WHAT?? You don't need a ride to school anymore??

WOW!! Where did this month go already, 3 children back to school (at 2 different schools).  Driving and driving about 10 times daily.  Today my son comes home with a bus pass and tells me that he can now catch the bus daily and that I don't have to drive him anymore!!
After raising 10 children and 1 nephew and 1 friend of my daughters, I can't believe that it is our youngest (13) that came home today and told me this!
My oldest son (22) still required a ride to post-sec on a daily basis and not to mention to work, our daughter (20) is the only one who went out and bought herself a vehicle and drove herself to work and school.
I always walked the kids to school and walked to school to wait for them afterwards, I always made sure that they made it there and back safely, and now with this new BUS PASS I don't know how to handle it.
So starting tomorrow morning I will send his older sister and brother (14,18) to catch the bus with him, that will be my way of knowing he has made it safely.  I am lucky enough that the elementary school and high school are 2 blocks from each other and they can catch the same bus.
Letting go is tough especially when it's our youngest child that is trying to grow up and out of the nest, that's a hard thing to grasp.
On the positive note he is our youngest and in a way our job is almost done, don't get me wrong a parents job is never done, but in stages I believe that it is. In this case it is the constant driving back and forth to school and back.  So until we have grandchildren, gone are the days of walking our children to school.

Mom!!! The lights green!!!

Driving home, after driving nearly 2 hours straight this afternoon, I stopped at a red light. I clearly saw that the light had turned to green. My children started telling me from the back seat "Mom its GREEN". In my head I said "I know!!!!" I clenched the steering wheel and said "I am turning and I have to wait for the cars to go by so I can turn". All I heard from the back seat was "OH".
When my oldest son, now 22, was only 5 he came home from school almost preaching about all the germs in the house. 1 thing particular was about how to thaw meat. He said " Mom thaw the meat in the fridge" in my mind I thought "well we haven't poisoned yet" but my response was "I Know", so I thawed te meat in the fridge (sometimes).
When our oldest daughter was 17, now 21, she came home after curfew, she was a bit tipsy, she tried to sneak into bed, well if your a parent with any age kids we have the ears of an elephant. I can hear the slightest conversation from way across the house. In the morning we talked and she said " I got home early and went to bed". I said " No you didn't, I was awake and I heard you get home...I KNOW these things".
When my daughters car broke down. she's now 19, we insisted she needed a new battery. She insisted she didn't, she said " I just need gas", Well she got a new battery and the car started right away. We gave her the "We Knew!!!" look.
Over the past 20 years I've had so many " I KNOW" moments, some surprised even me. I've also had so many " Hmmmm I did not know that" moments. I say 20 yrs because i'll admit the first couple of years of motherhood were full of "I dont know anything" moments.
I was 17 when I had my first child, I lived with my parents until I turned 18 and moved out on my own. I was 19 when I had my oldest daughter, after that I lost count of my age, and the only thing that mattered was my children and their ages thoe things I KNOW!!! ask me how much they weighed at birth or the time of birth and my answer will be I DONT KNOW, but I do know their exact where abouts, their friends, PIN # to all their bank accounts, health card numbers, birthdates, teachers names, cell phone numbers, FB passwords and so on and tell me you say one of my kids posting something inappropriate on their FB wall and i'll respond "I KNOW" its been dealt with already :)
With that Gnite :)

I dug out my flip flips to early

I woke up to a snow storm at the end of April. I had to time everything just right. I knew the streets would be icy. Everyone was at least 10 minutes late. How did this happen I thought to myself. I timed everything just right. School lunches were made, van was warming up, sweaters were pulled out of the closet. I left at least 10 minutes earlier. Well, I hit every red light, I drove behind someone going slower than usual, I had 2 extra stops to make and I had to stop for gas.
Over the years I have had to put more than my share of kilometers on our vehicles.
When my husband and I started living together, we lived out of town on an acreage. Everyone had to wake up an hour earlier and we had to travel in all types of weather.
We have had to drive to 3 different school for different start times and different end times.
The joys of being blessed with so many children and trying to support them all with their education.
Tomorrow is another day and this time I have all my ducks in a row and everyone will be on time.
Goodnite

Snow and more snow and laundry

Everyone is finally asleep. I managed to persuade my husband to cook supper while I did the laundry that wasn't done on Sunday.
Earlier I had mentioned I would make time in the evenings to blog. Well here it goes. Tonite will I will reveal a bit more of our family history as well as a couple stories to help get you more familiar.
My husband and I first met 10 years ago. I was a single mother with 6 children and he was a single father of 2. The Toronto Maple Leafs were playing and I wasnt to keen on leaving my TV and he was surprised to be having company on a Hockey Night In Canada evening. We visited for a bit then realized we had nothing in common and I left thinking how rude he was, yet attracively rude. It was a blind date.
Well to make a long story short he called and we talked all night, like 2 old friends who hadn't seen each other in years. We found out we had so much in common.
When our kids first met each other it was not love at first sight. They got along alright as long as neither interfered wth the others life they had come accustomed to.
3 months after meeting we all moved in together. Easier said than done. Now neither of us could go home and take the kids with us. This is when reality set in. We are a blended family and not everyone gets along at all times. Please Comment if you can relate.
Well that was 10 years ago. Our oldest was 12 and our youngest was 2. Now we cant imagine not having met each other nor can we imagine not having gone through the struggles or tough times. We have seen 2 of our children graduate from highschool. We have had our share of pets. We have had our share of teens struggling with addictions and experimenting with drugs and alcohol. I'm not going to lie. It happens. We've had our share of children quiting school and going back to school. Children getting drivers license. Daughters going through heartbreak and ditto for our sons. We've also had our share of struggles with the "other" parents. We've also had our share or the biggest smiles on report card day, passing the road test, learning to ride a bike, jam packed bed because the kids and I are terrified of storms, potty training, starting school, and many many more happy times that you'll read about in the days to come. And family trips and more family trips, Alberta, BC, Vegas and all the stops along the way.
Until tomorrow, Goodnight.

Preparing for Monday morning

Supper (check), Dishes (check), Showers (check), School lunch?? Laundry?? Well 3 outta 5 aint bad...considering we now only have to do it all for 5 children instead of the usual 8. Its been an adjustment but were slowly downsizing. We used to have to prepare for 8 children plus their friends and a nephew. On any given sunday we could be preparing 12 lunches.
How old are our children you may wonder and how did we manage? Well from oldest to youngest 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 13, & 12. We managed with love, with support, encouragement and a strict "education is the key" policy. If at anytime a piece of our family puzzle was missing or out of place we rallied together to show our support.
We are a blended family, there is no way I could have given birth to so many children. When my husband and I first met all our children were 10 yrs younger than they are now. When I think back I dont know how we managed.
Monday morning comes in the blink of an eye.
Stay tuned for Monday mornings post. I'll let you know if everyone made it to their destinations on time.
Good Night