There are some things that make living with many small people a heck of a lot easier. I’m pretty sure that every item I list as essentials are things I swore I’d never want at some point in time. Now, I wouldn’t be without them:
Between running a business and raising six kids, the one thing I’ve learned over the last few years is to value my time. And value it I do. When I get invited to events, I go through an actual checklist of requirements the event must fulfill in order for me to accept. So, all those people out there undervaluing their time? Yeah, that’s the opposite to me.
Sometimes parents and kids don’t exactly see eye-to-eye. Here are a few simple parenting wins I feel like I’ve made, but the small humans in my house may feel differently.
Love the idea of a big family? There are definitely many, many bonuses to having a big brood. But there are also a few things you just shouldn’t expect. For example:
Happy Bloggerversary to me! Five years ago, I wrote my first post as a Yummy Mummy Club blogger. This is how I introduced myself then:
About Julie Cole
Since it’s my first post here at the Yummy Mummy Club, I thought it might be appropriate to tell you why I’m here and give you the low down on my little life. So, here’s the scoop:
Raising a half a dozen children has made me a little more practical and a little less romantic at times. When Valentine’s Day rolls around, I do my fair share of cringing. I think I’m still traumatized from my childhood days. It seemed so odd that somehow Valentine’s Day romanticized children’s relationships.
There is no question about it—exhausted and sleep-deprived mamas can do some crazy things. I’ve bumped into things, dropped objects, forgotten important messages, and missed appointments. We’ve all been there and done that.
It’s time for us to retire the word “busy." We’re all busy. Everyone is busy, and we all have busy lives. Work is busy, our schedules are busy, our kids are busy, and our partners are busy. Yeah, we get it.
I have to admit, I’m one of those mamas who feels extremely guilty for exercising, because I feel like I’m doing something that only benefits me. Yeah, I know—if I’m healthy and feel good, my family will benefit. I get that, but the reality is when you have six kids, spending enough time with each of your several children is difficult enough. Training for a marathon or several trips a week to the gym is just not in the cards.
There are certain family products that seem to irrationally irritate people. In fact, some of them have incited rage. What can these highly offensive items be?
The top three family products that bring out the haters are:
Daddy-o recently expressed that he was concerned we were going to lose some of our family traditions. He was worried that we had very distinct traditions in place when our biggies were small, but now that the biggies are losing a bit of interest, the small kids may be missing out.
Halloween is upon us and one of the common complaints you hear about this holiday is that some trick-or-treaters are too old to be knocking on doors looking for goodies.
To this, I say: Get over it.
I have to admit, I have a long history of being afraid of teenagers. They have opinions, sometimes dress funny, have coloured hair and their hormones make them seem like strange and mysterious creatures. But now, I am the mother of one of these creatures and guess what — he’s not that scary after all.
Many years ago, it was hard for me to imagine the day when all of my children would be in school.
When my fifth child was born, my eldest was six. At the time, I believe I had four car seats and a booster seat in my van. I say “I believe” because I was mostly in a fog. My sixth child arrived after what was an astronomical age gap for me—two and a half years.
The recent cover on TIME magazine portrays a childless couple lying leisurely on the beach. The title THE CHILDLESS COUPLE: When Having It All Means Not Having Children proposes that “having it all” is attainable only by those who choose to forgo parenthood.
I found the cover—both the photo and words—disturbing on a few levels:
When our kids go to camp, we expect them to experience homesickness. In order to try and make those homesick feelings short-lived for my kids, I have a number of things I do and strategies I adopt.
I remind them that they are strong and capable. I tell them that I have confidence in them and that I know they are ready for camp.
In our house, we don’t go too crazy over the Hallmark holidays. But seeing as the kids do loads of crafts for these occasions, there is some celebration. The thing is, with a big and busy family, it is difficult to have a “day off” even if it is YOUR day.
I owe dog owners everywhere an apology. I admit to rolling my eyes and thinking, “Really? It’s just a dog!” whenever you shared photos and stories about your pup.
Most days I look around, and everyone around me seems normal and quite sensible. Then along comes a day and a couple of experiences that turns everything on its head and leaves me feeling like the world isn’t as right as I believed.
People are always asking me how I manage to spend enough individual time with each of my children. Quite frankly, I don’t. It’s not something that causes me stress since I firmly believe that what they may miss in one-on-one time with me, they make up for with the amazing interactions and relationships they have with each other. Besides, on the odd occasion where I have found myself alone with a child, I’ve noted they’ve spent most of our time together obsessing about what the others might be doing.
I remind them that they are strong and capable. I tell them that I have confidence in them and that I know they are ready for camp.
