I get strange comments about the kids all the time, one of my favorites is when I am somewhere mundane like the grocery store, and someone asks if they are all mine. WHO IN HER RIGHT MIND WOULD TAKE OTHER CHILDREN TO THE GROCERY STORE?
The one I have gotten a lot lately is, "I don't know how you do it" this is normally accompanied by a shaking of the head and true look of pity. What I think people don't realize is that I don't. We don't live like regular people. We cut all kinds of corners that should not be cut. We literally live out of the laundry baskets. We eat out A LOT. We only bathe the kids every 2-3 days, and Ian mostly gets chlorinated. If Hadley is quiet for 10 minutes emptying a wipes box, it is money well spent. My girls get most of their education from TV and school, not me drilling the flashcards. There are not enough hours in the day, nor enough stamina in my body to do these things.
If you were to live a day in the life of... you would go home in horror, not awe. That being said, I guess there is more than one way to skin a cat (not that I'd ever do that) My kids are doing okay. They seem to be on par with their milestones, and have yet to commit any real criminal acts. The baby is fed, and changed, just not rocked before bed. It is just funny how messy the house normally is, how cluttered the car can get, and how we can rarely fit both cars in our 4 car garage. Yet everywhere I go, strangers presume that life is managed. Makes me wonder about that saying that "if it seems too good to be true it probably is" I guess they aren't tipped off by the matching outfits, the clean faces, and the combed hair that we save only for leaving the house.
1 comment:
love your honesty.... and no I don't think I would go home in horror if I spent a day in the life of... I would go home with a sense of relief that it's not only our house that things don't run smoothly--even with only two kiddos! We eat out too much, we are overscheduled, we rush through homework just to get it done, spelling words are drilled in the car on the way to school, their hair is desparately in need of cutting by someone other than me, bedtime is not always kisses and hugs, but sometimes yelling and tears, fighting between them is the norm not the exception and there are days that I scroll through the phone list to see who might be willing to take them for a day.... see you are not alone--no such thing as the Waltons anymore..... loved your post!
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