Growing up, you don’t realize that you don’t have a normal family. Yours is all you know because it’s all you have seen. So, when you go to a friend’s house for the first time and they sit down for a quiet dinner together, you’re like “WTF is going on”? Eventually, you get old enough and smart enough to realize there's a big difference between most families and yours. Sometimes, you even think that you’re the one with the normal family, and theirs is just boring. Your siblings and parents are fun and average. You’re wrong, because your family is crazy, wild, and the best thing ever.

My family can seem to be partially insane because they have no filter, whatsoever. I’m being serious. I’m talking about my brother doing cartwheels around the house with nothing but a sparkly skirt on. It’s putting Orajel on people’s cups and watching them drool ten minutes later. It’s battling over spots at dinner so you don’t have to sit next to Taylor. It’s my dad walking by and sticking his hand in your food. It's talking about perverted things and saying, "I didn't need to know that." It’s the fact that this is all NORMAL to us, and all occurs on a daily basis.

It’s constantly changing. We bring in new relatives all the time to add to the mess. Whether it's a boyfriend, girlfriend, or just a friend that needs a place to stay--our home is always open to "strays". There's always someone new staying with us, eating all our food, and spending the holidays with our crazy family.

One good thing about having a family like mine is that you can always count on being amused. Whether you’re telling stories, watching television, or going on a crazy adventure—there’s always entertaining people around to make literally anything exciting.

The most important thing is that I’m me because of them. I've learned so much from my siblings and my parents. They've given me great advice and they've made mistakes, so I can see what I'm supposed to be like and what I'm NOT supposed to be like. As annoying and embarrassing as they are, I wouldn’t change a single thing. They’re family, they’re always there for me, and they’re going to love me no matter what. Some people don't have that, so I'll take what I can get.

The answer to your question is yes, we can appear to be a normal, suburban family--but we're far from it.