Misconceptions about large families

We took the children to the library this morning on route to the forest. There was one of those women there. The ones that have 2.4 children and look down at you for daring to have more than the 'average'. These women (and men alike) assume that as you have lots of children they will all be badly behaved and then shock horror that I actually have a husband in tow. It just so happens that our children are almost always very well behaved (when out , of course they are not angels they're children!) and often praised for their good manners. Obviously they have their moments when they decide to scream in Tesco but all children do this at some stage in their lives....don't they? Just because some people choose to have four or more children does not make them a bad person, it doesn't mean that their chidlren are badly behaved and we can actually have all these children with the same husband without living on a grotty housing estate. Just as many women choose not to have children and are reguarly critisied by our ageing population for doing so, there are those people who hold huge misconceptions about large families. Fifty years ago my husband and I would not look like a freak show walking along with our five children. Children are a blessing however many we choose to have.