Do larger families have more fun?
My Nguyen
Issue date: 10/6/09 Section: Opinion
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Bigger isn't always better.
Get your head out of the gutter.
I'm talking about family size.
I have a small family, and I enjoy it most of the time.
My family consists of my dad, mom, younger sister and myself.
When I was younger, all I wanted was to have a big family - mostly during the holidays, when all I saw on TV was big families gathering around the dinner table or the Christmas tree, enjoying the company of one other.
I was envious of my friends who had multiple brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, etc.
I was fascinated by TV families such as the Partridge Family, the Brady Bunch and even the Addams Family.
To me, having a big family meant more love and more fun.
During the past four years, I've gotten a taste of what a big family is like.
My boyfriend has a large family that consists of 11 people - that's three times bigger than my family - and everytime I'm on an outing with them, it's both lively and chaotic.
For example, last week I went out with my boyfriend's family for his parents' 25th anniversary.
The 12 of us went to P.F. Chang's China Bistro at Westfield Oakridge Shopping Center.
We occupied five medium tables, and three waiters served us. It took us more than 30 minutes to order and two hours to eat.
Of course, when the bill came, I was curious to see how much it was - $300.
Oh, how grateful I was that it only costs my family $40 to eat out.
At first, I enjoyed the energy and busyness of a large family, but it started getting old.
I started missing the quaint coziness of my small, but robust, family.
The average family size is 3.14, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
This is probably because it is way too expensive to have a large family now.
There are many advantages to having a small family. A small family is easier to support financially and emotionally.
When I'm down and out, I always have my sister to go to talk to. I have a close relationship with my parents, and that's because there's only two of us they have to support.
Even though our holidays are a bit quiet and not as lively as those of my boyfriend's family, I enjoy the fact that I only have to buy presents for three people instead of 11.
If someone has grown up in a small family, at one point or another he or she has wanted to live in a bigger household - or vice versa.
But we should just appreciate our own families more.
I have a little sister who constantly borrows my clothes and doesn't put them back the way they were.
But I would rather have one sister who did that than multiple siblings raiding my closet every morning.
There are pros and cons for each family, but at the end of the day, your family is all you have - and I wouldn't trade mine for anything.
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