Here are a few facts: my dad is the oldest of six kids; and all six are married with at least one child of their own; I am the oldest of 15 grandchildren on that side. After my dad remarried, I became one of five children.

I may not have always been apart of a large immediate family, but over the years of growing up with an extended family that is larger than life itself, and the last four years of having three extra siblings, I have learned a few things that are true across the board when it comes to having a big family.

Peace and quiet are nonexistent. Good luck trying to do homework or ever watching a TV show all of the way through, because someone is always walking through the house, playing music or talking entirely too loud. 

Your younger siblings will get away with everything. There is no arguing this. If I miss a curfew, it's the end of the world and I am a rule-defying, rebel child heading down a dangerous path. I am also grounded for two weeks. If my sister misses a curfew, she, "should try harder to make it home on time tomorrow night."

The early bird gets the worm. This really comes into play when Mom gets donuts in the morning, if you are the last one out of bed, good luck getting anything good. 

You're always participating in free fun. Whether it is bring your own lawn chair movie night at the park, or anything beginning with the words, "buy one get one," my family of seven is there. And birthday dinners consist of grilling out; rarely, if ever, do you get to experience the luxury of a real restaurant.

You can never find your own clothes. Our washing machine is constantly running, and there is no telling which jeans belong to which teenage daughter, or which black Nike sock belongs to which boy in the family. There is no such thing as mine and yours.

Christmas is a four hour long affair. There are about a billion mismatched boxes around the tree and if your dad is like my dad, he insists that everyone opens each present one by one so he can see us open everything he so loyally helped wrap. And make no mistake, someone always ends up bitter about their two less presents than another sibling. 

You are very familiar with using your own money to buy what you want. You cannot give every kid a set amount of money for weekend movies and shopping sprees, so this one is self explanatory. 

Everywhere you go, you have an entourage. You always have the biggest cheering section at volleyball games or orchestra concerts, and it looks like you brought a film crew for prom pictures. You are also constantly having to ask your friends from smaller families for things like extra graduation commencement tickets because they only give you so many.

At the end of the day, you have a ton of people behind you. No matter how dysfunctional a big family might be, every single one of them will be your biggest fan, your greatest supporter, and your unending strength when you need it the very most.