Too Much Information?

I have been reading other people's blogs (particularly those of other moms) and felt inspired to start my own. I am not vain enough to think that I have something fabulously interesting to say, but I have discovered that it can be very comforting to find out that someone else is going through the same things you are, even if they are quite mundane. So, it is my humble hope, that perhaps one person gets a chuckle, or feels a little less kooky about their own life after reading this.

Now, a little about me. I am 41 years old and the mom of seven really great kids. (Yes, I know everyone thinks their kids are great...) They are boys ages 17, 14, 3 and 5 months and girls ages 11, 8 and 6. For the record, I am Catholic (ooh, what a shock, eh?), college educated, married to the same man for approaching 20 years, and upper middle class. I do not home school. Not that I disapprove of homeschooling, but frankly I need those hours away from my kids, as they need hours away from me! My kids attend Catholic schools for which we pay a handsome sum, and have gotten a lot of bang for our bucks as they are all doing very well. The reason I say all of this is because occasionally when people find out that you have that many kids, they look down their nose at you as though you were too dumb to use birth control, or you are creating a huge draw on the national economy because you must be on welfare or something. I have this many kids because (a) I always wanted a large family and (b) my husband owns his own company and is able to support us and I am able to be a stay-at-home mom and (c) I enjoy driving oversize vehicles. Our "family" car is a 15 passenger Dodge Ram van, and I have an Escalade ESV for regular school days. It's easier to navigate through the carpool lane at school, but only seats 8. But hey, unlike most of those folks driving gas guzzling SUV's that only have 2 kids or such, I can actually justify mine! The minute Toyota comes out with a Prius that seats 9 I am sooo there!

Now, just to clarify a few more things...

I am not "super mom" in any way, shape or form. Often people are foolish enough to think that I must be hyper organized with this many kids. Yeah, don't I wish. I have an older sister, never married with no kids, who is the cleanest, most organized individual I have ever known. We are polar opposites. She apparently got all the Martha Stewart genes and I got the birthin' hips. My house is messy and chaotic and most of the time I wouldn't want it any other way. The exceptions are usually around 6:45 am on school mornings when I am looking for the 6 year-old's missing shoe (again) or berating the 17 year-old because he has no clean shirts since he hasn't bothered to bring me his hamper in four days. I do get better with age; problem is I don't think I will live long enough to ever get this house organized; - )
Well, that's enough about me. Thanks for hanging in there to the end. Till next time...