Friday afternoon....
Okay, folks...I'm going to be REAL honest here. Sometimes the days with 9 children are long. The years are short...after all there are less than 1000 Sundays from birth to age 18. But, sometimes the days are long. Especially here in the summer. Sigh.....
Today has been a long day to end a long week. Life is good, and I swing from being overwhelmed to bored with an overall sense of contentment permeating it all. Weird combination isn't it? We don't have a pool; I am paranoid about toddlers drowning. I've read too many anecdotal stories to make my dh and I swear to never own a pool. Yes, we drive...but nope, can't do it. The potential for a forever life-changing event is too high. We are also super-paranoid about making sure noone gets run over in the driveway. Once again, the potential for a forever life-changing event is too high. I'd love a pool; but am unwilling to pay the price (although I've seen Medicaid recipients own pools....amazing stuff isn't it?) .
We've taken the month of June off from school. I will have 2 high-schoolers next year. They will get very full and complete educations; my problem is making sure I'm not disappointed that they don't have the equivalent of a college education instead of just a full high school education. My standards are high.
Here's my kvetch for the day. I'm sick of being told, "You're special". Let's get one thing straight. Dan and I are not *special*. We are *willing*. The lie most people desperately cling to is that raising families is *so hard*...*so hard* in fact that the only way to accomplish it well is to cut yourself off (literally and figuratively) so that the job won't become too hard.
I am so imperfect, that even after 9 children I have not yet achieved perfection. Ugly bouts of selfishness keep rising up and must be excised and dealt with. Had I not had 9 children, I would've been able to keep some of the ugliness deep inside where it would never have risen to the surface and circumstances dictate that it must be taken care of. People with 1, 2 and 3 children who willfully stop are able to keep that ugliness under cover. They come across nicer than me; but I know it's there. They're just able to keep it hidden. It's plain and simple. As long as everyone agrees that that is the way the game is played (even within Christian circles), all is well. But, when Dan and I (who, again, are not special...merely willing) come along and have 9 children and do it well (imperfectly, but well...notice low self-esteem is not one of the issues I deal with), well...that bugs people. It is prima facie evidence that it is indeed possible to have 9 children and deal with the roots of selfishness, but it ain't easy, nor is it pretty. So...to console themselves, they tell themselves and us that "you're special" and implicit in that is that they aren't. It's supposed to make me feel good, and well, special. Nope. Instead, it just increases my annoyance and contempt for these people and reinforces my thesis that people who willfully stop having children do so for selfish reasons and no other.
Oh, yeh...here's another gripe. On a homeschool message board that I frequent from time to time there's a lot of *yuppie homeschool Moms*. Once there was a post on using *good* conditioners for your hair. I was completely and utterly shocked at the number of Moms who use $22 and up per bottle conditioner. Excuse me? How many of these people own their home outright? How many of these people willfully stopped having children so they could *afford* these products (the answer is simple: all of them. Here's the question? Which do you want? A soul for eternity or several bottles of Biolage? Ding, ding, ding...the vast majority of those who declare Christ as Lord, and probably even sing songs about surrendering all to Him in their church's multi-million $ mortgaged building, pick, surprise, surprise....the bottle of Biolage conditioner. )
That said, I decided my daughters with their beautiful, thick hair deserve Biolage. Esp. when I'm shopping with a 10% off certificate at Target. I tried....I looked at it....and I couldn't do it....not when there's children starving in this world...so back to Pantene and Tresemme.
People are amazing. Why God puts up with us is beyond my comprehension. Looking at people (esp. the most disgusting, vile criminals out there) makes me realize His ways are definitely not mine. Sigh....
Have a great weekend, folks.
Today has been a long day to end a long week. Life is good, and I swing from being overwhelmed to bored with an overall sense of contentment permeating it all. Weird combination isn't it? We don't have a pool; I am paranoid about toddlers drowning. I've read too many anecdotal stories to make my dh and I swear to never own a pool. Yes, we drive...but nope, can't do it. The potential for a forever life-changing event is too high. We are also super-paranoid about making sure noone gets run over in the driveway. Once again, the potential for a forever life-changing event is too high. I'd love a pool; but am unwilling to pay the price (although I've seen Medicaid recipients own pools....amazing stuff isn't it?) .
We've taken the month of June off from school. I will have 2 high-schoolers next year. They will get very full and complete educations; my problem is making sure I'm not disappointed that they don't have the equivalent of a college education instead of just a full high school education. My standards are high.
Here's my kvetch for the day. I'm sick of being told, "You're special". Let's get one thing straight. Dan and I are not *special*. We are *willing*. The lie most people desperately cling to is that raising families is *so hard*...*so hard* in fact that the only way to accomplish it well is to cut yourself off (literally and figuratively) so that the job won't become too hard.
I am so imperfect, that even after 9 children I have not yet achieved perfection. Ugly bouts of selfishness keep rising up and must be excised and dealt with. Had I not had 9 children, I would've been able to keep some of the ugliness deep inside where it would never have risen to the surface and circumstances dictate that it must be taken care of. People with 1, 2 and 3 children who willfully stop are able to keep that ugliness under cover. They come across nicer than me; but I know it's there. They're just able to keep it hidden. It's plain and simple. As long as everyone agrees that that is the way the game is played (even within Christian circles), all is well. But, when Dan and I (who, again, are not special...merely willing) come along and have 9 children and do it well (imperfectly, but well...notice low self-esteem is not one of the issues I deal with), well...that bugs people. It is prima facie evidence that it is indeed possible to have 9 children and deal with the roots of selfishness, but it ain't easy, nor is it pretty. So...to console themselves, they tell themselves and us that "you're special" and implicit in that is that they aren't. It's supposed to make me feel good, and well, special. Nope. Instead, it just increases my annoyance and contempt for these people and reinforces my thesis that people who willfully stop having children do so for selfish reasons and no other.
Oh, yeh...here's another gripe. On a homeschool message board that I frequent from time to time there's a lot of *yuppie homeschool Moms*. Once there was a post on using *good* conditioners for your hair. I was completely and utterly shocked at the number of Moms who use $22 and up per bottle conditioner. Excuse me? How many of these people own their home outright? How many of these people willfully stopped having children so they could *afford* these products (the answer is simple: all of them. Here's the question? Which do you want? A soul for eternity or several bottles of Biolage? Ding, ding, ding...the vast majority of those who declare Christ as Lord, and probably even sing songs about surrendering all to Him in their church's multi-million $ mortgaged building, pick, surprise, surprise....the bottle of Biolage conditioner. )
That said, I decided my daughters with their beautiful, thick hair deserve Biolage. Esp. when I'm shopping with a 10% off certificate at Target. I tried....I looked at it....and I couldn't do it....not when there's children starving in this world...so back to Pantene and Tresemme.
People are amazing. Why God puts up with us is beyond my comprehension. Looking at people (esp. the most disgusting, vile criminals out there) makes me realize His ways are definitely not mine. Sigh....
Have a great weekend, folks.
posted by Lisa aka Mombley | 6:05 PM
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