Anyone else want a lot of kids?

[emmyfair]

I have three, and that is enough for us. Sometimes I think a little more than enough, so there isn't a snowballs chance in hell we'll have any more.

[SoybeanQueen]

We have 5. I wouldn't mind having another, but I also feel pretty happy with the kids we have. I'll be good either way, I suppose. Our house is pretty loud, and messy, and generally crazy, but that's how I wanted my home to be (sans the messy part). Some people think we're crazy, and I get stares when I take all of the kids out with me. Lots of "you have your hands full!" comments. I do, but my hands are full of good stuff, IMO.

It doesn't bother me that others choose not to have kids. It's hard for me to understand not wanting kids, since I really, really wanted a lot of them, but I think people should make those choices based on an honest assessment. More power to you if you realize parenthood is not for you. We adopted our three middle kiddos through the foster system, so I've seen what happens when people have kids without thought to how that's going to fit with their lifestyle.

[Future Teacher]

I used to want a lot of kids but then decieded on two. I have a long way to go through my schooling to worry about kids :lol:

[ladypuglover]

:? I already have 5.

I had a childhood fantasy of having 12 but reality would have only allowed for 6 bio. My body pooped out after 5, so we have 5. I'm now too old at least in my mind to worry about any child other than grandchildren. :lol:

[ilovetchotchkes]

I want 6. Husband wants 3 max. This pregnancy (#2) may be my last as the morning sickness this time 'round was epically brutal and I don't think i could do that with 2 kids under 4 (spacing wise, i'd want to get it all over with at once, I'm 30 and I have fertility issues so the longer I wait the harder it would be to conceive #3).

We may think about holding off after #2 is born and then think about adoption and adopt #3 and call it quits. :)

And I don't think its selfish to not want kids. Its the complete opposite. Selfish is when you have kids because society or your family or everyone says you should, so you do it because you should and the kids end up neglected or not necessarily unwanted but not the ideal situation. *coughthatwifecough*

[littlehouse]

We have a 2. We truly don't know if we should go for the third and....a fourth. It is really something I struggle with. I just feel we aren't done with our two, someone is missing as they say. But to make the leap to three scares the poop out of me.

[Shoobydoo]

No. More than 3 kinds sounds like hell on earth. And I think 3 is too many. :? I would be happiest with one, or maybe two.

[Trynn]

I'm nowhere close to being ready to have kids yet, but when I am, I do want a large family. But only if I'm able to handle it financially, and I wouldn't want 20 kids like the Duggars, unless they were extremely spaced out. Like, if I had 4 kids and then they grew up, and then I adopted 4 kids and then they grew up... after seeing the Duggars, I decided that maybe having 20 right after each other is...overload.

I often wish I had more brothers and sisters. As it is, my brother is 7 years (almost to the day) younger than me. I spent the first 7 years of my life wishing I even HAD a sibling. (There's a gap because my parents wanted to have another one, but the financial situation wasn't stable.) Even now I wish my brother had been born a few years earlier. I think we might be able to have more of a relationship. I think it is not good to be born too close together, but being 7 years apart has caused some problems as well... or at least, it would've helped, I think. Maybe 3-4 years is a good gap.

[SealFan1963]

I always wanted 4 kids, still wanted 4 kids after I had my son. Then I had my daughter. . . after two months of her screaming and colic and never being able to put her down I decided we were done. :(

[FlorenceHamilton]

I had three children in 2 years. The twins were born 26 months after my son. My house was a hectic, noisy, exhausting, joyous place. I was made to be a mom and truly relished even the frustrating times. I do not think everyone is cut out to handle that sort of rapid family expansion. I was tentatively finished after that, My marriage ended when the kids were in elementary school. If it had not, I might have had one more.

Three was a very nice number. It was fun that they were close in age and remain very good friends to this day. I was financially able to provide a nice life and recources for them. I imagine if there was stress about making ends meet or providing for their education and health needs that it would have been less fullfilling for us all. With the basics plus education assured, I had the emotional energy to give them time and attention. I had three in college for 2 years and still have 2 in graduate school.

[divadivine]

You know, some people are only children and LIKED it *happy only child*

I second that!

I slept through the night at three weeks of age. My Mom said that pretty much sealed the deal- I was meant to be an only child- no other baby would sleep through the night that young. She said I was the perfect baby. You don't tempt fate and try for number 2 because you might get the child from hell.

As an only child, I learned how to use my imagination because I played by myself a lot- I would spend hours in my bedroom playing dolls and making up stories and scenarios. I learned how to be by myself and not be lonely. I've never been scared to do things on my own. I never had to share my parents with someone else. Being an only is awesome!

[darkplumaged]

I wanted four when I was younger (and more naive and less tired), which seems like an enormous number now. We don't have any, and at this rate we won't have any. But I'd like to have two. (Actually, I'd like to have three, but I have limited childbearing years, limited money, very limited emotional energy, and a husband with limited interest in childrearing.)

