How Deep is Your Love

Somedays are Bee Gees days, you know? So, yes that was me in my car at noon singing "How deep is your love" today.

Due to my stomach ailment this weekend, I discovered a couple programs on TLC that have hooked me. The first is Shalom in the Home. I thought Rabbi Shmuley's advice was well thought out and not a easy quick fix. Plus, I like how frank he is. He just out and out asks the couple if they've had sex recently, no hemming, hawwing or lame metaphors. The second program is called Kids by the Dozen. Large families have fascinated me my whole life. My mom is one of nine siblings so I grew up hearing her stories. Even though most of the stories were horrible, I couldn't get past the idea of having so many brothers and sisters since I just had one brother. I am easily bored so I'd look at my brother and think to myself, "This is it?" Once my begging for a new baby stopped working, I brought my Raggedy Ann doll to meals and insisted that she be treated like a little sister. I loved the "Cheaper by the Dozen" books (not movies, Steve Martin just collecting a paycheck). Watching the TLC series nuked any lingering romantic notions I had about large families. The parents on the show are great people but seeing how much responsibility they have to place on the children and how tough finances were, really showed me the burden a large family places on everyone. Having to do the groceries daily spending more than $150 (or weekly shopping for about $1,000) and so much cleaning and laundry. One family allowed their kids to pick their own cereals for breakfast and another family had mom make the same meal for everyone no matter what.

If it were up to me and time was on my side, I'd still like to have 4 kids. An even number of siblings is the way to go because no one is left out. So, if it's not 4, I'd settle for 2. As I got older, I found having just one other sibling perfect. I get bored easily and I also have a jealous streak so if I had a sister, it would have been a struggle. Age spread is another aspect I have considered. My brother and I are less than 2 years apart and in the beginning I hated him. We played together and had huge fights. He's a slow burning personality so I'd pick on him until he'd snap. From puberty onward, we were pretty close. We shared friends in high school, which was awkward at times. I think an age spread from 2 to 4 years apart is pretty healthy. Twins run in the family so age spread could become a moot point. On the flip side of having just one sibling, I have 22 younger cousins. I wasn't able to be bored with so many playmates around! I got to experience the quietude of a small family and also the utter chaos and anonyminity of a large family. It's a cool balance.