Growing up in a big family was great. I have five siblings; Caleb, Noah, Jay, Maddie and Lily Cate. Each one of them has taught me something about loving unconditionally and patience. As most of you can imagine, a family of six kids creates a lot chaos; but I couldn’t imagine not having them in my life. A lot of big families go through some frustrating things such as;

The Sunday morning shower rush

It’s Sunday morning, church begins in one hour, and three of us still need to shower. We see each other walking towards the upstairs bathroom and it’s like one of those slow-mo racing scenes in a movie; needless to say, I typically lost these battles and ended up rushing to get ready and having wet hair for church. But I learned that I shouldn’t be focused on what I look like, I should be focused on worshiping God.

We were late to everything

And I mean EVERYTHING. For a perfectionist like me, this drove me nuts! But getting ready with a family of eight, especially with my younger sisters who are six and ten, was never an easy task. We used to have races to see who could get ready the fastest and it was like serious bragging rights. I’m appreciate being late now because it taught me that it’s okay to be late sometimes, and stressing over it won’t change the situation.

Not everything was fair

Especially with two older brothers who had half the amount of rules I did. It was frustrating to have more rules. Most of my siblings got out of their booster seat at the normal ages of seven or eight; but not me, no I had to use a booster seat until I was ten years old. I cannot describe how embarrassing it is being a fourth grader still in a booster seat. My brothers could probably use the argument that I got a car first, but I guess over the years it all evened out and I realized that sometimes life isn’t fair.

Our house was always messy

My mom does the best job she can, but cleaning everything multiple times a day gets frustrating. Especially with three dogs on top of our already big family, our living room is typically a mess. Over the summer, we did chore charts for the week and that worked for a while, until me and my brothers started working everyday. But now my sisters and little brother are at school, me and my older brothers are at college and my parents are thankful for their clean house. Not going to lie, I’m definitely thankful to be at school and have my own space.

The strange looks

I’m an extremely self-conscious person, I used to be embarrassed telling people that I had a big family because in their opinion it “wasn’t normal.” Going out to eat was always a struggle because I hated the looks we got, especially when my sisters were being a little noisy. But now looking back, I realize how stupid I had been. Many people would love to having a big, loving family like mine. I’m grateful God blessed me with these unique individuals to do life with.

But I'm grateful for the family God gave me

Although there was some bad things, there was some awesome things that I would never change: From random ice cream trips with me sisters, to going to see movies with brothers, I never had a lonely moment. My older brother, Noah was my best friend since I was born. I don’t think I would have been able to get through my first year of high school without him. Me and Caleb fought the most, but he taught me how to back an argument up and fight with logic instead of opinion. Jay showed me this compassion for other people that I haven’t ever seen in anyone else. Maddie showed me that it’s okay to be a little dramatic and sassy. Finally, Lily has taught me to love unconditionally. I wouldn’t change my big family for the world.