“The bigger the better” was supposedly the motto my grandparents followed when they decided to have eight kids. Growing up with a huge family on both my mom’s side and dads was the biggest blessing, and also the biggest test of patience. What is Christmas without the chaos of 30 people jam packed in a kitchen, right? However, I could never imagine my life without every single person in that kitchen. Big families are amazing, but like every family, there are some problems.
1. Racing to be the first in line for dinner: With all the amazing homemade food, along with the aroma pouring out of the kitchen, waiting for food feels like waiting for rain in California. When the final dish comes out of the oven, and the words “food’s ready!” echo’s through the house, everybody jumps to their feet and sprints to the kitchen. Let me tell you, being last in line leads to cold food and no rolls after all the people in front of you have served.
2. Having to sit at the kid’s table way past the appropriate age: When I was growing up, the grownup table was something you strived for when you turned 18. However, by the time I turned 18, my older cousins had taken over the adult table, which put me right back to kids table once again.
3. Going broke during graduation season: With 50 cousins, there is always someone graduating from something. People in big families can expect to drop a couple hundred per year on graduation money.
4. Everyone talks over each other at dinner: One conversation does not exist in big families. At the table, you could expect at least three conversations going on at all times.
5. Having to deal with an obnoxious family member: Let’s be honest, everybody has them. If you can’t think of anyone it is probably you. These are the people who drink a little bit too much at weddings and are a little too inappropriate at the dinner table.
6. The baby booms: These usually come about every 10 years, but when they hit, they hit hard. Our last baby boom resulted in six babies!
7. Having to reserve an entire room at restaurants for family dinner: One table does not cut it for big families. If you’re having a family dinner, you’re finding a place that has a special room where you could all fit, and your obnoxious family member could not make too much of a scene.
8. Always celebrating birthdays in pairs (or triples): If we did not celebrate birthdays by months, we would have birthday parties every weekend. For one of my birthdays, we celebrated three other people as well.
9. Nobody ever keeps secrets: Big families slightly resemble small towns. No matter how much they promise not to tell anyone, they will. If you don’t want family member to know, don’t tell anyone.
10. The family members who constantly lecture you about your love life: I respect my family’s opinion so much, and would never date anyone they did not approve of. However, sometimes I think they would approve of anyone just to get me to date.
