[Traditional_Ale]

dissentower:

I say a lot of really controversial and offensive things here on CP. Some of it is legit, and most of it is grandstanding wrapped in barely enough substance to perpetuate the thread past the point where I bow out.

But this is seriously from the heart, man:

Assuming the child is yours, you need to talk to your parents immediately. Knowing for sure or not, talk to them and let them know what may be coming for you. Too many of us are raised in this ideal that having a baby before "everything is absolutely perfect" is the ultimate disaster, but unless your parents are shallow a-holes, then this will not be the case. In fact, most first babies I would argue occur under far less than "ideal circumstances", whatever the eff they are???

My Dad is 60, I am 27 and the oldest of three and he doesn't even have one whiff of a grand-child yet. While I have close friends who have beautiful and wonderful families making even less than I do, I continually go back in my head to some Catholic School programming that career and blah blah blah are all important in raising the "perfect" child. THEY ARE NOT. I am often in envy of a close buddy my age who has three daughters and a beautiful wife. Regardless of finances, I love babysitting those kids.

Your parents will be thrilled with the idea of being grandparents. Don't ever doubt it for a second. You say: "Dad, Mom, you're going to be grandparents, and for the sake of the child, the mother, and myself I NEED to finish school. To provide for the emotional needs of my own life and the real-life and emotional needs of my baby. It takes a villiage to raise a child. Can you please help me? Even if just baby sitting and such?"

They will be happy to. And proud of you for standing up and being a MAN, and stand-up MAN, and not some self-pitying POS that so many deadbeat fathers are today.

Best of luck.