Doubtless, you've seen the random moments where Elon Musk is in an important place, saying important things, and talking to important people. It's pretty much his day-to-day, however from time to time, you'll see his little son, X Æ A-Xii, more commonly known as "X," right alongside him. Not only is Musk keeping him around during these important moments, he sometimes allows X to take part at the moment, giving him the microphone to be cute.

X can be seen being carried around on Musk's shoulders, or playing nearby as Musk speaks. The last clip of this happening took place in the Oval Office itself.

As Bonchie noted in an article, X stole the show as Musk was discussing battle plans with the press while Donald Trump sat at the Resolute Desk. It was a highly official moment, but X playing quietly right next to Musk as he spoke was the thing people were most impacted by. //

Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok
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Children are a blessing. The most powerful people in the world are normalizing children in public.

Love this ❤️🇺🇸
3:05 AM · Feb 12, 2025. //

I try to take my son where I can. I don't just do this because I want to introduce him to various environments where he can watch me do things and learn, I do it because I think he belongs there. He's not taking up space, he's a person, and while he's just a toddler who will do toddler things, his little-kid mannerisms shouldn't be something we feel embarrassed about.

I believe there's a stigma about children in public, and that when they act like children in front of others, we feel apologetic or that we've done wrong by disturbing the peace with childlike antics. I think that's wrong.

While I don't think parents should let kids run wild and be nuisances, I think children being in public is a beautiful thing. I don't think we should ever feel guilty about the noise and disturbances they make to the extent we do. I don't think the public should see it as a negative event, either.

Being alive is a family affair, and healthy families oftentimes have little ones. We should consider them a blessing, not a burden. They should be brought out into the open and included in society, and not just in the everyday moments, but the important ones too, just like Musk is doing. This should be normalized, and have the message sent to everyone that children aren't just welcome, they're also fun little inclusions.

But it's not just about the kid, it's about the parent. We're normalizing, and elevating parenting in public. These moments where Musk has X nearby or on his shoulders sends a clear message that I think is often absent from the public consciousness.

He's a very powerful, influential, man... but he's a dad first. //

We have this idea in our head that we can't be a parent and a career-based individual, but Musk is disproving that consistently. He's worth more than anyone on the planet, and he has the ear of the most powerful man on the planet, but his son is his real priority. He conducts the business of the world, his decisions having national and global impact... and X is playing nearby while he does it.

We're not just normalizing children in public, we're normalizing parenting during critical moments and big decisions. Trump seems to have also had this strategy going, as his children are all successful business-minded people like him. Being included, even from a young age, helped pave the way for their own successes. //

Mike Ford
8 hours ago
Her Majesty [wife] shared something with me one day in church, when a little kid was being...well...a little kid.

She said, "The best sign of a healthy, growing church, is crying babies."

Stephen L. Miller @redsteeze
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Elon Musk answering more questions in the Oval Office than Joe Biden did in 4 years.
9:45 PM · Feb 11, 2025. //

Standing next to President Donald Trump, Musk lambasted the bureaucratic state, noting that it is antithetical to democracy to have unelected officials operating outside the authority of elected representatives. No doubt, he was referencing several recent court decisions that have sought to prevent Trump from being president despite his holding of the office. //

Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47
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ELON MUSK: "If the bureaucracy is in charge, then what meaning does democracy actually have? If the people cannot vote and have their will be decided by their elected representatives... then we don't live in a democracy... It's incredibly important that we fix that..."

9:31 PM · Feb 11, 2025. //

Well, we have this unelected fourth, unconstitutional branch of government, which is the bureaucracy, which has, in a lot of ways, currently more power than any elected representative. That's not something that people want, and does not match the will of the people. It's something we've got to fix. //

This is what Democrats refuse to accept, and for completely cynical reasons. You do not have a democracy if federal bureaucrats can simply override, either directly or through lawfare, any change to the status quo made by the President of the United States. If an agency has such total control that it can stop the executive branch from even changing the content of government websites, that is authoritarianism despite the faceless nature of federal employees. American voters voted for change by electing Donald Trump. They did not vote for federal judges to stop any and all reforms under absurd legal theories.

