Large families: A glimpse into their lives, and how to stay sane around them.

Hellooo folks! How do you like the name of the title? Make you curious?
Good, I'm glad! Today we have a different sort of post. Anyone who has been following me for any amount of time probably knows I'm part of a large, homeschool family. And being such, there are a lot of funny quirks and things that happen within our family that don't happen in families with less kids. Just because, well, to put it in words I've heard many times before "we're weird." ;)
So today I have enlisted the help of a few other friends who are in large families, and we're going to set out to share some glimpses into our lives, and ways to survive if you ever come in contact with any of us.
If you're from a large family, hopefully you'll understand, and if you're not, I hope we'll be able to keep you entertained. ;)

~~A Glimpse into our Lives~~

Quirks we live with--because large families aren't the norm. 

Ahh, yes.  All those things we're subject to. Let's take a look...

(Contributed by yours truly. ;))

--Walking into a store, and it's as though a parade has come to town. No one can keep their eyes off of you. 

Hmmm, shall we sell tickets?

--As the oldest, I have had many times where our whole family will be at the store and I'll have one of my siblings' hands.  Then someone will walk up to me and say something along the lines of . . . "Oh, your child is so sweet!" Or perhaps, "How many of these are yours?" 

There was also the time dad took some of us to Costco, and someone thought dad was my husband, and we had 8 kids. I took no time in getting that straightened out . . .

Do I look that old?! It was fun to laugh over later on, though. ;)

--People always ask "How do you do it?"

Ummm, the same way you do? Just multiply it a couple times.

--Hotels tend to be a pain. To the point where my mom calls and she's like "We have three kids . . . plus two . . . plus three more, I think." 

Yeah . . . we'll just split into groups. That should help. xD

--When you visit people and they watch for you, they joke that your vehicle is a tour bus. 

Welll, we're not that big.

--People are always asking why you're not in school.

We are. I'm learning how to socialize by talking with you. Would you believe me if I told you we have these trips just so us home-schoolers can be socialized?

--You instantly connect with other large families.

You go into a gathering, across the way there is a family with a bunch of kids. Your eyes meet . . . and your moms are friends forever. And of course, all the kids then must be friends as well. 

-- There's always a someone waiting for the bathroom.

Because either no one has to go, or everyone needs to go at once.  

--You get asked if you've ever re-enacted "So long, farewell" from The Sound of Music.

We have. Please don't ask us to do it for you now. 

Contributed by Kaitlyn K.

--During mealtime, everyone speaks at once.  

We all have something to say that is important. . .

--Also during meals, a conversation something like the following will happen:

Sibling 1: "I'm the biggest, so I get the last piece of dessert."

Sibling 4: "No fair!  You ALWAYS get the last piece!"

Sibling 6: "Mooooooom!"

Mom: "Fine.  We'll split it into 8 even pieces." *Cuts piece into thimble-size pieces* "Everyone happy?"

10 years later, everyone's like, "We seriously did that??"

We did. Shhh, no comments.

--Everything is shared.  Conversations, clothes, etc.

The most used saying in the house is "We all share. You don't share, no one gets it."

--We LIVE off the thrift store.  And grocery store.

Because clothes seem to wear out far to fast. And food as well. We don't want to starve . . . 

--Lots of family time during road trips; no plane rides.

Can you imagine the look on the face of the flight attendant if all of us boarded a plane together? 

--A kid can get left at church.  Or any other gatherings.

It happens to everyone . . . a headcount gone wrong, you know. 

--No friends riding in the car with you; there's BARELY enough room for your family!

You want to sit on our laps? Technically it's illegal. 

--When Mom's grocery shopping, she needs two big shopping carts.

Don't give me that look. We all need to eat. 

--Your van looks like a tour bus.

Did we ask? 

--You make up both full-size teams of a ball game in the backyard.

 No recruiting needed!

--You learn to drown out loud noises if you want to read.

Otherwise you would never get past page one. 

--You go anywhere as a family, and people walk up to your dad and say, "Are these ALL yours?!?!?!"

No, you see, a couple of these kids joined us on our way in.  Want to take them off our hands?

--When there's a funeral, everyone gives you a BOATLOAD of desserts because you're such a big family.

Why thank you! I'm sure my mom was dying to have us all loaded with sugar.

Contributed by Rebekah Eddy

--Neighborhood walks become almost a parade. 

We joke that we really should buy candy to throw to people who watch us when we take a family walk.

--Costco trips end up being much more.  

Because why not line all your siblings up outside the bathrooms and have them cross their arms and look smug?  

It beats standing around the carts.

 

--Walking through the mall becomes something of a game. 

 You get to watch people's mouths as they count you. Our family walks in height order sometimes...that really drops jaw

--You become something of a legend at McDonalds. 

I mean, who else orders 30 cheeseburgers? 

Contributed by Emily McConnell

 --You're constantly having to explain to people that yes, your siblings are fully related to you and none of you are adopted.

Yes, I promise it's the truth. 

~~How to stay sane around us~~

Because we've been told we're just controlled chaos

Contributed by Kaitlyn and I 

--Go with the flow. You see, we most of the time we do have a plan, the problem is there are so many things that can change at any given time, that what was planned may end up not happening. 

Don't worry, we still try to be on time. Though it may not always happen. 

--Remember that we're normal. 

We're just like you. We have fears and doubts, we worry about things we shouldn't. We don't always appreciate being the "odd one out."

No matter how put together we may (or may not) appear to be, we're really not that different from you. 

--Think about the lives you'll touch. 

I'll admit, in all the chaos and noise, it can be hard. But just think, when you come across a large family, how they will impact different peoples' lives, and how you can be an influence OUTSIDE their siblings.

--It can be hard getting used to a big family. But just imagine what the world would be without them.  You can enjoy the company of the older siblings, and have fun with the little ones.  Like Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me." And this, I believe, can apply to all families, not just large ones. :)

Well, that's all for today's posts, folks. I hope you all enjoyed! If you're from a big family, did any of these describe you? 

If you come from a smaller family, do you know any "strange" large families like ours?

I hope your week was amazing! See y'all next week! :)

P.S I just must add this song. Because it just fits so well with the rest of the post. ;)