Six Kids, One Bathroom: A Survival Story
People ask me how I do it with six kids. They want some inspirational answer about love multiplying and hearts expanding.
The truth? Military-grade scheduling and one bathroom that has seen things.
Morning in my house is a logistical operation that would make air traffic controllers weep. There's a whiteboard. There are time slots. There is a child whose entire job is to knock on the bathroom door and yell “TWO MORE MINUTES” like a tiny prison guard.
And still — STILL — someone is always brushing their teeth in the kitchen sink. Someone else is crying because their hair “feels wrong.” And there's inevitably one mysterious wet footprint on the hallway floor that nobody claims, like a tiny unsolved crime.
I've learned things about myself in that hallway. I've learned I can braid hair while packing lunches while mediating a dispute over who got the blue cup. I've learned that “we're leaving in five minutes” means nothing to anyone under twelve. I've learned that dry shampoo is not a product, it's a lifestyle.
But here's the secret nobody tells you about big-family mornings: they're chaos, but they're OUR chaos. The same kids fighting over the bathroom will be the ones piling into the truck five minutes later, singing at the top of their lungs, completely feral and completely happy.
Would I trade it for a calm, quiet morning with one child and a latte? ...Don't answer that. I heard the question and I'm choosing growth.
Big-family mamas: what's your morning's unsolved mystery? Mine's the wet footprint. It's been three years. Nobody knows.
Add comment
Comments