What It’s Like Having 5 Kids…Part 1

First in a series of all the challenges, surprises, and recollections of what it’s like having 5 kids. Subscribe to our posts to be in the know!

Being a mom to five kids is a little rare nowadays. Okay, really rare. A question I often get asked is: “what is it like?”

Well, I’m not entirely sure what exactly people are looking for in an answer, so I figured I would just write some things that happen occasionally when I think to myself, “oh yea, this would probably be different if we’d had just one or two kids”.

For example, when we go to Subway, what should be a 5-10 minute process is actually 20-25 minute process, even with our system.  We’ve learned that should there be less than three customers in the facility, we urge them to go first. But, we can’t make anybody go first, so…

long line

…this happens. Along with guilt and embarrassment.  After a couple of visits to the same Subway, the employees recognize you, because, let’s face it, who forgets a crowd of eight people ordering a shitload of subs?

Anyway, we’ve developed a procedure for ordering at fast food joints. We ask ahead of time what everybody wants. We give them a limited choice to help avoid meltdowns or hearing “but she gots more pickles!”.  My husband takes the notes on his iPhone and texts it to me so we both know.  This helps when one of us needs to leave the line to put the baby back in the high chair or to remove any condiments from the table that they are inevitably pouring out everywhere. The kids never wait in line with us-we always seat them first.

This process seems to be appreciated by the staff, yet, even in the slowest of times, they often appear frazzled. In fact, more frazzled than my husband and I. What’s that about? I have seen a herd of college students order back-to-back during lunch hour and not one employee bats an eye! That’s a little irritating, but what can I do?

We bring them their tri-cut sandwiches and find our geometric seating pattern. My husband and I always speak too soon about how successful that went.

Then my 5 year old proclaims that she wanted pizza all along.