Randomness of Thought.....

I have not had the heart for some time to write on any one subject at length, though there have been many happenings in this insane world that I have pondered. So tonight I write a little about one thing that I have thought about a lot....

It is my belief that every child that you have is a gift from God. Someone to be cherished and loved. Someone that, as a parent, you should take the time and effort to know and to love not just because you helped in their creation but because of the person that they become. So when does it become too many children? I have thought about this often lately because of the Duggar family. They recently welcomed their 17th child in to the world. The children range in age from 19 years old, to the youngest - a mere few months.

So as I wondered how much time they would really have, to get to know so many people. I found that I could not see it possible for them to get to know each of them, as I know my 2 boys. I am not discouraging large families or trying to be negative towards their decision to take God's command of "go forth a multiple" so very much to heart. To further my understanding of how such a large family functions and on what level of closeness, I asked two different people that I know that come from large families. One friend is a boy in a family of 14 siblings. He told me that he was never close with his parents and just semi close to some of the siblings. He said that he did not fault his parents, it was simply that there was always so much work to be done and very little time for "family time". The second person I asked was a female from a family of 11 siblings. She being the youngest. And she indeed echoed my first friend. While she said she loves her family, she does not know them as she would have liked. Half of her sibling were already in high school or out of the house, before she was at an age to be able to get to know them.

Personally I have put my limit to 4 children. With 3 being the ideal. I don't want to raise strangers that I love. I want to raise people that are adjusted and can one day tell their own children what their grandma was really like......not just that I put food on the table and disciplined them when they needed it.