People from ‘big’ families

[Gggggggg2]

Do you like it? Just a curious question as it’s Christmas too so a family time

im from a small family. Married with 2 kids and would love a 3rd in the future I think?? As I’ve always been from a smaller family I’d ideally like 4 but I’ve had 2 c sections so want to be realistic and also I think 3 would be enough chaos haha!

But I just wondered those who are one of 3+ kids and have cousins aunties uncles etc - do you enjoy it? Are family gatherings nice?

I am an only child raised by a single mum.

I have 4 dc and 2 step children who's mum died when they were young so 6 kids in total.

I love it and the kids say they all love it. But I think the big difference is we have enough.
Enough space (all own rooms) enough bathrooms and enough money.

They all go on trips, they all do after school activities, we have at least two holidays a year, some hand me downs but not loads they all have lots of new too.

I'm a stay at home mum dh had his own business so can help out quite a bit, I have a large age range (eldest 30 youngest 10)
So I feel I can give time and attention where needed.

The kids often complain they have no cousins. But not much I can do about that.

I hated being an only child.

Well, I'm one of three, as is DH. And we have three. Our siblings have two or three. So, a decent sized tribe, all in. It's not as big though, as the generation before when siblings sets were in the 3s, 4s and 5s.

I really like having a larger family. It feels like a formidable team and a rich set of interests, skills, personalities between us and a good support network for each other.

I am a single mum of an only child - I hope my DD has this sort of family when she grows up as she loves family around if ever it happens ❤️ Big families seem great x

Couldn’t agree more , you have totally nailed this.
It’s not the amount of children , it’s the capacity to provide and care for them adequately that has an impact .

of all my childhood friends , and my cousins , I have the least siblings and it’s a good thing as my childhood was so lacking .
Some of my cousins now talk about my really poor childhood in tones of horror and disbelief when they reflect back .
My parents are lovely people but had zero skills and awareness of how to parent .
It really was car crash scenarios every single day .
Birth order matters in my case .
I understand this but have moved on , what else can I do ?
My younger siblings are oblivious even though I and others can see the effects our childhood had on their natures and life choices .

All my friends and cousins with much larger families had a much better upbringing than me and still have great family meet-ups .

I do my best and host continually to salvage something as I cannot change the past .

( While there was no actual abuse at home , the level of care was so poor that in current times there would be SS involvement)

I'm one of 5 as my parents adopted a child and fostered several.
They tried but never had time for us all.
At the time I loved being part of a big family.I looked after younger ones and we were quite a brood.
However DM had huge mood swings and smacked us alot.
Df earned the money for all of us.Never any privacy only one bathroom.
Unfortunately DM played us off against one another in the teenage yrs so now we all barely see each other.
My dsis was the scapegoat with a teen pregnancy bringing shame to our family
My DBs were golden children and still get used by DM for anything with responsibility medical or financial.

At DMS 80th the pics are great.
5 dcs with 13 g kids 4 great grandchildren and all the partners.
However it has been stressful and quite isolating and has made me vehemently independent I do most things alone.
I am the eldest.

Upstartled that sounds lovely.
I agree about the different personalities and interests.
That is the one great thing about huge families.we have an accountant, carpenter,chef,make up artist,actor,SAHM.Trainee in animal welfare,electrician.😂

I have seven siblings. Mother treated us all different and unfortunately I was the one she picked on the most when hidings were dished out. I was scared of her. Dad was always working. We were poor and birthdays were never celebrated and none of us ever had a birthday party. At Christmas we did get a few presents. Our house was always noisy and we were often falling out with each other. I don’t really have any happy memories of my childhood. We’re all adults now (eldest 76 youngest 60) with two children each and we all have mental health problems - some choose to acknowledge it, others ignore it. There’s a lot of jealousy within the family too and some think they are better than the rest because they have a nicer house and more money in the bank. I moved away and I’m a three hour drive away from all my siblings. There’s always some kind of drama going on and I just can’t be bothered with it all and don’t want to get involved. I don’t see any of my siblings over Christmas because I live too far away. The rest of them do get together before Christmas but not on Christmas Day.

Grew up in a family of 6. Hated it! I like peace and quiet and loathe other people's drama.

I'm single and live alone and it's BLISS.

Large family - nobody had more than two and some had none. Out of grandchildren, one has an only, one has two, the rest have none.

Two of the siblings were in regular contact throughout their lives (the two who did the majority of parenting of the younger ones), the rest more or less NC with everybody else.

It wasn't so great, really. And it's much nicer to have a seat instead of having to sit on the floor with the animals until one left home.

This.
Not enough attention or affection. You'd disappear if you didn't make a noise.

I have a small family which I am happy with. My partner family is pretty massive and he sees virtually none of them and likes it that way. Each to their own I say, blood is not thicker than water, some relatives are not necessarily nice people!

I'm one of 6. It's nice in some ways, but there's too many people (4 of us have dc) to do anything without it becoming a logistical nightmare. Too many to spend Xmas day with them all. Going out for a meal ends up being a faff, then I feel guilty for just meeting up with one sister and not the other.