In a big family, we do a lot of things that other families might not consider "normal". But hey, I'm sure every family has things that they do that others may not. I guess it's like to each their own.
You have the kids that get really excited for the summer because they go on vacations. Their family has rented some big beach house or they are taking a road trip. In my family, we don't really go on vacations. We have never rented a beach house. We have never traveled as a whole family to another state. I honestly can't remember the last time my family has taken a long vacation. Yes, I have gone places but that has been with friends or school. After thinking about it, I really don't have a problem with it. Growing up in a large family, I do a ton of other things with them. I feel like those things I do make up for the vacations. The fact that in a big family, you can't get everything that you want.
Another thing that we consider "normal" is going to the grocery store every couple of weeks. Some families make trips every once and awhile. With mine we go and sometimes fill almost two carts full of stuff. When my dad comes back home we create an assemble line that goes from the car to the kitchen. It definitely makes the process a lot faster.
My family doesn't eat dinner together. The only time we really eat together is during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everybody is always on different schedules that we just can't find the time. I don't find this weird either. Actually I find it more enjoyable to sit with like one sibling and eat with them rather than the others. When my family gets together there is usually always bickering and fighting. Everything could be going great and you stare at one of them wrong. The rest of the dinner goes downhill from there.
Like I said earlier in my posts, my family added two bathrooms to my house. This has helped somewhat but we still fight over them. We will all be in the car coming back from like a game or something and out of nowhere someone will yell, "I call bathroom first". Then another will yell, "I call the second bathroom". I hope you don't have to go really bad because if you don't call a bathroom, you will be waiting. Another is the shower. We all call for those too. If you're last to get to it then you will be showering with cold water because all the hot water will have been used up. I find it completely normal to fight over the bathroom and shower. I haven't really heard any of my other friends say they do this.
Everybody always asks me how I survive in a big family. It's normal to me, I don't think twice about having so many siblings anymore. They are the people that made me who I am today. Everyday brings new experiences in my family, some great and some not. I wouldn't change it for the world though.
March 28, 2012
March 23, 2012
FOOD!
Today, I walked into the kitchen looking around for something to cook. I opened up the pantry and the shelves were empty, except for the abnormally large amount of canned goods we have. Disappointed at finding nothing, I walked to the refrigerator hoping that there would be something in there to satisfy my hunger. Feeling optimistic I opened the fridge only to find leftovers and eggs. I then reached for the freezer hoping by chance there was something and once again I was let down. I just ended up going to Subway.
My family goes through enormous amounts of food. Every couple of weeks we have to go to the store to replenish our stock. The food products that my family goes through the fastest are milk, cheese, bread, and breakfast items. Most people think that this is crazy but it's just a normal day in the Woodward house to not have anything to eat. Whenever I invite people over to my house I always call my mom up to see if we have any food before they come over. I just feel bad when I invite them over and we want a snack but I have nothing to give them. I mean unless they want salsa because that's one thing that we never seem to run out of.
When we do have food in the house you better be sure to get it when you can. When my mom calls everybody in for dinner, you better get your butt in there right away. If you casually walk in 15 minutes later, there will more than likely be no food left. The kids in my house are vultures. They will eat everything and anything. My mom really has no sympathy for us if it happens. She will then say to go make ourselves a peanut butter and jelly sandwich......or in my case just peanut butter. Also, if there is a food product that you plan on eating at another date then you better hide it. I have learned this lesson the hard way. On multiple occasions in the morning, I would go to the kitchen to get my breakfast bar. Well, they would somehow mysteriously disappear over night. I have gotten to the point now where I put them in my closet. Yes, it is weird but you do what you have to to survive in a big family!
Like I stated above, DO NOT leave food unattended in my house. You will come back thinking it will be there and it won't. I promise you that one. For example, the other day I was cooking my favorite food....french fries! I preheated the oven because who really wants to wait forever for your food to be cooked. The oven did its thing while I put the fries on a baking sheet. I then popped them in for 20 minutes. The french fry aroma started to fill the house. I'm not gonna lie, I started to get hype that they were almost done. I walked into the kitchen and pulled them out of the oven. I left them on the stove for like 10 seconds....okay I tend to exaggerate so more like 10 minutes. I came back in and BAM just like that my taters were gone. I was so ticked. No one messes with my fries. Low and behold I found the culprits though. They were my dad and Jan. To be honest, I'm really not sure if I can ever forgive them. It might take awhile. So, the moral of the story is to not leave food you want to eat around a big family.
