And Baby Makes How Many?

[Morwenna]

Saw this in the NY Times:

nytimes.com/2009/02/08/fashion/08bigfam.html

On the whole it’s a surprisingly balanced article (especially considering the source!), and I wanted to share a couple of nice snippets:

“Children are a kind of wealth,” Mrs. Curtis said. “Just not the kind of wealth our society tends to focus on.”



Mrs. Gunnip is a homemaker in upstate New York, and her husband works as a supervisor in a county sewer department. She says they could qualify for public assistance but choose not to apply, believing others need it more. “I can’t say how we do it, and on paper it looks like we don’t do it, but there’s always a way,” she said. “My kids never go hungry. They do activities they want to do, we go on vacation. We don’t go to Disney, but we go camping.”

Divine Providence

And the end of the article provides some nice comebacks for the usual snide comments (e.g., “don’t you know what causes that?”)

Enjoy

nytimes.com/2009/02/08/fashion/08bigfam.html

 

[Rob_s_Wife]

**pleasant change of pace article **

---

**but oh my goodness the comments on it are horrid! **

 

[armywife]

Whew, I agree. I just finished reading the article and all the comments. Some of those people are really angry and it’s very sad. Of course I’m sure they’d see me as a naive ignorant person.

I did laugh out loud of one person’s mention of our “carbon footprint” and another comment that “ethically, one can only replace themselves two times then if they want a brood they should adopt”.

 

[LongingForLight]

If we really want to cut back on carbon, we should only allow large families. 20% of the population gets to breed, and they must have 10 kids per couple. Everyone else stays single.

Population increases at the same rate as 2 kids per couple for everyone. And families leave smaller carbon prints, because they can’t afford the carbon-eating lifestyle - plus children learn healthier consumption habits, instead of child-free / few child extravagance

This is why I will never be allowed to go into politics I’m too much of a smart-alec.

 

[manualman]

Wow, what comments! To think, those people actually believe what they are saying!

Calling the parents of big families ‘selfish’ is the more preposterous thing I’ve read today.

I’ll betcha EVERY one of those critics lives in an air-conditioned home, vacations on airplanes, doesn’t wear long underwear in the winter (warm home), owns at least one car per driver, etc.

THOSE are the things that are using up the Earth’s resources. Once again, the guilty are looking for scapegoats. IF (and it is a legitimate if) we truly are pumping out more CO2 and burning fossil fuels at unsustainable rates, then it is the American culture of consumption that needs abolishing, not the big family.

But it is SO much nicer to convince oneself that somebody ELSE is to blame… A handy scapegoat is soooo convenient.

 

[3GirlsRUs]

Wow. Did ya catch the comment that practicing Roman Catholicism means “no barriers, no saying no once you are married” and then said it is on par with Islam?

Wow, people are so ill-informed.

 

[Rob_s_Wife]

Wow. Did ya catch the comment that practicing Roman Catholicism means “no barriers, no saying no once you are married” and then said it is on par with Islam?

Wow, people are so ill-informed.

**yep. I caught that yahoo too. **

 

[armywife]

What’s more wasteful, a family of four living in a 3000+ sqft house with four bathrooms or a family of six or more in a 1500 sqft house with one maybe two bathrooms. Hmmmm???

(Not saying you can’t, just saying those posters shouldn’t be so critical of what real waste)

 

[jwatza]

reading the comments from readers was so, so scary! The large family is certainly under attack. How can I be described as selfish because I was open to God’s plan to create souls for eternal life? How is sacrificing sleep, personal time, material things…selfish? I just don’t get it. How did we get to the point where the earth takes precedence over precious souls being created? Who is going to take care of the elderly and infirmed as the population gets older? Who’s taxes will be supporting all those complaining people as they age—my children, that’s who!

 

[Jennifer_J]

Hello, My name is Jennifer, and I’m a selfish mother of 6 What’s really scary, is I think many of those people would be okay with reducing my family size NOW --even after I have 6!! Seriously, if I already have a large family, what do they want me to do about my selfish self? BAH! They can reproduce themselves out of existance

 

[Rob_s_Wife]

**yeah, I haven’t slept for 8 hours straight and have been wiping poo off bums for the last 13 years because I’m selfish, that’s got be why I do it. Makes perfect sense. **

 

[Abby_Fletcher]

i was reading the comments on the article, and this was just too funny to pass up:

Now the government steps in and allows individuals to have more children than they can house, feed, or clothe

so the government can allow you to kill unborn children, but when they allow people to have children, they’re way out of line i love logic

my parents wanted to have four kids, and while thats not really all the big compared to some, i still think it would have been fun. alas, health conditions wouldn’t allow it, so i’m one of two.

my cousin on the other hand is 4th of 13, and we’re placing bets on when they’re going to announce #14 (a loving family joke, i promise). they have to be some of the happiest people i know, and the least selfish. i definitely want to have a big family one day (although, i don’t think i’ll try to out do my cousin )