Why Not Have a Bunch of Kids?

Michie

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Humans are, hands down, the single most fascinating set of creatures on the planet. If you want to understand how humans work, just make a few, sit back, and watch them do their thing.


My wife and I have many kids.

We didn’t plan to have many kids. It just sort of happened. After our fifth child was born, a friend asked my wife how many children she planned to have. She said, “Two.” Yet each of our six kids has been both a joy and an endless source of parenting lessons. Whether you’re considering producing your own mini-platoon, or are merely curious as to how it’s possible for apparently sane adults to cope, I offer here a few insights and one piece of advice: don’t take yourself too seriously, hang on, and enjoy the ride.

How do you handle sickness?

Commercials where the kid has a cold and the parents give him cough syrup and lovingly tuck him into bed are a joke. Nursing numerous children is like playing whack-a-mole. One kid gets over his cold just in time for another to get it. No, they can’t all be sick at once. They must do it sequentially. What to a normal family would be a three-day cold, to a large family is a month-long affair. When you have a lot of kids, you don’t quarantine the sick ones. You want them to infect each other as quickly as possible, because you need to process all of them before you come down with the bug yourself. You start to thank God for the blessing of acquired immunity that guarantees each kid will only get the disease once.

Then you discover pink eye.

If dealing with a cold is like playing whack-a-mole, dealing with pink eye is like playing a macabre game of telephone. Kid #1 gives it to Kid #2, who gives it to Kid #3. By this time Kid #1 is cured, but Kid #3 has given it to Kid #4. Now Kid #1 has forgotten your repeated warnings about washing his hands and keeping his fingers out of his brother’s eye, and sure enough, Kid #1 has it again. He gives it to Kid #2, and the whole cycle continues. You find yourself praying for a harsh winter so the freezing temperatures can kill off the germs these house creatures have painted on to every surface.

What do you call them?

Continued below.
Why Not Have a Bunch of Kids? - Public Discourse
 

timf

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My wife and I got married when we were older. The subject of birth control came up and I asked why we would use it. If children are from the Lord;

Psa 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Then why would we restrict his gift. To me is seemed like we would spit in God's face and say, "No thank you, we have our own plans".

Also many people are unaware that oral contraceptives often result in abortions. As the primary mechanism with the lower strength chemicals is not the prevention of ovulation, but the prevention of embryo implantation.
 
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bèlla

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I never desired a big family. I always wanted one. My parents were close friends with a couple that had 11 children. I always enjoyed our visits. We had 2 large families in school. Nine and thirteen children respectively. I was close with the first. I saw the challenges and financial strain up close. That didn’t factor in my decision but it didn’t help it either.

~bella
 
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Paidiske

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I really have problems with the kind of rhetoric that turns parenting into the "single greatest accomplishment any person can achieve."

Some of us are given the gifts and calling of parenting large families. Others aren't. Our greatest accomplishments lie elsewhere, and that is all to the glory of God.
 
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Enilorac

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I honestly do not think my kids are my "greatest accomplishment". The joke around here is "the only reason they survived to adulthood is because I didn't want to go to prison". I was blessed (or cursed) with 3 strong willed, incredibly intelligent and with ADHD and one on the spectrum kids. To say they were challenging is an understatement. There is no way on earth I'd have kept having kids. I finished college, and started a career when the youngest started school. 2 of 3 are college graduates, the third is a journeyman electrician.
My greatest accomplishment? Surviving the death of my spouse.
 
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bèlla

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I believe my daughter is the best thing I've ever done. Shaping a soul is hard and I'm humbled by the outcome. But that isn't my lone accomplishment and I acknowledge the rest. Nor was I meant to have a large family.

I did a good job. But I don't believe I'd have another like her. She's one of a kind. The next would probably be hell on wheels. I see it with my siblings. I'm the best behaved. But it took three tries to get me. Sometimes its best not to rock the boat.

~bella
 
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