Over the last week our home has become virtually quarantined due to prevailing sickness. We found out last Friday on the eve of our youngest daughter’s 5th birthday that our two girls had strep throat. That sickness quickly spread to the older boys. By Sunday morning I was reeling a bit but confident that I could resist. Shortly after preaching the symptoms intensified and I was laid low by the merciless virus. And finally on Monday night, the last standing soldier in our home, the beloved queen went down too. So now all are afflicted. We are in unison with creation in the groaning for physical deliverance.
The way this happened caused me to wear out a path to the local Target pharmacy. At one point the pharmacist said, “How many kids do you guys have?” To which I said, “Four. And my wife is pregnant.”
She was shocked. At first I assumed that her shock stemmed from the fact that my wife and I do not look old enough to have more than 1 or 2 kids. However, her next comment dispelled any confusion.
“You guys could probably qualify for your own TV show or something.”
Now hold on right there. Are we that strange? Is it that abnormal to have 5 kids? What has happened to our society that 5 kids is suddenly the trigger for eyebrow raising speculation? I felt like the next question was going to have to do with whether or not we had indoor plumbing, electricity, or were in a quiver cult or something.
Sadly the cultural norm has shifted and the prevailing public opinion is that there is something ‘newsworthy’ about having a large family.
Recently the NY Times observed something of this strange cultural shift in an article. They noted that, “in 1976, census data show, 59 percent of women ages 40 to 44 had three or more children, 20 percent had five or more and 6 percent had seven or more.
By 2006, four decades after the Supreme Court declared a constitutional right to use birth control (and the last year available from census studies), 28 percent of women ages 40 to 44 had three or more children, 4 percent had five or more and just 0.5 percent had seven or more.”
This is a dramatic drop. And, in my opinion, a truly sad shift.
What is lost and gained when the value of ‘large’ families is lost? I am not entirely sure. I suppose history will begin to bear this out. However, in the meantime, I am content to look like a freak, enjoy the blessing of this large family, and in some small ways, swim against the American dream.