Not one of the eleven kids has the same, or even slightly the same, personality. Granted, they look a lot alike. Okay, some of them look alike. But, they are each different! I'm telling you....they really and truly are different. Looking back in time, I can see it now so much more clearly than when there was one big pile of kids fisting and cuffing each other in order to survive.. Whoever tries to tell you that if you raise your kids to say their prayers at night, have good table manners, and say please and thank you it will stick with them is nuts! I'm telling you with all of my being...each of my kids was born to be "his own person", and all the amount of trying to change that was not ever going to work.
For instance....can I start with Mike? Mike was the second born, and the first boy. He was an average 8 and 1/2 pound baby at birth, and he had all of his fingers and toes. But, that's the only part that was average about him. That boy was a child genius who had the ability to make his mother crack before he turned two.
One of the very first memories I have of knowing for certain that Mike was going to be a difficult child is of him with his Fisher Price lawn mower at a park in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Mike was a cute little kid of 18 months....dark hair, dark eyes, built big and sturdy, and he had a funny little lisp when he talked. He also had the willpower and unthwarted determination of a bulldozer trying to push Mt. Everest into the ocean single handed.
It was a family reunion and Mike became the entertainment that day. He began "mowing" the park with his push toy, but in the course of his mowing a tree got in the way. Most kids would either bump into the tree, fall down, cry for a few seconds, and then go around the tree. Not Mike! No way! He took that plastic mower and began ramming it into the tree -- slowly at first, and then he built up speed. He'd back up, and push! Back up and shove! Back up and slam! At first we were all lightly entertained until we realized that this was not just kid's play. This was serious business for Mike! His face got so red that I thought he would burst a blood vessel. That kid had willpower! Stamina! Determination! FIGHT! There was nothing going to stand in his way, especially not this tree!
I remember my father-in-law being totally amazed as he watched Mike continue to push and shove that mower into the tree. He said, and I quote, "I've never seen anything like this in all of my life! That boy isn't stopping until he moves that tree!"
After what seemed like an hour, Mike got so angry because he couldn't push down the tree that he picked up the mower and banged it into the tree so hard that it cracked! The mower -- not the tree. Only then did Mike slow down. He stooped down, looked over the mower, and then looked at all of us watching him with gaped mouths.
Did he cry over his broken toy? Are you kidding me? He turned to the side, spotted the crystal blue lake, and off he went to seek out another bigger, better adventure!
As for me.....I don't know how I felt. A little proud maybe. Who knows? Maybe one day my son would be a lumberjack! And, a doggoned good one at that! Little did I know what all this lumberjack kid would do when he discovered hatchets and hand saws and drills. My days of mommyhood innocence would soon be coming to a screeching halt. And, to this day, when I walk in the woods behind the house, I still find traces of Mike's handiwork left behind!
I think I'm gonna get some Tylenol. All of these funny remembrances are beginning to give me a slight headache!
Love,
Crazy Granny
Thursday, October 7, 2010
What Was "It" Like?
If I had a dime for every time I got asked the question, "What was it like?" I'd have enough money to be cruising the deep, blue ocean 6 months out of the year enjoying sunrises and sunsets on tropical islands, being hand-fed shrimp cocktail and lobster, and enjoying my mornings being pampered with facials, manicures, pedicures, and spa treatments! I'm not exactly sure what "it" means, but I'm assuming "it" means the whole mommy thing of so many kids. For others it was always intriguing. For me, "it" was everyday life.
Let me first begin by saying that there are eleven kids in the crew.....6 boys and 5 girls. They're all grown up now, and I'm currently gaining a foothold on the landscape of being a granny. For now, though, we'll just talk about the gang of kids that started this whole crazy granny thing.
One girl, then five boys in a row were born (can you imagine five teenage boys living under one roof, all attending a small country bumpkin school, raising havoc every day of their lives?). After Michelle and the five boys, two girls came along as a welcome relief from the fist fights, wrestling, planned fights in front of Ida's Country Store every day after school, bike wrecks, and so many stitches I gave up counting. You get the picture, I'm sure. I never had a brother, so the boy thing was an entirely new concept for me. WOW! The enlightening days began almost at birth and I stand amazed at the education my boys gave me. I have enough knowledge of the male gender to fill volumes of books! There is most definitely a distinct difference between the male and female brain!
Back to the birth order.....after the two girls, one more boy was born (gotta love that Bug!) and then the critter crew ended with two more girls. Did I mention that girls also fist fight, wrestle, yell, scream, throw things, and get into kicking and hitting battles? They also can wail louder than a cow in travail when they have a broken heart which just so happens to occur at least every other week during middle school, then tapers off to about once every six weeks in high school.
Life at the church parsonage (see blog #2) and then life on the Ponderosa (we moved to the country when I was pregnant with baby number 7) was anything but dull.
From this point on, I'll be sharing little this and that tidbits of fun stuff and funny stuff that happens when you're a super large family living in tight quarters on a budget meant to feed a family of four. We were not one of the large families that often gets highlighted in magazines. You know the ones where everybody sits still during meals, has a proper bed time and the kids all pitch in to do their daily chores without ever being reminded twice, while mom and dad peacefully tell bedtime stories to the little ones. Not hardly! We were far, far removed from that scene!
Would I do it all over again? Hmmm.....stick with me in these blogs and read for yourself. I'll give you a hint...I think I've got some keepers!!!!
