If you're tired of your kid, why not swap him or her for another?
Childtrader.com makes this possible. From the site:
Child Trader is now the nations 4th largest child exchange network and as such, has brought happiness to more than 1623 American households who otherwise had very few options in creating a more loving family and home life when realizing their child wasn’t the right fit for them.
Child Trader Child Exchange Network isn’t about not loving childing [sic]. Its about finding a family that can love them more.
Get started today with this exciting new way to love your children.
You can view the profiles of kids available for trade. For instance, Jacob (pictured) is described as, "Not a particularly impressive boy. He hasn’t much been into sports, but he does have a great smile and likes to sit around the house, so he is very quiet."
I'm willing to go out on a limb and declare this a hoax. I'm not even going to do any research into who the site is registered to, etc., because it's obviously a joke. In other words, you're stuck with your kids, even if you don't like them. It's not legal to swap them for another.
Links on the child trader site indicate it was created by the same person responsible for two other spoof sites:
medicaladoptions.com (adopt a kid who is a perfect match for an organ transplant you need), and
puppyprofits.com (make money from illegal dog fighting).
Childtrader.com does, at least, highlight that children aren't always a constant source of joy to their parents. It reminds me of
a study conducted in 1931 by Dr. Mandel Sherman of the Child Research Centre in Georgia. Sherman asked thirty-two parents to keep track in notebooks of all the ways their children annoyed them. He found that there were 2,124 ways in which children annoyed their parents. The most common source of annoyance was disobedience, but other annoyances included being too slow, too quick, and spending too much time primping.
Comments
(Remember kids playing music too loud is a good way to irritate your neighbours. Another good way to irritate your neighbours is to slam the dustbins too loudly or play football on their lawn or key their car, or....)
Name: Olivia
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Physical Description: Amorphous. Not "fat" but kind of "fluffy." Large breasts and very large hips.
Medical History: Parents have a history of diabetes, but "child" thus far tests negative. STD screening clears as negative across the board.
Strengths: Can crack eggs with greater than 90% probability of no shells in the mix.
Weaknesses: Girl routinely fails to attend class and has been noted for dating and associating with persons of darker persuasions.
Agency Comments: This candidate should not be eligible for trade. Parents wishing to trade such a seemingly normal and well adjusted adolescent at this age may be suspect, especially considering brevity of time to emancipation. Suggest strongest caution, but will not rule out trade due to 517 rule and bonus requirement structure.
Desired Trade: We would be willing to give this child away without any trade or offer in kind. Simply accept the offer and we
I had to read that last word twice...
Or is one a category of the other?
Does that clear it up? Probably not, huh/