It’s a common enough theme. I’ve been asked how we can afford it. I’ve been told by others that they would have more, but children are too expensive. It’s a common discussion on MOMYS, on Quiverfull, on any large family forum. Bottom line, either people want to be assured it’s very affordable or that’s it’s completely unaffordable and therein they are not compelled to have another child.
Bah humbug. The question never was, “Can you afford it?” It never should be.
I’ve tried to address it in my various forums. And, mostly because I’m lazy and I want to get onto the rest of my day, you’re just going to get a copy and pasted response. Enjoy.
Okay, well, there’s never enough. Period. I know people who have their 2.1 children, who make $100+ K, and who don’t feel they make enough $$. I know another family that makes approximately $30K/year, they have four children, they have paid off all their debts (NOT that they never had them, but that they paid them all off!), and only owe about $30-$40K on their house. It’s new too, they built it about 5 years ago, and no, it’s not LAVISH, but it certainly is comfy and they love it, on an acreage to boot.
A lot of “comfort” depends on what area you’re in. You might make the big bucks on the east or west coast, but I’ll GUARANTEE you won’t be able to buy as much (housing, food, gas, etc.) as we can here in the Midwest. Here you can buy a NICE house in a NICE neighborhood for $125K. And a gorgeous house, newly built for less than $200K and you’d have a REAL yard, unless of course you’d like acres, and then you could do that too.
Having a large family is NOT affordable. I’ll say it again if you’d like. A lot of people want to know that it is easily affordable and you’ll be able to have all the toys and all the frills that a family would have if they only had one child. Well, you won’t. A long time ago, when I first started on Quiverfull digest, I latched onto this saying, “Children aren’t expensive, lifestyles are.” I think that’s an awesome saying and I think all young couples should latch onto it. Because by the time they find out it’s not true, lol, then they’ve figured out what’s really important.
Yeah, that’s right. It’s not true. Lifestyles are expensive. So are children. No, they really are. If you have seven children, I can almost guarantee at least 1-2 trips to the ER per year. Not to mention paying for a delivery every 18 months. It’s true. While little ones don’t eat much, let me tell you, by the time they start to hit pre-teen, teen years, you’re left thinking, “But I DOUBLED that recipe? Where’d it all go?” No matter what your lifestyle is like, six children eat for six children, not for one. That’s a fact.
Let’s go onto the “but” though – C’mon, you knew there would be one.
We won’t be paying for our childrens’ college. Evil aren’t we? But the Army paid back $64,000 in student loans of dh’s and then put him through over $35K in more school and we took on another $30+K in college loans while we were in. We found a way. And our parent’s didn’t pay for it. Let’s take our own children for example. When they’re little you have visions of doctors and lawyers dancing in their heads. But as you have a half dozen, you’ll see, hopefully, that they are VERY uniquely gifted. As a rule, U.S. couples have 1-2 children that they just KNOW are little geniuses and even if Little Junior doesn’t “apply” himself, they’re still willing to fork over $40K to send him to get the paper degree in Dances of the Northwest Cultures. As parents of a large family, we are in a unique position. We can see that some of our children are going to be very academic, some are very industrious, more than academic. I know in our culture we prize academia over every other thing, but it only leaves kids feeling short. Why would we do that? Is not a happy, hardworking child’s worth valued as much as a bitter, sour child who always fell short of their parents’ goals? Our oldest is VERY academic. She knows she is expected to get scholarships. She gets up in the AM and she is very devoted. She is going into the 8th grade is narrowing her focus already. We’ve geared her schooling towards her PSAT with the goal being a National Merit scholar. My goal isn’t to pay her way. It’s to EQUIP with her what she needs to succeed. That can’t be bought.
Our oldest son is not as academically inclined as our daughter. But the child has a heart a mile wide and two miles deep. His love for his God and his country is pretty awesome in a 10 year old. He wants to serve. He has no academic goals, but of course our duty is STILL to equip him… both by building him up with strong character, his academic abilities still need to be strong, and he needs to be willing to serve. Again, OUR job is to equip our children to use their unique GIFTS. God wired them each in a different way.
Our third child only wants to act. It’s been that way since she was three. We really are at a loss what to do with it – It’s a gift, I have no doubt. I’m just a little clueless how we can use it for good instead of evil. Sigh.
And the rest, we’re waiting to see. But my point here is not only should you NOT pay for your child’s college, but that NOT every child SHOULD go to college. We, as a culture, consider it the end all be all, and it leaves an awful lot of kids, who could be hard working, happy, and strong and feeling good in their unique GIFTS, feel stupid, worthless, and short changed. And those children who have vision, know where they want to go, what they want to be, are driven, and are academic – well, they’ll get scholarships anyway.
