Children are a blessing from the Lord in many ways: they're cute when they're little; they'll take care of us in our old age; they'll give us grandkids and anniversary parties and lives to live vicariously through. They'll contend with us in the gates (i.e. they've got our backs). All this is true. But what I've been thinking about lately is the very practical aspect of having kids who can handle responsibilities.
Now that's a blessing.
My two older ones, Charlie and Lewis, are evidence of this. They more than pull their weight around the house: they babysit, haul wood, shovel snow (I spared them this last time and sprang for a plow truck, but they know how to shovel), clean the kitchen and bathrooms, vacuum acres of carpeting. The youngers are right in the olders' footsteps, fully immersed in "blessing" training. No, we're not breaking child labor laws--it's just chores--but regular chores have proven an integral part of running a well-ordered home (H will roll her eyes at that, but I know better). Sure, they grumble in their minimalist, slope-shouldered way, but I'm convinced they feel a greater sense of being vested in the home through the work they do here. It might be hard to confirm that until they're much older and can look back with some perspective, but that's how it feels to us now, and that's what we've been hoping for all along. It's one of the key reasons we chose homeschooling: that we'd be in it--in all of it--together.
Occasionally, when I find myself in conversation about how many kids I have (and I only have "a lot" in certain circles), I'll say something like, "There's a point where you have an economy of scale, and the older kids start taking care of the younger ones." Then I'll say, "So you may as well have a dozen." The other person will then laugh and say, "I don't know how you do it." And while the whole conversation comes off as a joke, the economy of scale thing, thankfully, is really very true.
So I'll let Heidi know we can have six more.
