The moment my feet hit the floor this morning I knew I had to do the security check around the house for some reason. There it was, fridge door standing wide open. Great! So then I proceed to the “auxiliary fridge” and see the same open door. Wow, it’s going to be a fabulous day! I know that I need to be on my toes today because the house is full. Whose idea was it for them all to be here on a school night? I’m getting overwhelmed before I even start doling out the cheerios! How will I get them all ready? Head count and make a plan… 16??? How the heck did I get all 16 of them here? Oh fantastic – why did Deb leave Gracie here when she doesn’t even go to Trey’s school? Regroup and attack this Cheryl, I know you can handle it, after all they are just kids!
Things are going well but I just didn’t know how I was going to get Gracie to her school on time – Deb should know better than to leave her kid with me! I was so relieved when she announced that her brother had come to drive her to school. Well come on grab your stuff – Gracie what did you do? Oh my, her mother for some reason thought it wise to send along her entire earring collection and they are now adorning the front of her nightdress! Gracie get your clothes on and I’ll unstick the earrings. Each one and the bloody back has to be moved back to the earring holder so they can be tossed safely in her bag (oh Deb I might lose a few). Finally Gracie is safely off with her pile of jewellery. Never send collections of small items to my house – especially when there are 16 kids to get off to school!
Only 15 to go now…
Hhhmm? What? Oh… morning. Oh my, it’s Monday morning and I have to get Trey ready for school in one hour… oh wait, piece of cake!
That was one of the silliest dreams I can recall – ever. I don’t even have two fridges.

One of the things I value about my upbringing (and there are a lot of things on the list) is my sense of family connectedness. For those of you who know my family you may think this an odd thing for me to say since I came from a “broken” home. My family did go through some difficult times but even though I had parents who divorced and a few other situations that most would consider unfortunate I know that I still had a rather healthy home. As an adult I’m pretty amazed at what our family has endured and yet managed to turn life into a very positive experience despite the circumstances.
I have five siblings and we have been scattered over the continent for the past two decades and all but one has found our way back to Nova Scotia. On any given day I can shout out to any of my sibs and know that I have family who love and support me no matter what. Some of us are closer than others but that’s just our personalities, we are all family and that doesn’t change. I have oodles of cousins and aunts and uncles scattered as well. We still have family reunions occasionally and it’s really amazing when you get together with people you rarely see and know that you are a part of something amazing. I love my family and the connectedness I feel with all of them. A random email to a distant cousin is never greeted with anger that it took too long or guilt that I should have written last year or sent a Christmas card… it’s always a warmly welcomed connection. I love that!
I want this for my kids. These two precious lives deserve to be filled with people who love them and they deserve to feel like they belong. They are learning the family connections. Some of our family tree branches get a little confusing and some branches get a little tangled. Trey and Dija list family members as part of our family conversations and sometimes it’s just the four of us, the mom, the dad, the brother and the sister. Then there are the longer conversations when they start adding Uncle Justin and Nana and Cousin Drew, just to name a few favourites… there is a longer list but I won’t go down that road. We talk about family history too and tell stories about Grampies of the past and it’s like they know these characters we now mention around the house as if they have already seen the movie. They enjoyed meeting Cousins in PEI and look forward to seeing them again. I love that they are developing an understanding of family that’s larger than just our small unit. They know they are loved by a long list of people and it’s starting to make sense to them. We are waiting eagerly for one more little being to branch off our tree… Today is the due date but he or she will arrive just at the right moment. Justin and Astrid will have the most exciting new cousin for them to watch and love. The family is growing and that just means more of us to love!

To be answered by a 3 year old in response to a toy tidying request with “If you insist” seems a little rude but since she learned it from a story book I guess it’s just cute. The Grumpy Ladybug has left a lasting impression on Miss Dija. I am amazed at the language development with each of the children almost daily… I know I’ve said this before but I’m still amazed by it. The fact that at 3 she is able to interject these storybook phrases into everyday life at the appropriate moment is fascinating to me. It always makes me smile and sometimes I need to hide a little laughter. She’s such a character without the help of storybooks!
The drive to Nanas this morning consisted of speech therapy from the back seat. Some days I over hear Trey correcting Dija’s words and I think that’s great. I know he’s modelling what all the important adults in his life do to him. Well today I hear, “I try to say bless and it comes out bless” and then the conversation about how they can see their bless, I mean breath. Say it Neenee, how do you say it? BRRRREATTTHHHH rather exaggerated to make it clear. Back seat practise session follows. Then, “Neenee I need to see what you do with your teeth, can you show me?” Well I really can’t turn around while I’m driving but we’re almost there and I’ll show you when we stop. I park and I’m quickly told to get back here and show my teeth.
I simply looked at him and said the word. Breath. He repeated it perfectly. Lesson learned. No speech therapy necessary. Phew.