The Good, Bad and the Ugly

Having six kids has sure been an adventure all its own. It has made me Crazy, broke, more patient, less anal and less judgmental of people and their kids. When you have kids ranging from 1day old to 15 you learn fast that nothing is set in stone and to be ready for plans to change on a dime. Type A personality can NOT survive in this world! Even now with the youngest being 14 and the oldest being 29, there is always something going on and plans changing all of the time. Yes, we still have bickering and arguments over clothing, cleaning, wash, etc.



Growing up my best friend was from a large family of seven children. I was always very envious of her as there was always something going on at her house. Someone was always baking, making something, or there was some type of activity that was fun was happening. I knew from then that I wanted to have a large family God willing.



The Good:

The day that Kaylee had Jaxson is a day that will forever stick in my mind. All five of the siblings came simultaneously baring gifts for the baby with smiles from ear to ear waiting to meet their first nephew. Kaylee’s face was priceless showing off her little baby to all of her siblings. Although she didn’t have a stable relationship with the babies father, she did have these awesome siblings that loved her and the baby from the second he was born.

Holidays especially are always so much fun. Tons of food, conversation and of course craziness! Savanna’s boyfriend is an only child. When they first started dating over  two years ago, he looked like a deer in headlights at family get together’s. Now, two years later he is used to the chaos and even joins in on it.

The BAD

I think a large family has a language all their own. We tend to have names for the bad times. For instance, we have the Christmas cookie baking Fiasco. Long story short. We planned for weeks to get together and bake Christmas cookies. (It was going to be like something you see in the movies.) Well, that didn’t turn out that way. The girls started bickering about something or other, and two stormed out leaving just two of the girls and me. OR the New Jersey ice cream cone incident. Just imagine four girls driving in a car with three ice cream cones. Somehow a fight broke out One ice cream cone ended up in someone’s hair, the other two out the window. I wasn’t there for that one but I can imagine!

The UGLY

Unfortunately, their are some tough times that really effect the sibling relationships. When one of the kids is making bad decisions over and over again their trust is lost. It takes a toll to the point that some of them don't want that one around anymore as they feel like they are enabling the behavior and the other kids are feeling bad for him. Its a super tough situation that there is NO real right or wrong answer for! As a parent it sucks and seems so unrepairable! Praying and hoping is the only thing to do in this situation.


I imagine if I asked each child individually if they liked growing up in a large family, we would get mixed reviews, but I think most would say YES! The action never ends and someday when we are gone they will all have each other to cling to in the good, bad and the ugly times!