One of the best things about having 13 kids is watching people's reactions when you tell them for the first time. The reactions range from a sincere "That's incredible!" to "DID YOU SAY 10?!? to "You need to learn to keep your legs shut" (that's a real quote) and everything in between. Most people are kind, albeit surprised. But I've found if someone is going to be rude, it's going to be in the first few moments they find out- mostly as a visceral reaction, before they've had time to assess the social awkwardness their comment is going to cause. Good thing Laura and I have heard it all! This happened to me a few weeks ago. I was with a group of people which included someone I'd never met before when my buddy introduced me as "This is my buddy Pelar, he's got 12 kids". (Thanks for the solid intro) "Wait... are you Serious", was the initial response. Followed quickly by... "Bro... don't you know how t...
"I love being a dad. It's like being a chef in a restaurant where all the patrons are picky eaters and the menu changes every five minutes." ~ Jim Gaffigan One of my favorite Laura quotes ever has to be "you people would be a lot easier to deal with if you didn't have to eat!" As much as I love to write about the great things about having a large family, it would be disingenuous to act as if it doesn't come with its logistical challenges. While I intend to shed light on these challenges in this forum over time, I thought I'd start with the one that we have to deal with every single day in the Esshaki house... Food. It seems appropriate to start at the top... the grocery list. Our grocery shopping habits have come a long way since we first got married. As newlyweds we would head to the store every night and buy our ingredients for that's night dinner off the "I'm about to expire" pile. We were broke, and it was fun to see what we...