always had grave concerns about having a large family. Would we have enough time for everyone? Would I be able to share myself around?

A friend recently said to me that she deliberately only had two children, one for each hand, it was the safest and best scenario. She is right, of course. It is the most manageable option. So, why do people like me have more than two children? Is it at all possible to bring up more than two children and still remain sane? How will the children fare?

Films such as Family Stone and most recently It's Complicated show a dysfunctional but romantic notion of family life. Let's face it; I am not sure I know a family that is completely functional. Ask any parents of teenagers and they will nod sagely at you and agree life is no barrel of laughs. There is no rule book for bringing up children and no one is completely correct. We all falter, we know we falter and if we start feeling things are going well, we have our teenagers to remind us daily of all the things we have done wrong. They seem to conveniently forget all the things we have done right and we must have done at least a couple of things right. Haven't we? Surely we have.

For years I went out with my five children, one in a wheelchair and for ten years another one in a pram, different children in the pram as time passed by. My older children became adept at pushing prams and a wheelchair. I was determined that my children should not be confined to home because of our family dynamics. I strode out with a gaggle of five, complete with apparatus needed, food supplies and comfortable footwear. My oldest daughter many times begged me to stay home; ‘It's so much easier' she would say. But I would have none of it. No, no, we all had to be stressed together and venture out en masse. I became used to people staring at us. A mad mother determined to fit in to the normal mother category, whatever that may be. I pushed one child in a wheelchair, my oldest pushed one in a pram and the other two held onto to either side of the wheelchair. It worked, people parted like the red sea as we walked towards them. It was not always an easy or peaceful outing but we did it. All of us together.

I had to be organised. I knew all the locations that were both wheelchair and pram proof. I had special parking at the Australian Museum and the Opera House. I frequented two harbour beaches because they conveniently had grass which allowed for an easier pushing surface, a smoother ride for the wheelchair or pram bound child. Films were a little easier as most cinemas had wheelchair access. The hardest part was finding a film that suited the eleven years of variation in the children's ages. It was a busy but hectic time in our family life.

Now we have no more prams, only a wheelchair to push. We manage very well and none of the children seem too damaged by their childhood experiences, although I guess time will tell. It may still be too early to be congratulating myself on a job well done.

As the children have grown older, life has changed. The oldest is 19 and the youngest is eight. The 19 year old now drives her wheelchair bound brother to the cinema and they watch a film together or they go shopping together. All the children are incredibly close. They get on well and have a good connection with each other.

Our house is not sublime, it is full of frenetic energy which is just the way I like it. It is the holiday season that always fills me with the joy of family life. My friend was right; I have too many children for my two hands. They hold each others hands instead.

Alexandra Field is a freelance writer.  She has five children, the youngest is eight and the oldest is 19 and a son with severe cerebral palsy. Read Alex's daily blog at
http://alex-muchadoaboutnothing.blogspot.com or contact Alex at www.alexfieldherself.com.