Everyone always says that big families are too loud, always fight, and annoying. Truth be told, they are and some of these reasons are why I love my big family, but there are also so many other amazing benefits of having a ginormous family that outweighs all those little unattractive qualities.

1. You always have friends around your age.

With a majority of the family having kids, it’s bound to have a lot of the kids close in age which meant they with always have someone to have a playdate with and sometimes those kids end up being best friends for life.

2. You family within an hour of where you live.

Even though going away to college, it’s always nice to know that there is family always close by if you really need something.

3. Hand-me-downs were a must.

With having so many kids I would always see someone in my family leaving home with a box of new clothes or toys for one of the kids in the family. It was like Christmas when we would leave my aunt’s house with some new tops or toys

4. Learning old family recipes were a tradition

Now whatever heritage your family was, German, Italian, Polish, etc., there was always a special recipe to learn. It was always the best day when my dad made my families’ special meatballs and sauce or when my aunt made her version of sloppy joes.

5. You always have a support system there for you.

Everyone goes through rough times, whether it be financially or emotionally, and with a big family there is always someone there to help you get back on your feet and always someone to talk to.

6. You learn to share from a young age.

Now I didn’t realize this til I got older but having to share my room with my two sisters or having to share toys whenever all of family hung out together really has helped me in life. It’s not a big deal for me to share a dorm now because that was my life growing up.

7. They help you avoid some major mistakes later in life.

This reason is talking to all the younger kids of the family because having all the older kids go through high school and college first is really helpful because you always know the things to do and not to do because they will always tell you their mistakes to warn you when you have to experience it.

8. Any event turns into an all-night party.

Whether it be a holiday or birthday having all the family gather together just ends up to be a big party with the kids just having a big sleepover and all the adult talking all night. Also with having so many different ages in the family there is always someone getting married every couple years

9. You always have a security backup.

This reason is geared toward the girls in the family mostly because when any girl starts to get to that dating age there is always a guy on standby in the family to beat up any guy up who tries to date any girl in the family. Having loads of very protective people around you really shows if you are dating a good guy because if he can pass every test your family puts him through, you know he’s a keeper.

10. You learn to speak up for yourself

With having 10-15 people always speaking at once when you are around family you learn to speak up if you really want something. And this is always a good tool for later in life

11. You learn to become comfortable around anyone and everyone.

This is especially true on vacation when you are fitting 10-15 people in a small 3-bedroom house, you learn to become very comfortable with having to sleep on top of each other and being in very close quarters for many days so you don’t get freaked out by anything anymore because you have definitely seen it all.