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LaylaTheTallGirl I already explained my reasoning behind it. We appreciate the community that a big family brings- in my case, I'm an immigrant, so the only family I have in America is the family I built from the bottom up. Other people have similar reasons, and many appreciate the culture behind a big family, but that is my reason specifically.
And I also prefer to have the children entertain each other. Only-children are often lonely in childhood, and they often have to rely on their parents as their main form of entertainment. That is a lot of extra work for the parent, and as the child gets older, it becomes annoying for the child.
It simply made more sense to me to have a larger family, where the children could have peers among themselves that they could go to if they tell they didn't want to come to me with something. It also gives them a way to amuse themselves, and I think that the sibling relationship is very important as you grow older. I'm still very close to all of my siblings, and I would like for my children to still have that support system for each other after I have passed away.
Only-children can often feel completely alone in the world if their parents passed away and they don't have a significant other. Having siblings you are close to gives you something to fall back on if you need it. I feel like families benefit children from childhood-in which they have more people to play with in the home, and they learn skills such as sharing or negotiating. And I feel that the benefits followed them all the way through adulthood, when they have each other after their parents have passed. One of the most difficult things in the world is being an only child, having your parents pass away or be absent, and feeling alone. Having many siblings ensures you some kind of a support system, even if you end up not being very close to one or two of them. You have a variety of options.
