Hypocritical, Irresponsible and Seriously Profane

If you took a poll of 10 random people, all of them would have a different answer to the question: How many kids is too many? My answer varies depending on the day we're having, too. HA!

If you researched it you might find the opinion that having more than 2 kids per family is an Eco-Crime, financially irresponsible, and even wicked & immoral.

Of course, you also might find evidence to the contrary stating that big families are The New Green and an overall good thing.

I'm not entirely sure why a certain portion of the population thinks that if you manage to birth more than 2 kids, especially 5 or more, you must be a complete idiot. The stereotype that people with large families are all on welfare and uneducated is just that: a stereotype. There are plenty of educated, smart women out there with large families. If you've ever seen a large family at work then you MUST know the type of organizational skills it takes to get things done. Multi-tasking. Budgeting. Housekeeping. Meal planning. Scheduling. Homework help. Peace making. All of these things require more than a little bit of brain power!

Extremists (in positions of power!) like to say that after 2-3 kids women should be immediately sterilized or implanted with mandatory long term birth control.

You know what? If you decide to have 1 kid or no kids then I respect that - I think you're missing out but that's your choice and I respect that you know your limits and desires. I may not agree with your principals, reasons or ideals but that's YOUR choice to make. I'd hate for people that feel that way to have 6 or 7 kids that they don't want and can't handle - I would never want to make that something MANDATORY.

Beyond all of these things, the thing that bothers me the most about people like this and this is that these people label themselves as feminists. They are pro-choice and not scared to condemn anyone that isn't. But, really, how pro-choice are you if you want to tell me how many babies I can and cannot have? Then you're only pro-choice if the situation fits your ideals and that doesn't make you any better than the people you decry as being anti-choice. I believe the word that I'm looking for here is Hypocrite.

If you've ever read my husband's blog, then you know we don't practice typical methods of birth control. We have some very definite opinions about certain types of birth control and don't feel comfortable using them. This wasn't a decision we made lightly or lazily. It was one we felt compelled to make after much thoughtful consideration and, yeah, prayer.

I think Christine over at The Bean Blog summed it up well when she said:

"So can we please stop being so damn judgmental? Can we please stop calling parents irresponsible just because their families are different then yours? And can we please look up the word irresponsible in the dictionary so we use it properly? Driving drunk with your kid in the car (or driving drunk period for that matter). Irresponsible. Leaving your 2-year-old home alone all night so you could get high with your friends. Irresponsible. Having five perfectly healthy and happy kids. Not irresponsible."

But I'd like to add to that, if I may:

Telling me that I can't make my own choices for my body and my family while screaming at the top of your lungs about the choices of abortion, same sex marriage rights and the general basic human rights denied to women in other countries? Hypocritical, irresponsible and....