In my family, I’m the oldest of five. Some think my life must be crazy, hectic, but fun and others who can relate know that is all so true. At times, life at home can be crazy and stressful, but at the end of the day, we love each other a lot and we can’t imagine life any other way. If you’re from a large family, I'm sure you'll be able to relate to a few of these things.
1. No one is ever around to eat at the same time.
Between basketball practice, work, clubs and extracurricular activities, it’s a real treat if the entire family is ever caught at the dining room table together. Bonus points if it’s over a meal that everyone enjoys.
2. If you don’t mark your food (or hide it) someone else will eat it.
I can’t tell you the amount of times I left leftovers in the fridge and my brothers snagged them before I did. Or even worse is when you discover there’s only one piece of cake left and it’s gone before you can even get a plate out.
3. You’re constantly being told you look like one of your siblings
Yeah, we all have dark hair and glasses, but I’m my own person.
4. Or worse, they call you one of your siblings’ names.
Facepalm...
5. Holidays are a treat.
Our living room is never empty and we always have so much good food around the holidays. There’s nothing better than Christmas morning. Except maybe the part where you still get woken up at the crack of dawn because of your younger siblings.
6. There is always laundry to be done.
Seriously, I don’t think our washer ever stops running and I sometimes have to wait in line just to throw in my clothes.
7. And there are a million shoes in the mud room.
Is this a store or my brothers’ tennis shoes collection?
8. There is so much noise in the house.
Between the washing machine, the dishwasher, the shower, people talking, cooking, the dog barking. I need earplugs sometimes.
9. People can’t believe how many siblings you have.
But, come on, five kids is not that many.
10. There’s always someone to hang out with.
Whether it’s watching a movie, playing a game, or just sitting by the fire, you don’t have to be alone unless you want to be.11. There are very few whole family pictures.
Like I said, catching all of us together in the same room is a real treat. (Finding a header photo for this article took 30 minutes.)
12. Your family has a huge vehicle that everyone around town recognizes.
Ours came in the form of a 15 passenger white van.
13. The WiFi at home is always so slow.
"Are you watching Netflix?" My least favorite question from my brother who is taking up the whole connection playing Call of Duty.
