In thinking this is the smuggest article I have ever had the misfortune to read

[mrsshackleton]

"We are so bloody marvellous and everyone else is wrong"

I've never read such a load of judgemental codswallop

Branded Winnie the Poo equipment - OMG!!

Can you hear that whistling noise? That is the steam coming out of my ears!

I got married at 23 (we got engaged the week that I graduated), and had my 3 DC at 24, 26 and 28. I didn't have matching Winnie the Pooh kit in my nursery, I had a jungle theme with accessories bought in a beautiful little shop in Lille when I was pregnant. Oh, and our antenatal group preferred to meet in the small, privately owned Organic cafe as it was far more ethical than Costa

I wouldn't judge anyone for having children in their 40s, and I wouldn't expect to be judged for having them in my 20s. A good mum is a good mum at any age.

Think his mother's concerns about his IQ may have been justified.

fwiw - had dd at 35 and ds at 38.

Lovely for them- he is a clueless old tosspot and his wife is an inbred simpleton.

Oh dear. I think the real story is that he has some unresolved ishoos with his own mother.

Oh, oh - where's Xenia? She'd have him for breakfast.

And as for the other article, well, we read no books either.

And ds is the crappest sleeper known to man. Even in my arms.

It's idiotic. And I had my children at 35 and 39.

Sometimes these smug little articles are at least funny, or well written ... this one? Ugh. If he's as incoherent and pointless when he's talking on the radio his poor mother would have been vindicated if she'd had a chance to hear him.

On the other hand, I am looking forward to calm befalling me in a couple of years, cos I've been a ball of fury and frustration for SO long now, it's getting tedious.

Billen's mum was right to worry about him. He's a tool.

Hmmm I like the bit where he says that because his wife was older there was more risk of abnormalities so she was offered lots of tests. But not to worry because they were all funded on the NHS!!!

So we should all wait til we at least 40 then drain all the money out of the NHS on tests???

Narrow minded idiot.

I've read it twice, and I'm not sure yet why it's smug. I think he is responding to all the backlash that women who are in their 40s keep getting...that they are 'too old' to be parenting children. He's trying to dispel the myth that an older parent is somehow deemed 'bad' by society, and giving examples of why, in some cases, an older mother might have a slight edge over a younger one.

Of course it stands to reason that women in their younger years can absolutely be fabulous mums, there's no question about that. But, there is some validity for what he's saying in some cases.

In my own experience, I absolutely would not have wanted children in my 20's. I wanted to travel,live completely on my own have great friends, be really focused on my career, and I had all that. I had my first DC at 34, and I am much more chilled out, I don't really ever get the urge to go out on a Friday night, and though I am back at uni, I'm fully aware that my career will be second, and I'm okay with that.

Of course, this is only MY experience. But, I don't see why this random guy is being smug just for trying to defend his wife from the constant barrage of press that demeans women who have made the decision to have lives for themselves first, before having DCs.

Sorry...

Why can't he talk about his wife's merits though without attacking younger, poorer women?

Dear lord, what a twat. Another young Mum here, adding another

What a twat. I hope his wifes embarrassed.

I don't think he attacked them at all (okay, I admit, that last bit about the 22 year old was OTT, and pointless)...he merely pointed out the reasons that a younger woman might be at a disadvantage to have babies when her attentions might be elsewhere.

Shit like that is why I stopped buying the papers.

They have to write an article on something. Next week it will be about younger mothers and how they have so much more energy.

Oh come on, everyone knows that not buying stuff with Winnie the Pooh on it makes you a better parent and that forever more your children will look back fondly on their childhood and sigh 'I'm so lucky that mum and dad never dressed me in anything featuring a cartoon bear'! It's one of those really important things like feeding them and making sure they are clean and warm.

We need more anti-Pooh parenting in this country! That'll learn 'em!

What is the ishoo with Winnie the Pooh, though?

I had children in my twenties and forties. It was easier in my forties because I had done it all before. If it was my first it probably wouldn't have beeen any easier. I do think it is easier because I am much better off financially and can afford to be a SAHM.