We'll always have sickies

Sad but true: when you have a big family, you'd better count on spending a larger portion of your year dealing with illness than moms with only one child or two. I like to think that my own family avoids at least a few germs by homeschooling. But despite the hermit stereotype, homeschoolers have numerous social events.

When we got to church during flu season, not only are we exposed to the germs of every kid in the toddler class, we also get come in contact with everything that the preschool class, the grade school class, AND the high school class has to offer. It can be a little daunting.

When I see one kid in our family getting sick, I'm never sure whether to pray for the bug to stagger its effect (which means someone will likely be sick for the next three weeks) or to pray that we'll all be sick at once (miserable, but done much much sooner.)

So what do I do when I see a bug coming on? I try to get people to bed a little earlier to boost their immune systems. I serve lots of oranges and garlic (recipe below). I encourage good hand-washing. Sometimes if the bug is a particularly ghasty tummy bug, I'll go around the house disinfecting door handles.

But I try not to stress too much about the germs. My theory is that if you are in a big family when a bug goes around, you have two options: you either get it or you get it. No matter how careful you try to be, you're going to be exposed. Even the most fastidious person is still susceptible to that toddler stealth-sneeze-in-your-face, or the preschooler who likes to drink out of every water bottle in sight

I do think that eating healthy food and getting rest will boost your immune system so that you can fight off the bugs more readily. So I focus on that instead of on space suits and Lysol.

Now, for the Owlhaven germ-fighting recipe.

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Oranges and Garlic

Serving: 10

12 chicken thighs, skin removed.
salt and pepper
paprika
1 T. peanut oil
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced or run through a garlic press
3/4 cup catsup
1/4 c. white vinegar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 T. cornstarch
2 cans mandarin oranges (drain, save juice, set oranges aside till end of cooking)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Place the chicken in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes.
3. While chicken bakes, make the sauce. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onion and green bell pepper. Sauté until just barely tender, about 3 minutes. Add the catsup, vinegar, brown sugar and salt.
4. Blend the cornstarch and the syrup from the mandarin oranges. Stir into the sauce. Cook, stirring steadily, until the sauce thickens and becomes smooth.
5. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Bake until the chicken is done, about 30-40 more minutes, depending on the size of the chicken thighs. Top with mandarin oranges. Serve over rice.

This is one of my family's favorite meals, and it is chock-full of germ fighting goodness.

Sick Preparedness Plan

Greetings! I’m Jennifer, a married mother of four (my daughter just turned 6 on Sunday and my sons are 4, 2, and 9 months). I’m also a freelance writer. I’ve been a big fan of the Larger Families blog for a while and I’m thrilled to be a new contributor.

Now when it comes to being sick, this year has been very different. Thankfully I haven’t been sick since the fall (of course I’m knocking on every piece of wood in sight as I type this). Since I typically catch everything my kids do for the entire duration and some, I have no idea why this year has been different. Maybe it’s the zinc lozenges I start popping at the first hint of a symptom. Maybe it’s because I’ve incorporated wiping off door knobs, handles, light switches, etc. into my weekly cleaning routine. Regardless, it has been nice and a drastic improvement over last year. You see last year aside from the typical episodes of cold and flu that circulate through a family this size we were also hit with an awful stomach bug. It came on hard, fast, wiped out the entire family within a matter of hours and included violent puking episodes. This happened not once, but twice (and the last time was when we were moving). The only good thing that came out of that was my new Sick Preparedness Plan. Here it is:

1. Set up a sick room. Like many moms I used to keep my kids in bed when they were sick. Then when they’d throw up all over their bed and floor I’d move them to my bed. As this process repeated I’d move them to one couch and then another. Then it hit me. I now had four rooms to clean up! So instead I set up a sick room. This usually ends up being the living room. It is centrally located enough that I can keep an eye on them, yet they are not in the main room of the house spreading their germs to everyone else (hopefully). Instead of putting them on the couch and worrying about cleaning cushions I spread out a bunch of old comforters and blankets on the floor. I make layers so it’s more comfortable for them and easier to clean up for me. If they get sick right there I just peel off the top layer and we’re good to go. I also bring down a pile of pillowcases and extra pjs just in case.

2. Get the trash can ready. For quite a few years I’ve tried to help my about-to-puke child make the mad dash to the toilet, but no more! I’ve realized that until about the age of 5 or 6 it’s pointless. They just don’t make it in time and I end up with a disgusting trail of vomit to clean up. So for the younger kids I get a trash can ready and keep it near them at all times.

3. Take inventory. It would be great if we always had a warning that we’re about to get deathly ill, but that’s not always the case. That’s why I take inventory of a few essentials as soon as someone comes down with the flu in our house. I make sure I’m stocked up on diapers, wipes and diaper cream. My kids always get diaper rash if they have diarrhea, regardless of how diligent I am about changing them. Pedialyte freezer pops, cold and flu medications for adults and kids are next on the list. This is followed by making sure I have plenty laundry detergent (to wash up those layers of bedding right away), as well as carpet spray and cleaning solution for the carpet cleaner. Finally I make sure we have ginger ale, soup, and crackers for those recovering stomachs and plenty of quick fix items like frozen pizzas and cereal in case the kids have recovered but I’m still sick.

Of course this list doesn’t cover all scenarios, but with it I feel a little more prepared and ready to handle whatever pesky viruses come my way.

Jennifer lives in Toledo, Ohio with her husband and four children-Lydia (6), Connor (4), Owen (2), and Tyler (9 months). When she decided that having four children in five years wasn’t going to keep her busy enough she started a career as a freelance writer. She spends her days cooking, cleaning and caring for little ones and her nights writing about pregnancy, parenting, and the quest for peace (as in peace and quiet-there is such a thing, right?). You can also find her here.

I was going to post on my usual day but we got sick

No, seriously.

Last Thursday night my son threw up what looked like an entire plate of intact spaghetti (sorry to be so graphic, but doesn't the boy even CHEW?). Two hours later his littlest brother followed suit, only he mostly urped breastmilk--much easier to clean. And in the morning, it was my oldest son--the "bad puker" who will do almost anything to avoid hovering over the bowl, including running in circles until he throws up on the carpet instead--who tossed his cookies. Miraculously, my three year old son--who fairly often throws up for no reason at all--and I seemed to avoid the crud, but for the following few days every twinge in my stomach had me clutching it nervously, and every time my son made a funny noise I ran him to the bathroom.

