Regardless of the size, families have got same thing in common and that is love and willingness to accept everyone the way they are. Whether big, medium or small family, each comes with its own unique dynamics, challenges, and rewards.
The size of the family however comes with different perks and these perks are dependent on what your role is in the family... For a child, you might just want more siblings to play with but for the parents who are charged with the responsibility of raising these children to become responsible citizens of the country might find it more tasking. Afterall in leadership, the smaller the population the better the efficiency.
Personally, I come from a medium-sized family, lol, I wouldn't say it's a small family because I've seen families with just two or three children nor would I say it's a large one because going to the village exposed my eyes to what actually a large family could be with one family having ten or more siblings. With five siblings in my family, I would say we fall right in the middle.
Medium families are like "na Collabo" types because they've got some attributes of both small and nd large families.
Growing up, my family was always buzzing with activities, laughter, noise and cries which Invariably left us never bored even for a minute. There was always someone to talk with or fight with, lol. As grown ups too, there is always someone to seek advice from. Eating from the same plate and doing most things as a unit gradually built our bonds to be stronger.
It was also not frustrating for my parents as they were able to provide for us from the little they had as the number weren't as overwhelming as large families.
We also learnt the value of sharing with our siblings even if it wasn't always done willingly, but over the years, we came to appreciate the need for it; and it laid the foundation of enjoying successes with your siblings and sharing in their pains too.
We also fought many times and none of us sued each other further teaching us the act of solving conflicts amicably with dialogue, learning to compromise for one another.
It was wonderful during festivities too because of the number of persons involved which made it feel like an actual occasion although I must admit that sometimes I wished for a bigger share of the chicken, lol.
The number of my siblings also wasn't bad enough to deny any of us our parents attention like that of big families.
In the current world of today were siblings are even after each others life, coming from large or small families aren't any criteria that the siblings will love one another but then, the chances are higher for small families while the odds are lesser for large families.
Considering the current economic situation of Nigeria and other factors, I will love to raise a small family. To be exact, a family of four children.
This will enable me to even see them through to any extent they want to attain in life and while it's not a guarantee to raise them up to be responsible children, the odds are higher that they will be responsible because in parenting, the lesser the number the better it could get especially in trying to poach around the type of lifestyle they live.
If money wasn't an issue, I will still love to raise a small family because raising families isn't just about providing financially, it's about ensuring each child is attended to, disciplined and valued because what's more painful to parents is seeing their children turn out to be wayward children.
Above all, a small family will provide me the opportunity for personal development, work-life balance and other extracurricular activities.
A family should be a place where love flows, dwelling on the size is irrelevant rather our focus should be on creating a family where respect and abundant flows... Quality over quantity because those are the true perks of family life.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day 👍