My family goes through enormous amounts of food. Every couple of weeks we have to go to the store to replenish our stock. The food products that my family goes through the fastest are milk, cheese, bread, and breakfast items. Most people think that this is crazy but it's just a normal day in the Woodward house to not have anything to eat. Whenever I invite people over to my house I always call my mom up to see if we have any food before they come over. I just feel bad when I invite them over and we want a snack but I have nothing to give them. I mean unless they want salsa because that's one thing that we never seem to run out of.
When we do have food in the house you better be sure to get it when you can. When my mom calls everybody in for dinner, you better get your butt in there right away. If you casually walk in 15 minutes later, there will more than likely be no food left. The kids in my house are vultures. They will eat everything and anything. My mom really has no sympathy for us if it happens. She will then say to go make ourselves a peanut butter and jelly sandwich......or in my case just peanut butter. Also, if there is a food product that you plan on eating at another date then you better hide it. I have learned this lesson the hard way. On multiple occasions in the morning, I would go to the kitchen to get my breakfast bar. Well, they would somehow mysteriously disappear over night. I have gotten to the point now where I put them in my closet. Yes, it is weird but you do what you have to to survive in a big family!
Like I stated above, DO NOT leave food unattended in my house. You will come back thinking it will be there and it won't. I promise you that one. For example, the other day I was cooking my favorite food....french fries! I preheated the oven because who really wants to wait forever for your food to be cooked. The oven did its thing while I put the fries on a baking sheet. I then popped them in for 20 minutes. The french fry aroma started to fill the house. I'm not gonna lie, I started to get hype that they were almost done. I walked into the kitchen and pulled them out of the oven. I left them on the stove for like 10 seconds....okay I tend to exaggerate so more like 10 minutes. I came back in and BAM just like that my taters were gone. I was so ticked. No one messes with my fries. Low and behold I found the culprits though. They were my dad and Jan. To be honest, I'm really not sure if I can ever forgive them. It might take awhile. So, the moral of the story is to not leave food you want to eat around a big family.
March 14, 2012
"Everybody Needs Somebody to Lean On"
Are you ever in a situation where you need to talk to someone or vent to them? Of course, it is only natural to have to do these things. Yeah, I guess you could go to one of your friends. Lets be honest though, most of the time the things you need to vent about are school, work, and friends. So, I usually end up talking to someone in my family. That's definitely one of the perks of having such a big family is that I always have someone that I can talk to and lean on.
My mom is the number one person I go to when I need to talk. I guess with me being the oldest girl and always helping my mom with stuff, we have a closer bond than some of my other siblings do with her. I can talk to her about anything. I go to her to talk about school, sports, life, college, work, and friends. You name it and I have probably talked to her about it. It doesn't matter what time of the day it is, I can count on her to be there for me. Sometimes when I get home really late from a game and don't expect to see anyone up, she will be the person sitting at the kitchen table wanting to hear about my day. When I have days where nothing seems to go my way, I can always count on her to be there to listen. When I tell her my problems, no matter how big or small, I feel as if they just vanish. I'm not a person that likes hugs as most of you know. But, I always give my mom a hug everyday because I honestly don't know what I would do without her.
My brother, John, and I seemed to drift apart from each other when to high school. I didn't really talk to him about anything. When I became a lifeguard and started working at the same pool as him, we started to talk a lot more. After work, he and I would go to Walmart because he would always need something for fishing. This would be the time that we talked about stuff or he would give me advice. For example, the other week when he came home we took one of our trips to Walmart. On the way there, we started to talk about college. I told him how I'm nervous but excited at the same time. He gave me some great advice. He told me that when I go to college, I need to make the most of it. That college is something we aren't going to forget. It's something that I have to do and I can't flake out on it so I need to give it all I have. He told me to make the most of every minute there, get good grades, join a lot of different clubs and activities, go to parties, and have fun. He even told me to check out some sororities for the heck of it. That being nervous in my first year was normal but this is my time to be outgoing and to meet new people. After having this talk with him, I am so hype for college! I cannot wait until next year.
