I have not done a quote for while, so here is one for my “Words to Live By” category.

"How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers." If you’re not familiar with it, this wonderful quote was said by Mother Teresa. I love this quote, and I really like the message it sends. It appropriately pops up on quite a few of adoption-related websites.

Ok, so I do understand that there probably is such a thing as too many children, at least in one family, and I do understand that flowers do not need things like diapers, shoes, school supplies, toys, breakfast cereal, socks, birthday cakes, Christmas presents, dentist appointments, college funds and eight million other things. Truth be told, flowers also don’t make constant noise, need frequent rest stops when traveling or bicker with each other.

But the spirit of the quote sums up the way that I feel. Children are a blessing, not a burden. It seems like so many people these days look at kids in the “what they will cost us” category…both in a financial sense and in a lifestyle sense. The mindset seems to be that kids are expensive and they are a lot of work, so more than one or two is not a good idea (and you must be out of your mind to have ten).

Well, in some ways kids are like flowers. They do need quite a bit of maintenance. They come in all different colors and sizes. They are wonderful to look at. They brighten up any room. They make the world around you more beautiful. Heck, sometimes they even smell really good.

I always joke that the only time I feel like we have too many kids is when they all get the stomach virus at the same time (which thank goodness is rare).

The rest of the time, I am with Mother Teresa. How can there be too many children?
I look at my family and I feel blessed. I look at our kids and I feel happy and lucky and content. My kids make my life fun and they make my life beautiful and they make every day worth living to the fullest.