For those that do not already know, my family consists of 6 kids, a granddaughter, a mom, a dad and a dog. Two of the adult kids live away from home but visit every chance that they can. When I married my husband our family immediately grew to 5 and then years later grew to 6, then 7, then 8 and then my daughter had a daughter of her own. To my family, having a large family is normal and actually quite fun. We love having a big family and we are probably the loudest family that you’ll ever meet. For anyone that has a large family like we do, I thought I would make a list of fun ‘You Know You Have a Big Family When’ moments.
You Know You Have a Big Family When:
- You take pleasure in hiding the last Dr Pepper or SNICKERS ice cream bar so that you will be guaranteed to get one when you want it and not have to be disappointed when you are craving one and all you find is the empty box.
- Everyone gets in the car and mom yells, ‘Double Buckle!’.
- You quiz the little kids about how old they are right before you enter the restaurant and ‘Kids 3 and Under Eat for Free’. Don’t judge, it’s expensive to feed this many people and kids barely eat anything.
- Your parents tell you that you’d better work hard and get a college scholarship or get a job if you want to go to college.
- Mom gets super excited about hand me downs from other people. It’s like going shopping without having to spend the money.
- You are searching for a hotel and after you enter the number of family members that will be staying in the hotel, you get a message that says ‘No Rooms Available’, which basically means ‘Get a Second Room!’.
- You sneak 4 family members into your hotel room and blow up air mattresses and have a big one room slumber party!
- Your youngest child has a ton of shoes and clothes from having had her sisters clothes passed down to her from all the years.
- Your mom never gets your name right the first time!
- You can’t walk out of a Wholesale Grocer spending less than $200, but spend more like $400+.
- You have to put names on the Hot Pockets or Pizza Dishes so they are divided fairly and one kid does not eat them all.
- Your family goes to a restaurant and they sit you in the Private Dining Area.
- Getting a family picture is near impossible, so you take what you can get even though the family is not dressed up or hair ready.
- You are out and about your parents will only buy 2 large drinks and make everyone share.
- It’s guaranteed that if someone is showering that someone will storm into the bathroom and take a stinky without any shame.
- Your parents stopped allowing you to yell ‘Shotgun’ and instead, to prevent arguments, had to designate certain days of the week for each child to ride in the front.
- The only peaceful time is when you are asleep.
- During road trips your parents find creative ways for bathroom breaks–example, side of the road etc..
- At least one kid can honestly say they got lost or left behind at a store or an amusement park.
- It was guaranteed that you’d babysit your younger siblings, without pay- of course, when you got old enough.
- Every vacation will be a road trip, no matter how far you are going.
- Your parents don’t push extra curricular activities on you because they are just too tired and broke.
- It’s normal to take a bath with your siblings because of all the water it saves!
- Paper plates were normal.
- Your parents down size and everyone comes in from out of town to visit, it’s not uncommon for someone to sleep in the closet or even under someone’s bed.
- The waiter asks everyone what they want to drink, your mom speaks up and says that everyone will be having water, except for dad.
I love our big family and I think that the bigger the family the better. With a big family there is so much laughter and so many memories that are made. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices but in the end those sacrifices are worth it. Do you have a big family? Did I leave anything off of the list? Let me know.
if I don’t get my kids mixed up I often combine them to make new names on accident like Scarlett’s and Stella turn into Scarla or Starlet lol. And restaurants I haven’t yet braved taking all my kids to a resturaunt together but they also are only 8,4,1 and 5 months. My husband is the oldest of 5 and our current family is 5 adults, 4 kids and 2 dogs! With plenty of family visitors almost daily since we are all local. We have to carpool everywhere because none of us have more than 5 seats in a car yet .
Ha ha.. that happens to me also! I combine my kids names and they just look at me! I think I normally combine them into beautiful names on accident like instead of just saying Gia or Bella.. it turns into..GiaBella… so pretty but so frustrating.
Paper plates & Water at restaurants……yup!! (Hee, hee! I do that now & we are just a family of 5.) Love your list….so true!!! 😉
My father-in-law has eight sisters and brothers so most of these hit home and are 100% accurate. Me, I’m happy with a small family!
Ha, this hit close for sure. TRUTH!! I always say that I’m reminded that we have a big family when we travel. We look like a tour group! lol
Oh, I’ve loved receiving hand me downs ever since my eldest was born. Why pay money for something that someone was willing to give to you for free? I guess I can relate as we now have three children, making us a family of five. Wow!
We are a family of 5 so it is not too large. We do seem to go through food and drinks fast. And the laundry piles up more quickly with a large family.
what a cute post. thanks for the smile 🙂
I come from a big family. I totally relate to that, especially the snickers..
my friend has a big family and I had to laugh she does a ton of the same things you do! I will say I only have one and I still hide stuff I want just for myself! LOL
haha! Great post! I admit to hiding food to make sure I get some too!
oh how funny! Never thought of it that way. I do have a small family and still hide my sweets
This is great. Thanks for the little chuckle today!
Yup the car seat thing. My kids right now argue and shot for the best seat. I’ve now done what my parents did and tell them this person gets it to a place, this one on the way back. I hate the car seat argument lol
I have a small family, so this post isn’t one I can relate to. I always wanted a big family. It seems like so much fun!
I always wonder what it’s like to have a large family, mine is relatively small! But I love them all.
Haha I’m loving this insight into the life of a big family. Some of this even applies to our small family!
This is great! Yep, we have a big family. It’s hilarious because all of our boys names start with J….. You should see ANYONE get them right. It’s a riot, and I’m sure will be a joke in the family for years to come!
I don’t think not getting the kids name right is just in big families. There was only two of us growing up and my mother never got our names ;right either!
I think you just about covered it all. I remember all 4 of us kids piled into one bed in a hotel. By morning at least one of us was on the floor.
What a fun list! I don’t have a big family (2 kids) but many of those things apply to us!
Come from a large family and these are spot on!
LOL. Coming from a big family, I can relate to so many of these! Somehow, I think I’ll have a big family of my own soon. My daughter has been practically begging for a little sister and I’m sure once my son is older he’ll be wanting a little brother to toss the football with. There is truly never a dull moment in big families and I agree the sacrifices are totally worth it. I love my siblings to death and wouldn’t trade them for the world!!
My husband is one of 7 kids, who are all married and have kids of their own. Whenever we get together it’s LOUD.
The last one hits too close. Haha this is funny!
Ha Ha and then Ricky and Ryan proceed to the bar with their money to pay for their own.