I can't believe I am saying this, but yes, I even talk to Jill. I know everybody thinks that I hate this poor child. But it is not true, I promise it isn't! I'm just not all affectionate towards people like she is. Jill and I actually talk about a lot of things on our way to school. When I put on an outfit I always go to her first to see what she will say. I mean she is definitely the fashion diva in my house so I trust her opinion. I know I would be in soccer shorts and a t-shirt everyday if I had the chance. Truth be told, I talk to her about guys too. Even though she is younger than me, she gives me great advice in this area. Bradford and her have been going out for awhile now so what she tells me must not all be crap.
No offense to my other siblings but I can't really talk to them about stuff yet. Yes, I talk to my brother, Jeff, about soccer but other than that not really anything else. It's okay though because I know when they get to the age where they need someone to talk to that they have seven people to choose from.
My mom is the number one person I go to when I need to talk. I guess with me being the oldest girl and always helping my mom with stuff, we have a closer bond than some of my other siblings do with her. I can talk to her about anything. I go to her to talk about school, sports, life, college, work, and friends. You name it and I have probably talked to her about it. It doesn't matter what time of the day it is, I can count on her to be there for me. Sometimes when I get home really late from a game and don't expect to see anyone up, she will be the person sitting at the kitchen table wanting to hear about my day. When I have days where nothing seems to go my way, I can always count on her to be there to listen. When I tell her my problems, no matter how big or small, I feel as if they just vanish. I'm not a person that likes hugs as most of you know. But, I always give my mom a hug everyday because I honestly don't know what I would do without her.
My brother, John, and I seemed to drift apart from each other when to high school. I didn't really talk to him about anything. When I became a lifeguard and started working at the same pool as him, we started to talk a lot more. After work, he and I would go to Walmart because he would always need something for fishing. This would be the time that we talked about stuff or he would give me advice. For example, the other week when he came home we took one of our trips to Walmart. On the way there, we started to talk about college. I told him how I'm nervous but excited at the same time. He gave me some great advice. He told me that when I go to college, I need to make the most of it. That college is something we aren't going to forget. It's something that I have to do and I can't flake out on it so I need to give it all I have. He told me to make the most of every minute there, get good grades, join a lot of different clubs and activities, go to parties, and have fun. He even told me to check out some sororities for the heck of it. That being nervous in my first year was normal but this is my time to be outgoing and to meet new people. After having this talk with him, I am so hype for college! I cannot wait until next year.
I can't believe I am saying this, but yes, I even talk to Jill. I know everybody thinks that I hate this poor child. But it is not true, I promise it isn't! I'm just not all affectionate towards people like she is. Jill and I actually talk about a lot of things on our way to school. When I put on an outfit I always go to her first to see what she will say. I mean she is definitely the fashion diva in my house so I trust her opinion. I know I would be in soccer shorts and a t-shirt everyday if I had the chance. Truth be told, I talk to her about guys too. Even though she is younger than me, she gives me great advice in this area. Bradford and her have been going out for awhile now so what she tells me must not all be crap.
No offense to my other siblings but I can't really talk to them about stuff yet. Yes, I talk to my brother, Jeff, about soccer but other than that not really anything else. It's okay though because I know when they get to the age where they need someone to talk to that they have seven people to choose from.
March 8, 2012
Space
I pull into my driveway, cut my lights off, and turn the engine off. Thinking to myself as I get out of the car, "yes...finally home and ready to have some silence". I unlock the door only to hear my mom and siblings talking or sometimes yelling depending on their mood. I walk by saying hello but only thinking that I have a couple of steps left until I get to my bedroom. I quickly enter and shut the door. I let out a huge sigh of relief and lay down on my bed. But, to my dismay I hear from a distance the sounds of shoes...coming towards my room. Just as I thought, a couple of seconds later there is a knock at my door. I soon realize that no, I will not be left alone.
When you have a huge family, you will never be alone. That scenario above happens to me on a daily occasion. It doesn't matter what room of the house you go in, there will always be someone in there with you. To fix this problem, my family decided to add on to our house. Everyone thought that this would be a great idea by giving people more space. Okay yeah, so we went through the whole process and I finally got my own room after what.....14 years of sharing one? I was ecstatic about having my own room to go to when I wanted to be alone, to decorate which ever way I wanted, and the most important part to have a lock on my door. I thought that I would finally have a chance to get away from everybody when needed. I was wrong on so many levels.
