When I was listening to "Utah's Official Christmas Station" today (so I could stand the thought of more shopping), a commercial came on for SmallFamilies.us. I don't know if anyone else out there has noticed this commercial or if everyone else has moved on to internet radio stations. (My brother is amazed I still watch TV with commercials.) Basically, the commercial starts out talking about how great families are if there are four of you or just the two of you and then talks about "it's okay to plan," etc. This commercial has set me on edge to the point I have to rant about it on here. Please forgive me. I can't stop myself.
So what's the big deal? You can probably tell from pretty much all of the content on this blog and the pictures and my general gushing over Little Miss that I am a fan of having children. However, I have also dispensed a lot of birth control and helped people figured out how to use it. I have used it myself. (TMI? Too late.) I am a planner. I believe in setting goals and preparing for them so you can enjoy them as much as possible. This includes children. I also happen to come from a line of fertile women. Very fertile. So my husband and I are carefully planning the size of our family.
Now that your ears are burning...this commercial kills me because it implies that smart, prepared, intelligent, caring parents have small families and by small families they mean two or less children. Planning does NOT equal small families. I know lots of wonderful, healthy, strong, PLANNED families with three, four, five or (gasp!) more children. I know wonderful, healthy, strong, PLANNED families with zero, one or two children. The number is not the goal of planning; the goal is to be prepared and to have communicated that planning and preparation with your partner. I firmly believe planning the size of your (healthy) family is an extremely personal decision no one should presume to influence--including some crazy radio commercial/website.
Am I crazy for arguing with a radio commercial? Yes. That's why I changed the station.
Now that your ears are burning...this commercial kills me because it implies that smart, prepared, intelligent, caring parents have small families and by small families they mean two or less children. Planning does NOT equal small families. I know lots of wonderful, healthy, strong, PLANNED families with three, four, five or (gasp!) more children. I know wonderful, healthy, strong, PLANNED families with zero, one or two children. The number is not the goal of planning; the goal is to be prepared and to have communicated that planning and preparation with your partner. I firmly believe planning the size of your (healthy) family is an extremely personal decision no one should presume to influence--including some crazy radio commercial/website.
Am I crazy for arguing with a radio commercial? Yes. That's why I changed the station.
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