Really? You just said WHAT?

On Sunday, for Nate's birthday, we took the family to the Forum (a mall) to Jurassic Land.  Elly had gone on a field trip with school and LOVED it.  The girls had soccer that morning.  I stayed home trying to recover from the sinus infection I had.  A full day of activities on Saturday had really wiped me out!  So after lunch, we headed to the Forum.   I don't know what it is about people in Istanbul, they are always at the mall.  Even on the most beautiful days, they are shopping!  A Sunday afternoon was no different.  The parking garage was PACKED!  We had to go two levels down and on the IKEA side to find parking.

We finally made it into the mall and were heading to Jurassic Land, we I heard a lady say, "OMG, look at her!  She's pregnant and has three kids."  The way she said it was like I had something growing out of the side of my head.  The two ladies weren't American.  They spoke  English but I couldn't place the accent.  I was surprised though, how much it hurt my feelings.  I know plenty of families with 3, 4, and 5 kids.  It's actually pretty normal in my group of friends.  And really, why the heck should it matter to you?!!  It's my body, my sanity, and my life.  My kids are perfect angels compared to most here.  We take care of them physically and financially.  I don't have a nanny and don't really want one.  I choose to have these kids and its my chosen path in life to be a mom.

  I know in Istanbul, two kids is the norm.  And I understand that the cost of living is very high here.  I couldn't imagine having to pay the high rents.  Ours is double our mortgage.  Plus its much easier to find a 3 bedroom than a 4 or even 5 bedroom in the city.  And usually those spare bedrooms are the Maids/Nanny's Quarters.  And having to pay International School tuition for 4 would be more than Joel and I paid for all of college (and thats just one year).   Our car will soon become a tight fit if we use our driver.  But its not that difficult to make work.  Even the President of Turkey is asking families to have 3 kids to help ease the population issues.

I still don't know how I feel about it.  For the most part, I've got nothing but congrats and happiness about #4.  But again, many of them are 3 and 4 kid families.  I'm hoping that this will just be some random incident.  This hormonal mommy might not keep her mouth shut next time.