Philotic Web

In Enders Game the Wiggins have three children, how many children are in your family and how many do you think is ideal?
What do you think was the purpose of the population laws in the books and today?
It would also be nice to know some ages to get an idea of how this changes over time.

Ugh, I voted for three but meant two with a total of three children. I have two sisters and while we fight a LOT, I love having them around and feel that it's a comfortable number that I can see myself wanting in the future. I'm 26.

I'm going to have to think about this a bit before I vote. I'm debating between 2 and 3. I have two older brothers and I loved growing up with the three of us, but I could be talked into having four kids in the future (though I really prefer odd numbers....but 5 is too many...difficult...). I have friends who are only children and friends with 10 siblings and there are pros and cons to both extremes. In my view, you need at least some siblings, but not so many you hardly know the ones on the opposite end of the family from you.

I have a half brother who is ten years older than I am so essentially I grew up as an only child with a random teenager around every other weekend who let me play his video games (until I was 8 and he moved away and I never got to play SuperBomberman 2 again). I think that even to this day I lack a lot of social skills that I think siblings develop well. Until I went to elementary school I really never argued/fought with anyone or had to resolve an issue with a peer. In preschool/daycare I just ignored the people who I didn't want to be around. I feel like at this point while I know how to act in most situations, I still feel strange around other people most of the time outside of my boyfriend and my staff over the summer. From many families that I have observed there is a weird sibling bond/trust that I don't think I can ever understand of feel for another person because there is not peer that has been part of my life whether I want them to be or not. I remember spending time with my neighbors and watching them tell their siblings things I would never tell anyone but my closest friends (which were rare). It's very bizarre to me to think about the concept of siblings in general. I put down 2 siblings, but I really don't know. That's just based on what I have seen around me. I definitely think that I would want to have siblings if I could "do it all over again" because often I feel socially impaired due to the lack of interaction I had with peers of the same age when I was growing up (and I think it needs to be more than just in school or play dates).

Sorta like Petra456, I have 2 siblings (total 3), but unlike her, I don't think it was the greatest number. Even numbers of kids are best, I'm convinced. Odd numbers leave the odd man out. Growing up, any two of us could play quite nicely together, but add the third, and it was total chaos. I remember very vividly wishing we'd had one more sibling. maybe above 4 it doesn't matter if it's odd or even - but I don't think in today's world it's exactly prudent to have more than 4... and even then I'd say 4 is maybe too much. I'm not a fan of our expanding population. so: 2 kids, or 4 kids at most (there are plenty of people having zero or 1, now, to make up the difference). I'm 46.

If you have 11 kids, you can field an entire football team.

Rugby is better. Have a few more kids.

One of my cousins was really happy when his wife was pregnant with their fifth kid, giving them a basketball team. She wanted a couple subs...

This question actually caused me some surprising soul-searching! I immediately picked '2', since that's what I have - 2 sisters. I think it's nice to have siblings and I like having two, so there's a buffer.
However, my own kids only have one sibling, so that led me to wonder if I'm depriving them of another sibling if we don't end up having more kids.
But, I think in the end, my actual view about siblings is: More than 0. Having one kid was a big deal/decision, but having a second kid was a no-brainer. There was no question in my mind that I wanted my kids to have siblings. And I was lucky enough that that was easy for me.

I have one brother. While we don't get along particularly well, I can't imagine growing up without him.

I plan to have 2 children. 3 would be too much for us in the lifestyle we want to live. We want everyone to have their own bedroom. We want to be able to take nice vacations. We want to be able to contribute substantively to their college educations. We want to save well for retirememt and pay back my house-worth of student loans. Financially, that means 2 kids for us.

But, I think in the end, my actual view about siblings is: More than 0.

This.