Well, well, well….Here we are and it is Monday. We are scheduled to close on the new house next Tuesday, the last day before the kids go back to school after Fall break. We still have not received the punch list from our buyer after the inspection of this house, and the owners of the home we are purchasing do not seem eager to give us an actual move in date. Everyone, on all sides of the equation are certain about one thing…they want to close on the 16th and want us to be out of this house with the carpets clean by noon the next day.
I keep telling them all I have five kids but no one is listening….
On other subjects…
You know what is weird to me? Whenever I tell someone I have five kids they always ask the same thing. “Do you homeschool?” I don’t understand why those two things go together. Unfortunately, I am a strange mix of motherhood. I love my kids, love parenting, but can’t do it 24/7 non-stop. I used to feel guilty about this when I looked around me at all of these amazing homeschool moms but then, one day God informed me he did not design me that way and it was ridiculous to feel guilty about the way I was formed.
So, I’m over that now.
What is rough for me is about 1 1/2 weeks into my kids’ three week break, my productivity lessens considerably. I begin to feel like I am wading in mud. My brain just can’t function with no break from all the activity in my house. One thing I absolutely need every single day is to beat them all out of bed for some solitude. This morning, when I came out of the downstairs bath I was assaulted by the overhead light blaring and my oldest son parked in my “reading spot”.
“Uh, uh” I grunted cave man style, “Too much light. Get out of my spot.”
I flipped off the light and turned on the lamp before stumbling into the kitchen to make my tea. Before the water had a chance to boil, my offspring called to me full volume from the other room.
“Mommy?”
I walked into the living room and staged whispered, “Yes, son?”
“Mommy, did you know that parrots sometimes outlive their masters?”
I thought perhaps I had died and gone to “the bad place”.
So….here we are. As I type this, I have three of the five kids in the room and I have shooed them out of here at least three times in the last five minutes. I have already repaired a doll’s head that was coming loose. One child is singing “Mannahmahna”. Another is calling the dog. They are alternately laughing and arguing. They are very, very loud.
Very loud.
And in less than a week, I am supposed to move.
Time left before my breakdown….unknown.
When i moved i used moveme.com – it really helped take away some of the stress (always handy to avoid a breakdown!!) and get me discounts etc, as well as pre made change of address letters. Its a real life saver!
I will tell you why it goes together. For some reason large families tend to get labelled as uber religious and only the uber religious home school. Now after saying that it is def. a stereotype and a very negative one at that. So that is why you are getting it.
Beverly
I also think people lump it together because a lot of people say things like, “Are they all yours?” And then they mumble something nice while thinking, “Heavens, thank goodness it isn’t me.” When you homeschool, people say things like, “And you keep them with you ALL the time?” And then they mumble something nice while thinking, “What, are they nuts?” And quite frankly, the kinds of guts and endurance required to raise a large family, or homeschool your children are much alike. But this does not presuppose that the two must go hand in hand. We are a mix. We have a large family built through birth and adoption. And we homeschool some, and send some out to private school. It’s expensive, but I remind my husband that mental hospitals are expensive too. 🙂
Oh Sherri! Dear one! I am praying for you, for at least a bit of sanity in the midst of chaos.
🙂
Too funny. I just emailed you and asked if you homeschool. Sorry. Should have come here first. Praying for you and your family in the midst of the chaos.
Amy
Here’s to hoping you can keep it all together in this stressful time. 🙂
I have to chuckle *just a little bit* Welcome to my house. ALL the time. I, like you, enjoy getting up and having some quiet time with my bible. When one of the kids gets up earlier than normal, their voices are so LOUD!!!! Why is that????
I’m sure the stress of moving is not helping AT ALL.
Here’s praying that everyone stays healthy (esp mom) during this time and while you are getting settled.
Find the humor in all of it, I promise it will help!!!!
Thank goodness! When you said God told you that you weren’t formed that way, that was just like a light going on for me. I don’t even have children yet and already I am fretting over knowing, just KNOWING, that I will want my space from them. That is, after all, just how I’ve been since I was old enough to get up off my diapered bottom and shut the door to make a room My Private Space, and I have been guarding some personal time in that space ever since.
As thrilled as I am at the prospect of being a mother, as eager as I am to have a family of my own, hopefully at least four children, quite possibly more . . . I already know that I will make Super Best Friends with the bus driver, and welcome his arrival each schoolday morning with shouts of joy. I know I’m going to want time away from the family I hope to have, and it’s nice to hear affirmation that I am not malformed for knowing it 😉
I must say too, your outlook on motherhood, faith, and life in general is the closest to my own I’ve yet to find. It’s so refreshing to read your writing and feel just a bit more at peace with how _I_ was formed, so thank you 🙂
~Andrea
I love love love your blog! Can I post a link to it from mine?
We are http://www.praisinandtellin.blogspot.com—in case you need to see it first.