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6 kids is a lot these days!
I remember a conversation I had with my husband before we were even engaged. Sitting on the floor in my apartment he asked me how many kids I wanted. I said 5…I came from a family of 4 kids and he came from a family of 6…so maybe that seemed like a nice in between number!
Having children did not come easy for us. We went through infertility treatments and a tubal pregnancy. We wanted to be parents…it was part of our hopes and dreams for our life together. Prayer led us to adoption…which really wasn’t a difficult choice as we have adoption stories on both sides of our family. We adopted our oldest after we had been married for 6 years. It was an incredible experience. I thought we were going to build our family through adoption. Then, after some research and prayer led me to some solutions for some health problems I was having…I became pregnant! We were shocked!
Here we are several years later with 6 children. I feel incredibly blessed…and at times overwhelmed! (somehow I never thought about teaching these children how to drive!)
The best things about having a big family.
- I love being able to enjoy my teenagers at the same time I’m laughing with my little guys…it’s the best of both worlds! Sometimes it is nice to be distracted by little ones (like after going driving with a teenager!)
- There is always someone to play with (of course, that means there is always someone to fight with as well!)
- There are built in service opportunities. Someone always needs help so (hopefully) I can teach my kids to be aware of other people’s needs and offer help when they can…without ever leaving my home! It’s also easier (and more fun) to tackle big tasks with more people!
- It’s fun to see my older kids teach my younger ones new skills…I guess my little guy is out of luck! Recently my oldest daughter taught my oldest son how to sew! He really wanted to learn and she is the sewing expert in the family.
- We have to practice delayed gratification. We live in a world of instant gratification…people get what they want…and they get it now! That just doesn’t happen with lots of kids (unless you are the baby…as my older children would tell you!)
- Even though all my children are being raised by the same parents…there are 6 different personalities. My children are learning to live with and get along with people who may not think like they do. I think of it as training for future college roommates!
- Having a large family has taught me many things. I have learned how to be more selfless and more patient. My humility has increased as I realize that I can’t do it all on my own! I have had to learn (out of necessity) how to organize my time better.
- And as a bonus…my husband and I will have more people to take care of us when we get older! That may sound really selfish…but as I look at my own family situation, I can see that it might be nice to have a few more options to care for my parents as they get older.
