I Judge...

I try not to be a judgemental person, I really do, but there are some things that just bug me to no end.  My #1 peeve right now?

People with too many children.

I know, I know... this seems too general and horribly judgmental, but it's been on my mind a lot lately.  Ever since our day at the Mall of America and seeing hoards of poorly behaved kids running around I've had this burning desire to grab their parents and yell, "did you really need THAT many?!"

What's too many you ask?  To me, 3 is too many.  Children shouldn't out number their parents; it's a recipe for disaster.  Now I don't mean to say that people should never, ever have many children (as I sit here right now I can think of a co-worker, a friend from my childhood and a girl I went to high school with who all have 3+ kids and they seem to be doing amazing jobs) but, for the most part, the families I see with many children are chaotic, frantic, disjointed balls of mess.  I don't believe parenting is an innate skill, procreation may be, but actual positive parenting does not just happen.  It is learned, honed, practiced and perfected over the years and it is a rare women (or man) who can literally go for years on very little sleep with multiple babies and not lose their mind to some extent.  I know I couldn't.  I feel the biggest factor in successful parenting is patience, and it's hard to be patient with so many kids to attend to.

And we haven't even touched on the social implications of more people being born than our earth can sustain.  In the U.S. alone the population is projected to increase to 392 million by 2050 - more than a 50% increase from the 1990 population size.

I know I'm bias as I come from a family of almost exclusively only children on both my mom and dad's side and we're 99.9% sure Eva is going to be an only child, but I just wish more people went for quality over quantity.  Newsflash people, if you're having a difficult or stressful time of being a mom to just one, adding number 2 and 3 into the mix is NOT going to make your life easier.  You should work on improving the quality of life for your first born because, like I've said before, I'm sure junior would appreciate a sane and happy mommy over a(nother) sibling.  Children are not accessories and you do not garner any awe or respect from me by being physically able to pop out multiple kids.  You do so by being an attentive, doting, hands-on parent who raises well rounded, well adjusted and well behaved children.

If you break into a cold sweat at the thought of going out in public alone with your children, you probably have too many.