At the age of 25, I thought I never wanted children. I once talked with a co-worked about my annoyance with people who brought children in with them to my workplace — only days later did I learn that I was actually pregnant with a “whoops baby.”
Little did I know this one little, perfect creature would rock my world and change my entire outlook on life.
I love children, I mean, I love them. I want a truckload — well, at least a 12-passneger-van load. Because of this, I have pretty much been pregnant and/or breastfeeding the last five years straight.
And despite a stint with postpartum depression after my third child, I would say I am insanely happy. Of course I have my moments of frustration where I find myself calling my sister and begging for her to come over to help with our latest disaster, or texting my husband something like, “KILL.ME.NOW.,” I can honestly say the last thing I do every night as my head hits the pillow is thank God for my family.
As it turns out, I am not the only one to experience an optimal amount of happiness with my family of four
*Check out these pictures from back when having a lot of kids didn’t warrant questions like, “Are they all yours,” “Do you have a daycare,” or, “Are a couple of them twins?”
Photo credit: Janne Uusitalo, Flickr.
Call me crazy, but the following pictures did not do a great job in convincing me these large families were exceedingly happy.
Photo credit: Janne Uusitalo, Flickr.
Photo credit: cdemo, Flickr.
Photo credit: Janne Uusitalo, Flickr.
Photo credit: Peter & Joyce Grace, Flickr.
Photo credit: varmazis, Flickr.
Photo credit: Romana Klee, Flickr.
Photo credit: Janne Uusitalo, Flickr.
Two separate studies have found families with four — or more — children experience the highest level of content compared to families with fewer kids.
One 5-year study done out of Sydney, Australia found that after interviewing almost 1,000 families, couples with four or more children were the most wholly satisfied. The study that measured resilience, self-esteem, and perceived support, found that couples experiencing higher numbers of each felt happier.
Lead researcher Dr. Harman told the Sydney Morning Herald that families with more children tend to learn how to embrace the chaos of raising several children, rather than getting caught up in the noise and mess.
The second study, this one based in the United States, also found families with four or more children to be the happiest. However, their reasoning wasn’t that parents with more children simply let their worries go, it was that larger families tend to have a higher sense of purpose and are generally more spiritual.
Research found that larger families were nearly twice as likely to attend faith-based functions (such as church) regularly. And, the husbands of large families displayed the highest amount of marital generosity, which contributed to a higher amount of happiness in the wife.
The Survey of Marital Generosity indicates that “husbands are more likely to engage in regular acts of generosity—such as making coffee in the morning for their wives or frequently expressing affection—and to spend more quality time with their spouses compared to other husbands.”
So, is my happiness due to learning to live with paper plates and never-ending laundry? Is it that I have a new-found purpose in life, or have reached a higher level of spiritual well-being? Or maybe it’s because my husband will make my toast and coffee in the morning on occasion.
I would have to say “yes” to all of the above.
What is your “happy number” when it comes to having kids?
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