It's been a bad year for illness around here. We've had months where one illness after another runs through until I can't tell if I'm on the tail end of whatever the kids just got over, or if I'm the one starting off the new sickness. Part of me likes to think my immune system holds out longer than anybody else's, but another part of me likes the idea of being the viral trendsetter of the family. And, as other bloggers have pointed out, moms don't get any time off for being sick, but we often neglect our own health trying to keep the rest of our family well. Here's something I wrote something a while ago about how hard moms try to keep their brood from getting sick--often to the detriment of our own health:

In the past, the change of seasons has spurred me into a flurry of infection-thwarting activity. A trip to the pharmacy and health food store drained my checking account while supplying me with an arsenal of supplements, herbs, homeopathics, vitamins, teas, and other alleged immune-boosting items. Once home, I’d line the bottles, tubes and jars up on the kitchen counter in front of my skeptical children and subject them to an assembly-line assault of immunity enhancers. After dosing them up on zinc lozenges, vitamin C tablets, Echinacea tinctures, lemon-flavored cold-preventing herbal tea and chopped-up garlic cloves, my kids smelled like appetizers from Olive Garden and suffered from stomach cramps. But at least I felt like I’d done my best to keep them from getting sick.

Of course, they eventually rebelled against my virus-fighting tactics. Declaring the various supplements “yucky”, they took to clamping their mouths tightly shut and refusing to allow a single drop or tablet into their virus-laden gullets. I got craftier: Lozenges dissolved in juice, Echinacea in hot chocolate. I even took to hiding Vitamin C tablets in peanut butter the way one tricks a dog into taking his heartworm pill.

And after all that effort, guess what happened? The kids invariably got the same cold they’d gotten every year before, which consisted of three or four days of noses running like open faucets and a small cough, while I, too busy attending to their immune systems to care for my own, got laid out with a massive head-pounding, lung-chafing, sinus-clogging viral infection.

But this year will be different. I’ve decided to quit wasting my time on dosing up the ungrateful little germ-hosts. This time, I’m hoarding all the teas, tinctures and tablets for myself.

Think about it: What’s a cold to your average, otherwise healthy kid? Usually not much more than a few days of mild discomfort while lounging on the sofa in front of the TV, being waited on hand and foot. Some of my fondest memories from childhood include staying home from school and nibbling on toast in my parents’ bed while watching Romper Room and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Some people even believe that childhood illnesses are an opportunity for spiritual growth that should not be hampered. Looking back, I remember “sick days” as a special, quiet time in my young life—a chance to slow down and relax.

Not quite the same experience for parents. For one thing, illnesses seem to hit me harder now: I’m already running low on sleep, so my eyes are bleary and my brain is slow and sluggish most of the time even without the help of swollen sinuses. And then there’s that other nasty little detail: Life doesn’t stop just because I’m sick. As much as I’d like him to work around my schedule, the baby will not take a few days’ break from dirtying his diaper or stop looking for electrical outlets to stick metal things in so that I can stay horizontal and get better. The kids still want to eat—if you can believe it, at least three times a day. And then there are the messes of everyday life to deal with. Spiritual growth? Forget it. The only growth we’ll be experiencing is that of mold on the stacks of unwashed dishes.

If we’re lucky, this winter we’ll all avoid bad colds, dodge the flu, and end up safely on the other side without having downed a single drop of Nyquil. But if that’s not possible, I hope to float through the cold season dispensing soup and sympathy—without a single sniffle of my own.

And I’ll say without an ounce of guilt: Better them than me.

*************

Meagan is a mom of four sons and a freelance writer. You can find out more about her work here.

Break a Leg!

Large families naturally enjoy lots of illnesses, passed through the whole family. I sometimes get a touch of what the kids get, but generally, I manage to stay healthy and able to function. Last year, this changed. I broke my leg, and wasn't able to do ANYTHING around the house for a few weeks.

This was when I realized, how much gets done by mom in this house. This also was when I realized that the kids were perfectly able to do things I usually did, and they could step up to the situation. Heck, even the teenagers were helpful!

I found that a combination of lowering my standards and putting my kids to work was enough to get me through that period. Recently, two homeschooling friends have broken their legs (yes, it's an epidemic :p) , and both of them got family over to help them. For a few moments when I heard that, jealousy raised its ugly green head and I was feeling sorry for myself that my family hadn't flown over.

It didn't take me long to come to my senses, and realize that my family always is around me. My kids made something, that could have been an ordeal, into just an inconvenience. I had some help from friends, but the bulk of the work was done by the kids, mostly in a cheerful way.

My point: when mom is sick, kids are capable of way more than they usually seem to be. And if things didn't get done the exact way I would have done them, no big deal. Yes, life would be perfect if the 'Mom's Rules of Dishwasher Loading' would be followed, but you know what? Even ignoring them, the dishes got quite clean!

Karen homeschools her seven kids in New England and writes about her family at Our Deer Baby blog.

In Sickness and In Health

I really hope my husband didn't say those to me in our wedding vows because he definitely avoids the "in sickness" part!

It's actually rather amusing while I'm well. I should have known something was up when he always seemed to disappear during my morning sickness episodes with my first pregnancy. And I was one of those poor women who experienced it almost daily for the first four months and then occasionally during the last months until the baby was born. Labor didn't even stop my queasy stomach, I threw up during every delivery.

My husband does apologize. He just isn't cut out to handle that sort of thing. Now it's par for the course that when I catch the stomach flu, he's out the door. When I had a root canal several years ago, I developed an abscess and caught the flu. My cheeks were swollen like a chipmunk's, I couldn't sit up without puking, and he had to fly across the country for a business meeting. I spent the entire day in the bathroom with the kids. It's amazing how long toddlers and babies can amuse themselves with a roll of toilet paper. Or splash their hands in a bubble filled sink. And play peek-a-boo with a towel. When I was well enough to answer the door, there were a dozen red roses and a "Feel Better Soon" card from him.

Moms don't get sick days, that's a given. I switch into "Survival Mode" when I feel really ill. My only goals are to keep the children alive, fed, and the house from falling down. Sometimes that means cereal again for lunch (and dinner!) and the dishes stack up in the sink. Another key that helps me get a wee bit of rest is to have a very child proof home. When the kids were young, that meant gates, door knob locks, electric outlet covers, the whole nine yards. While it is a bit annoying that the medicines aren't easily accessible to me, it also means the kids can't accidentally get into them either.

And with the unlimited TV and computer time in "Survival Mode", the kids might actually look forward to me not feeling well.




