Yeah I agree that you may have more energy when you're young and have kids, but I guarantee *I* didn't have the PATIENCE for kids.  I waited and had my kids in my late 30's.  I was 2 months shy of being 36 when I had my first one and 38 with the second.  If anything, they keep me young.  And I have patience with them.  But you're right sometimes I just don't have the energy. 

  My dad was 57 when I was born and he was a great dad.  I don't think it's age necessarily.

I think earlier generations got married sooner because they grew up faster and had more responsibility.  If you work hard all day and your life is centered around work as opposed to leisure, you don't have time to nitpick relationships and drive each other crazy. 

both of you make sense, good thoughts!

Teenagers should have the kids, since there's lower risk of birth defects.  The grandparents raise them.  Then the teens raise their kids' kids, when they get to be grandparents.

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Of course, that's dangerously close to what that guy in Austria did, except he double-dipped the cycle...

I had a child in my teens, 1 in my twenties and my husband and I, in our thirties are considering one more. Crazy, I know.  I raised both my girls and seen the difference in my raising and maturity level in doing so.  I'm looking especially forward to my next one, when it happens. 

Random much trueness in your statement, more and more grandparents raising these kids, how sad. 

that man in austria was a sick, sick man.

And yes, in our culture it wouldn't & doesn't work (too well anyways) for teenagers to have children. Our culture would have to change... revert back to something different.

Michele, that is neat to have your kids so far apart & this way they will have very unique relationships with each other.

As one who married (relatively) late in life, I can look back and see the advantage of maturity for marriage and parenting. It would be nice if I could say my foresight and wisdom kept me single for so long. Quite the opposite; I was not husband material, though I may not have agreed at the time. I would advise any youngster to wait until at least age 25 before entering marriage and starting a family.

In the past people didn't live as long and kids were also a safety net for the old age.  Our modern secularist culture is all about me, me, me.... and we are seeing the consequences in places like Europe were the birth rate is dropping below levels necessary to sustain the population and economies.  Also in America were we will soon see more retired baby boomers than young workers necessary to support them.  Maybe this will cause I lots of baby boomers to change there minds about illegal immigrants as a new source of social security income.

Lots of good thoughts!! And like I said, I definitely don't advocate teens marriages... we'd need a total cultural shift for that age span to be one of commitment and maturity. It's interesting stuff to think about for sure. It's so great that we live longer & also possess great wisdom now to know what we want to be able to provide for our kids (doesn't mean we always practice it!) It would be bad either way to pass laws saying you can't marry until or before a certain age. Ultimately, people need to reach a point of maturity & readiness for both children and a marriage relationship. That depends ultimately on the person... and also I think that the way people see themselves and their relationships has changed a lot in the last 100 years. Culture plays a powerful role.

I was married at 16, son born at 17, daughter born at 18.  The marriage didn't survive partly because when you marry that young you don't always grow up together, you grow apart.   Neither have had a real chance at living life and too often take that chance at the risk of losing each other.

As for having children that young?  I've never regretted it.  I thoroughly enjoyed my kids and was young enough to be involved in their lives at a different level than if I'd been older.  I was a young grandmother (36 with the first one) and couldn't have enjoyed that role more.  I wasn't the traditional gramma, knitting and rocking but we had fun.  Now I'm a great grandma of one and about to be a ggma for the second time.  What pleases me is that all these kids will be able to remember me.  I'll have the pleasure of knowing them and they'll have some memories that I never had a chance to have.

What I really believe is that no matter what the age of the parents, what really matters is the love and the respect.  THAT is what parenting is all about..and as Tom said...not age.