That is often the response I get when people find out I am the youngest of 8 children.
Before the Catholic remarks come out, questions such as "from the same dad?" or "do you all have the same mom?" proceed.
I guess it's understandable. It's not portrayed as the norm in today's society to even have more than 2 or 3 kids.
What is it they say about having 2 kids? Supposedly it's the "perfect number", for after all, we have 2 hands, 2 legs, etc. That rationalization always irks me.
I have never been one to say I want the large family my parents had. My mother (before converting to Catholicism) said she always wanted a large family-as in 12 kids.
I am one to pray for accepting God's will in my life, and for us that means opting to avoid artificial birth control. When we feel we have grave reasons, we follow guidelines of Natural Family Planning. NFP has been very successful for us, in both avoiding and achieving pregnancy.
As usual, I've rambled beyond my intentions.
I started this post to refer you to Danielle Bean's post on Large Families. She offers great perspective, and even better, understanding on Catholic views regarding this area.
(read: being Catholic does not mean you are automatically called to have as many babies as you possibly can)
Catholic or not, I encourage you to check it out. Quick, great read. Danielle's site always makes me smile.
3 comments:
MAN people are nosy. I met a guy in California who had 2 kids (he and his wife were in their early 20's) and had adopted 2 more. I ran a garage sale with him once and a lady asked how many kids he had. He said "Four," and the lady said "Wow! You do know what birth control is, right?" As I uttered a disgusted "ugh" at this woman's sheer rudeness, he brushed her off with a "Hey, I likes to get mines." She gave him a little sniff and went to another table.
I nearly lost it laughing. I told him that was beautiful, and asked how often people say that kind of stuff to him like it's their business. "Every time," he said.
I admire women who have the tenacity and desire to have little football teams. I'm so scared of getting pregnant again that I'd be happy going the rest of my life without having another baby of my own, and adopting 2-3 toddlers. The women who can keep going, baby after baby, really instill a sense of awe in me.
Well, here in eastern Washington, the automatic assumption isn't that big families are Catholic, but Mormon. They're the big-scale reproducers around here.
But I get the same odd looks you describe when I tell people I have seven. And because it's a blended family, there's always more explanation than anybody wants to hear. I usually just say that we have five currently at home, and leave it at that.
Stacey, I love your frined's response! I've been known to say, "Well, we're newlyweds who don't believe in birth control... you do the math." Shuts them right up.
Thanks for visiting! BTW people think I am nuts for wanting a large family. I am not sure if I will have one but i leave it in God's hands. Have a great night!
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