Katie Fleck is a stay at home mom of five, Zach (9 years), Emily and Ally (8 year old identical twins), Kyle (5 years), and Kelly (4 years old). On a quest for a self cleaning house and 27 hour days, she writes at Ramblings of a SAHM.

I am armed and ready for puking.

Kids will get sick. They'll become hot, little, snuggle bugs covered in green slime excreting from their facial orifices. The snuggling is very sweet, but being used as a tissue, not so much. So, here's a list of my arsenal. If I find myself without these I will be very, very sorry.

-a bottle of infant or children's Tylenol and Motrin
-a basic decongestant
-a large box of Kleenex w/ lotion to save the noses from getting raw
-lots of old beach towels to put on top of the bed, beside the bed, on the couch and basically use to encompass every area a puking child may inhabit
-a plastic laundry basket, line it with a giant black trash bag and use as a puke bucket, when it's been 'filled' simply take out the trash, no muss-no fuss
-have new toothbrushes ready for when the wave of sickness breaks

If you are at all like me you will watch your children fall victim to the same virus one by one and wonder if you will succumb to the same fate. If you do, and if you have a moment to stop and realize that your not feeling quite up to par, then;

-have a back up plan, usually a friend or spouse that can come to your rescue...I know this is not usually an option, but my children know that if I say, "Call your father and tell him to come home." that I've reached my sick threshold and can no longer function so...
-teach your children how to prepare meals that will sustain them until you are well...or just so you never have to cook again.
-learn to be tough, this is a hard lesson to learn, but with each child you add to your flock you will inevitably become less aware of your sniffles and headaches.
-always, always have an adult pain reliever in the cabinet, because calculating an adult dose of the last drops of Infant Motrin along with the few children's chewable Motrin is usually too difficult when you have a brain splitting headache.

April writes about whatever ails her at April Showers

How do I call in sick to this motherhood job?

I am one of those people who never throw up. I used to brag that the last time I vomited was when I was twelve years old. (If you didn’t count the one time I threw up during each of my two pregnancies.)

And then came last year.

A year ago, my family caught every virus that came floating within a hundred mile radius of our house, starting with a violent stomach virus before Christmas. We caught the flu, the kind you can get vaccinated for but we never do because we had never caught the flu before. (Only twenty percent of all Americans do catch the actual flu each year—the media just likes to make it sound like we are all in mortal danger of catching it.) We had colds, earaches and then, to top it all off, a second, even worse stomach virus, a norovirus that spread through everyone in my family.

But do I have a point? Um, not really. Oh, wait! Yes, a point!

My point is that when you’re a mother, you don’t get sick time. And so I’ve learned to trudge through my days even when my head is full of cement and my stomach threatens to explode. As you probably do, too. But this year has been so much better for me.

Since last year, I’ve lost 57 pounds. Unexpectedly, I’ve also become resistant to the germs that waft into our house. My husband and children have suffered through at least two bad colds. Despite being sneezed and coughed on, I haven’t developed any symptoms. Everyone had a stomach virus . . . but not me, even though my daughter threw up on me. I haven’t been sick, other than one super-mild cold, at all since I stopped eating sugar last April.

I assume that my healthier eating patterns and daily exercise are responsible for my amazing streak of good health. (Well, that and washing my hands throughout the day and especially after I return home from anywhere.)

And here is a bonus tip from me to you. When my third son was born in February of 1998, we were at the height of cold and flu season in Michigan where we lived at the time. He immediately caught a cold, which the doctor worried would turn into something worse. The doctor prescribed precautionary antibiotics, which I accepted and gave my son. Within a month, he had an ear infection and another round of antibiotics.

We repeated that pattern . . . when he developed symptoms of a fourth ear infection when he was four months old, I called a midwife friend and asked her what I ought to do. She advised me to stop giving him antibiotics and to let the ear infection run its course. She told me to treat him for pain (with ibuprofen) and put warmed drops of garlic oil in his ear. I did this and he was well within a day and never had another infection. Never.

When my daughter developed an earache last year, I treated it with the same home remedy. (Research now shows that most ear infections are viral and do not respond to antibiotics anyway.) My four-and-a-half year old daughter has never been ill enough to go to the doctor. Oh, she’s been feverish and she’s been really sick, but I’ve always been comfortable treating her at home with love and garlic and ibuprofen (though she fights taking any medicine at all and always has).

When I was a young mother, I ran my children to the doctor every time they seemed warm or sick or lethargic. And you know what they’d usually say? “Oh, it’s a virus. Come back if he gets worse.” And then, “That will be two hundred dollars, please.” Now that I’m an old mother (ha ha), I just keep them home, knowing that we’ll better sooner or later.

I know that our good health is a blessing, one I do not take for granted. I am grateful for medical professionals and adequate medical resources, but I am even more grateful that I haven’t had to use any of their services recently. (Now, watch, we’ll catch the flu this weekend as payback for bragging.)

***********************************

Mel has four children, three cats, two crock pots, one husband and blogs from her home in the Pacific Northwest where spring has sprung. She blogs about her life at Actual Unretouched Photo (http://unretouchedphoto.com) and about her diet at The Amazing Shrinking Mom (http://shrinkingmom.clubmom.com).

Where Noses Run Free…

If mucous grosses you out, stop reading now! This is your only warning!!

In the past year, our youngest daughter has had a massive, mucous producing cold EVERY single day except for a period of 2 months, which unfortunately, were not consecutive months. Not only has she had this on-going drippy nose, and horrendous draining ears, but a few of the other kids do as well. For us, this is a common occurrence following the adoption of kids from another country. It takes a good one to two years to become acclimated to all the pollen and other wonders of nature in our area. When that acclimation fails, then it is on to Claritin or some other allergy medication. I don’t want you to think I don’t go to the doctor, because we go – a lot! From April through November of last year, we went every week, except for the two weeks we were on vacation in another state. Our condo was conveniently located across from the local urgent care – just in case. Now, we see the doctor every other week. Our kids have been on antibiotics, antihistamines, ear drops, nose sprays, and any other thing the doctor has thought of that might help. Our youngest five kids are just mass mucous producers!

Unfortunately, tissues, hand washing, and covering your mouth while coughing or sneezing is a foreign concept to our youngest kids. I have been spit on, coughed on, snotted on and pretty much used as a handkerchief, on a daily basis. Now, you are probably wondering why I don’t teach those kids to use a tissue. I HAVE tried over and over, but it just hasn’t “taken” yet. However, they all use a napkin at meals and wipe their mouths. I guess I can’t ask for everything! As mentioned in my last post, I do wear a denim shirt over my clothes at all times to protect against snot stains.

