling them "Oh yeah, we'll be celebrating our third anniversary this year!" when they said stuff like that), that we probably lived with family, ect. I still don't know how to relate to people my age. I joined a board for local moms and there's a young mother's section, so I thought, GREAT! But all they talk about are setting up shopping trips, going out to the club, ect. It really sucks. My best (and pretty much only) friend is older than my step-mom (which doesn't say much, since my step-mom is 26). In groups with other AP moms, I'm the outcast because I'm the super young, tattoo'd, pierced mama, and with mamas my age I'm the outcast because I'm an AP mom. I can't win.

[californiajenn]

Re:

Earthyamber,

The teen parenting class sounds so interesting! Tell us more about it. Do you think you made an impact?

Moonprysm,

I totally get what you're feeling. It's like being stuck between worlds, huh? Sometimes, I daydream that Mothering.com's members take over a region in the U.S. so we all have a great place to live

[earthyamber]

I really think the parenting classes made a difference. We covered how to stay in school and still be a good parent, basic baby care, handling rude people, how to handle friends and social issues, relationships, homeless and low income resources, cheap and fun activities for babies and kids, nutrition and health, and just lots of talking and venting! It was a lot of fun and everyone learned a lot. We met 2 times a week. We had men and women from ages 13-21 yrs old. Some were pregnant and some had babies or toddlers. We all brought our kids and they played and we chatted. We also did one project a week (such as homemade musical instruments or footprints, etc). It was done in a WIC office and one of the women in WIC helped oversee the meetings. We talked about so much from baby questions to quitting drugs. We saw one girl who battled a herion addiction and we all were there to support her. Thankfully she quit (I helped take care of her baby during that time, she said with my husband and I while she detoxed) and last I heard, she was still sober. It was great connecting and hearing everyone's stories. We all built friendships and felt like someone understood the hardships we faced. Being a new parent is hard for anyone regardless or age, however young parents face a whole new set of challenges. I hope to one day get involved again (I am move around too much now) and do a similar group. I really felt like it was something that kept everyone going through the tough times.

[Autumn Breeze]

Bump!

Thought I'd give a bump and an intro!

I had my first when I was 18, and my second at 22. We're done now, but I'm still 'really young' according to most people I meet, to have two kids.

ds is 5 and dd is almost 2.

[Autumn Breeze]

Moonprysm...

I have the same "problem" I just try to associate myself with older mama's. Most of my friends are in their 30's, which isn't "old" but they're almost all 10 years older than I am. With children the same age as mine.

I get along with them much better than most of the local younger mamas.

But my best friend, is 42.

[lilsishomemade]

Lots of admiration for you mamas!! I *just* turned 26, and have 3 kids, oldest when I was 21, then my middle son 15 months later (have an angel in heaven between those two), then my baby came right after my middle son's 2nd birthday. I'm not as young as a lot of you are, but I feel pretty young in this area. My mom had my youngest brother when I was 18 and a lot of times, I'll walk up to the school with her to meet him and most of the other moms are about the same age as she is. I guess I live in an area where a lot of women wait till later on to have kids. One woman I work with had her first child at 47.

Lots of inspiration from you guys, I'm older, but a lot of times I still feel like a scared little girl!!

[weliveintheforest]

For some reason I thought you were like 25 Amanda, I hadd forgotten what a young'n you are

I am 22, and don't feel so young anymore since lots of women who are younger than me have babies

[Autumn Breeze]

Sheila. I will be 25 in October.