“Really? You have nine kids? You know what causes that don’t you?”
Above is the usual response when someone finds out that I have nine children. Sometime I get very positive responses and occasionally borderline, if not outright, offensive responses, mostly though, just disbelief then a question about my awareness of human reproduction. I have a few pat responses that I use, depending on the person and their comment, but I never try to explain. People who are incredulous don’t want or care about why.
I love that I have nine kids. When I stop and wonder what my life would be like if I only had two or three, or even four kids, there is no way I would trade. I get to watch as these amazing tiny kids grow and mature into even more amazing big kids and young adults. I am always surprised about how eerily similar they all are yet, at the same time, how fantastically different each of them are. Right now I have an amazing range of ages. My oldest is 21 and one year away from graduating from college. My youngest is one and a half and communicates with us in her own language. I vividly remember when the former was the latter, along with the seven in between. I think that is what most people don’t understand. I get to experience this growth nine times.
If we had a “normal sized” family would we have more extra money at the end of the month, a less messy house, a less hectic schedule, or any of the many other excuses that people try to give me as reasons not to have a large family? Probably yes. Do any of those reasons make me think my life would be richer with a smaller family? Nope.