The good news is I don’t get sick that often. In 2000, when we went to China to adopt, I sat next to a man on the airplane who had what I swear was TB. He coughed productively the entire 25 hours on that flight (slight exaggeration about the amount of hours, but it felt like 25 hours!). About ten days later, I developed the same sort of cough. I had been blessed with whooping cough! It took me over three months to recover and it took a toll on my respiratory system. Every winter since then, I have come down with severe bronchitis and pneumonia. When I am sick, I just keep going to work (I wear a mask), keep up with my motherly duties and household work. I have never been a go-to-bed-and-sleep-when-you-are-sick sort of person. That is a huge blessing! If I ever were to get seriously ill, I am not sure what I would do!!

I obsessively use a lot of bleach-based cleaners to wash the sinks, toilets, doorknobs, chairs, walls, floors, and everything else where the kids leave a trail of mucous. I have a HUGE bottle of antibacterial gel on the kitchen counter, which I guess only I use. I have used so much that my fingerprints are near non-existent. Whenever we go to the USCIS office to be fingerprinted for an adoption, I know I will be making several more visits until they get a clear print. Perhaps this will come in handy if I ever decide to turn to a life of crime. But in the meantime, I keep spraying with bleach, using antibacterial hand gel and praying that some day soon; we will have eight kids who have non-snotty noses, non-draining ears, and non-productive coughs.

Worst Offender: My Baby Snot Machine!

Read more about Sharon’s ever expanding family at Hearts of Hope.

In sickness and in health...

For the next two weeks, that’s going to be our focus. We are super excited here on Larger Families, as we have some new bloggers joining us this week. New faces, we can be thrilled about – sickness, not so much.

Let’s be honest here. When I had one (small) baby, I fell sick. It was easy to put us both to bed, watch some television and sleep the afternoon away. When I became sick again, and I still had the one baby – but he was a bigger kid by then – it was still not too difficult. I closed the door to my babyproofed room and slept like I was drugged.

The more children I had, the harder I found it was to be sick. I had places to go, people to feed, laundry to wash – I had no time to be sick. I was pretty lucky, too, as I really didn’t get sick all that often, unless one counted morning sickness. (Ugh, don’t remind me.) The few times I did get sick, I used the above babyproofed room trick. And, also, way too much television for my children.

This past month has been a true test for me, as I came down with bronchial pneumonia at the beginning of February, and followed it up with one of the worst colds I’ve ever had the dubious pleasure of experiencing. My entire focus shifted from “How much can I do in one day?” to “When can I grab my next nap?” For four weeks, despite feeling as if my blood had been exchanged for liquid lead, I still had people to feed and responsibilities to fulfill. I realized the fifth day in that the only way around this was to delegate. To my amazement, my house didn’t fall down, everyone was fed, and we all survived. My kids chipped in – sure, sometimes it wasn’t exactly willingly, but they did. Everyone lived with sandwiches for dinner and cereal for breakfast (and lunch as well, some days). My oldest was a great help, putting the littlest ones to bed so that I could get some much needed sleep. When friends and family asked if they could help, I accepted. So what if they brought the wrong apples, or gave the kids cookies? It gave me more time to rest and recover. My philosophy became “do whatever you have to do to get through this.” I couldn’t believe that my kids were happy to help and they felt important when I explained to them how helpful they were. Even my littlest ones chipped in, bringing me a cup of water with a straw or a box of tissues. Being a perfectionist, I had to lower my standards, and to my surprise, the entire world did not stop.

Maybe there’s hope for me. I just hope I don’t have to get sick again to realize this.

*******************

When she's not folding socks or driving carpool, Carmen can be found drinking coffee and chatting over at Mom to the Screaming Masses .

Mega Mom Favorites

Umm...coffee? Can coffee be a favorite? My preference is ridiculously strong Ethiopian coffee, but Kirkland brand Columbian is quite decent too. I try to limit myself to one (gargantuan) cup a day. Let's see...once I've had my coffee, what else contributes to my happiness?

I posted on my other blog about my my wok and my rice-cooker. The wok makes 25 minute meals a snap. I use it at least 4 days a week. And the rice cooker works for both rice and oatmeal. Before our rice cooker, my hubby and I joked that the oatmeal wasn't done till the pot boiled over. Not with the rice cooker on duty. And for the best oatmeal you ever had, top each bowl with a dab of ice cream or cherry pie filling.

Another life-simplifier is my laundry room shelving-- it's big enough to hold eight laundry baskets. When I was growing up (I'm the oldest of eight) my mom dumped the clean laundry on the ping pong table in the family room. It was crazy. Thanks to my baskets, there's at least some order to our laundry. We sort clothes straight into laundry baskets, one for each of the five bedrooms. There are also baskets for towels, linen and socks. Folding happens twice a week. Between times, thanks to my basket system, people know where to look for their clean clothes.

Something I look forward to all winter long is yard sale season. I try to hit the sales half a dozen times each summer, taking a couple kids with me at a time. Not only does yard-saling let me clothe my family beautifully for bargain prices, it also shows the kids how much a few bucks can buy. I always give kids a few dollars to spend, and they always come home with fun things. It only takes one motorized Hot Wheel racetrack for 50 cents, or one pair of $45 jeans for $5 to hook a kid on yard-saling for good.

The final favorite I want to tell you about is the one that comes every evening around 9 p.m. Hubby and I kiss the kids and head them off to bed. The little kids sleep, looking ever-so-angelic. The big kids stay up awhile longer in their rooms, reading, playing guitar, and playing video games, leaving John and me a quiet hour or so to chat and reconnect before bed.

Just. us.

We love our kids. But this time to ourselves...this is precious.

Big Fame, Big Families

Everybody seems to be talking about Brangelina (that's Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, for those of you who are above celebrity gossip! ha!) adopting another child, this time from Vietnam. That will give them four kids--definitely a bigger family even by middle-America standards; in Hollywood, it would seem, a true rarity!

Or is it? This article I saw on MSN today highlights some other celebs with big families, including George Foreman (four kids), Lauryn Hill (four kids), and Mia Farrow, who has fourteen children including adopted special-needs kids. Kinda cool!

