How many is "many"?

[Desert Strawberry]

in reference to "Moms of Many"?

 

I used to think 4, but now that I have 4, it doesn't seem like that many.

 

But 4 is more than the average, even in high birth-rate areas (like Louisiana). So I guess it should qualify.

 

So what the magic number, do you think?

[Pamela H in Texas]

I think 4 or 5.

 

Most of the time (like right this moment, even with a sick baby), even 7 doesn't seem like many. I'm sure there are moms with two who think they have many sometimes. It really just depends, I think.

[Jen500]

When the kids outnumber the parents. :001_smile:

[Guest]

I say 5+.

 

I grew up in a family of four kids, and I don't consider 4 to be "many". That being said, there is a 15 yr. difference between me and my youngest sister. Maybe if we had all grown up closer, it would seem like a larger family.

Edited June 20, 2011 by Guest

[angela in ohio]

More than five.

 

At least that seems to be the dividing line in (mostly homeschooling) circles I know that praise large families. Everyone wants to get that sixth child. :D

Edited June 20, 2011 by angela in ohio

[Laura Corin]

Four is many for me. I know one family with three - two is the massive majority amongst people I know, with a few singletons.

 

Laura

[Mimm]

Many is in the eye of the beholder. :)

 

I am from a large family and always think of it as five or more.

[Ester Maria]

I hear a great rule of the thumb on these boards: when you can no longer fit in a car and require a special vehicle. Which basically means 4+, as in an average (sort of "bigger" average) car you can squeeze the 3 of them in the back with 2 parents in the front. Having more children would necessitate having a more complicated, bigger vehicle to operate - when you reach that point, you have *many*, LOL.

[Janie Grace]

I think 5. When I went from 4 to 5, that was when people started treating us like the Duggars or something. We're still in a minivan, but I don't think that will work when the kids are teenagers (and we're done at 5, by the way).

[learningmama]

I would say 4 or more. Our family has 2, three would be a true circus for us. Both kids are very intense- guess it runs in the family!

[Desert Strawberry]

The last time I went to So Cal ( where I grew up and my family is) I had just had my 3rd, and that was a bit of a rarity, but not unheard of. I'm very curious to see what it will be like with 4. I don't think we encountered another family with 3 in the 3 months we were there ( except for my cousin with 6, who introduced me to homeschooling, but she'e the oddball. She also brought me to this board :) ) one, maybe 2 is normal. WHen I announced my 4th pregnancy, I got a lot of superhero comments, which to me is strange, because here in Louisiana, 4 is just about right.

[BakersDozen]

I felt like a MOM when #7 came along. Up until then I felt I had an average sized family (for our area, at least). When #7 came we had to upgrade things such as our vehicle, cooking pots/dishes, etc.

[emcap]

I have four, it often feels like "many". I don't know how people with four or more don't feel that way. Is it because mine are all about 2yrs apart? Because they are all boys? I don't know. But when you have to make as much food, do as much laundry, receive excessive amounts of comments from strangers every time you go out, answer as many questions and listen to as many stories throughout the day as I do, I don't know how four doesn't feel like "many".:001_huh: And part of what amazes me is that mine are all fairly easy, obedient, compliant children (they do have their moments and days of course). I can't imagine with disabilities or more challenging children.

I truly enjoy my children and love caring for them, but we sure don't feel like a small family :tongue_smilie:

[mommaduck]

in reference to "Moms of Many"?

 

I used to think 4, but now that I have 4, it doesn't seem like that many.

 

But 4 is more than the average, even in high birth-rate areas (like Louisiana). So I guess it should qualify.

 

So what the magic number, do you think?

 

Four is merely average here. Even if you have six children, you're just average. It really depends on where you live (even within an area) and who you hang with. We are considered large in church (we are the largest family currently of our generation), but we are pretty average for our area.

[Veritaserum]

5+

[Pink Fairy]

I think five or more is many. I know lots of bigger families, and five just seems like the crossover point into large family.

[AnitaMcC]

I am thinking 5 or more kids to be a "parent of many". Figure with both parents, they have four hands... more than that then they have more kids than number of hands that are handy- LOL.

 

But that said... I am mom of 7 and don't feel as I am mom of many. Only when we all are actually going somewhere and we have to take two vehicles-LOL.

Edited June 21, 2011 by AnitaMcC

[silliness7]

in reference to "Moms of Many"?

