Mums of Many it's September! - Page 3

[mataji4]

Hooray! We bought a chevy express van today!!! It's a 2008, in great shape and we got a good deal!! My husband will fly up and drive it home next weekend!

I have to say that having five hasn't been that hard thus far. Devon is six weeks and is THE sweetest, best baby ever. He never cries, is happy to be on his own staring at the light coming through a window or whatever, nurses and sleeps well. I LOVE him!

Our house has no entryway or hall closet- it was built in 1893. Have no idea what people did then with their coats and boots. We have a shoe shelf thing on the front porch with nine cubbies for shoes. And we have two 2 x 6 wooden boards that I sanded then painted decoratively with five hooks each on them mounted on the wall behind the door in the small 3' of wall space there. All the coats go there. We have a little three drawer thingy from Ikea on the other side of the door for hats and gloves. It's ridiculously inadequate- each hook has like four coats/sweatshirts hanging on it and it looks bulky. There's no other/more space though!

[baltic_ballet]

Originally Posted by tifpaul

Sam, did you decide what to do about work? Do you have to work the full school day? That's a lot.

Still haven't decided - it will be the full school day but because the job is local it would mean I would still be able to pick the kids up from school and day care and spend most of the afternoon with them so I think the hours are great in that respect. I think their are a lot of benefits to taking this job, it really hard to get library jobs here, a lot of people do the library technicians course at Tafe (college) and the librarians course at University, and once they get a job they tend to stay in that job til retirement so its a hard field to gain entry into and if I don't take this opportunity and leave the job searching for a couple more years it might be very hard for me to get the job I want.

That being said my little ones are still very young and i feel very guilty and horrible putting them into child care when I should be at home with them so I am torn on what to do.


As for the mud room: we don't have a mud room, our family puts their shoes and coats away in their rooms when they get home.

[pixiekisses]

We have a double sliding door closet in the outer hall (/mud room), where we hang all coats, and snow gear in the winter, all boots/shoes etc. go in there as well (on the floor). And, there are wire basket thinghies in there for all the hats, gloves, scarfs etc.
I love it, because it's all out of view as well.

[CherryBomb]

Originally Posted by ChetMC

Part of it is definitely the spacing. Four small children is different than four kids spread over ten years. Many of the popular minivans don't allow for four carseats to be installed properly. Flying is hard in some configurations of aircraft because not all of our kids can sit with either DH or I if the seats are all in blocks of two.

Definitely though, a lot of the times when four feels like a lot it's only because the world just isn't designed families like ours any more. In my mind, four isn't large, but I came in here looking for tips because I found that four brought logistical challenges I didn't expect.

Very true! I think house size can contribute too, lol. Our house is only 1000sq ft and so I feel like I have twice as many kids as I do just because we have no room!

We've got a town and country, but we really need to move up, probably we will get a Suburban. We can't drive anyone extra and there's NO storage space in the the van, which I hate. We will probably be a family of 6 for a few years, until dh gets a better job (he lost his job in January and is working at Kroger right now) and we get a bigger house.

[mrsdewees]

Originally Posted by Maine Mama Doula

It seems to be 4 or more, but I still like to follow along as mine are all so close and I'm definitely heading this direction

I was going to say this too! I'm only pregnant with my 3rd, but we don't plan on using birth control at any point - so I have a feeling I will be a mom of 4 or more sometime in the future!

[southernmommie]

Oh my goodness. We have a F150 quad cab right now. And as I like the room it has in it, it is our only vehicle right now. We've been down to one vehicle for the past 6 years. It hasn't been a problem before. As we sit right now, we are full. No extra seats. Once baby comes, not all of us will fit. So for a few months, either Daddy will run to the store with a couple of kiddos, or Mommy will go and leave a few behind with Daddy. Come spring time when we can use our tax refund as a deposit, we'll be getting a 2nd vehicle. I'm looking into the Chevy Express that was mentioned earlier. I don't want to get a minivan and then gripe about no space and then also be needing an upgrade 2 years down the road!! Plus, we STILL wouldn't be able to have friends ride with us if they wanted to! My husband isn't keen on the idea of a big van yet, but I just told him I was thinking of it yesterday when he came home from being gone almost all year. Lol. Probably not the best time to have laid that on him! Lol.

