An Expert I Am Not
I was told I would never have children without medical help. I was raised thinking two kids was a good 'normal'. Hanging out with my husband's family used to be so overwhelming because with 10 kids, there is always a lot going on. Still, big family life fascinated me so I read blogs and books where moms talked about how they did it all with their large crews. I watched in awe as they seemed so calm with so much going on around them all the time.
In 2009 my body decided to defy science and go ahead and have a baby anyway. What do those doctors know? Then while I watched her grow over the next five years, I watched our family grow as well...and we now have five children, five years old and under. I'm not really sure how that happened (I mean, I know how it happened). The math doesn't even seem to make sense even with a set of twins. But yet, here we are.
So that all being said, I'm not an expert as this big family thing. My oldest is only five and there are so many things to learn and discover along the way. For example, I am going to be homeschooling a first grader this year - big difference from our fairly informal preschool and kindergarten ages - and I have been asking SO many questions I'm pretty sure my friends are going to block my phone number. I am so thankful that they are willing to share their experiences while they are still in the trenches so I have decided that I need to not wait until I'm an expert to share what works for us in this big family gig and go ahead and write how and why we do the things we do now. Maybe someday it will help another mom with so many littles. Perhaps it'll just satisfy the curiosity of those who find large families fascinating. Either way, it will serve as a reminder of how we made this craziness work!
Coming soon...how we make it all work!
This post makes me giggle a little... 5 kids. 5. under 5. I think you are more of an expert than you give yourself credit for. You are so calm all the time. With the exception of "tough days" which I have yet to see or hear about, you have mastered having littles. You have so gracefully brought 5 children into the world while welcoming others into your home. You could've been overwhelmed by the chaos, but you have done it so beautifully. I am so proud to call you my friend.
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