 

I used to think 4, but now that I have 4, it doesn't seem like that many.

 

But 4 is more than the average, even in high birth-rate areas (like Louisiana). So I guess it should qualify.

 

So what the magic number, do you think?

 

I used to belong to a Moms of Many yahoo group. I think it was a yahoo group, maybe it was some other kind of online group. Anyhoo.... 4 was their magic number but there was a time limit too. 4 in 8-10 years or something like that.

 

I know what you mean. Some days I feel like I don't have many. Sometimes when we're all together and I'm counting heads and they're all there and I'm like. This is it? 7 seems "normal" . But 8 sounds fantastically HUGE to me. My imagination just. cannot. go. there. :lol:

 

But I felt that way about 7 when I had 6 and the last one wasn't on the radar. :D

[BlsdMama]

I think anything past four is large. ;)

 

But then again I have stopped the kids in a store and said, "Hey - there goes a big family." We counted. They had four. I finally understand why we get counted aloud. ;)

 

Sidenote: MOMYS (Moms of Many Young Siblings) defines "many" as four children within eight years. Frankly, it's the six in seven years that is adding a little chaos to my life.

Edited June 21, 2011 by BlsdMama

[HeidiKC]

6+

[momtotkbb]

I have 4 kiddos and I don't consider us a large family. I always think of more than 6 kids as having many.

[Tap]

4-5 in close succession. If someone told me "Mary has many children; she has 4." I could understand that but I wouldn't use the word many to describe anything under 5-6 myself.

 

 

I have a friend who has 2 boys in their late 20s (married w/ kids). Then remarried, and have a 15 and 12 yo. There is over 12 years between the sets of kids.

 

I don't consider her a mom of many, because she is only 'mothering' the younger two .

 

To me:

1 kiddo is only

2, a couple

3, a few

4, several

5-7 many

8+ a lot! (I am the baby of 9)

Edited June 21, 2011 by Tap, tap, tap

[silliness7]

I think anything past four is large. ;)

 

But then again I have stopped the kids in a store and said, "Hey - there goes a big family." We counted. They had four. I finally understand why we get counted aloud. ;)

 

Sidenote: MOMYS (Moms of Many Young Siblings) defines "many" as four children within eight years. Frankly, it's the six in seven years that is adding a little chaos to my life.

 

:lol::lol::grouphug::grouphug:

 

MOMYS...that was it!! Do you belong to that? I used to many years ago.

[creativish]

In my mind, "many" is when you have more kids in your family than you did growing up :tongue_smilie: making things much more complicated than you remember so you gotta come up with new ideas, and quick! :lol:

[kchara]

I'd say somewhere around 4 and 5 is considered big. My #4 and #5 were twins, but we weren't getting comments before them. We did after.

[matilda]

Locally, I get comments about my "many" children anytime I am out with at least 3.

[cathmom]

I have four, it often feels like "many". I don't know how people with four or more don't feel that way. Is it because mine are all about 2yrs apart? Because they are all boys? I don't know. But when you have to make as much food, do as much laundry, receive excessive amounts of comments from strangers every time you go out, answer as many questions and listen to as many stories throughout the day as I do, I don't know how four doesn't feel like "many".:001_huh: And part of what amazes me is that mine are all fairly easy, obedient, compliant children (they do have their moments and days of course). I can't imagine with disabilities or more challenging children.

I truly enjoy my children and love caring for them, but we sure don't feel like a small family :tongue_smilie:

 

I agree. Several of mine do have learning disabilities and it's very challenging managing everything.

[Barb_]

I agree with 4+. It's funny, our family doesn't seem all that big (even in the two bedroom, 1 bath apt where we're spending the summer) when we are all sitting around in the same room. But my husband took just the four little ones for a walk to the park today, and when I looked out the window to say goodbye, I was struck at how many children he looked like he was leading. I can't imagine what we must look like to others when we're all out together.

 

Barb

[WiseOwlKnits]

Around here it's 3+. Most people we know have 1 child. A couple have 2 children. No one in our circle has more than 2. We're the freaks because we're going to have 3.

[Dinsfamily]

I've had 4 boys in 6 years and don't think of myself as a mom of many. In my head, 6+ qualifies. However, people at Costco, evidently, disagree. I get a lot of comments about the size and gender make-up of my family when we're out and about.

