Jan 11, 2010

Eight is Great

By Stacy Johnson
Derek William Johnson, born 26 December 2009
I always wanted a large family. I knew when I got married that I wanted at least 7 kids. After our 4th, my husband said we were done. I was blessed, lucky, fortunate (however you want to think about it) to have 4 more. Now, as a family of 10, I am hugely blessed. There is one thing that I didn’t consider when having a large family though. The comments. Yes, I do have a television in my room, I do know what causes it, and I do know what prevents it. You can cut the jokes now. So, in an effort to change the perception of others on how it really is to have a large family, my husband and I have come up with some benefits to having a large family. I’d like to share them with you.

1. We get to drive a 15 passenger van and you don’t have to sit right next to anyone.


2. When I buy the large Stouffer’s frozen meals, they are called “Party Size.” That means when we sit down to dinner, it is always a party.


3. Our family home evenings are super fun, we can have our own 3 on 3 basketball tournament and have substitutions.


4. We get our own bench at church (please don’t sit there).


5. When we go out to dinner, we get to people watch all the folks who have scared/disgusted looks on their faces as we sit down - good times.


6. Another benefit to going out to dinner is that my husband and I can enjoy some of those buffet restaurants without having to get up and help someone all night. We just partner them up, an older one with a younger one.




7. When you get home at the end of the day, there is always someone to greet you.


8. When you participate in any activity (sport, drama, music, etc.), you have your own cheering section, and they are very loud.

I know having a large family in this world is becoming a rarity. I am saddened to consider myself in the minority when just a generation ago, so many families were as large as ours.
I also cannot take for granted the miracle of growing a child inside of me. My heart aches for those who do not get this opportunity. I can only have a glimpse of their suffering when I think of my two angel babies that I will meet someday, and what a glorious reunion that will be. All I know for now, eight is great and if I didn’t have to endure another long pregnancy, I might have eight more.

9 comments:

  1. Looks like you're a great mom. Thanks for being an example to us all. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. How about:
    *You never have to sleep in your own room. That really helps if you have someone who is afraid of the dark.

    *It's amazing to watch an older child teach a younger child skills they have learned from you.

    *You have a built in tutoring for just about every age level.

    *There is always a playmate for every child.

    *You can take advantage of special offers that have that restriction "One per customer" at a totally different level than other families.

    *Family pictures are an adventure in and of themselves.

    I hear you on every point you brought up, and thought I would mention that I LOVE having a whole bench at church filled up. Seriously, if it wasn't such a hard thing to get the children here, I would have a few more too. I'm so glad we have the chance to be around your wonderful family.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How about:

    You never have to take a shower alone.

    You never have to use the restroom alone.

    You never, ever have to sleep alone, even when your husband is out of town.

    Our 15 passenger van is rusted on the top, has some dents, cracked windshield, and paint peeling in the back. We affectionately refer to it as our ghetto van.

    Big families are wonderful! I have 10 kids and would have 10 more if I weren't so ancient.

    My younger sister is expecting #11 and we grew up with just the two of us. When we get our families together, everything is rockin' and rollin'.

    Great post--I could totally relate.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm one of those who would have had 10 myself had my circumstances been different. My bf has 9 and I think it's terrific. One of my very fav bishops years ago had 10. I'm glad when it's right and doable, there are still large families. Good for you!!!! And add to your list...there's going to be a great deal of fun having an RV and spending your retirement years traveling to visit children and grandchildren. It's fun trust me on this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cute post! Being an only child, not exactly easy to relate to- but those families I ALWAYS wanted to belong to. :)
    I only had one child myself, but I married a man with 4 kids, we raised them all. Was fun... I admire you women who have big familes, not sure I was cut from that cloth - but I sure love being around you all and marveling at your talents and love and inspiration.
    ~K

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yay for big families! Not everyone HAS to do it, but we certainly love ours and it just gets better as they get older!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, and that cute baby face?...ADORABLE!!!

    Welcome Baby Derek!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kristine - I'll guard your bench for you if you'll guard mine.

    Thanks everyone for the comments...I'M BACK!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Welcome back...adorable baby, and great post! so fun! With our family of 11, instead of one bench in the center, we took up two or three on the side...it was easier for me to reach everyone that way!

    oh...yes, I have taken advantage of that 1 per customer thing...putting a kid with cash in different check out lines...lol

    oh and large families are "green"...we have 11 people using one light bulb, handing down clothes, etc.

    I feel very blessed..and yes, if they hadn't taken the equipment, I would have tried to have more..and I look forward to meeting a few angel babies too!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting. Feel free to comment on our blogger's posts.*

*We do not allow commercial links, however. If that's not clear, we mean "don't spam us with a link to your totally unrelated-to-writing site." We delete those comments.