[~Nodnol~]

Four. I always thought I would have one child, but dh convinced me to go for #2 and then after that I was hooked.

It is a struggle some days, just like it was when there was one kid or two. You learn to balance and adjust your time. None of my kids want for attention or one on one time.

Financially- I think this kind of question is offensive, sorry. I don't like that large families are constantly questioned about how they afford stuff or what assistance they receive. Families with two children never get asked. We have what we have and budget.

[7girly-girls]

We have 8.
Yes it's hard work and expensive, it is also extremely rewarding and we are very happy (most of the time ).
From a financial point of view I think having a large family is quite different from having 1, 2 or 3 children, especially as they get older. How you cope financially would depend on individual circumstances.
I'm actually a very disorganised, go with the flow type of person. Although I've become better, it is organised chaos at best in our household.

[SMOKER]

We have four.... it just happened oops. The plan was 2 but I am so glad we have 4. I would love more but DH says NO!

[mum2five]

How many kids do you have!?
5

Is it much harder than having say just 1 or 2 kids?
Sure is - if we stopped at two life would have been cruisey (but would I have known that???). Smaller everything - car, house, bills, needs/wants...

Why did you decide to have a large family? (or did it just happen?)
I always wanted 3 . Dh wanted 4. We ended up with 5.


Oh and - if you don't mind... Is it a struggle financially?

We both work. My kids have everything they need and enough of the things they want.

That said I am extremely happy with my place/choices in life. I would love to do it all over again!

[Ianthe]

I have five. Yes it is much busier than having one or two. There is always something happening. I do try to keep our lives with a lot of downtime though.

[Jen1]

Only a small family here, with 4 children.

[reng]

14

Eta, it's extremely hard and extremely wonderful all at the same time.

Wow! One of my clients is the eldest of 19 - he is 60 and his baby sister has just turned 30! You should see their family xmas photo, now that most of them have kids of their own!!

Big families are an amazing thing. My parents are both the oldest of 6, I'm the oldest of 4 and have (nearly) 4 myself. I have around 30 cousins, but now that they are starting to have kids I'm struggling to remember all their kids names! Especially the one that is married to the grandson of the Maori king, gee, their son has a crazy long Maori name! It's very sociable and I think it really helped me when growing up to have all those people around me.

My sister's partner is the total opposite. His parents are only kids, and he has one brother, no cousins. He was completely freaked out by the idea of meeting my kids, but is turning into a really great uncle. He's young enough to play lots of sport with the boys, which is all they seem to want in an uncle

[MickeyBoo]

How many kids do you have!? we have four and one on the way.

Is it much harder than having say just 1 or 2 kids? We stopped at two for awhile and time wise, financially it was a lot easier, we could just pick up and go on holiday, had a kid for each hand, they were both going off to school so I was back at work etc etc. The jump from 2-3 was hardest for us because it was a big family adjustment for everything, the jump from 3-4 and now 4-5 is a lot easier. It comes down to being organised, making sure that each child gets individual attention and that you all get some down time when you need it.

Why did you decide to have a large family? (or did it just happen?) We stopped at 2, then decided to go back for 2 more. #5 was a bit of a long discussion over 18months that finally ended in up in us agreeing to have one more. I know that I am done after this one, however DH jokes around that he'd go back for more

Is it a struggle financially? Depends what you define as a struggle, could we do with more money, well who couldn't? DH works fulltime and we balance things quite well, the bills are paid, there's food on the table every meal and if the kids need something they get it. The kids don't miss out on school activities and we go out and do family things as often as possible, we enjoy each others company a lot more then material possessions which makes a big difference in how we define 'comfortable'.

The only thing I get sick of is being asked if they are all planned and this morbid curiousity into our lives like we are some freak show on display for all to poke at because we're doing something outside the norm.

[LittleSister]

I'll note that I wasn't asking to offend anybody. I already stated that my sister has 8 kids... I don't think you're a 'freak show'

I guess asking about the financials was a bit silly because I know people with 2 kids who 'struggle' and both parents have to work full-time. Yes it does just depend on circumstances.

I guess I was asking because I thought it might have it's benefits - eg: handing down clothes and toys, etc.

If you thought the question was offensive, you shouldn't have answered!!! Feel like I'm being prosecuted for being interested.

This post has been edited by LittleSister: 30/11/2011, 09:07 AM

[back*again]

I have 6 children (less than 8yrs between them all, no multiples). Some things are much harder than it is with 2-3 kids. I recently went grocery shopping with only 3 of them, it was so much easier just to walk across the carpark! But, I believe more kids play better together and entertain each other better.

Financially, no it's not a struggle. But, I haven't yet tried to get a decent sized house (we're in a 4bedroom, 1 bathroom atm). I would dearly love an extra couple of bedrooms and atleast 1 more toilet, but this isn't an option at the moment.

There are definatelythe benifits you mention; hand me down clothes and toys and general equipment. However, I've found most items aren't designed to last that long, for example, my pram has been replaced a few times over the years. My boys tend to play in the dirt and mud, their clothes don't last too long. My girls have opposite taste in clothes, hand me downs isn't an option there.

The LF thing kinda just happened; was going to be 3 kids, then I got "just one more" disease....only recently got cured!