Comments, Statements and other such Nonsense

OK, so, I know I have 7 kids. I know this seems like a lot to most people. And on more than a few occasions like, say, grocery shopping, shoe or clothes shopping, going out to eat, buying a car or even a house, or even visiting family and friends, I tend to agree. But, most of the time, this is just my life. We have 7 kids and that is that. I mean, I know that it takes a special sort of person to have 7 kids....to really want and have always kinda wanted to have 6+ kids and of course you know that when I say "special" I mean, well, crazy, insane, demented, and a few other choice words I've heard people say about me. ;) I also do realize that this is more than the average household has. It is a bit hectic and crazy, true. If you are the type of person who likes order in the house, peace and quiet, lots of "me" time, then, yes, maybe having 7 little ones running around destroying things is not quite on your agenda. Me? I've come to enjoy the spontaneity of my days, the struggle to find time for certain things or for each child; the kids have taught me how to let things go and enjoy the moment; I literally expect the unexpected and seem to thrive on the chaos and disorder of our day to day living. After all, things always end up working out in the end, right? Well, maybe not as planned or how we wanted it to work out, but work out it does.

So, when we all go out together...we get looks, stares, statements, comments, questions and yes, even gasps. You'd think that by now I'd just simply pay no attention to all that kinda stuff I get while out with all 7....you know, it really does come with the territory. And, honestly, most of the time I do. I mean, I try to be polite when people stop and stare or ask questions, but really....some are just too plain memorable to forget and some, well, some I am just, quite frankly, sick of (as are the kids!)! :) So, the other day, when we went on our usual outings, I got to hear all those statements all over again. It's been a while....I guess I was a bit overdue, huh?

Here are some examples for you to enjoy:
-Are they all yours? (nope...I just go out and find 7 kids to take with me for the fun of it)
-You've got your hands full! (with what, exactly?)
-Boy, you're busy. (and you're not?)
-All from the same daddy? (yes, sadly folks, people ask me this in front of the kids!) (hmmm, I guess that question stems from the fact that they all look nothing alike!)
-They all came out of your body? (love that one)....(no, actually, didn't you see?...they're givin' 'em away free on aisle 5, go pick up a few for yourself)
-I don't know how you do it? (well, neither do I!)
-Wow, that's impressive. (gee, thank you....I take that one as a compliment!)
-Look Mommy, they have 7 kids in their family. (jealous....are you?)
-Don't you know what causes that? (um, apparently so)
-Boy, your husband much be rich? (hmmm....OK, if we're married, does that mean I'm rich too?) again...in front of the kids....
-And on the other end of the spectrum: Are you on welfare? (why do you ask?)
-What do you do with all those kids? (wasn't really sure how to answer that one?)
-Wow, I can't even go to the store/restaurant/doctor office, etc with my 2 and you're here with 7? (well, not sure what that says about you or your kids?!? YIKES!)
-Better you than me. (I agree with that one!)
-"one, two, three, four, five, six, seven!" Wow, seven kids?? (great, so you can count, I see?)
-and my all time favorite from some radical, saving the world from overpopulation person: they are using up all of our natural resources, etc (really? 7 kids are using it ALL up?) and when I responded to her, she came up with: well, you might do your part, but in the end, they still have to breathe the air. (Yes, people, my kids do breathe air....oh my.....the world is coming to an end!! HELP!!!)

I could probably go on, but these are the ones that we hear the most often and that I have to chuckle about every once in a great while.  But, considering there are many more families out there with many more kids than us, my/our few incidents probably don't compare to those families in any way, shape, or form. It just makes for a good laugh or 2....or 7! ;)