Away in a manger

So of course, when the press stories come out today that Brittney's kid sister, a mere 16 years of age, is knocked up, the jokes immediately come to mind. Last name Spears, for one. You look at those girls the wrong way and the get pregnant, for another. But keeping the family name alive is much more than that for many, and a show I caught the end of tonight hit that point home hard. A Canadian couple had a kid who suffered from some sort of extreme dwarfism. I can't remember the specific name, but suffice it to say that at 2 years of age, this girl weighed 8 pounds. 8 pounds. Both my kids weighed more when they came off the assembly line. And I was thinking, what sort of hell did these parents go through, you know? Sure, a lot of people tie one on before they throw it in, and though the news of a confirmed pregnancy is a shock, it's not unexpected. And most people plan somewhat down the unknowable road, their ideas of what having a kid will be like way of course from what it will ultimately be, but at least somewhat in the ballpark. And yeah, you hope for health, hope you don't have a retard or some deformed spinal case. But I'm not sure anyone considers a case like this girl. To see the weird conjugation of a 2 year old that is so small, so lightweight, it was, well, in a word, fucked up. I may complain about material matters, like my hard drive, or the car, or whatever, but I can't imagine walking down that road.