everything's relative

For me, to have a day with a nice little quiet time with a cup of coffee and minimal interuptions, would be special. For someone busier than I am, say a mom who works all day, a quiet little time would be extremely luxurious. Likewise, for me, a mom with 16 kids all still at home, this weekend with all the younger ones is relatively easy and slow-moving. 7 of the older ones are at a youth conference. Benjamin is at work. Paul is at a meeting. So, after doing some work around here this morning,(shining the front of the refridgerator, cleaning the door, and screen door, vacuuming, cleaning up the shoes, cleaning counters, etc), it was time for lunch. Camille was in a nap, and it was such a nice little lunch. It was only Margaret (11), Kathryn (10), Evelyn (9), Suzanne (7), Sonja (6), Jonathan (4), and Charlotte Claire, (2)....and of course me, the young and beautiful mom. ha. Anyway, I let them all have diet Pepsi, which is a treat, and we had some hot wings (Ben works at a pizza place, and there are perks), crackers with peanutbutter, grapes, and sourcream and onion chips. When the older ones aren't here, the younger ones revel in the attention. Then, Charlotte Claire went in for her nap, and I went outside and sat in the sun for an hour while the kids played badminton and splashed around in their little pools. Then I went in the hot tub with Kathryn for a while.....Camille had woken, and Margaret had her.....so now, everyone is awake, and Kathryn is serving them ice cream sundaes.....see, it is all relative. It is by no means a piece of cake to have just 8 kids here, but compared to the normal, it is.


Actually, I think I have it easy. I have to remind myself that this is my job. I am not here to serve myself. The more time I spend with these guys, the more attention I pay to them, the better they listen, and the better it is around here. Of course, I did talk to my sister on the phone for a long time while I sat in the sun. The kids have to also know that mom has a life, no matter how pathetic.

Yes, it is all relative. I believe that there is a certain level of happiness that can be achieved, and how much we appreciate how things are, and how thankful we are determines this. A person can obviously have tons of money and not be happy. But give a child who doesn't have much a ten dollar bill, and you have joy. I mean, if I had all the free time in the world, I couldn't imagine that I would appreciate it as much as those stolen hour times of sitting in the sun....and if it was always quiet here, I would hate the silence. (at this time in my life, silence is my favorite song - my mother, in her lonely years when we all grew up and moved out, told me repeatedly that someday I would long for all this chaos)......there is a verse in the bible, "A sated soul loathes honey, but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet." (I'll have to look up where that is, I think proverbs.).....

We have a sunny day, in the high 70's here in the northeast, with a nice breeze blowing. The next several days are supposed to be like this. And this morning, I honestly said: "I wish it was raining out today!!" Know why? So I could get something accomplished around here. Oh well, sitting in the sun is lovely.

Well, I am needed. The kids are eating their ice cream, and I need to supervise. Evelyn is out there saying, "Never use your manners, kids!", and "In four days, guys, your lives are over!" (school starts).......