{Our Most Frequently Asked Questions}
Any family our size attracts a lot of attention and gets asked a lot of questions. Here are our answers to the FAQs we hear most often:
Q: Are you Catholic or Mormon?
A: Neither! We’re just passionate Baptists (by upbringing, at least). We currently attend a small, non-denominational Bible church. For more details, follow this link: What We Believe
Q: (Gesturing to the four or five kids who are with us at the time) Are these all your children?
A: All of these are our children, but these are not all of our children. (We have even more who are at home/ in college/ at work/ married with kids of their own.)
Q: Any twins or triplets?
A: Nope. All single births. I spent twenty-five years of my life either pregnant or nursing (or both).
Q: (Pointing to the youngest) Is that one your last?
A: (Pointing to the youngest) This one is our most recent.
Q: How many kids do you want?
A: Just as many as God will give us.
Q: How do you do it?
A: By the grace of God, through lots of prayer and teamwork.
Q: What kind of car do you drive?
A: When most of our children were still living at home, we drove a 15-passenger van (which probably got better gas mileage per person than most economy cars)! Now that so many of them have moved away, we downsized to a 12-passenger Nissan NV.
Q: What does your husband do for a living?
A: He’s an anesthesiologist. He puts people to sleep for surgery, then wakes them up when it’s over — and also puts in epidurals for laboring women (although not for me — my babies normally come so fast, there’s not enough time for an epidural to take effect).
Q: Were all your pregnancies planned?
A: Absolutely! But not by us. We only planned to leave the planning to God — and we couldn’t be more delighted with the results!
Q: Don’t you know what causes that?
A: Believe it or not, we figured that out a long time ago! (We also happen to enjoy it, which is just one of several reasons I think saying yes to sex in marriage is one of the smartest things a wife can do.)
Q: Do I need to buy you a TV?
A: No, thanks. We get entertainment enough watching all these kids!
When Strangers Count Our Kids and Ask Us If We’re Done
Responding Graciously to Negativism
For the incurably curious
Have more questions about our family than we’ve answered here? You can learn all you ever need to know about the Flanders clan by reading our annual Christmas letters. You can read them online or get your very own paper-bound collector’s copy (which includes a few family holiday traditions, recipes, and other fun stuff, as well). 😊
So funny! Bless your heart!
I have used your calendars for the past two years. Between grandbabies, subbing, and various dr. appointments my life would be crazy without the calendar on the fridge. I was so glad to see the 2017 calendar already up, but I can’t get it to print. I would appreciate any help you can give me.
Thanks,
Debbie
Hi, Debbie. I just sent you those files directly, in case it was a downloading issue. You might also check to see that your printer is properly plugged in and hasn’t been paused. Those two things trip people up at our house quite routinely. 🙂
I. LOVE. Your. Responses!! I need to memorize some of these, especially your reply above about dining in a 5-star restaurant – what a beautiful analogy. I just found my way here through a friend referencing something you wrote on her blog, and I’m delighted to have found you. 🙂
You have a lovely family. I wanted lots of children, but God only gave me two. We (me and you) are both blessed.
“Planning to leave the planning to God” is like me giving up my free will and holding myself not responsible for my actions.
I’d say that for us, it’s more like dining in a five-star restaurant and telling the world-renowned chef, “We know that anything you prepare will be absolutely amazing, so don’t bother fetching a menu — just send out whatever you think we’d like.” And guess what? This method has worked splendidly, and we could not be any more delighted with the results.
God Bless you and your family. I think you’re all awesome. Keep the faith!
My husband and I have seven wonderful children ranging from 2–6. We’ve have heard every one of the questions you posted. Our response to “How many do you want?” is: “Yeah, we know our family is pretty small. We really are hoping for a big family.” We have a 12 passenger van…I’ll trade it in for a 15 passenger any day!
God bless your family,
LOL…that should say ages 20-6.
Ha! I was wondering what combination of multiples gave rise to seven children in four years. That would have been an amazing feat, Linda! Blessings to you and your beautiful family!
My hubby tried to downsize from a 15-passenger to a 12- after a few of ours left the nest, but I’m happy to report we are back in a 15-passenger now. Even though we don’t use all the seats all the time, it’s good to have extras for toting friends and grandkids.
The last 3 questions & answers are funny! You have a beautiful family, God bless! Your website is informative and helpful, thank you!