FAMILY – The Four Reasons Having More Than Three Kids is Perfectly Cool.

I’m taking a break this week from the nerdy posts.  I wanted to write a little bit about what happened to our family last week.

I worked really late just about every day last week and the week before to make up the hours I would be gone from work. It was pretty exhausting and I was burned out by the time I was done.

Why did I do this? I became I’m a dad again.

Giovanni Ignatius Escobar was born around 8:15 am on Dec 18th 2013. He was our tiniest kid to date at 5 pounds 8 ounces.  He’s our fifth kid. Our fourth boy.

Yes, we have a lot of kids, but what do you expect? I’m Catholic. Well, at least, this SHOULD be expected from Catholics but sadly, this is  not really the case anymore.

Most Catholics just want to have one or two kids and that’s it.  It’s because this is what our culture deems “normal.”  Three kids is still acceptable, but four is considered crazy and anything beyond that is sheer lunacy.

Don’t we know that the world is over populated and people all over the world are starving because of it?

Well, I don’t see what poor food distribution and the greed that caused it has anything to do with over population.  And in many European countries births rates are pretty low so…

Besides the over population problem is mostly an issue in major world cities, there’s plenty of space in towns outside major cities. If everyone would spread out a bit, it wouldn’t be such a problem.

But I’m no expert.  All I know is that the moment people find out how many kids I have they freak out.  They look at me like some sort of weirdo.

They treat me like I’ve insulted them. They get angry at me or mock me. They say thing like, “You’re the one with the billion kids right? How many kids do you have now 50? Your going to stop now right?”

It starts getting old after hearing stuff like this from EVERYONE. It’s down right hostile.

There’s nothing wrong with having this many kids. So I thought I’d make a list of the reasons why it’s totally cool to have more than three kids:

1. It’s More Difficult to Have One or Two Kids Than it is to Have Four or More.

This might sound odd. It’s especially unintuitive if you’ve only had one kid.  One kid is SO much work, how is it possible that having more than three is easier? That’s crazy talk!

Well, actually it’s not. Having kids is like any other job.  When you first start out it’s overwhelming and it’s a lot of work. But as you get better at your job, it’s becomes a bit easier.  The more you do it, the more acclimated to the work you become. The more of an expert you become.

In other words, it gets easier. On top of the that, you’re not your kid’s only friend.  Once there are two or more, suddenly the kids have other playmates.  They have plenty more to do, and they often need you less.

As the kids get older, they can even help with the younger kids.

2. Everything Worth Having Requires Work

Funny how we are so willing to work  for a bit of money, or work to buy a car, or a house. Even spend time, energy and money to get the career we want,  build the business we want, get the skills we want, or the titles, trophies, medals  or championships we want. We work on our relationships and our marriage when we truly want them to last.

Anything we value, we are willing to work for. Yet when it comes to having kids, what does it say about us when our reaction to having more than a certain amount is,

“Man, that many kids it is too much work!”

It’s not the kids, it’s our mindset.  The work is worth it. The joy you can bring the kids under your care, is worth it. This is work worth doing, we simply don’t value it enough.

3. It Forces You to Be Selfless

Let’s face it. This is the big one.  This is really the reason we don’t have more kids.  It requires an amount of self giving we are NOT willing to do.

We have to stop thinking simply about what we want and we have to sacrifice some of our more selfish desires for the sake of someone else.

The very idea terrifies us. I get it.  But it’s not the end of the world. Getting rid of the selfishness actually brings wisdom.  It makes you a more loving and giving person.

We ought not be afraid of becoming better people.

4. Love Doesn’t Diminish, it Spreads

You simply can’t help loving your kids to bits.  If you show it, and express it to them, not only do you receive it back ten fold, but it also spreads from you to them, and  from them to others.

You are contributing in the process of bringing love into the world.

No matter how much you give, you receive that much more back.  The paradox is that if you try to do this artificially, it won’t happen. It has to be genuine selfless love you give.

The good news is that it’s easy to do. There’s nothing like loving your kids and having them love you back.  It’s just awesome.

That’s that

So there you have it. This is what I’ve concluded over the years with my kids.

I don’t regret it. I love them to death.  And now that they’re old enough to start playing some of my more advanced board games, MAN is it fun to have them around.

Thanks for reading.

Free Books and Learning to Draw

If you’re interested in a FREE art of book, sign up to my newsletter.  Not only do you get a free digital book but you get some behind the Simpsons anecdotes.

And if your interested in learning how to draw, especially if you think talent is necessary to learn to draw then I’ve got a something for you:

The Draw Fu Acolyte Bundle.  Everything you need to learn to draw in a nice neat package.  Click on the link to learn more.

TELL ME MORE.