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Original poster

Is six children too many ?

594 replies

mozhe · 21/05/2007 17:09

Someone,( a colleague..but I do not know them well ), just stopped me in the corridor at work...noticing I was pregnant they asked me if it was my first, when I told them ,' no, it's my 6th '...they said,' six is too many ', and strod off....Is six too many ?

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Otter · 29/05/2007 20:01

never was one for the ' i am a bit crazy me' school of personality

Monkeytrousers · 29/05/2007 21:05

"I'm not particularly happy paying so much tax and NI at 41% to support people who can't support their own children for extended periods."

And here we have the money shot. The only reason I suspect this thread was started, so people or peoples of similar opinions could give voice to them.

Round of applause - you really could have gotten round to this much sooner.

Monkeytrousers · 29/05/2007 21:13

FFS when are we going to wake up and treat these two as trolls?

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LoveAngel · 29/05/2007 21:14

PMSL@MT. You are so very right.

Monkeytrousers · 29/05/2007 21:17

It's so dull though Loveangel.

The same thread over and over, the same posts...

kittyhas6 · 29/05/2007 21:18

Loveangel, Mozhe's pots have never come across as any of the words you've used to describe them. I think that she conducts herself extremely well considering the venom that's been spat at her on this thread. She's obviously very sure of herself and not put out by the criticisms leveled at her.

hatrick · 29/05/2007 21:23

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Judy1234 · 29/05/2007 21:46

Many women at 2 weeks are fit enough to sit at a desk. It's hardly onerous and much much less hard work than being home with a baby.

As for the tax comment what's the point in plucking one comment out from the context it was posted in? I can't even remember what that was in response to. Most tax payers aren't happy to pay for people on benefits for extended periods rather than those who need them for a period whilst they sort themselves out.

LoveAngel · 29/05/2007 21:58

You're right,. MT. * Adopts comedy Mafioso Italian accent: "This thread is now oifficially dead to me."

Otter · 30/05/2007 18:15

i cant help coming back to it.....

Original poster
mozhe · 31/05/2007 09:52

Perhaps you have more to say....

OP posts:
FioFio · 31/05/2007 09:53

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Eleusis · 31/05/2007 10:00

Ni Fio, but a lot of women would get with it if they needed the money. And yet other would sit at home on their back side expecting the goverment to fund their needs.

FioFio · 31/05/2007 10:02

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Eleusis · 31/05/2007 10:54

I also had an emergency followed by an elective. It wasn't a walk in the park, but I managed. Now, of course, I have a desk job. If I had a job that required me to run up and down stairs that would not have been okay.

I'm not saying everyone or even anyone should go back after two weeks. But it doesn't make someone inhuman if they do. And Mohze and Xenia have gotten a lot of really nasty stuff slung their way for choosing to go back to work so soon.

taffy101 · 31/05/2007 11:13

6 would defo be too many for me. I have 2 and was toying with the idea of a third, but recently had an accident with my youngest (he is ok now) and decided that two little lives was enough for me to be responsible for.
If you have the resources, energy, money, time, space, mental stability 6 is fine IMO.

Otter · 31/05/2007 21:04

a lot more Mohze but I am too restrained

Quattrocento · 31/05/2007 21:22

I'd love six children personally.I have an idea it would be like the Waltons. One great big happy brood.

In reality of course there would be just far too much laundry.

It's an observation of mine that not many children from 6+ children families (totally imperfect sample) seem enthusiastic about their childhoods.

How do you manage all those children and work? I think that is truly incredible. Without any sarvasm or belittling at all, how on earth do you hold down a stressful job in testosterone-fuelled environments AND have six children.

Original poster
mozhe · 31/05/2007 22:21

For me it boils down to this....I'm passionate about my job and my family.I really love doing both. If you really enjoy something then it is not difficult to put up with even the hard bits....Of course I have days when I think ' this is bloody impossible '....( no car today,long story..ill nanny too. So I cycled to work on a folding bike, pulling twins in the baby trailer+ another on seat at back that was very wobbly....and two very inexperienced 5 & 6 year old weaving away in front of me.....and it was raining)...but something keeps me going.In between shouting instructions at the ' drunken ' duo I was thinking with relish about a project I was presenting today.I really wanted to go to work to do the presentation because I was very excited about it.....Twins kept the secretaries amused for the hour or so I was speaking, and DSsx3 were in the front row...good as gold ! DS1 even took notes...You have to laugh sometimes or you really would just cry..I think I have a cold tonight though

OP posts:
bettybobo · 31/05/2007 22:35

hey mozhe good on you
people dont say that much on here. But despite all the silliness with alphamummy stuff way back, (which made me at superiority creeping through) i am glad there are women who work hard to have both family and a job they love.
not that you need to hear this but
nice one.

Otter · 31/05/2007 22:37

i just dont believe you can have it all with such extremes of numbers and high profile jobs

bettybobo · 31/05/2007 23:00

i know what you're saying otter i cant say if its perfect for the dcs. But im equally impressed by sahm (hard work), single mums and the whole range.
But mozhe's story of getting to work made me soften. And i suddenly thought hmm not bad.
i admit i feel passionate about my job and my dc and find it hard to balance, but do the pt thing - just not sure if it will all go pants up...

Sakura · 01/06/2007 00:19

I keep reading about how Xenia and mozhe have had to put up with nasty comments about returning to work so soon. I started the comments on this subject, and Id like to say again, that it was not nastiness that prompted me to write. Rather that I do that womens bodies and minds should be celebrated, rather than beaten back into shape as soon as possible.
I have often agreed with xenias views on other issues, and on many issues on this thread. I dont feel any animosity to mozhe or xenia. They are strong women, and I admire that.
But I cannot accept the idea that women and men are the same, and that it is better for women to be compared to men (i.e the men go back to work after 2 weeks comparison). That is why I brought up the examples of how well women are treated around the world after childbirth, and how leves of PND are low in these countries, whereas in the rich western countries, PND levels are high.

Original poster
mozhe · 01/06/2007 00:21

What exactly is 'having it all', Otter...? It surely isn't me.

OP posts:
3flightsofstairs · 01/06/2007 02:48

mozhe, I think that sounds like a really fun day (esp a day at work when you get undivided attention for an hour and then go home!). What would make me sad is not having anyone at the end of the day to go back and share it with over a glass of wine when the kids are in bed.

On a different note, I read the SAHM/WOHM thing and I don't think I'm either (am I in denial?). I've always worked but didn't go back after DS was born (he's 18 months). I think I'll go back "properly" (whatever that means) after a couple of years with DS2 (due next - aargh! - this month) and might do something smallish in the meantime that fits in around them (in fact I do already so maybe something a bit bigger!). I'm wondering if 3 might be too many!

I suspect that incrementally 6 isn't much of a difference from 5 and that for some children (not to mention their parents) 6 would not work. On the other hand, one of my dear friends refuses to have more than 1 - for self-confessed completely selfish reasons - even tho she thinks that her DD would benefit from having a sibling. I have to say I think there's too much pressure on that one little girl and I feel more sorry for her than your brood, mozhe, even if they did have to sit through your presentation!