[browngrl]

I second that!

I slept through the night at three weeks of age. My Mom said that pretty much sealed the deal- I was meant to be an only child- no other baby would sleep through the night that young. She said I was the perfect baby. You don't tempt fate and try for number 2 because you might get the child from hell.

As an only child, I learned how to use my imagination because I played by myself a lot- I would spend hours in my bedroom playing dolls and making up stories and scenarios. I learned how to be by myself and not be lonely. I've never been scared to do things on my own. I never had to share my parents with someone else. Being an only is awesome!

Many many times as a child I would wish I was an only. I love my sisters now but we get along so much better now that we all have our own homes/clothes/lives etc

[Patsy]

I'd like five or six, but have none. We'll see if I change my mind; my parents wanted 6-12 before they actually had any.

[FarmWife]

We've got four, and always wanted a big family, so we might have a few more. Once you reach a certain level of chaos, adding a bit more doesn't seem all that daunting.

Wish I didn't absolutely loathe being pregnant quite so much.

[Maul the Koala]

I'll have to look at surrogacy or adoption if I decide to have children unless things change radically in the next 10 years. I'm not tempting fate with the hormone swings of pregnancy. So I'm limited in how many children I can have. I wouldn't have a large family anyway.

[SpeakNow]

I would love to have a lot of kids (and by a lot I mean 4 or 5), but I would only actually have that many if, after 1 or 2, I felt like I could emotionally and financially support more children.

[MrsKay]

I'd love a huge family; my dream was always to live in a big old house in the country, with kids everywhere. However, I have very high-risk pregnancies, and one disabled child out of three, so I'm hoping for one more. If I were to get pregnant right now, there would be a 15 year age gap from oldest to youngest. I don't have a lot of fertile years left compared to when I had my first baby, nor do I have the same people around who could help me out if I were on bedrest for a bit or something else temporary, so while I'd love a few more, I can't see it being feasible.

[Clementine]

No way. Don't know if I want to have children at all, if so not more than one.

[ophelia]

I would love to have at least 4 children, since my boyfriend and I will have a pretty income once we start working. We both have two younger siblings and want at least 4, although I would like to have more. (I have to admit that I might change my mind after giving birth the first time ;-) ) I like the idea to let God decide our family size, my boyfriend is not so much into it, but we'll see how we feel when we are married and have our first one.

[crassy]

Nooooooooooooooooooooo! I have one and that is more than enough for me. I am not a maternal person and I find it difficult to be raising one child. I would cry and then hang myself if I got pregnant again. I love my kid but no. Just no.

[eohiken]

I wanted four, every family I know with 4 kids has a lovely dynamic. I only have two and may be done. I love babies, I have infinite patience for babies, little kids, not so much. There's still time I suppose, but it's a huge temptation not to have to deal with 3-7 yos again.

The funny thing was, I pictured myself having all girls, with the youngest a boy. And then my youngest was born male. So either I'm not psychic, or maybe I am afterall.

[Clementine]

I second that!

I slept through the night at three weeks of age. My Mom said that pretty much sealed the deal- I was meant to be an only child- no other baby would sleep through the night that young. She said I was the perfect baby. You don't tempt fate and try for number 2 because you might get the child from hell.

As an only child, I learned how to use my imagination because I played by myself a lot- I would spend hours in my bedroom playing dolls and making up stories and scenarios. I learned how to be by myself and not be lonely. I've never been scared to do things on my own. I never had to share my parents with someone else. Being an only is awesome!

Same here. Mr C and I are both only children and we both look totaly complexed when we are asked if we never have wanted to have siblings.

His response: "Uhm... no. Why would I want to have that?"

Mine: "NOOOO! I loved living in a small family. Lots of quiet time and no fighting!"

[Spider Burps]

I second that!

I slept through the night at three weeks of age. My Mom said that pretty much sealed the deal- I was meant to be an only child- no other baby would sleep through the night that young. She said I was the perfect baby. You don't tempt fate and try for number 2 because you might get the child from hell.

As an only child, I learned how to use my imagination because I played by myself a lot- I would spend hours in my bedroom playing dolls and making up stories and scenarios. I learned how to be by myself and not be lonely. I've never been scared to do things on my own. I never had to share my parents with someone else. Being an only is awesome!

I was like you as a baby. I did everything super easily and it made my mom think that ALL babies must be super easy for her. Theeen she had my schizophrenic brother. :| At least having an insane little brother made me able to deal with average children all the better!

[Eoywin]

I have one and that's going to be it at least biological. I have a lot of health problems that would make it unwise for me to go through another pregnancy. We might think about adopting an older child sometime in the future.

I've been told that I'm selfish for just one and my MIL told my husband & I that our daughter is going be shy. My kid is a lot of things, but shy isn't one of them :lol:

I have friends with lots of kids (one who is a QF family) as well as some who are child free. I think it just depends on what you feel is right for you.