Vitafamiliae

We like our big, noisy family all under the same roof. We get a little antsy when someone isn’t home. Everyone feels the difference, the “not normal.”

Yesterday, the boys had a field trip scheduled to go see a play. Now, in the past, these have been traumatic events, and since I knew when we put it on the calendar I would be large in girth, Andrew volunteered to take the boys to get some culture. I suspect he also planned to show them how to “man up” in the theater.

So I sent my fellas out the door and faced three sets of little girl eyes.

Now what?

The first thing I did was turn on some music. I love having music on, but ever since we hit around five kids or so, the extra noise of even instrumental music is too much. It’s sensory overload. But with three quiet little girls? We needed to sing!

Next, we painted. I don’t like crafting, so it stands to reason that I prefer to do it with smaller numbers of children. Crafting with six kids devolves into “Lord of the Flies” quickly. Crafting with three feels almost like a day at the spa.

Almost.

After we painted, it was on to Tea Time. We had tea and bananas, which is what any good Brit would have, right?

Mira attacked her tea and slurped it right down. She was very focused on getting every last drop out of the cup. The other two were more interested in how much honey they could add to their beverage. They ended up with undrinkable syrup.

After we finished tea, I found a girl-approved cartoon and we curled up to watch.

The whole thing felt very peaceful, very easy.

As soon as the boys pranced back in the door, the chatter exploded and both our X and Y chromosome teams exchanged play-by-plays of what they’d done. Everyone had to compare notes, make sure they hadn’t missed something more fun.

Andrew and I did the same thing. He assured me that the boys didn’t dissolve into hysterical screams in the theater and I showed him pictures of Mira with her head in a tea cup. We had a good smile over our break from the normal.

And then we reached out and turned off the iTunes. Because Normal in the House of Vitafam is loud enough. And it sounds just beautiful…