Democrats see the bureaucracy as a protection of their power structure. As long as it persists, they don't have to win elections. They can simply continue their reign of terror from the shadows, hiding behind millions of federal employees exercising immense control without any accountability. That's what Trump is seeking to stop, and it has Democrats screaming bloody murder. //

MUSK: You know there's crazy things like, we just finished the examination of Social Security, and we've got people in there that are 150 years old. Now, do you know anyone that is 150? I don't, okay. They should be in the Guinness Book of World Records. They're missing out. So, you know that's a case where I think they're probably dead, or they should be very famous. One of the two. //

The federal bureaucracy has been a gravy train for Democrat partisans for decades. Somehow, despite relatively normal salaries (though far too high in some cases), many of these people become fabulously wealthy. How did Samantha Power, who headed USAID during the Biden administration, see her wealth surge up to $30 million holding the position she did? These are questions that deserve answers. //

Brigitte Gabriel @ACTBrigitte
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Cuteness overload!

Elon Musk is talking about how he's going to cut the deficit in half and his son X is whispering to President Trump and picking his nose.

Little boys will be boys! It's nice to see beautiful young families back inside the White House!
0:22 / 0:22
9:41 PM · Feb 11, 2025. //

There's something wholesome and refreshing about children being normalized in public spaces again. Whether it's Musk or Vice President JD Vance, we are seeing a return of kids not being seen as a burden but as a blessing worth cherishing. Once again, it represents a stark contrast to the hateful resentment shown by the left, and Musk calmly answering questions while Democrats screech like banshees is why the latter keep losing.

Baby showers are a way culture and churches bestow value and honor to mothers and infants, unborn children, and growing families.

Catherine Pakaluk and Emily Reynolds’ new book, ‘Hannah’s Children,’ studies mothers of large families and concludes they may hold the key for solving many societal ills. //

While there is much to be said about the particular reasons people choose to have large families, Pakaluk writes that there is one beautiful commonality among these women:

I suppose it boils down to some sort of deeply held thing, possibly from childhood — a platinum conviction — that the capacity to conceive children, to receive them into my arms, to take them home, to dwell with them in love, to sacrifice for them as they grow, and to delight in them as the Lord delights in us, that that thing, call it motherhood, call it childbearing, that that thing is the most worthwhile thing in the world — the most perfect thing I am capable of doing.

Hannah
Pakaluk opens with the story of Hannah, a woman from a Reformed Jewish background whose search for meaning led her ultimately to procreation and the proliferation of family through child-bearing, what she called “this key to infinity.” At the time of her interview, Hannah had seven children, and described her choice to have a large family as a “deliberate rejection of an autonomous, customized, self-regarding lifestyle in favor of a way of life intentionally limited by the demands of motherhood.” //

The modern challenge to traditional and cohesive family roles has absolutely impacted family growth patterns, the book argues, and will likely continue to do so. And the declining population will impact future workforces, infrastructure, and entitlement programs far beyond basic demography.

“The political and economic consequences of these trends cannot be overstated,” Pakaluk writes. “Birth rates are falling because of tradeoffs women and households are making — tradeoffs between children and other things that they value.”

What is wrong with these people? What is wrong with this culture, that it sees this as acceptable?

This is not a mere "cultural" difference. This isn't something that may be considered wrong in one society and not in another. This is wrong in essence; it is wrong no matter where, when, or to whom it happens. And the sad part is that the current law isn't nearly as, well, savage. //

Batta's story, should serve as a cautionary tale, as we have been importing thousands upon thousands of people from this part of the world, for who knows what reason, for years now. They are setting enclaves in places like Dearborn, Michigan, and Minneapolis, Minnesota - and some among them might agree with these Iraqi lawmakers and clerics.

