When we had our fourth child, everyone said, "You need to get a bigger house! You need more space!" Really? I thought. Sure it would be nice to have a little more room, but I didn't feel too cramped. Our house is 2100 square feet. We have four bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a living room, family room, dining room and eat in kitchen. After a recent remodel, we also have a toy room in the basement. What else did we need, I wondered.
I always bristled a little at these comments. I know of families who raised 10 kids in 2 bedrooms! And just think of families in other countries - extended families in 1 or 2 rooms!! Is it really so wrong to have the children share bedrooms?!?
The other day I was reading an article about homes that stated that the adequate amount of square footage in a house was 1200 square feet for a couple. For every child in the family, you added 200 square feet. SO - our house is a whopping 100 square feet too big for us! I felt strangely justified in my opinions after reading this. I was relating this to my brother-in-law (who also has four children). With his typical dry humor, he said, "What does it matter how many rooms a house has? The children are always going to be right next to you." Well said. My husband and I always lament that our bathroom, the smallest room in the house, is where everyone wants to congregate in the mornings.
So - we'll keep our 2100 square foot house (which we happen to love!), even if God blesses us with more children.
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8 comments:
Right On! Some thought I was crazy when I decided to have my boys (Ages 5 & 3 ) share a room. We have 4 kids, & 4 bedrooms,2.5 baths we live like kings and queens yet so many think the more kids you have the more rooms you need. Why? I sometimes want something smaller-Less cleaning.
Absolutely! Who needs more house - it's just more to clean! One of the first things I think when I see a huge house is - who cleans it?
"House poor" here, but I feel oh so rich to have my own home, so pooh to all the naysayers!
I consider to be house rich now.
Before here, we were a family of 8 living in a 900sq ft house with only 2 tiny bedrooms and 1 bathroom. You could see the front door and the back door from just about anywhere in the house. The kitchen was so small the fridge didn't fit in it and we had it set in the mudroom 100 ft away from the kitchen.
There were pros and cons. Cons - we could never find a quite place alone. Pro - I knew exactly where everyone was at any given time. No child got away with anything. Con - being that close is NOT good for a relationship. Pro - less rooms to clean.
Still now that we are in a 4bd 1.5bath, with a full basement, fenced in yard, and more. It just feels like a mansion!
Sure it's harder to keep clean, the kids hide and find more mischief where mom can't see them, but my relationship with my husband has grown much better and I appreciate all of the extra room that much more.
On a good note, we were examples to some friends who were financially strapped and had a slightly bigger house than we did with just 3 kids. They would start thinking about moving and then remember our family and how we could make it work in a teeny tiny 900sq ft house with 8 people and be fine. They just found a way to suck it up and live in their situation just a bit longer to save a bit more money.
I always look at it as "needs" and "wants".
Amen! We are blessed with a 5BR, 2BA house, 2200 sq ft. We have 5 kids (15, 13, 8, 6, & 3) and are expecting another. So many people assume we will be moving to a larger house. We did seriously consider our options when our oldest was starting high school as we wanted him to be able to have his own room. He was sharing a 10' x 12' room with his brother. We chose to downsize our home office and move it into our bedroom. The "aha moment" came when we realized that this would be a temporary sacrifice. Children grow up and move away!
I wouldn't want another bathroom--more to clean! Our 2 baths live large with double sinks and separate toilets. I have been in many houses larger than mine that wouldn't work for us because of how the space is divided. Our problem is not lack of space, but too much stuff! We simply have a lot of stuff we don't need. If our house were larger I'm sure we would just accumulate more.
It is sad to me that so many luxuries have become "need to have" things nowadays -- someone told me once of a family they knew who had too many children because "they couldn't afford for them to play soccer."
We had five kids in an 1800 square foot house and it was manageable, though I admit we felt a bit cramped. We moved into a much larger house and it IS nice to have more space.
jandkplus6 -
We have too much stuff too! I think you are right - if we had a bigger house, we would just accumulate more stuff we don't need. And Christina - you're so right - our "wants" have become "needs" in today's society!
I just think that brother in law of yours is a really smart guy and you should listen to him more often :)
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