The New Normal

Levi Johnston, 22 year old unemployed sleazeball, just welcomed his second out-of-wedlock child.  Along with Tripp and Breeze Beretta (barf!) Johnston, I can easily rattle off a dozen or more recent births that the stork delivered to girlfriends instead of to wives.  Several of these belong to my god-kids' friends. 

Single parenting is nothing new however. The old TV shows from the 50s and 60s were filled with single parents like Sheriff Andy Taylor, Bill Bixby from The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Fred MacMurray from My Three Sons, and the pre-Brady Bunch "fella" and  "lady" each raising three kids on their own.  All of the above had un-named dead spouses who died of un-named causes.  Heck, Ben Cartwright had three dead spouses!  And all had wonderful household help like Aunt Bea, Mrs. Livingston, Uncle Bub and Alice. Most excellent role models for single parents!

Somewhere in the last two or three decades it became perfectly normal to have a baby outside of marriage.  Now more than 50% of babies born to women under 30 are born outside of marriage. Not exactly the single parent paradigm as seen on TV in the mid-20th century!

It's the New Normal I guess but I still don't think I like it very much.  I guess that makes me an old fuddy-duddy huh?

;-)