You know you’re from a big family when…

1. When dining at new restaurants you tell the hostess the size of your party and also quickly add, “yes, we can sit at two tables”.
2. People truly believe that they could just drop off their child at your home and you wouldn’t even notice! It becomes an opening statement in new play dates.
3. You have become friends with FedEx, UPS, and post office delivery workers who come by once or twice a month with your shipment of bulk house items. They know when you are due for toilet paper or paper towels.
4. Your grocery cart is a spectacle- “Boy, you must be hungry”
5. You think about PB&J for a quick lunch but realize you have only one loaf of bread out of the freezer and reconsider. One loaf can’t make 20+ sandwiches.
6. If you go somewhere without the kids, you may need to reintroduce yourself to people.
7. Your daily driver also fits the local youth group or sports teams (as long as you don’t have to fit your whole family as well)
8. The older kids know to bag or tote clothes that get too small and the younger ones have seen their wardrobe laid out for years ahead of time.
9. Cereal and milk is not your “go-to”. In fact, a box or two of cereal and gallon of milk for one meal with 12 bowls to wash afterwards would be more work than anything else. Full on pancake breakfasts are easier! One box, add water- paper plates, viola!
10. Your laundry day is scheduled in your own house.
11. When more than one kid catches a sickness, all the toothbrushes go, the house is Lysol-ed to death, and quarantine goes immediately into effect.
12. Three hotel rooms.
13. With all hands on deck, working 30 minutes each, you can cover about 6 HOURS worth of a task- think extreme house cleaning/ wood stacking/ laundry folding!
14. Holidays are THE. BEST. Just 5 Christmas gifts each for 12 people means 60 items under a tree!
15. Bills and appointments are handled like a business, spreadsheets and calendars are the only way to make it all happen!
16. As mom and dad to your brood, your full hands and heart have been blessed daily for years from each passersby, and you may have also been convinced you are an angel.
17. School projects, medical forms, and even insurance cards were not made for you! Often even 2 of any of these items aren’t enough- (we have 3 insurance cards, and use the backside of every school form)
18. The family pediatrician knows you have a month of scheduled school physicals each year. The family dentist? They block off an entire morning or afternoon for just your kids.
19. The kids schools send emails with no other identifying information as to which kid it pertains to so you have to wait for the kids come home to ask where does Mrs. So-and-So work, which school, who signed up to bring in popsicle sticks?
20. You may have actually “seen it all”.

The more, the merrier is a way of life. Your bedrooms might be full, that house might be tight fit, but I can guarantee if you come from a big family you will still always have extra blankets, plenty of snacks, and room for more on the couch.

In a family of 12- this is our life. And I wouldn’t change one single thing.