I often ponder what "normal" is. Sometimes when I see or hear others doing or saying something that I find "strange" I wonder if they are normal and it's me that is actually strange? My husband and I joke about this often when we are parenting our children. Are we abnormal with our strict rules, structures and disciplines? Do we demand too much from our children? Is it too much for a 9, 7 & 5 year old to have daily chores? Is it too much to insist our offspring use good manners, always? We certainly don't think so, but sometimes we get sideways glances about our parenting and so we wonder, "are we the normal or the abnormal?" Really it doesn't matter either way. We have chosen to raise our children with certain expectations about their behaviors; like good manners, respect for themselves and for others and a good work ethic (just to name a few). But we are not perfect. And some things will slip through the cracks. Our kids will have bad days where they forget their please and thank you's or they aren't very nice to one of the neighborhood kids. But we don't expect perfection, just a true effort at being a good human being.
So what is a day like in our home of eight? Well, anything BUT normal if you ask me!
6:30 a.m.- Mom's alarm goes off (and so begins the internal struggle with, "they can be late today... no they can't be late, it's only the 1st week of school, imagine what the secretary will think when I have to sign them in late on their 2nd day of school!)
7:00 a.m.- Mom stops pushing snooze and gets out of bed because she knows, inevitably, they have to go to school, on time.
7:10 a.m. - The alarm rings for the older boys... and rings, and rings, and rings, and rings...
7:20 a.m. - Mom walks in, tells the boys it's time to get up.....tells them again, calmly....tells them again...yells, "BOYS, i-t i-s t-i-m-e t-o g-e-t u-p N-O-W!!!"
7:21 a.m. - Sleepy-eyed 9 & 7 year old boys scramble for a quick, wake-up shower.
7:22 a.m. - Mom goes downstairs to begin the preparation of lunches, water bottles, signed homework papers in appropriate folders, money for fundraisers in appropriate envelopes, dinner out of freezer for defrosting, folding a load of laundry, emptying the dishwasher, let the dog out, feed the cat...
7:35 a.m.- Mom yells at boys to get out of shower and threatens that if they don't they will not be allowed to take wake-up showers anymore!
7:40 a.m. - Boys are fighting in their room about who was the first one to learn how to do a front flip on the trampoline (or some other ridiculous topic), mom walks in and yells at them to stop arguing and get dressed!
7:45 a.m. - Mom walks back to their room to find two boys laying on the floor, still wrapped in towels, playing with dust bunnies from under the bed... Mom yells, again.
7:50 a.m. - Mom wakes up her baby girl to start her morning routine of wash face, brush teeth, style hair, coordinate complete girly outfit from hair bows, to shoes (I actually enjoy that part). And, of course, yelling at the boys.
8:00 a.m. - Begins the mad rush to get socks & shoes on, breakfast eaten, folders, lunches, backpacks, coats and out the door by 8:30---yelling all the while...
Yes, this is only the first 90 minutes of the day (I didn't take in to consideration the 30 minutes I lie in bed yearning to roll over and go back to sleep so that I don't have to do the 7-8:30 yelling and rushing)
I am not a morning person. In fact, I am not a person at all until about 9:00 a.m. I am miserable, mean and bare a close resemblance to the Wicked-Witch of the West. I yell, a lot. Sometimes I tire of listening to my own self. I often wonder if my children only hear a loud version of "whaw, whaw whaw, whaw, whawww" as we shuffle through our mornings. And well, afternoon isn't much better. We're lucky if there isn't some sort of lecturing going on 3 minutes after they are off the bus. Sometimes I find it unbearable. And don't even get me started on the evening routine...
I assure you that the chaos in our home is not for lack of organization. Quite the contrary is true. I have lists and charts for every hour of the day. I have bins and boxes for folders, shoes, gloves and hats (one for each child). I have hooks and hangers for little people. I have rules, I have structure for just about everything. It's still chaos. It's exhausting.
Every night when I tuck my children in, I tell them I love them. And I do. More than anything in the world, I love my children. They make me crazy most of the time, but I love every ounce of each of them. I love that my oldest son wakes up every morning with a smile on his face. I love that my middle son doesn't-- that he is just like his mother, a hater of mornings. I love that my daughter thinks that I'm the best thing since pancakes. And I love that my youngest son is a little bit of all three of his older siblings wrapped up in one sweet bundle of 2 year-old.
Are we normal? Heavens no. Are we strange? Heavens no. We are all the craziness, chaos, love and family that you can fit into one, too small of a two-story home for eight. We are perfect, just the way we are.
Jody
