This morning I saw a family on the Today show that just had their 17th kid. I sat there scratching my head trying to wrap my brain around the idea. How do they go anywhere, take a few cars? I am guessing that going out to dinner isn’t an option. They probably don’t even order pizza much.
But as much as I don’t get their idea of the “perfect” family I realize that a lot of people don’t get mine. We were at a party a couple nights ago and someone asked me if I had planned to have 3 kids. I guess her idea was that either Cole was a mistake or that I was trying for a girl, I don’t know. I have always planned on having at least 3 kids. Just like some families only want one or two, I wanted more. I grew up in a family with one older sibling. And because of our age difference (8 years) I was always very lonely. Add to it the fact that my father was in the military and we moved every three years….. I was always so jealous of large families. Always having a playmate, someone around to talk to. Every night is a sleep-over. I begged my parents to have more kids, when I finally realized that it was never going to happen I started begging for a dog.
Of course now that I am older I realize that it isn’t always one big party, but I also know it is so right for us. I miss my kids when they aren’t around. I like having a lot of people around. Without a pack of kids and dogs it just doesn’t feel right to me. And it continues as we get older. I can’t tell you how happy I am that my kids have a nice group of cousins. Cousins that they are close to. It just continues down the line.
One of my favorite bloggers is Anna Maria, a textile designer that lives on a few acres with her 5 kiddos and yellow lab. She talks about someday rocking her grandbabies on the front porch with her husband. Because in her book, the more the merrier. I get that.
You go, Elisa. I am hugely pregnant with my third now, and am looking for a dog to adopt too. People think I’m crazy, but family is the greatest source of joy (slash insanity) there is. Your boys are beautiful. I also love Anna Maria’s blog……she is amazing.
I love this topic! I am very pregnant with my first of hopefully 3 babies. Eventually we will have a dog too. I am the oldest of 5 and couldn’t possibly have just one or two kids. I love being part of a big family and wouldn’t want my kids to ever not have a playmate or feel lonely. My grandmother was an only child and she always told me how lucky I was to have siblings, something she wanted desperately. I love Anna Maria’s blog! Thanks for passing it on.
Well I was one of 4. (I was number 2) and 4 was a good (but large) number. I am glad that there was 4 of us, and we had a lot of fun (a lot of fights- but a lot of fun)
My older sister now have 5 kids (her OLDEST is 6!! ahhh!) and there is a lot of noise in that house! I plan on having 2 kids one day (and they will be 2 boys I hope).
I love reading your blog- you tell your stories so well- it makes me feel like part of the family. 🙂