How may of you have thought "Man, I wish I could live with my BFF's. That'd be awesome!!!" Yeah, me too. But now it's a reality for us. All 11 of us. And the poor bathroom. We're renting a small 3 bedroom house together. In Alaska. Fun times.
Let me tell you-it's not been easy. A learning experience for sure. Try living with your BFFs and a bunch of kiddos in a small house. This is the kind of bonding experience few people dream of, and only fewer escape alive.
We are two families trying to blend and yet still stay separate. Everyone is pitching in, trying to make financial ends meet, keep everyone fed & household chores at bay. It's been the most interesting life experience I've had, besides visiting Peru as a teenager.
We've fought, argued, grew angry and forgave. We are learning what it means to live with each other, day in & day out. Where toes get stepped on. What lines aren't expected to be crossed. What it's like to live with two women who's Aunt Flo comes to visit on back-to-back weeks.
I think one of the concepts God wants us to learn during this time is communication. With each other. How to tell someone that "that-thing-you-just-did-or-didn't-do-made-me-very-mad".
I guess some people wouldn't consider living in such close quarters with another family an enjoyable experience, but it is, in a way. We get to spend quality time with our friends without having to "make plans" to go see them, call them on the phone or worry about "dropping by unexpectedly". We don't have to worry about paying for babysitters (the prices here are outrageous!) because we make sure that at least one of us adults will be available to watch whichever kiddos need watching at any given time.
We have no idea how long life will stay this way, or who will be sent to the mental institution first (all bets are on me!!!). God knows and hopefully we won't kill each other in the mean time.
Good or bad, it's a learning experience. For all of us.
Let me tell you-it's not been easy. A learning experience for sure. Try living with your BFFs and a bunch of kiddos in a small house. This is the kind of bonding experience few people dream of, and only fewer escape alive.
We are two families trying to blend and yet still stay separate. Everyone is pitching in, trying to make financial ends meet, keep everyone fed & household chores at bay. It's been the most interesting life experience I've had, besides visiting Peru as a teenager.
We've fought, argued, grew angry and forgave. We are learning what it means to live with each other, day in & day out. Where toes get stepped on. What lines aren't expected to be crossed. What it's like to live with two women who's Aunt Flo comes to visit on back-to-back weeks.
I think one of the concepts God wants us to learn during this time is communication. With each other. How to tell someone that "that-thing-you-just-did-or-didn't-do-made-me-very-mad".
I guess some people wouldn't consider living in such close quarters with another family an enjoyable experience, but it is, in a way. We get to spend quality time with our friends without having to "make plans" to go see them, call them on the phone or worry about "dropping by unexpectedly". We don't have to worry about paying for babysitters (the prices here are outrageous!) because we make sure that at least one of us adults will be available to watch whichever kiddos need watching at any given time.
We have no idea how long life will stay this way, or who will be sent to the mental institution first (all bets are on me!!!). God knows and hopefully we won't kill each other in the mean time.
Good or bad, it's a learning experience. For all of us.
Could you ladies at least sync up the Aunt Flo visit? Two weeks in a row is misery!
ReplyDeleteHang in there, my heros!
Hugs, Cristyl
Hey Cristyl! I just resaw (and realizd I never commented!) this-that didn't happen because our friends got pregnant around this time, lol ;) So *that* was even more fun!
Delete