Like many Americans in the 80s and 90s, (maybe like you?) I grew up with one sibling. So I didn’t really know what to expect as a mom of many children (we have 9 now). Some things we can anticipate: (laundry, food, and stacks of clothes bins!), but what I wanted to talk about in…
Tag: large family concerns
The Challenge of Being a Mom of Many (When I Need Breathing Room)
This might be the hardest part (for me) of having a big family. It’s the part I didn’t really expect, because, prior to having kids, I always saw myself as an extrovert. A quite marked extrovert. Not only that, but I always liked being around kids. Loved it, in fact. Playing, wrestling, tickling, laughing, snuggling down to read…
Big Family Life: It’s Harder… and Easier.
It’s probably the most common thing I hear in the grocery store: “I couldn’t handle any more children. I haven’t even got patience for these TWO!” The funny thing is that I don’t ask people why they don’t have more children. Especially when I’m going through the checkout line… I can assure you my mind…
So You Want to Have a Large Family?
So you want to have a large family? Or you’re on the fence and thinking about having more kids? Maybe your husband wants more, and you’re not sure? Or vice-versa? Before we got married, we both wanted a “lot of kids.” But back then we would have said that number was something like 3-5 kids. NOW?…
21 Ways Our Large Family Saves Money
Discount grocery stores— this is currently my top budget-slicing method. At Costco, one basket costs us about $300-400. At my discount grocery stores last week, I got 3 basketfuls of groceries for just over $150. It takes creativity, and a little more time (we went to 2 stores, 45 minutes away, rather than just 1 store…
Q&A: Family Size & Living Out Challenging Personal Convictions?
Q: When I look into the future and imagine our vision for our family, I still feel at peace having as many children as God wills until we prayerfully feel that season of childbearing is over. But in the midst of it, this task seems too hard. I find myself searching for biblical motivations, but…
Video: Motherhood is Noisy
Here’s a 3-minute video I made, smack-dab in the middle of my real life, to talk about the noise and chaos of real-life motherhood. IN THE COMMENTS, PLEASE SHARE: Has motherhood been more, or less, noisy and chaotic, than you expected?
What If the Littles Grow Up Different From the Big Kids?
One of the things I was at least mildly concerned about at first, in regard to having a big family, was the common observation that in a large family, the younger children often grow up in a quite different way from how the older children were raised. Accusations sometimes go along these lines: You were…
How I Handle Ugly Comments (About Our Large Family)
To each large family mom out there, especially you who are on the newer end of being a large family and hearing ugly comments: first, let me say, I’m sorry for the rude comments/attitudes you’ve received. We’ve gotten all the typical comments too. Back before we were a “large family,” I’d read the articles or hear…
10 Ways We Make Time for Our Marriage (Amidst the Chaos of Large Family Life)
It can be difficult for parents in any season of life— with a newborn, with two or three little ones, with the time commitments of little league, with teens, or (as in our case) with a large family that bridges many of these “seasons”– to prioritize marriage amidst all the “busyness.” Here are 10 ways Doug and I purposefully work…