I have more people come to my room these days than I did when I shared a room. For instance, the other day I was in my room. The next thing I know, my dad has invited himself into my room. He walks over to my window to only open it up and stare out it. I ask him, "What are you looking at and why do you have to look at it through my window"? He responds by saying, "Well, your room is in the back of the house and there is this cat that I want to look out in the backyard". That was such a ridiculous excuse for coming into my room. I just wanted him to leave but no, he then decided to wipe the condensation off of my window for what seemed like eternity. The most frustrating part about this is the fact that he leaves my window and door open when he leaves. If you open my door when you come in, the least you can do is close it when you leave.
It's not just your room that they barge into. It's also other rooms in the house. For example, the bathroom. The sacred place that you go to have privacy. The place that you think to yourself, "no one will bother me in here". If you say that in my house then you are WRONG. My family can't even wait until you are done with the shower before they feel the urge to come in and have to grab something. If it's not having to get something out of there then they like to mess with you. On several occasions, I thought that I would be alone in the shower. Well my lovely brother, John, proved that thought wrong. When you are in the shower, you can't hear anything especially if you are singing like I do. My brother decided to sneak in and thought that it would be funny to stick one of his reptiles, might I add it was a snake, in the shower with me. Of course I let out this bloodcurdling scream and all I hear is laughter. That wasn't the end of his shenanigans though. Another time while I thought I was alone in the bathroom while taking yet another shower. He came in once again but this time only to have red dye in a huge bowl. He then proceeded to throw it over the top of the shower. Needless to say I did not think that it was funny at that moment but now I look back on it and you just have to laugh about stuff like that.
So for all of you that are only kids or have one sibling, appreciate the space that you have and that you can take showers in peace. I am rarely ever home alone without someone else there with me.
When you have a huge family, you will never be alone. That scenario above happens to me on a daily occasion. It doesn't matter what room of the house you go in, there will always be someone in there with you. To fix this problem, my family decided to add on to our house. Everyone thought that this would be a great idea by giving people more space. Okay yeah, so we went through the whole process and I finally got my own room after what.....14 years of sharing one? I was ecstatic about having my own room to go to when I wanted to be alone, to decorate which ever way I wanted, and the most important part to have a lock on my door. I thought that I would finally have a chance to get away from everybody when needed. I was wrong on so many levels.
I have more people come to my room these days than I did when I shared a room. For instance, the other day I was in my room. The next thing I know, my dad has invited himself into my room. He walks over to my window to only open it up and stare out it. I ask him, "What are you looking at and why do you have to look at it through my window"? He responds by saying, "Well, your room is in the back of the house and there is this cat that I want to look out in the backyard". That was such a ridiculous excuse for coming into my room. I just wanted him to leave but no, he then decided to wipe the condensation off of my window for what seemed like eternity. The most frustrating part about this is the fact that he leaves my window and door open when he leaves. If you open my door when you come in, the least you can do is close it when you leave.
It's not just your room that they barge into. It's also other rooms in the house. For example, the bathroom. The sacred place that you go to have privacy. The place that you think to yourself, "no one will bother me in here". If you say that in my house then you are WRONG. My family can't even wait until you are done with the shower before they feel the urge to come in and have to grab something. If it's not having to get something out of there then they like to mess with you. On several occasions, I thought that I would be alone in the shower. Well my lovely brother, John, proved that thought wrong. When you are in the shower, you can't hear anything especially if you are singing like I do. My brother decided to sneak in and thought that it would be funny to stick one of his reptiles, might I add it was a snake, in the shower with me. Of course I let out this bloodcurdling scream and all I hear is laughter. That wasn't the end of his shenanigans though. Another time while I thought I was alone in the bathroom while taking yet another shower. He came in once again but this time only to have red dye in a huge bowl. He then proceeded to throw it over the top of the shower. Needless to say I did not think that it was funny at that moment but now I look back on it and you just have to laugh about stuff like that.
So for all of you that are only kids or have one sibling, appreciate the space that you have and that you can take showers in peace. I am rarely ever home alone without someone else there with me.
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