It can happen here, and if you think some of these people might not try it, well, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

There are a lot of ways the government can overreach, but I've always considered its ability to worm its fingers into controlling how parents raise their children to be the most despotic of all, and it's still an issue that's happening today.

I think many people pardon this intrusion because it's based on care for the children, which you'll find this is an excuse used by a lot of authoritarians to pass off their control-focused legislation with.

But the brutal truth is that this kind of "care" isn't care at all. It rips apart families on the basis that the government can do a better job parenting your children than you can. It's a signal to Americans that the government has more authority over your child than you do, and that it will wield that authority if you give them any flimsy excuse.

I can't help but wonder how many parents keep their children locked up in America and under constant supervision, not because they're terrified they might come to harm or be kidnapped, but because the state will come down on them after one phone call from a nosy Karen. I have a very strong feeling that America isn't a country of helicopter parents, it's just filled with parents unwilling to risk being taken from their kids.

What kind of free country are we living in, if that's our mentality?

And what does this do to our children? Nothing good. //

Not that there hasn't been state-level pushback. To be fair, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Colorado, and others have been passing laws over the past five years that protect parents who let their kids roam.

My advice? Familiarize yourself with your state's laws, and if they're too tight, make it clear they need to be loosened. Make it a big deal. Get your friends and family involved. Get your neighbors to raise a stink about it.

Will America become a majority-childless society? A new Pew Research Center survey suggest that sadly may be the case. Such a direction would have alarming consequences for not just individuals but also for our nation.

When Pew asked Americans younger than 50 if they ever plan to have children, 47 percent—one-half of those polled—said “no.” That’s up 10 percent from just five years before. In fact, of those younger than 50, 57 percent said they never wanted to have children, even if they ended up doing so.

The reasons why? Pew writes: “Not having kids has made it easier for them to afford the things they want, have time for hobbies and interests, and save for the future.” But what kind of future are they saving for? It will quite likely be a lonely one. //

The Social Security Administration saw this coming in 2010, noting trouble ahead in its financial report because “birth rates dropped from three to two children per woman.” Previously, there had been a 4 or 5 to 1 ratio between workers paying into the system and retirees taking money out. That ratio has already dropped to almost two-to-one. With even fewer children in the future, the ratio will decrease further.

Leor Sapir, PhD, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute whose areas of research include pediatric gender medicine, shared that anywhere from 5,288 to 6,294 double mastectomies were performed on girls under age 18 between 2017 and 2023 — and that 50 to 179 of those girls were just 12 years old or younger. //

This was based on analysis of an "all-payer national insurance database," including patients who were previously diagnosed with gender dysphoria and had the treatment covered by insurance, Sapir wrote in an article revealing the findings.

The actual numbers could be higher, the Manhattan Institute claims, because researchers did not include patients who paid for the procedure themselves without submitting an insurance claim. //

Thousands — thousands — of children are subjected to invasive, irreversible surgeries. These girls will never be able to breastfeed a child; if they are also being subjected to hormone treatments, they may never be able to have children.

To call this medical malpractice is to indulge in a gross understatement. //

adults, presumably able to give informed consent. Children are not; that's why we don't allow them to sign contracts, buy booze or guns, get married, or join the military. And to see these numbers — thousands of young girls, surgically mutilated because of a social contagion that they would have grown out of, that should have been treated at most with therapy and counseling — this is nothing short of horrifying.

Ever since my little boy came into the world, I've steadily become a different person than I was before he was around. The more he grows, the more I do, or at the very least, the more I notice my perspectives change. //

Angela Belcamino @AngelaBelcamino
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Imagine being 42, child-free, stress-free, and being this happy.

The right hates this.
0:20 / 0:20
6:58 PM · Jul 28, 2024

Is being child-free less stressful? Absolutely. At nearly two, my son is a gremlin who has two modes; asleep or going wild. When he's not in the house, I feel my muscles relax and my focus return.