My NEW Favorite Things

Since we’ve taken on this new minimalist lifestyle, I have given up many of my favorites, like French vanilla cappuccino (my waist line thanks me), McDonald’s French fries (my arteries thank me), new release hard-cover books (the librarian is happy to see me again), Land’s End mocs in assorted colors (my sister will be greatly relieved I have given up my “uniform”), Diet Coke with Lime (I am amazed at how many automotive parts can be cleaned with a Coke, so giving this up is probably really good for my stomach), and Special Dark chocolates (Well, I haven’t actually given them up, but only indulge on “special occasions!”).

As part of this simpler lifestyle, my NEW, all-time favorite things are:

• Handmade cards from my kids, especially the ones that say “I lub u!” That just makes my heart melt!


• Coupons from my kids for things like “I will clean your bathroom and not gag or complain.” Who could ask for a better gift than that??!!


• A basket of perfectly matched socks. That has not yet happened, but if it does, it would DEFINITELY be one of my favorite things.


• A clean litter box. Both the cats and I appreciate that.


• My oversized, very faded, very soft, denim blue shirt. It protects my clothes from food-filled little hands and the ever-running noses that live in our household.


• The movie, “A Christmas Story.” It plays for 24 hours on Christmas Eve and I watch it at least a half dozen times.


• The enthusiastic greeting I get from my 6 lb dog, Joey, when I walk into the house, whether I have just taken the garbage out to the garage or am returning from an 8 hour shift.

But my most favorite thing is coming home after a long night at work, house quiet, the cacophony of snores of our children filtering through the baby monitors, the glow of the dial on the electric blanket beckoning me into bed, and the warm body of my husband, already in a deep sleep. This is my absolute favorite thing – that peaceful time of night, knowing that all is well in the family, as I drift off to sleep.

Read more about Sharon’s ever expanding family at Hearts of Hope.

My Favorites

Of course my very favorite things in this world are the three people I pushed out of my body, the one that was sliced out and the man that was responsible for it all. But besides those folks, here are some of my family’s favorite things.

Favorite Day- Hands down it’s Friday. We nearly always rent a movie, especially during winter. We fix frozen pizza for dinner and everyone gets to stay up late. Occasionally, the two adults sprint out the door to enjoy grown up activities like dinner with friends, dancing or just a nice stroll around the mall. TGIF! Oh, wait its still Thursday. Drat.

Favorite Place to Eat- The St. Louis Bread Company aka Panera. This place serves great food fast. I can feed the whole family for around $30.00 and everyone gets what they want; a bowl of soup for the two oldest, a bagel with cream cheese and a large fruit cup for the 5yo, a turkey sandwich for the baby and a great salad and soup for the two adults and they all come with a side item. Oooooh! Did I mention the free wireless internet they have? If I buy the little kids cookies, I can get a good twenty minutes of fast surfing done with a minimal amount of interruption and possibly a few crumbs on the keyboard. So awesome!

Favorite Ways to Burn Some Energy- Our newest is called “Butt Ball”. I bought one of those giant exercise balls and we all take turns trying to knock each other off only using our “butt-power”. It’s just a matter of time before someone gets hurt. Actually, that might explain the pain in my lower back. Another favorite, but not-recommended-by-any health-professional-so-everybody-loves-it is the trampoline. So far, we had one injury that required a trip to the doctor and several that required Ibuprofen, but my husband is doing much better and trying to remember the trampoline is for the children.

Favorite Pastime- My entire family loves to play outside. We have a big camp fire area in our yard that we can gather around and roast hot dogs and marshmallows. It’s a huge treat for our friends that live in the city. We also love to dig in the dirt. Whether planting the garden or wallowing in a mud puddle, we all seem to enjoy having a bit of earth under our nails.

Favorite Places to Visit- The cousin’s house, where four eager little boys await the arrival of my four children and then disappear into the bowels of the basement or deep into the backyard not to be seen or heard from again until someone is in pain or hungry. It’s a fabulous time for my sister and me to sneak away and leave the men in charge of eight children so we can spend their hard earned money on needless things like an old screen door that might make a really cool entrance to a pantry in a house we might build sometime in the next millennia.

Favorite T.V. Shows- Right now my life revolves around American Idol. We schedule all meals and bedtimes around this show. Simon, Paula, Randy and Ryan are in my house more often than any other human beings. I’ll be so happy when June comes around because that’s NO TV MONTH. None. Zilch. Not one flicker of blue light exudes from the screen. We all spend a month de-toxing and reentering the outside world. It’s wonderful. Oh, and this year I think the girls have it in the bag, but I love Chris.

Favorite Appliance-It's a toss up. I would find it difficult to live without; the shop vac (which currently is housing more goldfish crackers than the stocked shelf at Sam's), the washer and dryer and the coffee pot.

Favorite Child- Today it was my 10yo. Yesterday it was my 5yo. Last Friday it was my daughter. The baby, well, he’s the baby. He has that special little spot reserved in his Mama’s heart complete with metal sign that says, “Move over or I’ll hit you until you do!”

Okay, now let's hear what you all have on your Favorites List.


April Showers, where the woman and the month can leave you standing in a puddle.

Without further ado....

Here are a few of my favorite things:

1) Thrift stores in general, Value Village in particular. I love the treasure-hunting aspect of searching the racks and shelves for something we need. I love the thrill of paying a much lower price than retail. For instance, last year, I found Pampered Chef cooking stones for about $5 each. (Retail value $30-40.) I buy a lot of my 4-year old daughter's dresses (well, I did until she declared that she won't wear dresses to church anymore). I purchase inexpensive toys, books, and even clothes for myself since I've changed sized dramatically this past year. (My best find recently? A pair of Calvin Klein jeans for about ten percent of the price I paid for the almost identical pair--one size bigger--I bought at Nordstrom's last fall.)

2) My super-sized washer and dryer. Last year my dryer died a slow, painful and noisy death. Now, I have front-loading machines that make laundry practically a delight to wash and dry. I can't believe I lived for so long with smaller machines. I adore my washer and dryer.

3) The Schwinn exercise bike I use every day. Kids can interfere with the best of intentions to get to the gym or hustle outside for a walk. My exercise bike functions as a clothes hanger by day and exercise equipment by night. It never rains in my bedroom. I have no excuses not to ride. So, ride I do. (Over 200 consecutive days at this point. I'm trying to maintain an exercise streak in conjunction with my other blog, The Amazing Shrinking Mom ( http://shrinkingmom.clubmom.com).

4) A crock pot. This morning, I dropped in five frozen chicken breasts and a jar of salsa and turned it on. Tonight, we had shredded chicken for our soft tacos with practically no work at all. I love the peace of mind I have when I've put dinner into the crock pot at breakfast time. I love the scent of dinner cooking while I'm occupied with a baby or a toddler or a preschooler or the laundry or my computer. The crock pot is my favorite kitchen appliance by far.

