In a large family, there is plenty of fun and amusement and social life. An only child, who has no companion of its own age in the family, is a lonely child and becomes old-fashioned in its ways by always being with grown-up people. But in a large family, the children are happier because they play together and keep each other young.
There are certain disadvantages of a large family. The parents cannot give individual attention to each child when there are so many children to care for. When there are only two or three, each one can be studied and trained much more efficiently, but when there are many, each child is lost in the crowd.
Probably, there is more quarrelling too. The children have different dispositions, and they will not always agree. A large family is not always a united family and I may split up into factions. A quarrel between brothers is often worse than one between friends or acquaintances.
A member of a large family has less of worldly deeds to inherit from his father. A small patrimony divided between two or three may give each a comfortable income but the share of each son in a large family may be a small pittance.
SAMIA MALIK
Lahore
