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Offtopic a bit (too late for this to be relevant to OP, but I am curious nonetheless) and not very popular probably, but why 6 kids? I am aware that some people

Offtopic a bit (too late for this to be relevant to OP, but I am curious nonetheless) and not very popular probably, but why 6 kids? I am aware that some people are just really bad at planning (never learned how to?), but OP is a programmer so he can lookup facts and knows how to do statistics. A quick Google search shows that raising 1 child to 18 y/o costs $233k now in the US, let's say you can bundle resources a bit, so assume raising 6 children to 18 y/o costs a little over $1m without doing crazy stuff (long, lavish vacations etc). That is going to exclude the more extreme health issues I really hope OP will never have to deal with, but, statistically, based on number of children and genetic properties / lifestyle choices of the parents should be considered. I am really curious how it seems a good idea or plan to have 6 kids instead of, say, 2 (or 0 if you are financially not sure if things will ever be ok) when you are not considered rich (enough to catch hick-ups like the one for very long periods) in this day and age? Again, I'm asking this not in general, but of someone who clearly has an analytical brain.

aklemm 9y ago
It can be nice to have more time with babies and the other stages (they do grow quickly, you know) and it's also fun for siblings to have each other. Considering people ignore financial realities in all kinds of spectacular ways, ending up with a bunch of kids isn't too hard to imagine.
- tluyben2 9y ago
  I agree, that's why I was asking it from someone with, maybe, some analytical rational. With the reason your provided being absolutely viable, just not my experience. Anecdotally, my friends all did the calculations and planned kids, houses etc based on those calculations. So I am wondering how someone who is aware of this goes that far and then gets in a position where he has to ask for help. It is sad (I do not believe he should have been put in prison, but he should've gotten mental help right off the bat, imho), but one can ask the question. Maybe it is good to say that it is absolutely weird in my neck of the woods to have more than 2-3 kids. Everyone will look at you like you are a religious nut, so that probably plays into my curiosity.

aklemm 9y ago

It can be nice to have more time with babies and the other stages (they do grow quickly, you know) and it's also fun for siblings to have each other. Considering people ignore financial realities in all kinds of spectacular ways, ending up with a bunch of kids isn't too hard to imagine.

tluyben2 9y ago
I agree, that's why I was asking it from someone with, maybe, some analytical rational. With the reason your provided being absolutely viable, just not my experience. Anecdotally, my friends all did the calculations and planned kids, houses etc based on those calculations. So I am wondering how someone who is aware of this goes that far and then gets in a position where he has to ask for help. It is sad (I do not believe he should have been put in prison, but he should've gotten mental help right off the bat, imho), but one can ask the question. Maybe it is good to say that it is absolutely weird in my neck of the woods to have more than 2-3 kids. Everyone will look at you like you are a religious nut, so that probably plays into my curiosity.