Tag Archives: number of children

A Quota of Blessings

Not long after our wedding, the questions and comments began. You know the ones.

“When are you going to start a family?”

“I think you’d look great pushing a stroller.”

And my favorite….

“You aren’t going to be one of those women who chooses career over motherhood, are you?”

Most people approach having a child as a given and are not shy with their opinions on the matter. Fortunately, I have always wanted children so the pressure I felt was relatively healthy in nature. After a few years of alone time, my husband and I knew the time was right to start a family. The day our daughter was born we underwent an incredible metamorphosis. We were no longer a couple, but a FAMILY.

No sooner had our daughter weaned from the bottle than a new set of questions and comments began.

“When are you going to give Bailey a sibling?”

“You’re going to try for a boy, right?”

And my favorite…

“Only children are spoiled. It’s your responsibility to have more than one child.”

Fortunately again, I envisioned myself with more than one child so the comments aligned with our family goals. We put the questions to rest by adding a precious son to our clan three years after our first was born. Children are blessings and we were overjoyed to grow our family.

Now that my children are ages 7 and almost 4, the questions have a different texture. “Are you done?” seems to be laced with judgment from those with small-family experiences and expectation from those with large families. Continue reading A Quota of Blessings