Sometimes our house feels chaotic. With nine people, it can get loud. But even when it’s quiet, my brain feels loud and I know the kids probably feel the same way. We are balancing complicated schedules--five drivers with three cars, jobs, grocery shopping, medical and dental appointments. Add to that the uncertainty of what school will be like in the fall or if we can travel on Christmas break. We’re missing our usual stress relievers like team sports and hanging out with friends. The built up stress and energy gets funneled into futile bickering and ridiculous bids for attention that become hurt feelings.
Fights and chaos happen even when everything is “normal” but when they’re not, little things become big annoyances.
Fights and chaos happen even when everything is “normal” but when they’re not, little things become big annoyances.
Last week, several items were missing around our house:
Ricky’s retainers
Not all of these things were important, but the build up of missing items added to the confusion and chaos in the house. We spent one morning desperately searching for missing items and to increase success, some items procured a monetary reward. Faced with the possibility of having to replace his retainers with his own money, Ricky offered a $50 reward. I offered $5 for Brooklyn's glasses, and Makayla's set a bounty at $10 for her AirPods. The laptop cords are worth $5 a piece, but you have to find both to get paid. Sean was serious about making some money, so he found Brooklyn's glasses and Makayla's air pods. Ricky's retainers are still lost, so he has paid $150 to our dentist to scan his teeth and get him replacements.
Last night, our Bishop dropped by to pick up a tripod for church. Unfortunately, Rick knew about this pickup, but didn't tell anybody else. We couldn't find the tripod anywhere. It was frustrating and awkward. Once we found the tripod, we needed magnets to hold the ipad on the tripod. Once again, nobody knew where they were.
Two things annoy me greatly--missing items and poor communication. I think they really get to me because I'm already dealing with a lot and I don't need that kind of unnecessary and completely avoidable stress. Also, I'm the mom of the house, and for some reason, that means I'm supposed to know everything that's going on and where everything is at any given moment. It's enough to make me to go missing for 20-minute stretches throughout the day. I have a lot of hiding places and I’m good at staying quiet when the kids are shouting for me—at least for a little while.
Our summer, like yours, has been weird. Not bad. Just weird. We have had good times, like visitors from California and a road trip to visit them for 4th of July, I also had a great time with the girls and my family on the east coast. But I feel like it's been "summer" since March.
The kids are excited about starting school. We are all looking forward to slight change of pace, but I have a feeling the adjustment is going to be rough. I will be managing the education of five children on five different devices. Sometimes more than one child is going to need help. Sometimes I'm going to need help. Ricky thinks I'm going to be his secret weapon for passing Chemistry. I hate Chemistry, but I keep telling him, "Sure, I'll help you. We'll get through it together."
(Ricky has his driver’s license AND a job at McDonald’s. The guy is living a pretty sweet life.)
Ricky’s retainers
Brooklyn’s glasses
Andrew’s basket for clothing storage
Makayla’s air pods
Emily’s Wendy’s t shirts
Emily's earphones
Rick's earphone -- only one of them, but the important one
A gift card from a local sporting goods store worth $50
Laptop charging cords
Rick's earphone -- only one of them, but the important one
A gift card from a local sporting goods store worth $50
Laptop charging cords
Not all of these things were important, but the build up of missing items added to the confusion and chaos in the house. We spent one morning desperately searching for missing items and to increase success, some items procured a monetary reward. Faced with the possibility of having to replace his retainers with his own money, Ricky offered a $50 reward. I offered $5 for Brooklyn's glasses, and Makayla's set a bounty at $10 for her AirPods. The laptop cords are worth $5 a piece, but you have to find both to get paid. Sean was serious about making some money, so he found Brooklyn's glasses and Makayla's air pods. Ricky's retainers are still lost, so he has paid $150 to our dentist to scan his teeth and get him replacements.
Last night, our Bishop dropped by to pick up a tripod for church. Unfortunately, Rick knew about this pickup, but didn't tell anybody else. We couldn't find the tripod anywhere. It was frustrating and awkward. Once we found the tripod, we needed magnets to hold the ipad on the tripod. Once again, nobody knew where they were.
Two things annoy me greatly--missing items and poor communication. I think they really get to me because I'm already dealing with a lot and I don't need that kind of unnecessary and completely avoidable stress. Also, I'm the mom of the house, and for some reason, that means I'm supposed to know everything that's going on and where everything is at any given moment. It's enough to make me to go missing for 20-minute stretches throughout the day. I have a lot of hiding places and I’m good at staying quiet when the kids are shouting for me—at least for a little while.
Our summer, like yours, has been weird. Not bad. Just weird. We have had good times, like visitors from California and a road trip to visit them for 4th of July, I also had a great time with the girls and my family on the east coast. But I feel like it's been "summer" since March.
The kids are excited about starting school. We are all looking forward to slight change of pace, but I have a feeling the adjustment is going to be rough. I will be managing the education of five children on five different devices. Sometimes more than one child is going to need help. Sometimes I'm going to need help. Ricky thinks I'm going to be his secret weapon for passing Chemistry. I hate Chemistry, but I keep telling him, "Sure, I'll help you. We'll get through it together."
In addition to being a "learning coach" for five children, I'm a "life coach" for my two oldest girls who are getting ready to move to Utah in a few weeks. They have their own worries which feed into mine.
And Rick is officially looking for a new job amid a lot of financial uncertainty and general drama at the University of Arizona. Moving stinks, but getting a house market-ready and keeping it ready stinks even more. We don’t know where we might move or even if we actually will, which is bad because it’s one more uncertain thing.
And to top it all off, we have a stuffed mini Tigger stuck in our chandelier. What?
I know these are all little things. And, seriously, who cares about a Tigger in a chandelier because we have a chandelier for goodness sake. But still, I think anybody who reads this has experienced times when small things build up and become too much.
Even with all the uncertainty, I know my Heavenly Father knows me and loves me. He knows each of our children and their worries. And He will help us with the missing things. He will fill in the gaps. He will make us whole as we rely on His help and guidance. Everything will be okay. In fact, I think everything will be better than okay because He can make more out of us and our individual situations than we can on our own. And because I believe this, here are a few pictures of us not only surviving the chaos, but thriving
I know these are all little things. And, seriously, who cares about a Tigger in a chandelier because we have a chandelier for goodness sake. But still, I think anybody who reads this has experienced times when small things build up and become too much.
Even with all the uncertainty, I know my Heavenly Father knows me and loves me. He knows each of our children and their worries. And He will help us with the missing things. He will fill in the gaps. He will make us whole as we rely on His help and guidance. Everything will be okay. In fact, I think everything will be better than okay because He can make more out of us and our individual situations than we can on our own. And because I believe this, here are a few pictures of us not only surviving the chaos, but thriving
(Ricky has his driver’s license AND a job at McDonald’s. The guy is living a pretty sweet life.)
And here’s one last meme that made me laugh:
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