Listening in on kids’ conversations are always entertaining.  I overhead the following conversation between my two boys recently:

7 yo:  “Heaven is a very special place and you can’t get there by airplane.”

5 yo:  “You need a rocket!”

Once again, my 5 yo solved the problem for all those who are wondering about heaven.

I had an amusing chat with my four-year-old the other day.

Me: “Andrew, I like the way you are.  Can you not grow up and stay this way all the time?”

He:  “I can’t!”

Me:  “Why not?”

He:  “Because you keep giving me milk to drink so I keep growing.”

[Note: at one point he was not a great milk drinker, and we told him if we wanted to be big like Daddy, he had to drink his milk.  This evidently stuck in his mind.]

Me:  “Hmmm. . . good point.  Can I stop giving you milk so you can stop growing and stay this way forever?”

He:  “Yes.”

So folks, there you have it.  I’ve divulged the secret to keep your child young and cute forever.  Just stop giving them milk.

Several weeks ago when I was shopping at Costco with my four little ones, a gentleman ran (yes, he ran) to me to ask if all the kids were mine.  After confirming it, he saw my tummy jetting out and with surprise he said, “Wow. . . and you have another one on the way.”  His inquiry didn’t bother me a bit since I’m already used to being asked that question.  But an older lady nearby looked at me with almost an accusing tone for having so many kids.  She told me that her niece is a doctor and is barely supporting her two kids through college.  Which was clearly her not-so-tactful way of saying that I obviously couldn’t possibly rake in enough money to support my FIVE kids through college.  According to her worldview, having so many children and presumably not having the means to pay their way through college is the essence of irresponsible unthinking folly.  In other words, family size should be planned based on the economics of future college education.

How did we get to this point as a culture?  What a sad state, when potential children are primarily viewed as entries in the expense/cost column, rather than blessings given by a God with an unlimited pocketbook!  And when people have so bought into this mentality that they harshly address a stranger who has more than they think is a “responsible” number of children.

As I began to compose this post, my husband asked me, “Are you sure you haven’t written about this topic already?”  I’m going to blame my pregnancy brain for the time being because my husband is indeed right: I already wrote about this topic two years ago when we were expecting child #4.  I find it funny that once again, the college question for large families is such a huge concern for most people.  Instead of rewriting my thoughts on this topic, I’ll just point you to TWO posts I have already written.  My viewpoint on this topic hasn’t changed and I stand by my previously written posts.

“What About College?”

“What About College?” Part 2

Whenever I get asked the college question, it’s usually during a shopping trip which does not lend itself to a thorough answer like a blog post.  So, I asked my husband for a quick and easy answer to offer to folks just so I don’t appear totally clueless.  He told me to say, “Through savvy financial planning and a simple faith in God.”  I thought that was an excellent answer.  That’s what I’m going to say next time someone asks me.

My boy is always cracking me up with his antics.  Either he says something really adult like or does something so funny or creative, he never fails to make me laugh.  When I woke up from my nap this afternoon, this is what I found on my computer monitor:

In case you can’t read the five Post-It notes on my screen, here’s the text:

• Mom I finished in 11 m: 13 s
• And I got.
• 22 x 22 100%
  24 x 24 100%
• 30 + 30 100%
  30 – 30 100%
• are you proud of me?

What my boy is referring to in these notes is the scores he got on his FlashMaster, an electronic flash card device for practicing math tables.  When the rest of the family takes a nap in the afternoon, Matthew works on his flashmaster where he does four different math tables.  Then he is to record his scores on a spreadsheet I developed for him.  He decided to surprise me with his amazing scores of 100% for all four math tables by posting them on my computer screen.  I was very proud indeed and he knew it!  I had a good chuckle after seeing these stickie notes.  He knows his mama who likes to put post-it notes on the computer screen to remind herself of different things.

Our whole family is very excited about our baby who is still growing inside mommy’s tummy. He/she is so well loved right now and the love will even be more pronounced once he/she is born. I’ve been getting lots of requests from the children to kiss the baby inside my tummy. My eldest often asks, “Mommy, after I’m done eating, can I kiss the baby in your tummy?” Naturally, the rest of the children want to have a turn too. I’m so happy that they’re excited about having a baby.

The children’s love for the unborn baby got me thinking. Where did they get the idea to love this unseen baby? None of the children ever attended a “New Sibling” class to learn how to love the new baby. I believe children learn from their parents. If the parents have the attitude of welcoming another baby into the family, then the children will see the new baby as a blessing. If the parents have the mentality that “two is enough” or that “children are just a lot of hassle and work,” then the children don’t see themselves as someone mommy and daddy treasure. Consequently, any subsequent child the parents have isn’t viewed as a blessing. When my eldest said, “Mommy, I want to kiss your baby in your tummy,” I said to him that it’s not my baby, it’s our baby. This baby is a member of our family.

Our eldest son decided to do some drawing in his “quiet time” (when the younger ones nap) today.

Here’s what he presented to me:

What was it?  It was his rendering of the whiteboard in our family/school room!

I felt like I just got run over by a big truck as my pregnancy symptoms have kicked up a couple of notches. I hardly had any energy to do anything so I sent the kids to play in the backyard while I sat in a camping chair supervising them.

With the eldest as the leader, all four of them worked together as a team to “cook” a big pot of stew that’s made up of sand, leaves, and fallen fruits. My eldest assured me that the soup was very healthy as it contained lots of different vegetables. As I sat there half-comatose and half-watching the kids, I reveled in the fact that the kids were playing so well together and what a blessing it was that they have each other. Even though having more children translates to more work in the short term, the blessing of having siblings outweighs the work involved. My children are each other’s companions and friends. Our sincere hope and goal toward which we labor as parents of these children is to see them remain one another’s favorite confidantes, support network and lifelong friends.