Tuesday, September 13, 2011

How I Do It

Whenever I meet someone and they inevitably find out I have five children...the first or second thing out of their mouth is "How DO you do it?".  The first remark is usually either a "You are crazy!" or "God Bless" (which is the nicer version of "You are crazy!")

Let me get something straight, I know many, many, many women have more children than me (my Mom, for example) and I have always looked up to and admired moms of big families.  In fact, I also wonder how they "do it all", and love any tips they can give for being successful at raising well-rounded and happy children, keeping a clean and orderly house, and planning well-balanced meals.  I'm not saying that all those things are happening simultaneously in a large family, but they are possible.  

Now I'll let you in on a little tip for how I can do it all.  

I can't.

At least not alone.  

He makes it possible:


My husband.  He's my secret weapon.

While we appreciate and respect the "traditional roles" of being a husband and wife, we also know that we are a team, and at times those roles get all blended together.  We're very hip like that ;)

Though Phil would love to be able to financially support our family, we absolutely can not make it on his Catholic school teacher salary.  But we feel that he is called to be a theology teacher, and the lack of income is a price we are willing to pay for his happiness and the education of our children (so they can attend a Catholic high school one day). 

So this is where the teamwork comes in.

I help him support our family by working, and he helps me around the house since we are both gone all day.  

We never argue about who cooks dinner, who picks up the kids from school, who goes grocery shopping, who does laundry or who cleans the house.  It's like a well-oiled machine ~ we just see what needs to get done and do it.

Now, there are certain tasks that always fall to Phil: yard work, trash, and making kid's lunches.  And I have my jobs too: handling our finances/bills, mopping the floor, and producing milk :)  Though I'm sure if he was able to, he would even do that!

I am so thankful to have such a great partner in life, and I am also grateful that our children will grow up knowing what it's like to truly help one another.  I think the best part about Phil is that he doesn't even think he's doing anything special at all.  Just doing the obvious. 

 And that's why I obviously love him so much!


9 comments:

  1. God bless great husbands!!!!!

    btw-- i'm still laughing over your job of producing milk, funny funny!!

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  2. You are blessed to have him.

    My husband and I are in more of a traditional role. I do all the kids stuff and all the shopping, cooking and cleaning. He goes to work and comes home to food and a clean house every night. Not a bad deal for him!!??

    he does a lot around here and he helps with the kids. It has to be a partnership or the SHIP sinks.

    I also taught at a Catholic School and you are right...the pay is not much..it is for the love of faith and teaching.

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  3. Awwwwwww! I love this post.

    Phil sounds like such a great guy...but more importantly, you sound like such a great TEAM!

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  4. Beautiful post! I know how you feel-could not so it without DH.

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  5. Teamwork works IN all aspects of our lives....especially at home. :) Cute post.
    xo

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  6. Great post. Steve and I have found the more we have, the more we need to be a team.

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  7. We are so blessed with amazing husbands! We too tackle it all with teamwork and appreciation for one another.

    I cannot imagine doing it any other way. For us, it just flows and works out this way.

    God bless Phil, he certainly is a wonderful man.

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  8. i agree support of husbands is important.

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