Mormons are known for their big families and getting stares for their "Mormon van" full of kidlets. In fact, we can boast some of the biggest families in the U.S. So it's pretty easy for those within our culture to sympathize with an article like this. Have you had similar experiences?
But, it's also important to know not everyone in the Church has children. For the other side of the story, check out "What Not to Say to Childless Couples" and "5 Things Couples Dealing With Infertility in Your Ward Wish You Knew."
I had a meeting this week with a guy who is running a very successful company. We spent over an hour together and we realized early in the meeting that we both have five kids.
His are late teens to mid-20s, so he's got a decade or so of experience on me.
It's a small club we're in, this crazy big family club, so we really hit it off. We talked for a good 30 minutes about our families before we dove into the work stuff.
As we talked, we laughed about the crazy things people say to us in public. Especially when all seven of us are together.
When you see big families out and about, it must be a green light to say awkward stuff.
We agreed that the intentions are typically pretty good, but man, the delivery could use some work.
So in the interest of teaching you how to deal with weird families like ours, here are six phrases/questions we have heard dozens of times through the years.
If you see us or another large family out and about this week, try and come up with something a bit more creative to say to us. :)
1. Your Hands Are Full.
Often said with a tinge of sarcasm, like, "Whoa, y'all are nuts." The lame response here is, "Yeah, full of good things." Don't say that if you have a bunch of kids. You'll get made fun of even more.