Whenever I go out with the kids I pump myself up mentally for what I'm about to face. The words, the comments, and, for better or for worse, the judgements. It usually starts with a glance, then a double take, then an opening comment. Sometimes it's just "Woah". We get that a lot when my husband is with me too. We are clearly a family. A crazy, big, happy family! If we're not moving too quickly we get a follow up comment. First an amusing "Your hands are full!" which often has the corollary "They must be twins!" while pointing to either our oldest two or the boys. Now that we have our baby girl the next comment is inevitably "Oh! There's another one!". Apparently she wasn't visible from the snugli. All this is well and good, if not a little bit tedious.
Now when I'm out alone with the kids I get the same repetitive series of small talk. There is however another series of comments to follow. It's starts sigh "Are they all yours?" followed by "You must be busy!", and, my favourite, a variation of "Well, you must be happy to be done now!". I reply as patiently as I can but it's gotten to the point I'm thinking about making t-shirts, or buttons... Or a large flashing sign I can attach to our stroller. You know, some kind of subtle cues for strangers that would inform them immediately all the salient information they clearly require to satisy their curiosity about our circus show.
What do you think about these?
1. Yes, They're ALL Mine
2. I've Heard of Birth Control
3. I'm Not an Accident (but I may have just had one)
4. We're a Handful!
5. I'm with Mom
6. We're Not Twins
7. Less Small Talk, More Coffee
Any more ideas?
How about: "Better me than you? You're probably right!" Or maybe "A big family is defined not by the number of children, but the size of the love it contains."
ReplyDeleteThanks for your advice about the cloth wipes! I have noticed that official "cloth wipes" are expensive - and don't seem to be much different from washcloths. We have a very tight budget right now, so any ideas to save money are very welcome!
ReplyDelete@lifeandrhythm I haven't heard from you for a while! Great additions!
ReplyDelete@Mandi I know what you mean about a budget! My other fave money saving tip is to make your own baby food. Cook and blend with a little milk/chicken broth/water and freeze in ice-cube trays. Once frozen pop out and store in freezer in ziploc bags. Individual portions and you can make enough for a week!
There's an NFP group on Facebook where they were just talking about this and about making shirts for it! :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, Simcha Fisher posted about this not too long ago either. Here's the link to her's:
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/simcha-fisher/snappy-answers-for-stupid-questions-about-your-big-family/
It's hilarious!!
Although my personal favorite is when someone asks the dad of the 'litter' and he turns to his wife and say "I don't know, are they?" I've only seen that once but it was hilarious!
Sorry for the double comment but I found the t-shirt site for this! My favorite on here is "Yes, we know what causes it...and we love doing it!"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cafepress.com/evilgeniusstore/1225539
Thanks for the comments Katie! I'm off to bed but I look forward to reading Simcha's post. It's always great to hear about other families that are experiencing the same craziness we are. :)
ReplyDelete