destroying mother earth, one child at a time

When we moved to Ohio, a friend predicted that we would be expecting again within the year. *No, this is not that announcement.* Living in an area with a lower cost of living does get me thinking about where we will go in terms of family size. I would in all honesty love another child. I also would be totally and completely fulfilled and happy with stopping at three, however. Quite the conundrum. Many factors have been included in the pro/con list I've mentally weighed and honestly I'm still right about even. Something I did not consider, however, was the environmental impact of having a large family.

I may have mentioned before my affinity for googling important life questions. (Remember "what should I be when I grow up?") Well, I googled, "should I have 4 kids?" and some of the people of the internet are quite riled up about this topic. I read one claim that having a third child is an attempt at showing people how wealthy you are. That makes me laugh. Most people who have strong opinions on the topic, however, are for environmental reasons. The most commonly held belief amongst those concerned is that having more than two children is abusive to natural resources. Some even say that having children at all is irresponsible. Phrases like selfish, stupid, and killing the planet with overproduction of children are thrown around. Many believe that to have more than two children - thus creating more than your "fair share" - is to affirm that you are more important than the next person.

The more I read on this, the more disgruntled I became. I think teaching children the importance of environmentally friendly behaviors matters. I believe that this is God's planet and we are to be good stewards of its natural resources, just as we are to be of the money and personal resources He's given us. But I also believe that this earth was created to be lived in. Even lived in by more than two children per family on occasion.