Love,
Crazy Granny
Let me first begin by saying that there are eleven kids in the crew.....6 boys and 5 girls. They're all grown up now, and I'm currently gaining a foothold on the landscape of being a granny. For now, though, we'll just talk about the gang of kids that started this whole crazy granny thing.
One girl, then five boys in a row were born (can you imagine five teenage boys living under one roof, all attending a small country bumpkin school, raising havoc every day of their lives?). After Michelle and the five boys, two girls came along as a welcome relief from the fist fights, wrestling, planned fights in front of Ida's Country Store every day after school, bike wrecks, and so many stitches I gave up counting. You get the picture, I'm sure. I never had a brother, so the boy thing was an entirely new concept for me. WOW! The enlightening days began almost at birth and I stand amazed at the education my boys gave me. I have enough knowledge of the male gender to fill volumes of books! There is most definitely a distinct difference between the male and female brain!
Back to the birth order.....after the two girls, one more boy was born (gotta love that Bug!) and then the critter crew ended with two more girls. Did I mention that girls also fist fight, wrestle, yell, scream, throw things, and get into kicking and hitting battles? They also can wail louder than a cow in travail when they have a broken heart which just so happens to occur at least every other week during middle school, then tapers off to about once every six weeks in high school.
Life at the church parsonage (see blog #2) and then life on the Ponderosa (we moved to the country when I was pregnant with baby number 7) was anything but dull.
From this point on, I'll be sharing little this and that tidbits of fun stuff and funny stuff that happens when you're a super large family living in tight quarters on a budget meant to feed a family of four. We were not one of the large families that often gets highlighted in magazines. You know the ones where everybody sits still during meals, has a proper bed time and the kids all pitch in to do their daily chores without ever being reminded twice, while mom and dad peacefully tell bedtime stories to the little ones. Not hardly! We were far, far removed from that scene!
Would I do it all over again? Hmmm.....stick with me in these blogs and read for yourself. I'll give you a hint...I think I've got some keepers!!!!
Love,
Crazy Granny
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Why Eleven Kids?
Why in the world did I have eleven kids? I get asked that all of the time, and to be honest with you.....I don't know! After the first two I went kind of off my rocker, and from that point on I think I just didn't think.
I know when I was little, all I wanted to be was a mom, and I kind of got the hang of things early in life. My first baby was born when I just turned 21.....kind of like a kid having a kid. I laugh when I think back about all of the craziness in the house.....oh, wait a minute....we didn't live in a house for the first 9 years. We lived in a church parsonage that was connected to the auditorium of the church. When I say "connected", I mean "connected"! The living room door opened right up into the church auditorium.
Since the kids are all grown now, and since it's been many, many moons ago that we lived there, I can say it. Yep! I did allow the kids to run like wild through the church auditorium. And, I did let them test out the baptistry (kind of like an indoor swimming pool). I imagine this is giving some people a half-coronary, but.....that was part of my survival technique with eleven kids!!!
More later....just got a call from one of the critter kids....gotta talk and catch up!
Love,
Crazy Granny
PS No, I didn't let them run wild and test the baptistry during church services. I'm crazy, but not THAT crazy!
I know when I was little, all I wanted to be was a mom, and I kind of got the hang of things early in life. My first baby was born when I just turned 21.....kind of like a kid having a kid. I laugh when I think back about all of the craziness in the house.....oh, wait a minute....we didn't live in a house for the first 9 years. We lived in a church parsonage that was connected to the auditorium of the church. When I say "connected", I mean "connected"! The living room door opened right up into the church auditorium.
Since the kids are all grown now, and since it's been many, many moons ago that we lived there, I can say it. Yep! I did allow the kids to run like wild through the church auditorium. And, I did let them test out the baptistry (kind of like an indoor swimming pool). I imagine this is giving some people a half-coronary, but.....that was part of my survival technique with eleven kids!!!
More later....just got a call from one of the critter kids....gotta talk and catch up!
Love,
Crazy Granny
PS No, I didn't let them run wild and test the baptistry during church services. I'm crazy, but not THAT crazy!
Welcome to Crazy Granny's Blog!
Okay, so there's nothing fancy at all about me. I'm just an ordinary granny who grew up on a cock-a-doodle doo chicken farm in New Jersey, had a nutty childhood, went off to college for a few years, got married, and then really got nutty and had eleven kids! There are about a bazillion stories to tell, and I'm gonna have the time of my life telling them! I didn't get crazy all on my own. I had lots of help from the critters, as I'll call them.
So, what all am I going to talk about? Well, let's get first things first out of the way by saying, "Yep! I birthed every one of the eleven.....6 boys and 5 girls, and it was back in the day before all the neat hook-ups to the pain meds." OUCH! is a good word to describe it! Who knows...maybe I'll tell you a bit about each kid's screaming, kicking, and yelling entrance into this world and how this whole crazy granny adventure began!
By the way, I really am a granny...and I really am a bit crazy. And, you'll find out more about all of that as we get going with this blog. Thanks for tuning in.......
So, what all am I going to talk about? Well, let's get first things first out of the way by saying, "Yep! I birthed every one of the eleven.....6 boys and 5 girls, and it was back in the day before all the neat hook-ups to the pain meds." OUCH! is a good word to describe it! Who knows...maybe I'll tell you a bit about each kid's screaming, kicking, and yelling entrance into this world and how this whole crazy granny adventure began!
By the way, I really am a granny...and I really am a bit crazy. And, you'll find out more about all of that as we get going with this blog. Thanks for tuning in.......
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