NY Times take on Large Families

And the magnifying glass on large families continues. This time a New York Times article which features interviews with me and my blogging-mate here at Mega-Moms, Kim/kmomof12.

The article also features a picture of my family. And, I have to say, it’s kinda irritating that after 45 minutes of picture shooting and literally dozens of pictures taken, they chose the one that shows the torn wallpaper in our living room (courtesy of my severely autistic son, Raif–not the fact I have a large family) and some religious pictures in the back. I really feel this was an attempt to portray the dirt-poor, religious-fanatic, white-trash that have large families. Though, I should note, Jim and I worried about that wallpaper, and even considered some quick fix before they came. But, the bottom line is we are who we are. We’re not ashamed of it, and if the world wants to think that of us, fine. Thankfully, the people who really matter don’t jump to such quick conclusions and judge us on who we are, not if we have a *gasp* religious picture on the wall.

I have to just shake my head at the “freak show” comments. Granted, even though a lot of the large family shows do have that element, there are some really good portrayals too. The “Kids by the Dozen” series was a prime example of how you can focus on the hardships and the positive. Anyhow, although the article tried to sound neutral, I don’t believe it was very positive.

Kmom did an awesome job speaking for the large-family community. Even though I talked to the reporter for a half an hour, they didn’t use a lot of what I said. But I could kinda see that since the reporter I talked to really wanted to focus on the “nasty comments” and such, and I wanted to talk about other more positive stuff. She was actually on the phone with me, reading the message board on LOK, laughing at the comments other large-family moms were making. *sigh*

The article had a lot of good stuff, and I think Meagan Francis did a nice job defending LFs as well. Though, there was enough to irk me, particularly this: “But as families have shrunk, and parents helicopter over broods tinier yet more precious, a vanload of children has taken on more of a freak show factor.”

Smaller families are more precious. It’s really sad to see it articulated, and even sadder to realize that for most of the world, that’s how they truly feel. Oddly enough, most large families I know are very open to the idea that families of all size should be cherished. A large family isn’t for everyone, just like a small family is not where everyone want to be.

Either way, my kids had a blast at the photoshoot, even Raif–though at the end he had more than enough and walked up to the woman and said, “goodbye” and gestured to the door! I’m going to write more about that now at the Special Needs blog if any of you are interested.

Oh, and the photographer did some kind of fish-lense thing, I presume to get my house into the shot. Jim looks way tall, and he’s not. And our scale is off. But…oh well.

Here’s the link: And Baby Makes How Many?

Oh, and if anyone is interested to read how my autistic son did at the shoot, you can check out my post at the Lots of Kids and Special Needs blog: HERE.