[twoforjoy]

For me, 1-2 kids would be a smaller family, 3-4 would be medium, and 5+ would be large.

 

But, then, I feel like we've got a really small family with our two, and the upcoming addition of #3 still doesn't make me think we're close to a large family. My DH, on the other hand, who's an only child, thinks three kids is a whole bunch.

 

I often have neighborhood kids with me when I'm going places like the library or the park. I can usually get away with having my two plus two other kids without anybody saying anything, but once I have 3 or more extras tagging along (so 5 or more total), it seems like everybody's got a comment. So that's probably part of why I'd say, for me, "many kids" would start at 5.

[GypsieFamily]

I used to think four or more was "many", but dh and I are both only children. Now I think 4 isn't that many, so maybe 6+

 

???

[Lauren R.]

I only had 1 brother but my parents were divorced and my brother didnt live with us he visited us,So i felt like an only child, that made me want a big family.

 

Now with 7 kids it really depends on the day, and a lot of times when more then 3 of them leave i always start thinking where is everybody?:D

 

I consider anyone with 5+ kids a large family

[happypamama]

Sometimes one is "many," depending on the day and the one. :)

 

Seriously, though, I'm the oldest of four, and while I don't really think four is weird or even really a lot, I do think it is the dividing line. I think of "many" as being more than average, and these days, I know lots of families with two or three, but not that many with four or more. So I think of four as "many" but not unusual. (But I've known enough families with five or six children that I don't really think five or six is unusual either.)

 

Three is more hands than I have, but with a sling for the baby, I had a hand for each big kid still. Four means I won't have that. :) And four did mean the jump to a larger vehicle for us.

[74Heaven]

4 is "many".

 

I have five. I grew up in a family of 10 (same mom/dad; no steps) children.

 

Personally, I find 3 or less "simple living" lol. (as in when I only have 3 kids around, life is easy peasy around here)

Lisaj

[BlsdMama]

I have four, it often feels like "many". Because they are all boys? I don't know.

Yes, that. I'm definitely a girl mom. The amount of sheer ENERGY it takes to keep up with my boys.... The 6yo was really a whirlwind. He was the equivalent of approximately six girls. :) The other son is now calm, wonderful, keepable. :001_smile: But he was also a whirlwind at age 3-5 or so. :D They are spaced six years apart. I can't imagine four boys spaced two years apart. Though one of my best friends has eight children, seven of whom are boys. Frankly, I'd lose my mind. But I'm used to the incessant chatter that comes with girls! :) We've come to the conclusion boys are very PHYSICAL and girls, well, they talk a lot. She's grateful she has mostly boys. I'm grateful for my two boys (for spice & variety, lol) and mostly girls.

[NanceXToo]

I think of "many" as being more than 5 kids.

[mytwomonkeys]

i have 2 children. when i see a thread asking for advice from "moms of many", i assume it's for 4+. for me, that's a lot! i even grew up with 4 of us only a year apart each, and it didn't seem like a lot then - but as a mom of of 2, it seems like a lot now.

[Stacie Leigh]

Around here, 5 is the officially "crazy" number. At least in my circles... When I'm at the store, I get a ton of comments. I want to have a T-shirt made that says, "Yes, they are all mine. Yes, they are 'quite a handful'. Yes, they're all from the same father, howrudeofyoutoask. And don't ask me how I do it because I have no idea."

 

At church and with friends, 4 is pretty standard, so no crazy comments there!

[Pretty in Pink]

There's no magic number. I think that once you have #3, many always seems like one more than your current number. I remember meeting a gal that had four shortly after I gave birth to #2 and I thought she had a lot! We are expecting baby #5 at the moment and suddenly 5 doesn't seem like many.

[Impish]

I think its usually 1 or 2 more than you personally have :lol:

 

I didn't think 4 was 'many', probably b/c I grew up with 3 brothers.

 

Now that we're having #5 though, yeah...I think we're crossing that line :lol:

[Carrie12345]

It's "many" when you see a picture of a stranger's family online and think "Wow, that's a lot of people!"... until you count and realize you have the same number or more.

 

<--- Just did that the other day.

[JeneralMom]

I would say 5+, but if you had asked me before I had kids I would have said 2 was large.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I'd say 4 is many. I grew up w/ 2 half siblings and 4 whole siblings, and that seems like a LOT! :D

 

I've had my nieces and nephew here for 6 days now, and 5 kids seems like many! :D