As for house space, we’re working on stacking them. Our oldest shares a bed with her “beloved” Abigail (2) and while there were some shortfalls (while we potty trained) they get along VERY well when Abby doesn’t pee on her blanket, lol. Truth is, Ana, if given her own room, would be hyper-protective, and rude about it to her sisters. This is a built in character builder for her. On the other side of the room is a set of bunk beds for Rebecca and Elizabeth. Underneath that is going the trundle for Miss Sarah who will be moving up there in approximately 5 months. Now, if we need to, we can switch the full bed AND the twin bunks to twin over fulls and put trundles under each of them. The girls room CAN hold at least eight, reasonably, lol. We hang and color code almost all of their clothing. And we don’t keep extra. Ana has learned that good clothes are for good and you take care of your things. If all girls had to share a room (AND BE NICE) with their little sisters we’d see girls who take care of their stuff and assign value to them. And it’s good for the little girls to learn that things are special and belong to someone else so they can’t treat them badly and can’t touch everything they’d like. The boys share twin bunks. There are two bedrooms upstairs, one is more like a glorified large hallway. The boys don’t care. I love boys. My goodness they’re easy.
DH & I share a cubby hole that was meant to be the computer room. There is enough room for our bed, for our dresser, and he can even walk on his side of the bed! Since it’s our bedroom and we SLEEP there, we’re not too stressed about it. Our living areas are huge. But see this all changed with the culture of America. This was an old farmhouse. The people congregated in the kitchen, which of course, was eat-in. This is where they lived essentially. The living room is modest sized. The bedrooms are small because children and parents didn’t retreat there… The family stayed together, worked together, and played together. And then SLEPT in their bedrooms.
DH mentioned to me the other day, I’ve been morning sick and the house isn’t exactly spotless. Well, that might be an understatement. But, he mentioned, with the chaos, that maybe this house WAS too small. It’s not. As a matter of fact, I feel we have more space here than we did in town. Because I can cook a huge meal and have elbow room. Because the kids go out and run and jump and scream and then come in and sit still. (I like that part of living in the country.) So, living space isn’t very relevant.
Yes, money is tight. It always is. Mostly because we’re not great with money. But, we’re listening to good ‘ole Dave and we’re getting there. This last year I really wondered if it would be responsible for us to get pregnant before the end of the year. Due to the year change, our surgery will be in 2009, but the baby won’t be born until 2010. Which means we’ll max out our deductible this year and then turn around in January and max it out all over again. Sigh. But you know what? I’ll bet you in 20, or 10, or 5, or EVEN 2 years from this January, I won’t look at that little face and see the hospital bill. I bet I just see the face of a child, a blessing, that I’m so grateful to have that I don’t even notice the cost.
So, I’m pregnant. And it’s going to cost us a mint. Did I mention I HATE being pregnant? Hate it. I hate that I have to have surgery every single pregnancy. I hate that I throw up from the anesthesia. As a matter of fact, delivery is WONDERFUL compared to week 14.
Things that are precious have a cost, a high cost. If they didn’t cost a lot, monetarily, emotionally, or physically, they wouldn’t be considered precious. If you could walk out in your backyard and pick up a handful of diamonds, they would be worthless. Afterall, they’re just shiny rocks.
It is their COST that gives them value, that makes others consider them precious. The U.S. does not appreciate their children. The years gone by from disease and poor medical care has made children fairly easy to raise.
They are no longer precious. But ask an infertile couple what they would give to have a child.
In 2001 we gave birth to our daughter, Hannah Elizabeth. Unfortunately she was 26 weeks along and less than 2 lbs. She had decent chances, statistically speaking and did really well for a little while. On Day 12 we held her while she died. It wasn’t a short death. It wasn’t a painless death. It was long, and they gave her several morphine shots. You know your life has been changed forever when you stop praying for your child to live and instead pray for her relief through death. Life is precious. Her life was all of 12 days long. Sometimes it is not the length of time you live, but the impact of your life on those around you….. And if that is so, her life had true meaning.
Housing, space, money, college, it all means very little. If you have a house, it is enough. If you have space, it is enough. If you have food, the money is enough. If there is a will to get to college, it is enough. These things are very much not relevant compared to the preciousness of one life. And if you have the opportunity to give the world one precious life, it is a trick of the mind (and more as I know many Christians would believe and attest) that it should be denied because they might have to share a bedroom, or you can’t pay for four years of college.
June 2, 2009 at 2:18 am
That was such a beautiful post! really.
June 2, 2009 at 5:41 am
Beautiful post. So true. I am in Australia and even with just five people think I am killing myself and the environment!
