Tuesday night I was enjoying a little hockey mom time, sitting in the locker room at Leahs hockey practice chatting with a couple of other moms, one of whom I didnt know too well. I was telling a friend of mine a story about my chickens, and trying to fill in the pieces of the story for this new woman as I went. I realized as I was talking to her, trying to make everything make sense, that the way we do things and the way our life is probably isnt what its like for most other people (a fact I almost always forget because it is normal for us).
First we had to get through the fact that we have 4 children, all of them girls. This seems to boggle many people. But it's true. We do have 4 daughters. And I know that they are ours for a fact because I was there for all 4 births.
So we start with 4 daughters and then move onto the fact that we also have 2 dogs. But I must point out that I DO NOT do little purse dogs. If the dog could be mistaken for a cat or small rodent, it's probably not the dog for me. I go for big dogs. Dogs that cannot be mistaken for rodents and prompt calls to the Orkin Man. I like dogs who one day may be mistaken for rabid bears by whatever boys my all-too-beautiful daughters may bring home. So we have a german shepherd and a newfoundland.
Well Anna, you may say, that sounds like a full house!
But we do not stop there. I also have a 12 year old, cranky lovebird who does not like my husband at all (although I would like to say, that may have something to do with the fact that Justin does like to taunt him through his cage about how he is cageless and therefor superior.). Tex and I have been a team longer than I have known anyone else in my house.
We also have a sugar glider, making us (as far as I know anyway) the only family around living with a nocturnal marsupial. Google them. They are adorable, very easy to care for, and very fun to have around.
And lets not forget that last spring I decided we needed something more. So we cleaned out the old shed, made a few improvements to it and welcomed our flock of chickens. We started with 5 hens, but were down to 4 within 48 hours thanks to a hawk attack. So we added a rooster to help protect the flock and were back up to 5. Little did we know that we had opened the door to a new obsession for me and I quickly had us up to 12 at one point. But we are back at 5 now, thanks to illness, dog attack, cat attack, mysterious disappearances and the rehoming of too many males. Of course of the 5, only 3 are hens and none of them lay eggs....So we have a non-egglaying flock of chickens.
Once the poor unsuspecting individual processes all that, I can go on to tell them about all the other little things that go on in our life. For instance, in the fall Natalie does cross country and field hockey so she has practice in some form every day after school and on Sundays too. Then as that winds down, we start Odyssey of the Mind for both her and Leah. I coach both of their teams as well as coordinate the program for Raymond. So 2 nights a week we have meetings at our house in the evenings. Then 2 nights a week we are in Bridgton for Leahs hockey practices. And atleast once a weekend, but usually twice a weekend, we travel for her games. Speaking of hockey, we are big hockey fans in this house and season ticket holders for our beloved Portland Pirates so most weekends during hockey season we are in Portland atleast once for a game. And did I mention that I also opperate a small home daycare? At this point the person I am talking to is usually either A) backing slowly away from me with an odd look on their face or B) laughing or C) shaking their head and wondering why we do it.
To most, this sounds like some weird zoo or some tv reality series gone awry. There are days when I think it is just way too much and we must be nuts to take it all on. However, there are many more days that leave me wishing the day would never end and I could hold on to it all forever. Itis our life and I love it just the way it is- crazy, busy, at times filled with stress, but always filled with love. I wouldnt have it any other way.
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