You know you've had too many children when...

[LynetteScavo]

You nearly have a heart attack paying for their new school uniform, then struggle to carry it all home.

oh yes shoes. we find them everywhere. well except for the shoe cupboard where they should be.

and actually the sheer amount of washing. You really need to do a load everyday to keep on top of it. On the plus side you don't need to own many clothes as they get washed so quickly. I do dark, white and then a pink/purple and more occasionally a green/blue wash on whatever I have the most of each day

I don't miss having 2 in washable nappies

Instead of sorting out clothes that they've grown out of in their wardrobes, I was thinking I could keep a certain age group in a wardrobe and move the children around instead!

Loving this thread, I have four 3DDs and one DS 5years 10 months from one to four.

I either get "is that you finished now you have your boy?" or "are you having another one?" so either I kept popping girls out until I got the prized boy or I'm some baby mad baby machine without a TV obviously.

I loved when the Tesco delivery man just brings you a shelf load of yoghurts still in the cardboard as you order so much.

You go through a tree full of bananas and apples a week.

You shake clothes and figure they will only get wrinkled if you don't iron them.

Pick shredded wheat off PJs so they will do another day, PFB used to get a BATH and clean PJs every day.

I'm lucky that DD2 is a completely tomboy as she and DD1 are the same size so it's easy to sort socks and pants, anything pink and girly DD1, anything with dinosaurs or cars on it DD2. DD2 does eye up some of DD1s clothes though.

You think you can still hear them in your head after they are all in bed as it's been so noisy all day your head is ringing.

Hanging the washing out is 10 minutes break from the bedlam.

sweetkitty my dh shouts "are you hiding in your office?" when I'm in the utility room!

If I had a pound for every "you have your hands full" comment I could afford a nanny!

Haha, Sweetkitty. I'm with you on the PJ's thing. My PFB too had a clean set every night after her bath.
Now, the nightly baths are gone (partly due to mild eczema, partly I've figured young children just don't need daily baths) and they can forget clean PJ's every night with the amount of washing I have to do!

Am MN'ing right now in an attempt to put off the inevitable - DS1 AND DS2 have grown, so I need to do the clothes-shuffle. DS1 probably needs some new clothes - and I found an old bag of 12-18mo clothes while cleaning the loft out that will do for DS3. They still look in pretty good nick, too. Considering they've done DS1 & DS2, then been in the loft for 6yrs!

PJ's? Only in the winter - my dc's are warm, like little radiators, and go to bed in just their pants for most of the year. They only seem to use PJ's if the temp is below zero. Saves on washing, I suppose.

When your DS2 (7yo) sees the iron and calls it 'that hot thing you use on shirts when it's Christmas' ....(Used to iron socks and knickers with PFB - now iron under duress when ABSOLUTELY necessary only)

queen I have a hefty toddler and a slighter 3 year old. I am not bothering sorting out their clothes. They just share now

I have a lovely, lovely friend (I really mean that, she is a gem) but our views on what constitutes the minimum requirements for a happy childhood differ wildly.

I know she loves me but is discreetly concerned that I have three children in one room. She would see not having enough bedrooms per child as a reason not to have any more kids. This is fine because she wouldnt say that to me and I think its ok for her to feel like that.

DS2 will be going into his own room in the next few month because DS1 moved out sooner than we anticipated. It has to be done in stages due to his ASD. I am currently using the spare room as a dressing room .

I know it cant last but it is sooooooo nice to have somewhere to put my knickers in drawers instead of baskets. I know they are touted as 'clever storage solutions' but I am fed up of putting my underwear in clever storage solutions!

Our neighbours when we were growing up had 8. 5 boys in one room, 3 girls in one and the parents had their room. It was the house that everyone else congregated in as well, it was alsways packed but the happiest house on the road by far!

OH was one of 12

They had so many kids that when one of MIL mindees was just left there one day she stayed for ever and became my future SIL...

DS1 wears boxers, but DS2 wears ordinary pants & I'm seriously trying to figure out what colour scheme to go with for DS2, so that I can consistently/easily sort DH from DS2's pants.

(sigh).

I've been asked if they have the same father, with a 9 year gap between 2 and 3 they all assume I started again. If you look at them dd1 is exactly like dd2 and ds looks like dd3.

So we have a few with dc's born in 3 different decades, can anyone trump it and go for 4? I think it works out at a 22 year age gap if you had your first in 89.

I like the 'evening out' but I don't thin dp would let me try for 2 more boys

i can do pregnancies in 3 decades. and i'm only in my 30's.

pregnant in 1999 with dd1, she was born in 2000,

dd2 02, dd3 05, dd4 08

ds 2011

I can do pregnancies in four decades, but live babies in only two (20s and 40s).

pacificdogwood

Futility room sums it up particualy when it comes to sorting it out.

I get the names wrong and i only have 2!

duchesse

I'm loving this thread!

Am currently pregnant with DC5, but we lost DS1 at birth, so only have the three. Though we have DSS regularly, whcih is fun. I'm the youngest of eight, and always imagined myself with a huge brood, but i'm pretty sure that this one will be the last but i said that last time too

Queenmaeve- only miscarriages, not stillbirths, but thank you. The 13 week one at age 39 was especially upsetting as had been ttc for 4 years by then.

When you call your youngest dc4 by the dogs name, and don't really care whether they are eating a proper lunch [rather than snacking] because you just want 5 minutes peace to read the sunday papers [on the monday]near the end of a long summer holiday without someone yelling 'mumee'.Getting cross with my youngest because he keeps on crying only to find out that he's hot and says he feels ill.I just thought he was demanding attention [bad mummy]

I only have one but love all these stories. About the grocery deliveries though... my delivery drivers often comment on the amount of alcohol in a "having a party?" sort of way to which I have to and say no, just a normal week. If you have much more food this would make the booze proportionally less of the order. Hmmm

After DC5 was born I had to take OH aside and remind him gently that 'Atticus is the dog's name love'

Oh MrsD I get my dog and my youngest DS muddled up ALL the time.

Poor dog.

When you go clothes shopping, and it takes 3 shop assistants to pack everything, with exasperated 'phew, that was alot of clothes" I now buy all children's clothes on-line...
At times, me and dh have to ask each other if it is ok for one of us to go to the loo, i.e. can the other cope for a few minutes
If one parent nips out, they have to take at least two children with them, otherwise it is unfair , but at the moment am enjoying going to my antenatal appointments (yes, another one ) alone, bliss....don't even mind the amount of time I am kept waiting

When you're left with just one for 3 days and you get so bored you end up sitting on dd's bedroom floor playing with her playmobil while the baby naps

When you can't hold everyone's hands at once anymore

When your weekly shop can't e contained in one trolly anymore

When you go through 8 litres of milk in 3 days

when even the dog has resigned to sleeping under the stairs.