I'm so looking forward to being a family of 7 soon!!

[ChildoftheMoon]

Originally Posted by CherryBomb

Very true! I think house size can contribute too, lol. Our house is only 1000sq ft and so I feel like I have twice as many kids as I do just because we have no room!

We have that full house feeling too! Soon to be five kids in a small three bedroom house (1100 sq. ft.) no extra family room or basement or anything like that. When they are little it is not so bad, but we are now starting to feel it now that my oldest is small adult sized........ For now, with the market, we are staying put and making do in our little house. Looking forward to the possibility of getting a vehicle that will suit us size-wise next year. At least we can travel in comfort and not be squished!

Thank you for all the input on the vehicles, it looks like we will go ahead and go for a full size van. Now if only I could find one without carpet or cloth seats. I have visions of being able to remove seats and just spray the van inside and out with a hose.

[baltic_ballet]

Hi ladies,

how are you all? I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by, today is my gorgeous daughter Maddy's 17 Birthday and in a few weeks my daughter Lottie will turn 18 so I will have three adult children (next year 4 adult kids!!).

I've decided to take the Job and now the child care search begins.

Hope everyone is well.

Sam

[tifpaul]

Thanks for the update, Sam. Good luck with your childcare search. It's always hard to imagine before you begin that you'll be able to find someone who will adore your kids and can do the work. But when you find the right person to help your family, it's so great for everyone.

Wow, adult children. That must be so hard to believe and such a pleasure.

Thank you, everyone, for the storage ideas. I think Ikea has the perfect solution - and that the price and quality is just what we are looking for. Now I just need to think about flooring right there. Ideally I'd like to have something underfoot that will catch all the sand and other debris AND be easy to clean. And that the car can be on top of or right next to. AND that I won't feel the sand on when I walk out there bare-footed.

[pixiekisses]

Oh, good luck with the search Sam, hope you find something good.

It's incredible with the grown kids, isn't it. My oldest is turning 22 in november!
I'm at least half way in this pregnancy, and that seems crazy far along. But at the same time, february 8th seems ages away.
I'm physically in excellent shape (mentally it's hard right now), and everyone else is great too, so that's good.

[simplified]

What does "subbing"?

[Kidzaplenty]

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To recieve the e-mail updates all you have to do is to post to a thread. And if you don't have the time or energy to add something, or just want to follow along, the easiest way to get those updates is to place a post (thus, "subbing" in a post).

[simplified]

Thanks.

[mataji4]

My baby is so wonderful. Today I told my husband that I could have a hundred more!

We got our Chevy Express van and goodness, it's huge! The inside feels roomy and good but it's just so tall, I have to heave myself up into the seat like a trucker!! I call it the Beast. My 3 yr old was looking out the window when we were driving on the freeway, giggling as we passed cars, saying "Look, mommy, a teeny car!" Yes, he's so high up that the perspective is off, kind of like when you are in an airplane. I'm adjusting but I miss my speedy little minivan. We truly did outgrow it, though, but now I'm wondering if the Suburban would've been a better idea. But all that crawling over seats would make me crazy in our wet muddy winters. ugh! Stop thinking, it's done already!

The other day I took 4 of my kids on a walk and a woman said to me "Are these all your's" in a shocked tone. This was the FIRST time I'd gotten this comment. I responded, laughing," There are only four of them!" and it came out kind of condescendingly. Poor woman. I can't imagine someone thinking that having four children in one's care was so crazy. I can't imagine most people's reality. Even when I had only two kids I taught preschool and had friend's kids over lots so was always surrounded by a mass of children. I like it that way. And then sometimes I like everyone to leave and to have total quiet : )

Happy Autumn, all.

[baltic_ballet]

The new October thread is now up and running

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...1#post15902661

[naturallyspeaking]

subbing... Love to read these posts LOL...