Posted on 07/11/2006 1:16:06 PM PDT by NYer
**But it's just not possible for one parent to fill the needs of that many children.There has to be toddlers and infants along with the older ones and no one woman can be feeding a baby, changing a toddler, making lunch for the older ones and teaching the school aged while getting the house in order buying the groceries for supper and on and on with the 101 things that have to be done daily.**
That's how you teach your children LOVE -- by giving. It is possible with God on your side. Check out the link on Sacramental Grace.
An obvious Theology of the Body and Pope John Paul II ping.
Please post any links if you can too.
**Well I'd call it growing farm hands but that's just me.**
Did that as the oldest of seven, but I usually got to take care of the younger ones while the ones in the middle went out to the field or worked in the dairy barn.
Have to laugh at the memories of my sister. My mom would send her out to gather egss during the war. Where would we find her? On top of the chicken coop -- singing to God! LOl!
That is the mark of great faith.
The vocation of parenthood rests in the task of leading our children - all those that God will bless us with - to enternal life!
Exactly right!
Two things. One, a lot of those "needs" aren't really needs, just wants. Two, part of the value of a large family is that the older children have to learn to help out. That's often a better thing for kids than having a parent all to themselves, to fawn over them full-time.
One of the cool things about my Tridentine parish is that we have several very large families (7+ kids). The kids are very well behaved.
Somebody computes decades differently than I do. It's a stretch to call it 4 decades when 1959 is the very end of one, and 1980 is barely the beginning of one. The kids were born over a 21 year time span, and that isn't so eye catching, is it?
They're not the main ones doing the raising. But they are learning to handle little ones. Pre-teens and teens can handle more than you can think.
How old were you when you first held a baby? I'm happy to say that I was 7 and helped take care of a younger sister. I considered it an honor and a privilege [to help].
You haven't seen our boys interact with their youngest siblings. It is the most amazing thing to see our testosterone-filled 5th and 6th grade boys interact with their baby sister. They are able to be boys when they're with their friends and when they're playing sports. They are able to keep their sweet innocence when they play with their youngest siblings, particularly their youngest sister. I can tell you that their friends do not have that opportunity. And if attendance at sporting events and school events is any indication, our children are not missing out on attention from Mom and Dad. As a matter of fact, they may get more attention than their friends. They happen to get attention from their brothers and sisters as well. And that is not always welcome!
I was the youngest of four. I would have loved to have younger siblings. Instead, I found other families to fulfill that need. I went to the neighbors to help feed and diaper babies, make lunch for the older ones, and teach the older ones. I couldn't go do the grocery shopping, but I would gladly babysit (for free) so Moms could go do that grocery shopping. But I grew up with a serve others mentality.
I will admit that when one of our children became extremely ill earlier this year, her siblings suffered as a result. We did not give them the attention they would have received, and the oldest two had to do a lot of helping out. However, I don't think they would trade the life of their sister for the sacrifices they made over a few months. On the contrary, the reality of how fragile life is was a very important lesson for all of us.
I loved the books " I Should Have Seen It Coming When The Rabbit Died" and " Up A Family Tree". They were written by a mom of 10. I can not remember her last name but her first name is Theresa.
My mom always says she doesn't remember the 50's much because she was so busy giving birth to most of us.
Actually... they become responsible for their younger sibblings.
Even though I was in the middle of a family of ten, we were expected to help out in taking care of the younger ones. I don't think I missed out on anything different, and understood the meaning of family.
Shafted because they have to grow up early while their peers expect to behave like children until they are 25?
Excellent point, RobbyS. I'm 27, married, and now have two children (18 months and 3 weeks old, respectively). Most of my "peers" have not reached adulthood mentally, and it's sad, especially now since society assumes that men in their 20's are not responsible.
I didn't come from a large family, but somehow (perhaps being part of the TLM environment) I managed to develop a strong sense of responsibility at a young age. 50 years ago that may have been normal; today it's considered "growing up too fast."
Interesting. I came from (what was for that area) a small family of five (two sisters). When my Dad hurt his back, I had to take charge of the family farm at the age of 13. After that year, I no longer could interact with my peers at school like I had before. In short, because I had to grow up, and they didn't. I no longer cared what type of jeans I wore, because there were about twenty sows getting ready to farrow at home and they had to be moved either before or after school. When you have to deal with reality, all the popularity games seem very stupid.
Contrast that with my little sister, who is still a child at 26. This culture is so odd in that it glorifies having no responsibilities and yet every one wants to be treated with total respect. We as a nation have reared up three generations of barbarian children who think mainly of themselves, and now we wonder why western society is committing mass suicide.
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