We have 5 children ages 19-24, 4 boys and 1 girl(She is second). My wife and I are both are mid-40s in age. We married young and started a family young, on purpose even. I really believe that raising kids is a young man’s job. I would sure hate to start now like some have, but all the more power to them that they did not totally miss out on this blessing.
From other discussions on this thread, I found that the hardest adjustment was having the 3rd child, after that it was not very noticeable. However, it was at the 4th child and up that EVERYONE ELSE had a hard time adjusting to, as if it was any of their business!
- Family Life
We have had a lot of challenges from the outside of the family over the years. Prayer and humour have been the two mainstays. Since my children are grown, they are a lot more independent but all are still at home (sort of) as they finish post-secondary schooling or get set setup in their trades. We still spend time together. There is many a time where a group banter/discussion will get going and one kid or another will drift into the living room to join in and render their opinions. They will call me at work and come for a coffee, and the oldest two boys still grocery shop with their mom, something they have done for 10 years now (ever since she needed someone to push the second or third grocery cart).
- Social Life
Our external social life was definitely hampered by the family. Since we had our children younger than every one we knew and had so many, friends and acquaintances were uncomfortable or just thought we would be too busy. Funny, the reverse is now true as they now have one or two under the age of 12 and they are working way harder than we were with all five. The parents of my children’s friends are all 4-10 years older than us, so there was an age thing even there. I found having a social life took work and we had to take the initiative.
- Health and well being
They are all healthy, thank God. My heart goes out to those who have this added burden. Medical costs for us were easy since I live in the place that invented government health care insurance and my plan at work covered the rest. We are also concerned with each other’s health. If one of the boys is doing something stupid, like driving home drunk, the others gang up on him to talk some sense. I catch heck almost daily for my smoking habit. My daughter’s boyfriends have all had to pass the four man brotherly Inquisition. All in all there is a quiet, strong, and often fierce love that pervades our family.
- Stress levels and how to manage it
Ask my wife,
. The Benedictine Monks have the ethic, “Work and Pray.” Ours was, “Laugh and Pray!”
- Time out periods
When the kids were younger, especially when there were lots of pre-schoolers about, we set aside every Wednesday evening, period, no exceptions, no excuses. We went out for dinner and something else, a walk, a movie, etc. It does not have to be expensive, it just has to be away. We could do hamburgers then a movie at the final run theatre with popcorn for $10 and many of those times were better than a $100 meal.
An important time out, often forgotten, was time out for the kids too. Picnics at the park, annual vacations(something, anything but don’t stay at home), and meals out. They were very well behaved because they knew we would end it and go home if not. I once left a full meal behind uneaten at a restaurant because they would not settle down. There was a lot of howling and tears from them at the time but I never had to do it again.
- What is your treasured moments
Mountain trail hiking as a family, starting from when the youngest was 3. I also took each one out alone when they turned 16 and hiked one of the really hard trails, a four day excursion. Quiet cuddling up on the couch after their bath, just before bedtime and hearing about their little triumphs and failures of the day.
(You know, I could go one forever about this one…)
Treasured moment not yet experienced but prayed for → Standing before the Final Judgment Seat and hearing God ask me, “Where are your children?”, and being able to answer, “Right here beside me.”
- Would you do it all again in another life!
Ya think???
We have five now. We’re not especially planning to have more, but then, we weren’t especially planning to have #4 and #5 either! It just, umm, sort of happened. 
But if I couldn’t skip those things, yes, I’d still do it again. In fact, I look on those things as rather paltry costs to the wealth I’ve got in exchange for them.
On the far end of tragedy is comedy. I laugh a lot because it is more fun than crying. 
Last Friday morning, I was getting GM (5 mos) ready for a developmental assessment at the hospital. I had left ME (11) and DJ (9) in charge of getting KJ (6, with disability) ready for school and on the bus. ME and DJ forgot; the bus came and went, and KJ was not on it. At the last moment, I decided to drive KJ to school on the way to GM’s appointment. Just as I put GM in her car seat, she vomited all over herself and the car seat. Needless to say, KJ did not make it to school. We did however make the developmental assessment, just 30 minutes late. I would love to hear from other large families in crisis who continue to follow Christ and laugh.