Why so many children?

Aren't you just raising more consumers who will put extra stress on the planet? If you're trying to live with less stress, why not fewer children?

Let's get one thing straight right here at the beginning. Environmental concerns are not my top priority. I do not make my choices based on political correctness, or what others consider socially acceptable. My choices are typically based on personal preferences, research (as un-biased as I can find), and above all, following the Spirit.

I totally agree that fewer children would most likely result in less stress. As a soon-to-be mother of seven, I know more children add more stress in most situations. But, we also love children and large families, and this is where we have felt led. So, instead of rejecting children from our family to live a less stressful life, we are striving to live a less stressful life WITH our children.

As for the consumer issue. I would like to echo another mother of many (I wish I could give her proper credit, but I don't remember exactly where I found her quote):

"I did not give birth to consumers. I gave birth to children." 

Yes, our family does generate more laundry and dishes than the average American family. However, per capita, we use less water, less electricity, and less fossil fuels. Kids share bath water. Loads of laundry and dishes are nearly full, allowing the machines to function at maximum efficiency. We're usually all siting in the same room, requiring only one or two lights to be turned on in our house at any given time. Our home actually isn't even plumbed for natural gas, but our electric bill is still much lower than other families with larger homes and fewer people. While our vehicles are larger than average, and one is a huge gas guzzler, the big van is rarely driven with fewer than 3 people in it, and most often has a passenger count of 7. Again, this means that we actually use less gas per person than smaller vehicles with fewer passengers.

In large families, children are required to learn to share, take turns, and be frugal with resources. Isn't this the heart of minimalism? We teach our children not to waste, to clean up after themselves, to be generous, and as minimalists, to learn to live with less. So, yes... if you insist on calling my children "consumers", I am raising lots of them. But they will grow to be responsible consumers, who don't need STUFF to be happy.