Families with 5 children

[minimatron]

LOL... hypothetical? mmmm I dont have 5 but coming from a family of 8, we all shared as many as you could cram into a room!
So.... on another note.... do I do 4? Is it getting easier now #4 is a bit older?

[MamaPan]

i only have 2 but interested in your hypothetical question LOL!
I know families of 8 and 10 kids (older than us) and they had up to 4 in a room (bunk beds) was a big house with bedrooms and lots of living space...
Became harder when they were older.. in the younger days it was aged based sharing and then gender

[minimatron]

Sorry I was so wrapped up in getting around to my question to you but.... like MummaPan said, when we were younger there were 4 in a room. My family goes... girl, boy,girl, boy and another 4 boys. Us older 4 shared until it was a bit of an issue for my sister and I. The boys shared although my older brother being the extravert he is (in nicer terms) got his own room from early on (he was a terd of a teenager. Once 5 of my brothers shared. We did have a bigger than average house and a big yard.
After #5 was born, we didnt do family holidays. As for school, I worked from about 12 so that I could put towards a school of my choice. We did use food hampers from the local church though, even though my dad worked and worked. I loved being from a big family. There was lots of love around and instant friends. (I just answered my own question...)

[Sterla]

Hypothetical 'ay?

[Feijoa Mum]

Hmmmmmmm hypothetical huh???

Well yes and no. I know our situation is different from your "hypothetical one" in that my older boys are teenagers so very much in the "parents suck, my friends are everything and I want to be as far away and spend as little time as possible with my family" stage.
DH and I joke whenever we go somewhere or do something that it will just be "our weekend family"

We have a 4 bedroom house and nobody shares (well except me and DH) We have forfeited the garage and turned it into two bedrooms and a rumpus room kinda thing, so everyone has their own space and they also have somewhere to go with their friends to hang out. This has been done with blinds and bookshelves etc as makeshift walls nothing permanent.

Holidays are crazy expensive as "families" are apparently two adults and two kids so to be honest an extra child hasnt affected that bit.
I dont really know how much more expensive going from 4 to 5 would be normally because our number 5 was Lady, so that changed the rules and made her one very expensive little girl That was very much my doing and had she been a little boy it would have just been another spud in the pot as we had everything from S already.

We had a 7 seater car anyway so that wasnt an issue.

I love it, sure I would like more room, more money, more sanity, more time but as Guy Sebastian says "If you only think of things that you havent got, you could have it all and still never have enough"

Oh and I promise they will eventually sleep

[Gigi]

As for school, I worked from about 12 so that I could put towards a school of my choice.

minimatron, how does that work?

how does casual wages (working afterschool, or on weekends), earn enough in one year, at 12 year old wages, to change where you go to school (i'm presuming highschool starting at 13)?

i'm really curious.

[cathie5]

hey,
I have 6 kids, the twins share and the rest have there own rooms. 7 is on the way so he will have to be with us for awhile and than share with charlie second youngest. As for money My hubby has an excellent job so we are really lucky, we own our own home and cars so we have no debts at all. I stay at home and look after the kids but when they get older I will reopen our bussiness again. Alex 16 goes to catholic high school and Jack 11, Lily 6 goes to the local public school up the road.

cathie

[minimatron]

Gigi... I worked from 12 after school and weekends. At year 9 I was able to go to the local catholic school (being the cheapest). When I went to school, It cost around $2500 for the year, so I was able to contribute to buying books and uniforms and a bit of the school fees. I worked a lot during school holidays too. I didnt pay exclusively for it all though, I had to contribute to make it work otherwise we simply couldnt have afforded it.
Yes and a 12 year olds pay wasnt enough for fees, so it wasnt until i got my first 'proper'/'legal job at 14 was i able to earn anything worth saving for!

[Arimeh]

hey,
I have 6 kids, the twins share and the rest have there own rooms. 7 is on the way so he will have to be with us for awhile and than share with charlie second youngest. As for money My hubby has an excellent job so we are really lucky, we own our own home and cars so we have no debts at all. I stay at home and look after the kids but when they get older I will reopen our bussiness again. Alex 16 goes to catholic high school and Jack 11, Lily 6 goes to the local public school up the road.

cathie

Thanks Cathie

Well my baby is nearly 1 - this is the oldest a child of mine has gotten without me being pregnant with the next one! LOL!

I'm on a get fit kind of thing at the moment, got a cross trainer - so I've got till September to make up my mind about what to do - but either way, I'll be a hell of a lot skinnier hopefully than I am at the moment! Not easy labouring when you are obese! Or running after toddlers

Thanks for everyone who answered

[Arimeh]

LOL... hypothetical? mmmm I dont have 5 but coming from a family of 8, we all shared as many as you could cram into a room!
So.... on another note.... do I do 4? Is it getting easier now #4 is a bit older?

4 changes everything I have found - size of house, car type (no more sedan!) family holidays...

But if you are happy with that - definitely!!! It does get easier as they get older, i am less stressed these days but more sleep would be nice... Lol