5) Diet Coke with Lime. Can't. Live. Without. It.

* * *

Mel blogs about her life at Actual Unretouched Photo (http://unretouchedphoto.com) and her diet (fifty pounds gone so far!) at The Amazing Shrinking Mom ( http://shrinkingmom.clubmom.com).

What makes it all worthwhile?

Life with my bunch is never dull. Busy, crazy, and exciting, but never dull. If I had to do it all myself, I think you'd have to commit me right now. There are things, though, that make it more enjoyable, more tolerable, easier.

Netflix is one of them. If I had to drive to the movie store, rent the movies and then actually remember to drive them back in time, I'd go bonkers. The late fees would mean that I couldn't pay my mortgage. Netflix is the most amazing service - I swear that they have a store in my back yard, that's how fast the movies get to me. They have everything, too - right now, I'm simultaneously working my way through the I Love Lucy, Homicide, and Everybody Loves Raymond series, with an occasional kid movie thrown in to mix it up.

My double jogging stroller. It's actually a bike trailer, but I can convert it to a jogger. It helps me to get out of the house on a daily basis. I also love my Garmin GPs wrist thingie - yeah, I'm so clear on the name of that one - it's oddly addicting to see how far you've run and it helps me to keep going. I also have a love/hate relationship with my treadmill on rainy/cold/windy days.

Benefit makeup. Being a mom to tons of kids, it's so easy for me to just let it all go and be frumpy. After all, I'm BUSY. I really don't have time for makeup, and people kind of expect a larger families mom to look tired. When I wear makeup, though, it helps me to feel better about myself and it rubs off on my kids. Benefit is amazing stuff, and the product descriptions never fail to crack me up.

Internet ordering. Amazon and Drugstore.com are my favorites, with a foray into some clothing choices now and again. If I plan ahead, I can order all of the soaps, toilet paper, lip balms and cleaning supplies that we need and never have to leave the house. I don't know about you, but I walk into the grocery store and immediately drop $50. Amazon is how I do all of my Christmas shopping - not having to go to the toy store is worth any fee, but since I order ahead of time, I usually get free shipping and better than local prices. Can't beat that. There are often codes to save on groceries from Amazon as well - since I don't have a local grocery delivery service, this is the closest that I will get, and it's pretty good.

A rolling cooler for soccer days. With four games each Saturday, we camp out at the complex. The cooler enables me to avoid the overpriced snack bar. I pack it full of frozen water bottles, fruit in baggies and sandwiches.

Starbucks. Yeah, I know. It's an evil empire and it's expensive and it's not good for me. Whatever. I can't get through the day without my four shots of espresso in skim milk. The bonus is that I'm friends with the people there and they make it when I drive up. Good service, good people and good coffee. It's seriously my lifeline.

What helps you get through your day?

___________________________

When she's not folding socks or driving carpool, Carmen can be found drinking coffee and chatting over at Mom to the Screaming Masses .

Our Favorite Things

That's the topic we'll be discussing here at largerfamilies.com for the next two weeks. Of course, I have a lot of favorite things, some very practical, some not. But when it comes to raising a larger family, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens don't help a whole lot. It's not that I don't appreciate beauty and cuteness and brown paper packages tied up with strings--but for this post, I'd like to focus on stuff that's a little more practical and a little less Hammerstein-esque...those things that make my life easier, my errands quicker, my chores less....chore-y.

So in no particular order, here they are: five of My Favorite Things...(drumroll, please)

1) My Dodge Caravan.
Decent gas mileage for a vehicle that seats seven people comfortably and still leaves room for a stroller, a frame backpack, several suitcases, diaper bags and all that other junk that somehow ends up living in the back end of the van. Plus, it's low to the ground enough that the kids (except the baby) can easily climb in and out by themselves, and the automatic doors mean I can open and close the side doors and back end with the touch of a button when my arms are full of groceries or baby or both.

2) My kids' Catholic school.
There is so much to love about it, but I really appreciate that four kids (or more) are considered a blessing, not an unfortunate accident, by the staff and other parents there! Also, the tuition is low to begin with and they offer substantial sibling discounts...by the time you get to four kids it's practically free. I've seen other private school tuition schedules where the "sibling discount" is laughable, making private school impossible for regular folk with more than one kid.

3) The Family Bed.
It gives me an easy way to connect with my youngest two at the end of those long days when I haven't had time to do much more than run around and yell orders at the troops. Plus, it's kept me from becoming too sleep-deprived when my babies have been newborns, which helps me to be a better mom to all the rest too.

4) Craigslist.
Whatever you're looking for in your community, chances are you can find it on craigslist. I'm kind of addicted to it now and I find myself trolling the listings even when I'm not really looking for anything in particular.

5) The Library.
Where else can you get enough books, movies and even DVDs to satisfy the eclectic cravings of a big family--absolutely free? (or close to it. Yes, I must pay the occasional "can't find it" fee). Running a very close second is my local independent bookstore. They have great books, a fabulous children's area and the women who work there really know their stock. If I was wealthy, I'd buy enough books to pay all their monthly expenses...but since I'm not, I settle for a once-a-month-or-so new book indulgence and get the rest through the ol' library.

Can't wait to see what the other bloggers love best! Readers--please leave a comment and tell me about some of your favorite things!

--Meagan is a mother of four and a freelance writer. You can find out more about her at her other blog.

Monday at the Owlhaven

7:50 AM. Just starting to wake up, and I grab the camera to see if I can get a picture of my 2 year old still asleep, but she’s waking up too, yawning enormously. Take a few awful pictures of us together, not certain I’ll post any of them. We lie around in bed for awhile snuggling, dozing, stretching and yawning. One of the great things about homeschooling is that most mornings we can start the day slowly.

8:35 Hubby has the day off, and he is already up. When I amble out to the living room with the two year old in my hip, there he is ensconced in his recliner with the paper, having already stoked the fire and made my coffee. Bless the man!

The 4 year old is already up too, engrossed in Clifford. The 2 yr old joins her. Most of the big kids are still asleep. The 8 year olds are building with Legos in their bedroom. I hear the quiet hum of their conversation. Sometimes they argue like crazy, but when they get in a groove and play nicely together, I leave them to it.
I grab my coffee and sit down to read my email. Once I get settled, the two year old comes to snuggle with me as I click away.

