Seeing Double

I’m so sorry about the laundry pics yesterday. We shouldn’t be airing our dirty laundry in front of you…

I also felt like it was a bit misleading, but it worked, my kids and I folded socks for about three hours this afternoon! Of course I did most of the folding while they watched a movie. That’s a typical sock party at our house. I had to run a couple of errands and when I came back, the Drama Queen had put in a new movie…with SUBTITLES! I just don’t see how you can fold socks and read the words on the screen at the same time although each and every one of them agreed that it was possible.

We have a rule at our house that once you get to middle school, you have your laundry banished to the basement laundry room. In theory, I don’t have to wash any of their things anymore. Sadly, life doesn’t always work out the way it’s supposed to. Teach is really stealthy about sneaking in her work clothes and an outfit here or there. She knows the perfect amount to toss in without getting in trouble. The Dog Walker and I have an arrangement. He carries all my baskets and I still wash quite a few of his things. I think I get the best end of that deal.

So besides two laundry rooms in our house, we have several other things doubled. We have two pianos, two microwaves in our kitchen,

double ovens,

two completely separate kitchen sinks,

two cooking surfaces (the second one having a built in grill/griddle system. Two furnaces, two air conditioners, two family rooms (no, I don’t live in a mansion…) but we wanted a big house because as I told you before, we had always planned on a big family.

We chose a stock plan from the builder when we built our house, but we were able to make quite a few changes to tailor it to our needs. One thing we absolutely insisted on was two dishwashers. That’s why we ended up with two sinks in the kitchen. Each dishwasher had to drain to a different sink. Even with two dishwashers, it’s difficult to keep on top of the dirty dishes. Most days I run four loads of dishes and at least four or five loads of laundry.

During the summer I’ve been watching my grandsons while Bossy and Gamer are at work. That means 13 of us for lunch! I don’t mind cooking for dinner, but I don’t like to prepare full meals twice a day. It’s generally cold cereal for breakfast (except on the weekends when my sweetie does most of the cooking).

For lunch it’s usually leftovers, sandwiches (requiring more than an entire loaf of bread), something simple like Spaghettios (6 cans!) or soup. We cook most of our meals from scratch since prepared foods can be SOO expensive. The three big freezers make keeping extra meat and frozen veggies easy.

I’m not really a very good cook, but I have a few things that I have developed over the years that the kids like. Some of those, like Parmesan Chicken and Tuna Casserole I’ve shared on our Food for Thought Fridays. I also plan leftovers on purpose. If I need white rice for stir-fry, I fill the rice cooker to 10 cups and then use what’s left for a casserole or rice pudding. That cuts a little time from food prep.

There you have it, now you know all my secrets for taking care of a big family. OK, maybe not all my secrets. But if I told you everything, you might never want to come back…

One Flu Over the Cookoo's Nest

You ever have one of those weeks when nothing goes the way you planned? So Monday was President’s Day and the kids were all home from school. My sweetie took a floating vacation day so he could spend the day with us. We had a terrific time! We went out to my favorite restaurant, Chick Fil A for free breakfast, then we spent the afternoon cleaning the church and playing basketball. After that we drove to Mt. Mike’s for pizza and Krispie Kremes for dessert. Then we all went home and watched a movie. It seemed like the perfect beginning for an amazing week. I couldn’t have been more wrong! 

On Tuesday, the Dog Walker woke up not feeling well. I told him to suck it up and I sent him to school. But after he left I started feeling guilty so I called and made him a doctor’s appointment. He’d been sick for quite a while, but mostly just a hacky cough and congestion. I convinced the doctor that he had a sinus infection and begged for a prescription. With a self-satisfied smile I drove to the pharmacy, assuming the worst was behind me. 

 Later that night, long after the little ones were sleeping and I had finally drug my own tired bones to bed, the lights in my room were abruptly switched on. Even without the light, the wailing was enough to wake the dead. In my somewhat confused, half-awake state and without my bifocals, I mostly recognized Sport. He was crying and complaining of a headache, a stomachache, you name it…if anything could ache, it did. First I sent him to the bathroom, then I had him take a shower. The fever started a couple of hours later and by the time the sun was up, it was pretty obvious that he was not going to school. My Dog Walker was also feeling bad, so he stayed in bed. A quick visit to the doctor later and Sport had a confirmed case of Influenza B. 

Now this seemed pretty unfair. Each and every year I line up all the kids, grownups and little ones, and I march them into the doctor’s office to get their annual flu shots. They grumble a little, but they all submit when I guilt them into it. You see, the baby is always too young for a flu shot and Sport is actually allergic to them (another time I’ll tell you that story). That leaves our ranks exposed, so the only thing we can do is circle the wagons and hope. This is the first time this strategy has not worked, and Sport was one sick little guy. When he wasn’t feverish and hallucinating, he was complaining about a headache and dizziness. 


The doctor put him on Tamiflu and called in prescriptions for everyone in the family, but the co-pay was $50.00 for EACH prescription! So we filled two of them and hunkered down, just waiting to see who would be the next victim. Turns out it was Baby Doll…and Curly…and Scout…and Prima Donna. I was awake most of the night with Sport on Tuesday night, then on Wednesday night when Baby Doll started running a fever, it felt like a medical ward off MASH as the sickees just kept coming in. 

Curly climbed in my bed first. He was hot and feverish and immediately curled up in a tiny ball. Half an hour later Scout crawled up next to him. She was also burning up. (Just for the record, she sprawls out on the bed even when she’s sick.) Prima Donna just didn’t bother to get up until 1:00 in the afternoon. So when they were finally awake and somewhat lucid, I lined them all up and gave them each a spoonful of Tamiflu (mixed with chocolate milk, of course). Unfortunately, that strategy didn’t work either, Teach woke up this morning with a fever and headache. If you don’t hear from me for a couple of days you’ll know why…but for right now, the only thing wrong with me is lack of sleep. That and the usual insanity plea.

Sick Babies

I’ve got sick babies. They make it so hard to sleep I thought I’d make another post. My two-year-old has always been a sickly child. He started with a month of jaundice. After a dozen ear infections we had tubes put in, but they haven’t completely stopped the infections. We are still in the doctor’s office about once a month asking for another antibiotic. The nurses at the doctor’s office all recognize him and remember his name because he has been in so many times.

His latest ailment is asthma. This requires fairly regular breathing treatments that become more frequent when he has a cold. I took him in yesterday because he had been vomiting and running a fever for about three days. Even after the pain and discomfort of a strep test he happily swallowed his medicine for the nurse and smiled at the Spiderman sticker that was his prize.

He is so different from me. I get a little headache and I’m popping Ibuprofen and complaining to anyone who will listen. My little Baby Doll is sick too. She has a stuffy nose and a cough. It’s so hard when they are so small. They don’t understand why they can’t breath and it makes us all grumpy. Not even chicken noodle soup can help at this age. Speaking of Chicken Soup, once upon a time I wrote a story that was published in Chicken Soup for the Latter-day Saint Soul, 2005. It’s a good read especially when you are sitting up late at night with sick babies. I wonder if I can find my copy…