Thank you for taking the time to write that!
June 2, 2009 at 8:11 am
You know what’s funny about this? It’s cultural. In other countries who have been suffering from a serious birth “recession” they are no longer able to sustain their way of life…. For example many European countries that have been practicing small families / low births are now finding out their work force will not support their aging population. They’ve gone beyond a balanced population to a population that is dying faster than the young couples can replenish the children. How odd. We had a debate about “guilt” over larger families a few months ago in a more mainstream forum and a German woman replied how this was a very “American” problem as she was made to feel in her country that she had a patriotic “obligation” to have another child for her country. We have become very accustomed to the ZPG movement and its’ philosophy that more people are ruining the world. There are many ways that I agree with them… I don’t think it is sustainable for the average person to have a dozen children, in disposable diapers, with all the waste of the baby products that are marketed, as there is a ton of waste associated with a baby. But I think more often than not you find these “experienced” moms are not going out and consuming. They aren’t buying 10 cribs, 10 strollers, 100 outfits, packages upon packages of disposables for their 10 children. I can fairly say we’ve probably not yet used the average amount of disposables a family of 4 would consume. Moreover, experienced moms often don’t feel the need to have as much “stuff” and many of us know it’s wise to buy “recycled” items, with the exception of carseats. So, yes, I can understand the guilt, as we try to be eco-conscious. At the same time, we’re trying to raise an eco-friendly family in a sustainable manner and I have to believe that the world benefits from more children being raised AWARE, and therefore the more children we have, the more likelihood of affecting change. How’s that for clear as mud?
June 2, 2009 at 5:46 am
AMEN to that!! I am right there with you! Our house would be considered “WAY” too small, but we make it work. We have built our own bunkbeds to accommodate children. :0)
We are “poor” by all standards, but we do pretty darn good, I’d say. We have food, pay all of our bills, have no debt and have a few little luxuries…(pets, get to go places, etc.)
This is the good life. I LOVE my life and wouldn’t trade it for any “rich” life with wealth, a huge house I could never clean and stuff. No thanks.
:0)
June 2, 2009 at 6:51 am
Loving your comments about stacking the kids. When folks are amazed that we fit so many in our house, I think, “This is nothing–we’ve got room for LOTS more!” 😀
Sorry about your reaction to anesthesia–i don’t heart it, either. Years ago, I came through sinus surgery with flying colors, but couldn’t go home because I couldn’t stop throwing up long enough to keep my pain meds down–ugh.
June 2, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Did you say you always have surgery? I am going to have my 6th c-section this fall and would love to know your thoughts on them.
Nichole
June 2, 2009 at 10:39 pm
I do. I have an outpatient procedure done called a cerclage. My cervix was damaged at some point after our second child and that’s why it didn’t hold for Hannah. We never thought I’d have an incompetent cervix (my mother does too) because I’d successfully carried two babies – one to 40 weeks & the other to 37. With Elizabeth we tried to NOT do the cerclage but by 20 weeks they placed an emergency cerclage, not expecting it to help. But, the specialist who made the final decision figured we were losing the baby either way, so give it a shot. We were able to carry her to 36w0d. With Rebecca and Tim we had it placed immediately at 14 weeks. With Abigail we saw a new OB who didn’t believe in incompetent cervixes and so wanted to “wait and see.” The longer we waited, the shorter the cervix got. We finally went back to our old OB and had the cerclage placed just before it dipped below a length of 2 at 16 weeks. Definitely a dreadful sign of incompetent cervix. With the cerclage in, my cervix stays fairly normal. Although I will tell you from about 28 weeks on, we get a bit nervous just making sure we make it to (ideally) 36 weeks.
I HAVE had one c-section with Lizzie, our fourth. The rest have been successful V-BACS, so I know very little about the risks involved with successive C-Sections. I do know that you might want to look into joining MOMYS. I know that a few years ago there were two women on there that had at least nine c-sections. And I’m sure that would be a huge encouragement to you. People generally assume that because some families have so many children, that it means the mamas have easy pregnancies. That is definitely NOT the case. For me, pregnancy is definitely one of my thorns. BUT, sometimes I wonder if that doesn’t speak more to conviction? Do you ever wonder that maybe it’s so hard so it speaks louder?
June 4, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Yes, definitely makes it speak louder. I am a “silent” member of MOMYs for a number of years. I really love and enjoy the fellowship. Thanks for your response.
June 3, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Well now that is really something to think on! Maybe it’s so hard so it speaks louder!!! Oh my Kelly I absolutely love your posts and the way you make me *think*!!!!!
Love you!!!