Family Size

Am I the only one stuck in the middle of too big to be normal but too small to be so crazy you get a TV show lol? It seems like a "large" family varies so much. By who you are, where you live, who you hang out with, and even day by day. I mean you go from, "oh an only child?" to the "average" family, then you move on to the next step in "average" when your 3 kids now outnumber the parents. After that 4 is some phenomenum that people only think happens by accident or when you are trying for "that" boy (or girl). Of course once you get that "you are stopping now that you got your boy (or girl), right". So when you have 5 people start to think (with a dropped jaw) you really are one of those crazy people with a bigger than "average" family.

But if you start looking at "large" families, you find the families you see on TV: Jon and Kate plus 8, Table for 12, Kids by the Dozen, 18 kids and counting, (and I am sure Octomom will be in there one day), etc. Hey, maybe I have a small family? That is until I go to Walmart and get the dropped jaws, and the older 2 are even still at school.

So what constitutes a "large" family? The U.S. Census Bureau doesn't offer an official definition of large families, said spokewoman Angela Baker. The bureau's data on children, however, does provide information on siblings. According to the bureau, about 21 percent of children have no siblings, about 39 percent have one sibling, about 25 percent have two siblings, about 10 percent have three siblings and 5 percent have four or more siblings.

I guess I am part of the 5% of parents whose kids have 4 or more siblings. But not large enough to make money off it. I am one of the families too large for a single hotel room but not so big I have to drive a large passenger van. Big enough to draw stares but not so big that I don't still have to take them all out in public every day. I guess I'm a small, large family.

Oh and PS, I am perfectly fine right there.

traveling with many

Well in the planning stages I started saying that planning a trip with/for 5 kids was like planning a convention. As much as we enjoyed Pittsburgh it was hard to plan. Few hotels on the side Brian's work was on so we had to debate considerably about location and hotel suitability. Since for 7 people you need a minimum of a suite (in other words 2 beds and a sofabed). Usually we stay at a Homewood Suites but Pittsburgh seems to be lacking them. We ended up staying 40 minutes from his work so he had to rent a car, no way the kids could do 4 hours a day in the car. Then of course you hate to give bigger families any stigma so want the kids to not disturb anyone but here they are cooped up in a room. We all know kids need exercise and fresh air.

Before the trip I already believed that with 5 kids the probability of someone being upset or, at the very least, loud in the car is a minimum of 5 times higher. So I was quite happy for the decent trip there. The kids were really good at the hotel. But I definitely believe that traveling with babies or toddlers has stages. The first 1-2 nights you have traveling excitement and adrenaline to carry you through the sleeplessness of them getting used to sleeping elsewhere. The next 1 or 2 are hard though, thats gone and they aren't quite adapted, plus the previous nights are catching up with you. After that they do better but you still need to catch up. By the time you are ready to go home they are sleeping well and you aren't as exhausted.

I think the suite would have worked great for an average family of 7. But I wish I hadn't given in to Brian nor paid attention to the hotels limit of 5 in a King Suite. We had 2 double beds and a sofa bed. Anna, Joey and I in 1 double, Brian and Sarah in 1, Emma and Becca on the sofabed. 2 babies and I is a tight squeeze in a double, especially with pillows to prevent roll off. At home we have 3 kids and us in a queen bed with 2 side cars so I thought a king, with or without the cosleeper would have been perfect. Of course Emma and Becca, being such loving siblings had their own issues of someone rolling over, somone touching me, someones feet too far over, etc etc. I think we need a cot for one of them, pretty pitiful. 2 or 3 nights Becca insisted on being with us so slept on the sofa cushions on the floor in our room. Emma liked that, a big bed to herself, well until Becca decided to start sleeping with her again.

Of course, when on a trip, no matter how many times you swear they will go to bed on time, the hecticness knocks you off at some point. I didn't pay for it the 1st day I let them, the 2nd getting them into bed was hard but the next day was fine. That 3rd though, we paid for it. I know it could have been worse. But Becca losing it in the car was not my cup of tea. She didn't hurt anyone really, well I haven't had our hearing tested to be sure but we all appear to still be hearing. But Brian started melting down too (you see why I can call him a 6th child sometimes). I would love to say lesson learned, but I've been there done that, learned the lesson and still done it again.