9:20 It’s past time to get breakfast going. I stick the ingredients for oatmeal into the rice cooker, and think happily of the frozen berries that were my big splurge on my last trip to Costco. They will really jazz up the oatmeal. As the oatmeal cooks, I direct the 8 year olds to set the table and the 15 year old to make juice. I head back to the bedroom to get the little girls and myself dressed. The four year old comes unwillingly, protesting, “But mom….I’m COZY!’ I toss on sweats and a t-shirt because I’m planning to exercise, and also spend 2 minutes on mascara and eyebrow pencil s I hopefully won't look quite as tired as I feel.

9:45 Breakfast is served. The 16 year old comes down sniffling. She now has the cold (flu) that 2 other kids had over the weekend. She says she feels a little achy but she doesn’t have a fever. At the end of breakfast, as usual, we read a devotion, a few verses from the Bible. Then the two year old passes out music for the hymn we are learning. This week it’s “Old Rugged Cross.”

10:10 After breakfast, everyone springs into action. The four and eight year olds clear table, the 12 year old tosses a load of laundry in, the 15 year old loads the dishwasher, and the 16 year old scrubs pots. Within 15 minutes or so, the place is looking better, though the 15 year old accomplishes his portion with a fair amount of grumpiness.

In the middle of all this, the UPS man comes, bearing (what else?) books. They’re some classics that I bought with the last of the Christmas gift card from Grandma. The 15 year old and I are especially impressed with a gorgeous hardbound copy of the complete Sherlock Holmes. I have fond memories of reading that book as a kid. The book is so pretty I want to pet it.

10:30. The two little girls get out the Uno and start playing. The two year old can match colors, and actually plays pretty decently for her age, though occasionally she puts something odd down, and we just let her. The 15 and 16 year olds have gone upstairs to work on school independently in their rooms. They know what they need to accomplish each day and take very little supervision. I notice the 12 year old drooping around on the couch, not starting yet. He stayed home from church yesterday with a fever, and though he told me earlier that feels a little better today, it turns out his throat is bugging him still. I give him some Advil and tell him all he has to do for school today is read. He grabs Childhood of Famous Americans biography and finds a comfy spot.

10:40 The eight year olds are getting going on math at the dining room table. I head back for the bathroom to grab hair supplies to rebraid the 4 year old’s hair, as more hair is out of the braids than is in them. I take the 2 year old along so she can go potty.

10:45 While I braid the 4 year old’s hair, she and the 2 year old draw with markers at the kitchen counter. I pause once or twice to help the 8 year olds, one of whom, as usual, is expressing his unhappiness that no holiday can be found today to rescue him from the torture know as math. (He spotted St David's Day on the calendar the other day and asked hopefully if we'd be off school.)

11:10 Hairstyles freshened up, I go replace the hair doodads into my bathroom, and within seconds I hear shrieking from the kitchen. Something about the 4 year old having the 8 year old’s pencil, and now they’re circling the room, her with mischief on her face and him with frustration. She likes to tease, but I want him to get in the habit of asking for backup instead of threatening bodily harm. I take him back to my bedroom to have the ‘don’t take the law into your own hands’ talk - again.

11:20 The piano teacher arrives. (We are blessed to have a teacher who comes to our house). Now she and the 16 year old are upstairs discussing the piece for the upcoming music Festival. The 16 year old is the only one currently taking formal lessons, though she gives her 8 year old brothers the occasional lesson.

11:30 The 4 and 2 year olds have now moved on to playing with /fighting over a marble-rolling game. I speak to the four year old sternly about not hogging everything the 2 year old wants. Lately, though, the 2 yr old has been testing to see just how much stuff I will allow her to take away from big sis. So I remind her she can't hog everything either. At least once a day I end up taking toys away from both rather than try to decide which child deserves which item.

11:50 I try to put the stepstool back into the pantry and discover it is a horrid mess. I refill rice and flour bins, and set the four year old to gathering WalMart sacks up. This imposition on her carefree life moves her to tears. I take pity and help her, though I know I should let her just do it, fussing or not.

11:55 I chat with the piano teacher for a couple minutes before she leaves, then get back to supervising school. The math is not remotely done. 8 year old is resisting, brain seems to be shutting down….hmm... maybe a little extra oxygen to the brain might be just the ticket, since my words are not making any impression. I assign him 20 jumping jacks to help him wake up. He's not pleased, but when he is done, he looks brighter. The exercise, along with adding some manipulatives to the math lesson settle him down, and he goes on to eventually finish the math.

12:15 The other 8 year old runs to get the mail. The two year old occupies herself by helping me open it, and I watch, trying to make sure she doesn’t rip up something important. “Thanks for getting me the mail, sweetie-cakes,” I say to my son.

“I am going to call my kids by their real names when I grow up,” he informs me disdainfully.

“OK, but what if your wife calls you sweetie-cakes? I bet you’ll like it….” I say with a teasing grin.

“I will?” he says.

“Yup. Daddy does. You watch. When he comes in from the shop, I’ll say ‘Hey you handsome hunk’. And you look and see if he likes it.”

He grins and goes back to his work.

12:30 I take my 2 year old to the potty and when I get back I’ve already forgotten the plan. But when my hubby comes in, the 8 year old whispers, “Hey, mom, remember?”

I grin and go over to John. “Hey, you handsome hunk!’ and plaster myself against him for a big ol’ kiss. He grins ear to ear. In the background, in the middle of a very nice kiss I hear both 8 year olds making retching sounds and one saying, “MOM! You didn’t say you were going to do THAT!” Despite their protests, all the kids are grinning. The 8 year olds are finally done with math and are working on spelling and handwriting which thankfully goes much quicker than math.

12:45 I start lunch—this skillet enchilada recipe-- and as it cooks I peek at email.

12:55 The younger kids set table and I serve up. Big kids trundle on down the stairs to lunch, and hubby comes in from the shop, and pretty soon we are all sitting eating. The new recipe, served with sour cream and salsa, is declared a success. The 12 year old is looking perky with Advil in his system. He says he and the 15 year old got a good review of their Biology in, took the test, and both did well. This is more than I expected him to do this morning with feeling sick, so I am pleased. I ask various other children about math scores and other completed subjects.

1:30 After lunch cleanup is a repeat of after-breakfast cleanup, except the 8 year olds also vacuum the living room and dining room. 4 year old says she has a headache…she feels a little hot. Apparently she isn’t over her bug yet either. I get her some Advil and tell her to lie down on the couch for awhile. She is just sick enough to be cranky, but too well to rest properly, so she is up and beebopping around in a few minutes.