But ease does not make for happiness. The question isn't whether your life is easier, the question is whether your life is filled with joy. That little gremlin is a joy to have. He gives my life far more purpose than something beyond myself and represents something much larger than me. Watching him grow is like watching a slow miracle unfold right before my eyes. My life is harder with him in it, but far better overall.

I don't need to use the "when you're on your deathbed, you'll want to be surrounded by your children and not your cats" argument. I can tell you that the joy is in the present, turning these little gremlins into proper people.

But the grandest of childless takes are the ones I see in positions of power. I'm amazed at how often school boards are made up of childless bureaucrats.

How could America shift so babies were more welcomed, less dreaded?

Tim Carney, author of the new book “Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be,” has a few ideas. He’d like to see corporations offer parents their child’s birthday off every year. He wants parents to not work so hard at parenting—and to never, ever, sign up their kids for a travel sports team. He’d like to see local governments prioritize sidewalks and denser housing, which would make neighborhoods safer for kids.

But he also wants us to think about why we have a falling birth rate—and what it says about us. After World War II, America had a baby boom, while Germany experienced a baby bust. Now, we’re struggling with our own baby bust, even as we are hammered by relentless discussions of America’s failures, the threat of climate change, and more. “The spirit of the age now is what I call civilizational sadness,” says Carney. “And the sadness is a belief that we’re just not good or that humans were a mistake.” //

"Kids make us be better people. They make us aspire to be better people, both our kids and other people's kids around us," says author Tim Carney.

In the small town of Calhoun, Georgia, the Timms family has found itself embroiled in a heart-wrenching legal battle that further exposes the profound flaws within the state’s child welfare agency. The ordeal began when Brady and Carrie Timms’ three-month-old son Jameson was forcibly removed from their care following medical visits that quickly spiraled into a misdiagnosis and false accusations that brought about their current nightmare. //

The couple later petitioned the court to have Jameson examined at Boston Children’s Hospital by an expert. The court agreed, provided that two case workers with DFCS were also allowed to be present. The doctor diagnosed both Carrie and Jameson with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a genetic condition that could explain the child’s symptoms and injuries. //

The family believed the diagnosis, which occurred with the DFCS agents present, would vindicate them. Unfortunately, the agency disregarded this critical evidence and refused to move toward reunifying the family.

We all think we know the story of pregnancy. Sperm meets egg, followed by nine months of nurturing, nesting, and quiet incubation. But this story isn’t the nursery rhyme we think it is. In a way, it’s a struggle, almost like a tiny war. And right on the front lines of that battle is another major player on the stage of pregnancy that not a single person on the planet would be here without. An entirely new organ: the placenta.

Demographers and pundits have been blaring alarm bells about declining birth rates for decades, and that future is finally here. //

What used to be fodder for ’80s comedies about clueless single men or frigid career women is now the lived experience of the few children who escape the infertility-spreading medical establishment. These kids face an uphill battle: life with fewer friends, fewer siblings, and fewer child-friendly spaces. And that’s just the half of it: If current birth rate trends hold up, they might be facing the end of civilization as we know it. //

There, in the first blessing God speaks to the first man and the first woman — “be fruitful and multiply” — lies the answer to Berenson’s question of why so many wealthy, privileged couples worldwide are refusing to have children. It is not that humanity is losing faith in itself. It’s that we have faith only in ourselves.

As Dennis Prager puts it in his invaluable commentary on Genesis, secularism is the most important explanation for the modern world’s low birth rates. The poem “Epithalamion,” Edmund Spenser’s famous ode to his bride, ends with a fervent prayer that the Heavens bless their marriage, “that we may raise a large posterity” and increase the count of the blessed saints. //

The future, Steyn likes to say, belongs to those who show up. I do not know who, if anyone, will end up living in the lands our society increasingly has no children of our own to bequeath to. But I bet they’ll know how to change diapers.