Why Do Teenagers Have Babies?

A friend recently forwarded me an article from www.alternet.org, "Why Do We Shame Teen Moms?"

It read the typical statistics, scare tactics that have been less than successful at moving teenager girls to postpone motherhood. It included some mention of the high school senior that faked a pregnancy as a social experiment at her school, documenting how her peers responded to her predicament.

My friend forwarded the article to me, because I was pregnant at seventeen, seventeen years ago. She wanted me to weigh in. So here I go.

The fact is, I believe most teenage girls who get pregnant, want to. It doesn't matter if they have access to birth control, church, etc... they are missing something so they get it. The sexual irresponsibility is a choice. The fact that all of these girls have such a void is what should be addressed. Especially since, as much as I love my daughter, she did not fill the void... so then I am a young mother, without a supportive family and still with the void!

I will say this once, I am not talking about every teen mother under the sun. There, I said it.

When I see a girl who has found out she is pregnant, she is worried about her boyfriend, her parents, money. Rarely isn she really upset about the baby! Yes, there are abortions and yes there are true accidents. I just do not think they are the norm.

Birth control is easy to get! Condoms are easy to get! Boys are usually never wanting a baby, subconscious or otherwise, so they will find the money, etc. Yet the babies keep coming.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, my best friend was pregnant with her second son. We were smart girls from middle class families. We had blind, strict parents who had no idea who we were. We were also pregnant by the same boy. We wanted those babies.

Now that I am thirty-five, I of course have a lifetime of knowledge and I can look at things differently. I still would never see any pregnancy as a bad thing. I am pro-life. Every baby is a miracle...yada yada. My daughter is seventeen, she has had sex, but I don't necessarily consider her 'active' and I don't encourage it, but I am realistic. She has condoms. I have found them in her room more than once. Despite my opinion on the sex and despite the fact that I love babies. She has condoms.

That is awesome. Somewhere inside, she is not trying to fill a void.

So my point is that teen pregnancy is not the problem. Pregnancy is the result of a problem that is already there.

I know there will be some people who disagree with me. This is ok. Just my opinion. :)

I Try ~ After the Banana

After my banana hair fiasco, I had an idea. I've decided to include a series in my blog, every week or so, entitled "I Try."

It's pretty self explanatory, but I'll explain it anyway. :)

Ever week I will try something; something I read in a magazine, something suggested by a follower, something I hear in line at the grocery store... you get the idea.

I like to think of it as a Mythbusters for women! Topics may include, recipes, skin care, household ideas, book reviews, new product trials, who knows!

I'm hoping we have some fun and we learn a little.

When I wonder about something, will it work, is it true? I try.~

Going Bananas!~

I read in a popular women's magazine, a recipe for homemade conditioning treatment for your hair, supposed to leave it shiny and wonderful, etc.

I have long thick hair which is near and dear to me, always looking for ways to take care of it on a budget.

The recipe was sooooo simple!

1 banana
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp honey

All three common items to find in my kitchen, so I was excited!

I did some more research and found that even Dr.Oz recommends the fruity mask, siting elasticity, shine, nourishment! All good things!

The instructions simply stated, mix until creamy, thoroughly saturate hair, cover with saran wrap for an hour, rinse well.

It didn't say anything about whether your hair should be clean or dirty, wet or dry, so I asked a cosmetology friend of mine and she confirmed my assumption that it is supposed to be 'conditioning' so put on shampooed, damp hair, then rinse as instructed. Great! Easy right??! :/

All went well, until the 'rinse.' Banana is not exactly a fan of the exit.

I mixed the ingredients, a lot! It was very creamy, the consistency of shampoo! I rinsed as instructed, but seriously, there was still a lot of banana! So I rinsed some more... and some more.... still Chiquita!

I finally took an entire shower, shampooed and all. When I took the towel off my head, I could still see banana!! I combed, I brushed, I washed and rinsed some more. Ugh.

So now that my hair was washed twice after the banana mask, I styled the next morning as usual. I do not notice any abundance of shine or anything else impressive, but maybe I washed the improvements away??!!

Yes, there is still some banana in my hair. I don't recommend. :(