Having a baby is the ultimate in optimism.

The world is a terrible place with shootings at schools and wars in various places in half of the world, terrorists planting bombs for their causes- whether it be for Islam or christians fighting abortions or perceived injustices- and drugs and gangs rampant. There have been robberies even on my block, and I don't mean the casual mischeif of rearranging one person's lawn furniture on someone else's lawn (oh that was a lovely evening when I had nipped into the blueberry again). I overhear things all the time about someone bringing a gun to school or even the blessed Mrs. Beasley-Beasley's one and only caught stealing a car.

But you pour your hopes and dreams into that little bundle, and you want them to have all of the chances that you never had, to do what you never did, and of course they are doomed to dissappoint you. They come up with their own wants and aspiration, and they don't respect your thoughts. You can't prevent their mistakes. And they will fight you and try to break your heart.

And only if you are really lucky, will they grow older than you and take care of you when you are old, and maybe, just maybe, they may come to understand you. And that is what motivates one to try to have them in the first place.

Definitely, you have to be an optimist to think this will happen.   ¶ 7:19 PM