*you only need to give your name, with no further explanation of who you are, to your Obstetrican's secretaries and they all greet you with a smiling voice and a "how
*same with the dentist, the doctors office and booking in for swimming lessons :)
*you need to take your children to the dentist on two different days as there aren't enough appointments after school hours to fit them all in on the one day
* when you take your free toothbrush & sample toothpaste from the dentist you clean out the supply box *grin
*you arrive at the local swimming pool and as you all walk past people stop to stare
*knowing you'll reheat your cup of tea at least twice and then still throw out a third of it
*I have stickers on the back of my car, cartoon style.... you see the people in your rear vision mirror pointing at the stickers and laughing and/or gasping!
*when your three year old asks you if his birthday is soon {it's not until July} you can say "yes, it's soon" because we have such regular birthday celebrations he's not really sure who's birthday is when
* if you just have "the twins" it's considered "a break" and is really super quiet... in fact almost relaxing and IF it's you AND your husband and just "the twins" well...... no brainer, that's just cheating!!
*you look at someone with one baby and quietly sigh, thinking to yourself how 'easy' it looks
*you NEVER buy a standard box of laundry powder, shampoo, toilet paper, tomato sauce, bacon, butter, bread.... and so on.
*the people who work at the checkout at the local grocery store feel like friends as you are there SO much and they see your children SO often they know them & you by name
* the nice owner of Donut King says to you "I should know your name..." and as I say "Susan" I think he will never remember that... and then he does the next time you are there... I asked how he remembered.... "you have all the children" {at least he didn't say naughty children}
*you just cannot buy everyone a drink and a donut without spending less than $30 {wait till your children become teenagers!}
*when you call up for pizza you get chatting to the fellow on the phone about the best ways to get a good deal... garlic breads plus a drink..... one large pizza with a regular one for free etc... and work your order around the specials
*everyone can give you their order for what they'd like then you tweak it to suit the specials and when they don't get what they ordered they say 'Thanks' anyway, knowing you did your best
*you really wish you hadn't taught the last four children to talk!
*you think people with three children have a small family
*passing down shoes becomes de rigueur... with your first & second children you would never pass down shoes
*having more children does NOT phase you
*taking four children four & under anywhere does NOT phase you
*talking on the phone while dressing a baby does NOT feel like multi tasking.....
*in fact nothing feels like multi tasking because you never do one thing at a time
*breastfeeding is normal... not breastfeeding feels weird
*going to bed thinking "I'll sleep through the night" is just crazy talk...
*catching your husbands eye across the dinner table is enough to keep you going
*at the end of each day you think "whoa that was intense"... but it was just like yesterday and tomorrow will be the same
*your crying babies do not phase you
*every time you think you have enough food to feed an army, you are suddenly saying "I must go shopping"
*you start saying things like "yep let's just round up the numbers to ten" and your husband doesn't smack you but laughs and has a twinkle in his eye *wink
I adore my large family
it's mental at times
it's quiet never
you learn to give into it
never take one minute for granted
I look at my daughter and get sad cause she'll be gone all too soon
I look SO forward to my grandchildren
it's a lot of work but I would not trade it for all the tea in China NEVER
now, play along :)
This is the North end of our house. It's pretty obvious which is the new bit. It's all completed on the exterior now :)
The downstairs is a carbon copy of upstairs. A large family room for the teenagers now. We will be putting in a nice tv area and pool table. Our lawn is all but dead. It will grow back or we will re-turf. We are really looking forward to changing the garden around now.
