"Are they all yours?"

[disneymama73]

I have 3 little girls ages 2, 5 and 7. Lately, people have been asking me this a lot. "Are they all yours?" There are only 3 of them. Is it really shocking to have 3 children?

Do those of you with 3 or more children get asked this a lot?

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

I don't have any kids but I don't find it shocking to see people with 3 or MORE kids. I didn't think it was that rare. I wonder why people are so surprised

 

[Allison]

I don't think I have ever been asked that. Mine are 13, 11 and 7.

 

[Ziva]

My friend has 6 children and she's pregnant with her 7th, you should hear the comments and rude questions she gets. Just ignore them or have fun and say in response...Yeh, they were having a buy 2 get one free sale, so I said why not!

 

[JennaTX]

I only have 2, but even if I had 3,4,5, or however many I could not imagine being asked that question.

Even if they were stepchidren, they would still be "mine"!

 

[Brianne]

Constantly. The responses from us change depending on our mood at the time but DH's favorite for awhile was "we liked to practice too much". Ugh.

 

[JennaTX]

Constantly. The responses from us change depending on our mood at the time but DH's favorite for awhile was "we liked to practice too much". Ugh.

OMG, I could just see my DH saying that, too funny!

 

[ashjohnson80]

My sister has 4 kids (2 of them are identical twins) and people ask her that all of the time.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Are they asking it in a judgemental way? When I'm out with my son and a friend or several friends people sometimes ask if they're both or all mine. Usually it's done in a friendly kind of way, just someone trying to figure out a way to start a conversation. When I say no and tell them which one's mine they'll tell me he's cute or comment on how well the boys play together.

I don't think having 3 kids is uncommon, but I also don't think that watching other people's kids or bringing along a friend is uncommon. If I saw a woman with 3, unless they looked exactly alike or I could hear what the kids were calling the adult I probably wouldn't assume either way.

 

[hipporina]

We get that ALL the time! Of course, I can understand it with our 8. Not only are there 8 of them, but they are all really close in age. What really tickles me is that people will try to argue with me. Yes, they're all mine. Really! I'm pretty sure that I know. We can't even go to Walmart without drawing tons of attention, but that's okay. I love having a big family.

 

[Sparx]

My mom says someone left me in a box on her door step.

and there's only one of me.

 

[TreslovesWDW]

I have 4 kids and I get asked that alot. I like when people come up to me and just say you have a lovely or beautiful family. Much better than are they all yours. This past summer I had three or their cousins and I got all those looks. We even went down the shore on the 4th of July Dh , myself ,5 girls 2 boys all wearing red shirts and jean shorts and we were stopped for a picture by the news paper , that was nice.

 

[PaulaSue]

Yep.

 

[kellyg403]

Yes, I have 6 children and my now dh had 2...so 8 total at one time. People always said that. One time dh said "no, we were lonely so we drove around the neighborhood picking up kids"

I know more than 4 children is not really the "norm" but I also enjoy my family and the benefits of alot of laughter and hugs. But, I do wish people wouldn't do that. It does make the kids self conscience, especially as they got to be teenagers.

Kelly

 

[mrszrw]

I'm on my way to 3 kids and some people act like I'm crazy for being preg. again. My SIL's sister even told me " I don't know if I should say congrats or just start praying for you!

 

[JunieJay]

We get that ALL the time! Of course, I can understand it with our 8. Not only are there 8 of them, but they are all really close in age. What really tickles me is that people will try to argue with me. Yes, they're all mine. Really! I'm pretty sure that I know. We can't even go to Walmart without drawing tons of attention, but that's okay. I love having a big family.

I was one of 9 stairstep children so I know about all the attention. That was in the 60s and 70s though, when families were larger, probably not as much attention as your family draws. Our big thing was we had 3 sets of twins, which made us sort of the town novelty.

I don't think anyone was trying to be insulting. Its just something you comment on when you see a big bunch, you wonder if they are all brothers and sisters or a bunch of neighbor kids or what have you. Although it is a little weird to be asked that of 3 kids, but maybe the person was wondering the same thing -- if they were sisters or just friends.

 

[dizneenut]

I have 4 boys, close in age, and we hear that all the time.
It doesn't bother me, though, because the people that have said it have been really nice about it. They mostly wonder because they always say DH and I look too young to have 4 kids.

 

[Apothecary]

My cousin who is 36 has 6 kids...wants 10. I admire her courage, I know we could never do it!! It certainly isn't the norm in this day and age. But more power to her and her husband.

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

I have four, and yes, when they were smaller I do remember hearing that now and then.

I have several friends who have large families, and they do get very rude comments sometimes. Most recently my friend (who just had her little boy ) while pregnant with #4 was asked by someone "Don't you ever just DO IT for fun??" I can't believe the things people will say!

Another friend, who has 6 kids, was asked, while pg with #3, don't you already have enough??

Usually, in my experience, these type of comments are made in a confrontational way, which is really sad. What business is it of anyone else?

I think it is equally rude of people to persist in asking people when they are going to have a family. Some people don't plan on having children, and that's their choice. Some people have infertility issues, and certainly don't care to discuss that with nosy strangers.

 

[minkydog]

I have heard it a few times. My 3 kids are 20,13, & 11, so I get "Do they all have the same father?" AS IF that's any of their business...For the record, YES, they have the same father, my husband of 25yrs. I lost a baby between DS20 and DD13, but thanks so much for asking