anyone from a big family....i.e five or more siblings?

Question

i would like to hear positive or negative stories about what its like living in a big family.I have five kids at present and would like to know how it must be for them.My oldest is fourteen and my youngest is two....i also have four year old twins and a son of twelve....this question is just out of interest...thanks for the replies.....

Answer 1

I'm the youngest of 6, 3 girls, 3 boys. 12 years between me and the eldest,
Eldest to youngest : Girl, Boy, Boy, Girl, Boy & Girl (me)

We're all adults now, I have 16 nephews & nieces, 10 great nephews & nieces.


We fought as children, but are all close as adults, we all live within a 25 mile stretch, not in each others faces but are happy to talk and take advice from each other.
We help each other out in whatever way we can. Each of us has our own 'talent' or whatever.

I couldn't imagine life any other way, I feel sorry for my own daughter who is an only child - not through choice i might add.

Answer 2

I am one of 5 children. There are 11 years between the oldest and youngest and no twins. We are all girls. I loved growing up in a large family. We always had someone to play with and we were able to share clothes, etc. I have one sister who is 13 months younger than me. We didn't always get along when we were growing up, there was lots of competition more so with the sister who was closest in age. But for the most part we all got along. I only have 2 kids, and I really wish I could have more, but I couldn't really afford it, and my husband came from a small family and sometimes my large, loud family is too much for him. I love it though. Family gatherings are much more fun for me at my family's where there are always at least 20 to 30 (or more) people than at his family's where there are usually just 6 tp 10 people (usually there are 6 and my kids are the only kids there).

Answer 3

I am one of 4, my husband is one of 6, he and his twin are the youngest. I have 5 children and my husband has 3 children and we have 11 grandchildren between us. Family gatherings are ciaos.I wouldn't want it any other way. My sister calls us "rent a crowd". As a mum it is such hard work when they are little but I have to say as they get older its just wonderful All the children are so close. I have twins that are Autistic and the other children have grown up understanding that some children differ. I have to say being from a large family you are never lonely. On the down side , its hard to find the time to give each one of the children the individual attention that they need, but having said that I feel all our children are better adults for it. As for my childhood memories, we had a simple life with much fun and laughter. My husbands family were the same.... such wonderful memories.

Answer 4

Im from a family of 8. Me being the youngest at 21. I love that fact that I come from a big family. We were pretty spread out so the house was never crowded with family but I was nice to have older siblings around to help out when in need. Everyone gets along great and I always look forward to holidays and such.

Its best if everyone gets along, try and not let to much tension build up between them at an early stage.

Answer 5

I am 7th out of 10 siblings. It was really awesome growing up with so many brothers and sisters... There was always someone to play with and fight with...We all sorta took care of each other. It still is great but with so many family members it can be very stressful with all the personalities and problems that come along.

I would say a con was
1- my parents were limited in the time they could spend on our homework so we had to do alot on our own. Meaning there was not much discipline when it came to schoolwork.

Pros..learning how to work well with people...sharing. Learned very good work ethics since we pretty much had to take care of ourselves financially since we were 10 ( i mean if there was something special we wanted we had to pay for it) I look at that as a plus i dont think kids should be handed everything they want...THey should learn that money doesnt grow on trees and you have to work hard for it.

Overall ...It was a fun environment..we all still have fun.

Answer 6

I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters. When you're young it's great as you have others to play with, but it is no fairytale, you do fall out, and I'll be honest with you, I don't care what parents say they do have favourites and your children are aware of who those favourites are. There are some things I hated though. People automatically thought we were poor (god knows why as we always had new cars, holidays etc), and parents did have habit of passing down clothes, it wasn't until I got older that I realised that kids can grow out of clothes within 3 months, so what a waste if you just chucked them. The only other thing about large families, is that your brothers and sisters have children of their own - god Xmas can be expensive! I wouldn't change things though.

Answer 7

I come from a family of 8!!
I have 3 older sisters and 1 younger and I have 2 older brothers and 1 younger its really hard sometimes and I hate been in the middle of them but there are good times, because theres so many of us it can be awkward sometimes but when were together its great for activities and just having a laf theres so much to do as theres so many
your kids will bond with a particular sibling like i have with my oldest sister where as my younger brother bonds with my younger sister.

there will be hard times ahead there always is with a big family but the rewards are worth it when you see how close they become and how they follow one by one in a certain way

Answer 8

I have 2 older brothers, a older sister, me, and my younger brother. so total 5. The eldest is my sister shes 25, my eldest brother is 23, and my other brother is 20, I'm 17, and My youngest brother is 15 turning 16 soon. Ummm it was pretty fun growing up with a big family, like when we were younger, we'd play pranks on each other, my brothers would try tae kwon do positions on me and my sister, but as we grew up, we got closer especially me and my sister. Holidays were fun, we'd buy each other gifts, and stuff, which we still do, but yeah there were sometimes when we didnt get along but, we do now.

Answer 9

i have four sisters and two brothers.12 years between the oldest and youngest. when we were kids we were very close and always had each other to play with as well as all the other kids. of course we all fought like cat and dog at times but in general we all got on and still do to this day. wouldn't change it for anything.

Answer 10

my husband is one of 7...him and his twin are the youngest, at 37, and the oldest is 50ish!he seems to love having a big family, they are mostly quite close. occasionally some of them have a fall out, but thats just lke any regular family, and it doesnt last long. his childhood memories are all positive, tho him and his twin used to argue over petty things, they are non identical, dont know if this is why?they are really close now tho. i think some of the older ones used to help out his mum a lot with the children when they were younger, and that helped them to be close too. :-)