More Money, More Kids

There was just an article in the USA Weekend that caught my grandma's eye... she promptly picked up the phone & called me to let me know that I was RICH! WAHOO!!! According to the article "Having more than two children is a luxury" and "Three or four is getting to be a size that only the affluent can afford". Here's the full article if you are interested... http://www.usaweekend.com/08_issues/080406/080406abtn-money-family-size.html

I read through this article which shows that poorer families are having less children & came to this statement which prompted a jaw drop ~ Now, "people hurt their own standard of living and diminish prospects for their own children if they have more than two," Demeny says. WOW! I always knew I was sacrificing material things & maybe a few vacations & trips to the restaurants by having a couple extra kids, but never in my 10 years of being a mom have I have thought we were hurting our own standard of living or diminshing our children's prospects. In retrospect I think we are doing just the opposite. I guess getting married young, having children quickly thereafter & not ever having that affluent lifestyle saved us from having an actual "standard of living"... I guess We've only had what we've only had & that's just been good enough for us. All our needs are met & some of our wants & we have hope for the future. I think our children's prospects are outstanding, they are leading a "rich" life, full of unique experiences, awesome endeavours & its all directed by two parents who completely love them and find them to be fantastic representations of everything good in life! I hardly find that to be diminishing their prospects. They all are secure individuals with a HUGE support system that extends outside these walls & encompasses family & friends alike... And, they all actually like each other!

Another comment that irked me was "Once families have more than two children, everything becomes much more expensive, he says, pointing out that larger families need bigger cars and homes." Okay, the car thing I get... of course... unless you want to be driving 2 cars to the same place ~ I've already degressed about my suburban & its gas tank ~ We still live in the same house we lived in just after we got married & we adapt & make changes along the way to stay here... (The whole 1 bathroom thing is going to wear out soon enough, though, with 4 girls!) I've seen my grocery bill go up with each child, maybe $5-10 a week, but subsequent children don't really "add" too much to the family budget. The younger ones eagerly await the older ones hand me downs in toys & clothes alike. They are using the same books, crayons, pencils, sheets, pillows, etc. You choose their things more carefully... looking at durability & longevity... you run your errands solo (dad's in charge!) so there is no "I WANT THAT!" or "CAN I PICK SOMETHING OUT?" You spend your money carefully & precisely and don't buy frivolous things (well, sometimes!)... but you aren't catering to 1 or 2, 1 or 2 that just might be used to getting everything they want. I know, I know, society on a whole encourages that mentality... the whole instant gratification umbrella our youth lives under, but that doesn't mean MY kids get to do that. You start it & pretty soon it turns into a habit, a very bad habit that extends into their teens & on where they are soon expecting everything they want they get. We desperately want to give our children all the true goodness of life, but that doesn't mean a new game system everytime one comes out, a car on graduation day & a "free" ride through college (I'll blog my thoughts on that on another day). I truly believe children should work for the things they receive & not always be rewarded with tangible items. We should be preparing our children for "real life" including disappointment & turbulent times instead of just sugar coating them & sticking them in a plastic bubble.

We live on a "for 8 people" modest income that my husband provides. Looking at different charts & programs & by Society standards we are actually "poor", but I've never felt that way, or felt that we couldn't provide for our children. They still get to be on soccer teams & take swimming lessons & play baseball in the summers & enjoy a family vacation every year, they take in an occasional movie & have been to enough restaurants that they know how to behave at them. Rarely have they ever said anything about being bored. They have huge prospects & a fantastic view on their "standard of living".