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Barbara C.
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| Posted: July 31 2008 at 9:21am | IP Logged
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Your Wealth!!!
My husband has this friend who is really into status symbols--fancy house, fancy car, fancy job, etc. Well, he's got two little girls, one is newborn. So they're briefly talking about kids on the phone.
His buddy says that he and his wife don't plan to have anymore kids, but...he read somewhere that having a lot of kids shows that you are wealthy enough to afford them. So they might consider it.
Kids as status symbols? 
So then I thought of all the wonderfully large families on here and how you all are just flaunting your wealth by having so many kids.  He would probably have a heart attack if I told him how many families I "know" that have between 5 and 10 kids (or more).
My husband and I started joking. "Well, we've got three kids and he only has two, so we must be wealthier than him. Don't let the one vehicle, the small beat-up townhome, or old crumbling furniture fool you!"
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Barbara
Mom to "spirited" dd(9), "spunky" dd (6), "sincere" dd (3), "sweet" dd (2), and baby girl #5 born 8/1/12!!
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momwats8
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| Posted: July 31 2008 at 9:33am | IP Logged
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I love it!!! that made my day - thanks for sharing this with us.
I must be far wealthier than I ever realized
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Mary- Wife to Mike and Mother to Austin(92), Mikey(95), R.J.(97), Benedict(98), Kolbe(00), Ignatius(02), Christian(03), Margaret(05),&4 angels in heaven
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guitarnan
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| Posted: July 31 2008 at 9:36am | IP Logged
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I think the dear ladies here know real treasure when they see it...
It's sad, though, to see kids (and spouses) reduced to trophy status.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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teachingmyown
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Feeling pretty wealthy here! (Just don't look at the Total Money Makeover spreadsheet I am staring at!!! )
Seriously, though, there was an article, I am sure we discussed it here, a year or so ago, about how wealthier families are having more kids and the moms are SAHMs. There is one major difference between us and them, they have nannies!
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
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guitarnan
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Think of all the baby smiles and sweet snuggles they are missing...
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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stefoodie
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Wow, this new way of thinking may be really gooood in the long run!!!
Imagine if all these wealthy (materially) families all had more and more kids because kids were the new "status symbols"?
Then somewhere along the way, they realize that hey, there's more here than just status. That having more kids actually made them wealthier in more ways than one. Wouldn't that be the kicker!
Really liking this, Barb. Thanks for sharing.
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stef
mom to five
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Lisbet
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Didn't the Washington Post do an article along these lines a few months ago? Hmmmmm.....
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Milehimama
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For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 12:34
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Vanna
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All you ladies with big families are wealthy in every way that it matters. 
Aren't people's thought processes interesting?
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KackyK
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Lisa I read that Post article...if we are thinking of the same thing. But they were really referring to the families in New York City and those types of places. That having even just 3 kids flaunts wealth because of all the "stuff" those families there seem to buy for each kiddo, the clothes, the fancy strollers, the classes and so forth. It said too, I think if I remember correctly, that having even more than 3 was just rude, because if you walk around the City with more than 3 then you are really just showing off. It was the weirdest article. I may not be remembering this correctly??? But I do remember feeling shocked while reading it.
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nissag
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ROFLOL! I once heard a similar comment from a woman I met on the playground. She was actually really disgusted and angry about large families, though. I often think back and laugh - ya, that's right. I'm a show-off.
Who needs a flashy sports car and a chihuahua? I've got a string of seven little 'pearls'. I'll have to tell Brian about this later - we'll have a nice chuckle together.
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Philothea
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Good grief ... he'd bring a new eternal soul into the world only to show off his "status" as someone who could afford it?
I'm all for openness to life, but that's just kind of sick.
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crusermom
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Those with large families are rich! When my Dad was very sick, he had all his children in his hospital room around the clock. No private duty nurses. The people that loved him the most in the world. He was in and out of the hospital many times those last years - and always the family was there to care for him. I have often thought that the richest man on earth could not buy that kind of care. My dad never flaunted his wealth - 12 children - but when he needed those riches the most - they were there. It makes me sad when people would save for retirement rather than have another baby.
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Nina
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The Bible tells us that debt is a curse and children are a blessing.How many people live just the opposite of that.How sad.
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Sparrow
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Nina wrote:
| The Bible tells us that debt is a curse and children are a blessing.How many people live just the opposite of that.How sad. |
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So true! I read a quote somewhere that said something like "The Bible calls debt a curse and children a blessing, yet we live in a country where we reject blessings and apply for curses!" Sad.
So sad and weird that someone would consider children a symbol of monetary wealth. What a depressing reason to have a child.
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Katie, blessed wife to Tyson and mom to all girls! Bailey (7) Riley (3) and Rory (3/17)
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Dawnie
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Here's a link to the article some of you have mentioned!
Three Kids? You Showoffs.
Read the article...you'll laugh a lot.
One of the quotes I pulled from the article when I was thinking of writing a blog post about it:
"Between diapers and bouncy seats, parents can count on spending at least $6,500 on the first year on baby gear alone."
My comment? YEAH, RIGHT!!!! I don't think I've spent $6500 on baby gear for all my babies COMBINED!!
Dawn
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Barbara C.
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Thanks for posting the link to that article. That is probably the article he read, and he must have taken it way too seriously. I think there was a certain amount of disgust in the author's tone, but I get the impression that she was minimizing so as not to offend Washington Post readers. What is the demographic for the Washington Post? Does anyone know? Something tells me it may mostly be upper-middle class urban professionals; you know, the people most likely to actually believe all that garbage. (Please correct me if I'm wrong. I don't read the Washington Post. I've always stuck with local newspapers.)
I'm not saying that extra kids don't cost a certain amount of extra money; the vehicle point is true enough. Trading our car in for a mini-van was our biggest expense, but that should hold us for another two kids.
There were so many things in that article to blog about, where would you start. I particularly love the part about how Ben Franklin excelled without all of that expensive junk. Of course, what they don't mention is that Ben Franklin also excelled without going to school; that he was home-schooled and mostly self-taught at that. He didn't need an elite preschool or the most expensive private tutor.
I think the people described in that article are the anti-thesis of almost everyone on here. And I have to question the way it makes it sound like only the rich are having more kids. But I guess it doesn't count for the lower-middle class or religious to have more children..."they're too poor to afford contraception or to dumb to use it". Again, I can't help wondering if this article is less about accuracy and more about pandering to a certain audience.
That Molly Jong-Fast is Erica Jong's daughter, and I just read about her in Wendy Shalit's book "Girls Gone Mild". She was discussing how her mother's extreme feminist and promiscuous views messed her up. I'm planning to look up her autobiography at the library.
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Barbara
Mom to "spirited" dd(9), "spunky" dd (6), "sincere" dd (3), "sweet" dd (2), and baby girl #5 born 8/1/12!!
Box of Chocolates
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Big Families Stop Flaunting....
