Condoms or Diapers

Does the economy affect the way we think about growing our family? It should and, surprisingly, in a nation that is notorious for spending more than it makes, It does. 

I read an article today that suggests that Americans are not only tightening our belts, but we’re keeping our zippers up too. As our economy reels and struggles to revamp, that the average American family is spending more money on condoms and less on diapers.

It’s refreshing to see that other families like ours recognize that it is not prudent to expand their families when their income isn’t growing and may even be lower than usual.

Adam and I originally planned on having at least two but most likely three kids. Now, especially after all of the unexpected complications with Nix, we’re content with our family of three and don’t plan to have any more babies. I intend to stay home to raise Nixon, and without the extra income we’d take in from me working, it just wouldn’t be fair to Nixon or another baby to tack on the extra expenses a new baby entails.

In a few years, if we’re in a better place financially, Adam and I have discussed fostering or adopting another child, most likely an older brother for Nix that otherwise probably wouldn’t be able to find a family. We’ve been blessed, and Adam has had plenty of work coming in, but for now we’ll “follow the trend” of responsible families who are waiting out the recession before having more children.