Are Big Families a Big Movement or Just Big News

We're seeing them everywhere, from Hollywood to our home towns. Big families seem to be everywhere, but are big families in vogue?

Posh Spice has 3, Madonna, Angelina Jolie, and Tom Cruise do too. Don't forget Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett.

So are big families on the rise?

According to statistics, no. However, we are making waves in public places like we've never done before, and here are some of the reasons why:

Multiples - with fertility treatments becoming more prolific, women are as well. Multiples have been on the rise, making for larger families.

Minivans - It's easier and more reasonable than ever to haul around several children at once, and restaurants tend to be more accomodating than they were. In this quick-serve world, many parents are taking their kids out for the convenience of it.

Working mothers - yes, even working mothers (or perhaps especially working mothers) are in the 3 or more crowd. Since they're out in public, usually with pictures of their kids on their desks, more people now than ever know a mom of several children.

Blogosphere - we're making our presence known through self-publication on the internet. Be it through message boards, articles (like this one) or our very own blogs, moms of many now have a voice that they never had before, and people read our blogs for many reasons...one of which I'm sure is so that we can think how lucky we are to not be that insane...(tongue in cheek of course, I am that insane).

Blended Families - With divorce as high as it is in this country, more families than ever are blended into the second or even third marriage, with kids in tow. This make for more larger families.

More Income - With a lot of moms working nowadays, income is increased to a point. Particularly if some or all of the children are in school, mom working can be a nice fall-back or even the primary job for the family, which can lead to a safety net that allows for more children.

Celebrities are making it more fashionable than it's ever been to be a mom of 3 or more children, to be sure. People aren't thumbing their noses at single parents as much any more which is a good thing in my opinion, because single parenting is tough work.

Religious families are still having their children in numbers as well, and even though the deeply religious population is pretty quiet, they're pretty outspoken and they do tend to have more children than the 'average' family.

That's not to say that large families don't get some flack. People jokingly or seriously ask us all sorts of strange or embarrassing questions that moms of fewer children don't encounter. So much so that we've taken it upon ourselves to come back with witty replies or ones that throw people off-kilter and make them ponder how rude their question was.

So go ahead and ask me, with a wink and a nudge, if I know what causes that, or if I've been busy. You never know what I might come up with. It's as variable as my own childrens' personalities, just the luck of the draw.