I do get over a month off before we have to travel again. Am I crazy to be looking forward to the 3 trips in June?

Introduction

OK, I watch all those new family shows: Jon and Kate plus 8, Table for 12, 18 kids and counting, etc. But they leave out some of the gore I feel, OK maybe I want to believe they leave out the gore so I don't feel alone in mine lol. I do wonder how they got so lucky as to have 18 easy kids.

Everyone has an opinion, random musings to share. As a mommy who is a little different than them or the other blogs I read I thought I'd jump on my own soapbox. I already host blogs for groups or bragging so figured this was a good a place as any.

So to make it easy let me introduce myself. I am a SC mother to 5, how I was able to try 5 times and never get that "average" child is beyond me. I am married to a man, enough said. OK maybe not, he does help, from what I have seen/heard/read probably even more than many men. But he is a man. He works full time, he goes to school, he travels, and sometimes he is blind or deaf to whats around him. I stay home, I have been home for 13 years. That is probably the best way to describe me, since 13 years is long enough to lose your identity somewhere. So I am "mom", one day my kids will grow up and maybe when I go back to school, get a job, or just have a midlife crisis I will find my identity again. For now I am happy with my job title (for the most part).

The kids, I guess I might as well start at the beginning. Emily is 12 ( almost 13). She is very gifted academically, enjoys the computer, legos and lego robotics, reading, soccer, and plays the cello. I am quite blessed that she only has a small tween/teen attitude that only appeared in the past year or 2 unlike all the kids I see with one at 7 or 8. She is helpful, independant but just as everyone has strengths and weaknesses I would say grace and common sense are her weaknesses.

Rebecca can take up a whole blog herself. She is 9, very sweet, helpful, and loving. But she also has ADHD and childhood onset Bipolar Disorder. If there was a real life Dr Jekyl and Mr (or Mrs as the case may be) Hyde this would be the closest you get to it. What does she like? Well she is passionate to say the least, so she likes just about everything. Being a monkey, climbing trees (and anything else), tumbling, jumping on the trampoline, and also playing legos, sports, bike riding, scootering. I wish that she liked reading more though. At least she does well in school too.

Sarah is 4, too smart for her own good. Thinks she's a big girl (shhh, let me believe she will always be a baby). Learns what she wants though. Got her letters (upper and lower) and their sounds from watching a video 2, maybe 3 times at age 2, could read her numbers too yet when she "counted" she always skipped 5-8 until recently and saying her ABCs l, m, n, o became "ellamemo". Needless to say she has a minor ariculation delay she goes to speech once a week for. She is not the most athletic of the bunch either, gotta have a weakness somewhere.

Joseph is 2 and who knows where his personality goes. He is sweet and laid back but boy can he ger MAD. He doesn't talk so has early intervention once a week and speech twice, seems to also have some sensory issues going on. He is all boy, liking tools, trucks and balls. He steers great, rides a big scooter already or terrorizes on his toddler one and watch out for him on a power wheels. Yet he is a mommas boy and likes to suck on his finger and cuddle to sleep.

Anna is 8 months old now. A bit lazy, finally started crawling a few weeks ago, my latest. She is usually known as the baby that smiles all the time. But trust me, she is not always that happy.

Parenting, I don't like labels. I might be considered an attachment parent but in some areas we are extreme (we have 2 sidecarred cribs to co sleep with 3 of the kids) and others we aren't (we yend to only breastfeed till 12-18 months). Not natural either but do take advantage of some homeopathy. We are practicing Catholics so at times that may come into play but this won't be a catholic view blog aimed at that but you have to know it effects our life. I wish stay at home mom actually meant that, but it doesn't, thats OK though, I'd get cabin fever.

Well that should get you started with a cheat sheet, gotta go as the therapist will be here soon.