1:40 I go in my room to lie down with the 2 year old. She snuggles against me and is asleep in 4 minutes. I ease out of bed and head out to check on the living room cleanup. The fire has gone out and the wood stove is full of ashes, so I empty the ash bucket, empty the stove, and wash the glass before relighting the fire. When the 4 year old sees the Windex, she wants to wash windows, so I let her wash the front storm door. She works on this happily for 15 minutes. The 8 year olds work on Korean on the computer.

2:25 I go upstairs and chat with the big kids. After talking briefly with the 15 year old about the essay he owes me and checking on the 16 year old, I grab my shoes and go to the family room to hit the treadmill. Since standardized testing starts tomorrow, I call my 12 year old come sit by the treadmill so I can remind him of some stuff: narrow the answers down to 2 if you can, don’t read too quickly, etc. We review punctuation and I toss him a few multiplication drills just to finish off the review. He did wonderfully last year, so I bet he’ll do well this year. But I want to get him thinking about the test and make sure he is as well prepared as possible.

2:45 Still walking on the treadmill. I call one of the 8 year olds to sit next to me and read while I keep walking. By the time he is done, I’ve done a mile and a half and I’m tired. So I sit on the couch while the other 8 year old reads to me. The two year old comes up the stairs fussing partway through the reading. I take her potty then cuddle her while my son finishes reading. The four year old cuddles in too.

3:30 School is done – or done enough for today, anyway. I gather shoes and coats and send the kids outside to run with the dog in the back yard for half an hour. I sit down to get some writing done for my Ethiopia blog, and to scrawl out a few notes about today so I'll remember what to blog about on Friday. The four year old, still not feeling great, comes in after 10 minutes, but the others stay out till 4.

4:00 They sit down to eat bananas and watch Maya and Miguel on PBS. I chat on the phone, check my Bloglines, and sneak just a tiny bit of dark chocolate. I figure if I eat no more than usual, and exercise lots more than usual, I’ll still lose weight. I hope.


4:40 I go out to chat with hubby in the shop. He’s sanding my little desk. I am really excited to have it, as I hope it will help unclutter the laundry room a bit.

5:00 As I leave he asks when dinner is. Dinner? What am I going to make, and why haven’t I thought of it till now? I remember that I have some already-cooked chicken that needs to be deboned. I set the 8 year olds to picking the meat off the bone, while I heat up the broth I’ve saved from cooking the meat. The 2 and 4 year olds peel garlic for me. I use some of the chopped meat along with carrots, garlic, cabbage and ramen noodle packets without the seasoning packets, and make a nice easy ‘homemade’ chicken noodle soup. We’ll have that with bread and orange slices.

6:00 We eat dinner all together, with cleanup a repeat of breakfast and lunch, including emptying the dishwasher and putting the third load of laundry for the day into the washer.

7: 00 Once cleanup is done, some of us gather to play Phase 10. The two year old, who took a short nap this afternoon, is already getting cranky, and instead of watching Veggie Tales with the 4 year old, she opts to sit on my lap, alternately fussing and trying to take over my cards.

7:35 After half an hour, we decide to wrap it up. The 8 year old who had such a rough morning is jubilant because he whipped us ALL handily. I’m glad his evening went better than his morning. I head the youngest 4 off for PJ’s and toothbrushing.

7:55 Everyone regroups in the living room. Big kids bring in enough firewood for the night, then settle down to read their own books while dad reads on the floor to the youngest 4.

8:45 The youngest 4 trundle off to bed, and I kiss them all, including the big kids, who are going upstairs to their own rooms, but won’t go to bed till they’re good and ready. Hopefully that will happen before 11. I encourage my droopy 12 year old to get more Advil and not stay up too late. 16 year old says she is feeling better than this morning…I go to my room to lie down with the 2 year old who once again goes to sleep quickly…

9:05 I am back out in the living room with hubby watching the 9:00 news and eating the tiniest dab more chocolate. After I’ve had my 4 pieces I make him take the bag away so I won’t eat more. He channel-surfs between the news and CSI, while I write some blog posts and email our college student daughter. By 10:30 we head off to bed. I have to be up at the awful hour of 6:30 AM, so I decide it would not be wise to stay up till 1 as I often do.

G’night!

******

Mary is the mom to eight children, four of whom arrived via adoption. She blogs at Owlhaven and at her Ethiopia Adoption Blog.

a day in the life....

My typical day (if there is such a thing) begins at about 5am when my husband invariably wakes me up. No matter that my alarm is set for 6, no matter that I've told him I don't want to wake up until 6, he wakes me at 5. I think after 16 years he knows me better than I do, because I usually end up pretty thankful for that extra hour of super-slow waking up. Left to my own devices I am a natural night owl, but at this stage in my life that's not "workable", and I see the sunrise most days.

After the usual morning routines of shower, coffee, morning news and waking 4 kids who attend 4 different schools on 4 different schedules, I leave for work at about 7:30 and my husband's schedule allows him to be in charge of getting the kids situated. One of the little perks of working an earlier shift, I guess!

My drivetime is something I actually look forward to, I stop for coffee (triple grande non-fat with whip mocha and an orange cranberry scone, please!) most days and listen to music every day. It gets me geared up for the workday and ensures that I'll have a decent song rolling around in the back of my head all day.

I get off work at about 5pm and usually am pulling in the garage about 20-30 minutes later. By that time my husband is home and has picked up my youngest, who is 5 and attends preschool. The older 3 all arrive home on the bus(es) around the same time that my husband gets home, so usually I get home to find everyone there, dinner in the works (did I mention lately that I'm married to a chef?).

The next few hours will be full of the usual school night mayhem of checking homework, signing papers to return to the school the next day, making sure any necessary laundry is done, cleaning house....all that usual stuff.

I have found that I really have to make sure and fit in some ME time in the evening before I get so tired I have to go to bed, so I try most days to sneak away to the bedroom for a few minutes to either check email, knit, watch tv, or sometimes just stare out the window and pet the dog. Those few minutes really help keep me centered and give me the energy to go through the bedtime routines and hopefully return to bed sometime around 9 to watch some more tv or read until sleep claims me.

That's a day in my life, right now. Not so long ago a day like that would have been unheard of and foreign to me, which just serves to underline the fact that everything really is changing, all the time. Even the most ubiquitous things like a typical day.


Molly blogs about her kids, her life, her loves and her work at The Secret Is Letting Go