Wait... Everyone doesn't want five kids???

I've recently come to the conclusion... not everyone wants five kids. What??? I truly have grown up my whole life believing that having four siblings is completely normal. Isn't it? I probably have inherited my skewed perception of family dynamics from my mother. Sherri Salvaggio Hill... what a woman! My own mother decided she wanted five kids after reading a magazine article. Yep, thats right. She always knew she wanted a big family but it wasn't until she read an article on my dad's residency professor guy (I can't remember who, someone that taught my dad) that she decided five was ideal. The article read "Dr. So and So, father of five..." and of course Sherri decided that sounded SO distinguished and that Jimmy Scott Hill needed to be Dr. Hill, father of five. And so with the determination that can only be achieved by a member of the Salvaggio clan, my mother gave birth to Harrison (1993), Savannah (1994), Olivia (1996), Hayden (1998) and Bowman (2000). Henceforth, my mother has made it her mission to get every able bodied, married female pregnant as many times as she can convince them. I've always grown up seeing my mother telling a recent mother "Oh, but you need at LEAST three more!". My personal favorite is when she pressures someone that has yet to have kids. She likes to scare them and say things like "Oh dear, you better start before its too late!". You could be in labor and my mother would be trying to convince you to have another! And I've recently realized, I am my mother's daughter. I am FLABBERGASTED when people say they want "one boy and one girl". Is that even a family? Does it count? I KNOW I want at least five kids. And people always say, "oh, you'll change your mind when you actually have one". But for those people that say that, I think THEY would change their minds if they got to live the life I have with four siblings. Experiencing that is far more than enough to make me want to overcome the difficulties of children. It has been the most wonderful and fantastic thing I have. I have a closer relationship with my siblings than most people could have with their best friends. My family is the most wonderful group of people I know. Its true. I absolutely LOVE having a large family, I wouldn't want it any other way. Sure, we argue and we don't get along. Altogether, though, having five kids has been the greatest gift my mother has ever given to me. I come home every night to a house full of laughter and joy. I always have someone to talk to. I have DOUBLE the clothes because I have a sister. I also find my way into my brothers clothes... I realize that not everyone can handle having five children to look after... but if you have it in you... I almost feel like its selfish to deny your children the best childhood they could ever experience. Not everyone wants, or will have, five kids... but that doesn't mean that me and my mother will stop pestering you ;)