Good Monday Morning!
1. Question – How many kids is enough?
2. Thought – Also significant among today’s
realities is this: earlier generations had more children,
which gives grandparents an authority and near-biblical
aura their parent children lack. With more offspring under
their roof, yesterday’s mothers and fathers had to
spread their ministrations, resources and expectations
further and thinner, their attitudes by necessity more
laissez-faire. And they were younger – often much
younger than – new parents are now, and making do on
the fly. How they treated their children would today feel
like neglect, although more capably independent children
tended to result. Starting in their early twenties, my
parents raised five. To us that felt normal. Five was
standard. Big was eight or ten. Three was small. Two was
paltry, lonely, almost sad. One was definitely sad. None
was tragic. Prayers were said, condolences offered. Today,
though, usually with the explanation of financial
concerns, sometimes with expiration dates looming, parents
often stop at two, particularly if they find both genders
represented. Three is a big brood. Four, which Janice and
I somehow arranged for ourselves, starting in our
mid-thirties, is prodigious. Five is reckless. Six and
beyond is weird. (You Are Not Special by David McCullough,
Jr.)
“Laus Deo,” meaning “Praise be to
God.” On top of the Washington Monument in
D.C.
