So far, all you've got are my opinions...

so I thought it was time to widen the net a little. I conducted a little "straw poll" among various people in our community, not all of whom were aware that I have a greater-than-average number of children. I asked teachers, Cub & Brownie leaders & health workers whether they had noticed any differences in the behaviour of children from larger families. To my surprise, bearing in mind the tabloid stereotypes, most of the replies were very positive. Among the comments that came up more than once were,

• "They tend to be more mature"

• "More self-reliant"

• "More co-operative"

• "Better at working in groups"

• "Less selfish"

  all of which seem to me to be good things. However there was one thing they all said which is perhaps not so good...

• "NOISY!"

IF you are professionally or voluntarily involved with larger families, we'd be interested to hear your views. Or if you as a parent have come across interesting ideas or assumptions about us, pass them on! Email me with your contributions.

I also asked my own children about their perceptions of life in a larger family - dangerous ground! My eldest, it's fair to say, is currently furiously resentful of the whole situation & couldn't think of one good thing about it, but he's just at that age where families are a total embarassment anyway. All of the others had lots to say, along the lines of, "There's always someone to play with/tease/help you find things/come with you to your bedroom when you're scared." They also mentioned untidiness, but that is probably more a problem unique to this household, as I can usually think of better things to do than tidy up!

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