Things that large families would want and need. (This should be nearly under humor, or comedy!) I must admit, I did not know most of this, when we first got married, 15 yrs ago!
1.) Case lots of toilet paper. I mean, like institutional loads of it.
2.) 12-15 passenger van. With a roll of toilet paper. Paper towels too. Ya never know what might happen, in those twisty mountain turns, and a van load of kids.
3.) Better quality washing machines. I mean BIG ones. Laundromat size is great. Hard to find though. We are currently looking for a good commercial washer. LARGE capacity. Maybe a dryer too.
4.) Watermelons. I got one yesterday. A big one. It's gone.
5.) Commercial kitchen appliances. BIG refrigerator, etc. Big mixer. Heavy duty tables.
6.) Milk cow. Butter churn. And, containers for milk.
7.) 10 ply tires on that one ton van. Those 4 ply are for others.
8.) Mom should have a good set of commercial grade hair cutting equipment. It does not take long to use up a $ 50.00 bill, on 5 boys. She should also know how to use it.
9.) Socks. Lots of them. My wife married me for my socks. As a single guy, I loved good clean socks. When I ran out, I'd buy another 12 pack. Wife came from large family, and socks were scarce. She met my bushel of socks, and said "He's the man for me!". Now, when she is matching socks, she tells me she is "Working on our marriage!)
10.) Eggs. Now, that there is something that is good for you, nutritious, and most anybody in the family can cook. Boiled, fried, scrambled, poached, and in cake. We go through maybe 2 to 2-1/2 dozen eggs, at one breakfast. Toast not included.
11.) Paper. Lots of it. For airplanes, or math, or pictures, or art, or whatever.
12.) Strawberries. When we find these on sale, wife usually gets 20 pounds of them, and freezes them. Great in milkshakes.
13) Bananas. Usually 40# box. Goes with # 12 and # 6 above.
There's more, but I gotta go get supplies....
🙂 Nate
Tell me about it. I have 5 sons + 2 daughters ... all grown now and out of the house.
Never could figure out was was wrong with the electrical system in the house, it was always blowing fuses. A couple decades later I was informed of the electrical "experiments" conducted by stealth, and which little brother was usually elected to "plug it in."
They all lived in spite of the 110V.
Food?
They were rationed to one gallon of milk and one loaf of bread per day. No limit on eggs, though. Meals invariably resulted in requests for "seconds" before their Mother was able to sit down at the table. The animals outside only got pet food; there was NEVER leftovers for the critters in the back yard.
Clothes?
Downstairs den was the "pile" of clean clothes next to the washroom. Never enough time to sort out each person's clothes, and that was with a full-time maid and a part-time laundry woman that came in 2-3 times per week. However, the clean clothes pile rarely got over 3 feet high.
I don't know if it was listed in order of importance but #7 should be #1.
I've have heard of too many tragic stories through the years.
#11
Get a roll of freezer paper (unwaxed) that's what my folks got my brother and I
-JD-
I'm with you on the clean socks....
I can flip my underwear inside out for another days use...but I WILL NOT wear 2-day old socks.
Find out what the kids won't eat and buy a whole lot of it.
How'd you get that many kids anyway...no TV at home? 😉
A large chest type freezer.
A side of beef (or maybe better a whole cow) to supplement the venison.
LOTS of band aids, tape and gauze. Country boys (and girls) gets lots of cuts and scrapes.
Duct tape, lots of duct tape, you'll find more uses for it than you can count.
Since you live in the country you already know to buy your .22 shells by the brick and your shotgun shells by the case.
And, if you're smart, a night out for Momma now and then so she can retain her sanity.
Andy
Bow Andy, you are so right. 🙂
Brian,
TV? Yeah, we used to watch it, a bit. But, I'm more of a "Hands on" kind of guy. I'd druther PLAY ball, than watch other play it. Same for alot of other things! Underwear, inside out? Never thought of that! Where'd we get them? We did what alot of others did. We got married, and hoped for children. 🙂
Jd,
We have been through that freezer paper already. Big help does not approve of wasting good deer wrap any more! 🙂
Robert, Good tars are gettin 'spensive!
Thanks yaall!
I am 5 of 5.
My Dad called me the caboose.
Large Families -
Hey Nate,
HERE IS NUMBER 2
HERE IS NUMBER 3 (don't let SWMBO know I posted a messy room)
Not industrial, but matching pairs, so at least on set is always working.
HERE IS NUMBER 5. My favorite is the 6 door frig. For years we never had cold drinks in this house, because there was no room in the frig. This one holds 10 cases in just one door.
and Yes, all of it was bought used, the large family way 😀
Bless you and yours,
Scott
Large Families -
Great crew you got there Scott. Made me smile. The photo by the van is priceless- spanning the entire spectrum from poodle skirt sock-hoppers to mimes(!) to hippies. Being an only child this is the raucous group I always dreamed of being a part of when I was a kid. Didn’t happen, so I became a surveyor on crews that spanned the entire spectrum from poodle skirt sock-hoppers to mimes(!) to hippies. Primarily hippies.
Large Families -
Bless those of you with large families. After we had our second child (both daughters), we decided to stick with man to man defense around the house rather than have more kids and have switch to zone defense. It works well for us, but the respect I have for those of you with large families is taken to a whole new level.
Large Families -
Does your electric meter ever fly off the house, or do you have it bolted down extra tight.
Steve
When I grow up
I want a commercial kitchen, and a whole slew of washing machines/dryers, like Scott's!
🙂
N
Any advice on finding a good used 15 passenger van?
Bubs
I have a whole program for auto purchases.
buy Friday classifieds at 4-5:00 am
I pray about it.
Mark all interesting autos.
At 7:00 call with a LIST of questions Use a note pad, with a big number, related to the page in my pad, and the newspaper.
I pray about it.
1st is may I ask you my list of questions, to save me time, and you, time, as driving to see it, is quite consuming, Gas, time Energy
Then, I ask all my questions.
Color
any damage
carpet,
uphoulstery
paint
miles
transmission, manual auto
Everything I can think of
then, I ask them if they can think of anything I left out, or should know.
I do this with about 5 cars if possible.
I pray about it.
I pick the top 3
I google map them
I pray about it.
I wave cash under their nose
I get pretty good used autos.
N
Bought ours at a used lot, but was owned by Michigan State Univ. Had 70,000 miles on it and now has 180,000. He had many vans that were pre-owned by local universities/schools. I would check with any local schools and ask who they sell them to. Not sure about all schools, but MSU took very good care of it.
Large Families -
> Does your electric meter ever fly off the house, or do you have it bolted down extra tight.
We just did this kitchen after 20 years in a small one. The frig does add too the electric bill, but replacing the electric range with the gas helped. What kills me is trying to teach the kids to turn off a light. I switched to motion sensor lights in the halls and it is working so well I may do that to their bed rooms. What's worse then the electric bill is the groceries. Could make payments on two new Suburbans with the money, but we really love having a large family.:-D
Scott
I got mine from a Veteran, who bought it at an auction, it is a DAV (Disabled American Veteran) van, with red whit and blue.
Got it with 120xxx miles on it, and it is now over 200k.
N
Large Families -
Man! y'all are a good looking bunch, Scott. I know I shouldn't post, or go to the store, when I'm hungry, but I can't stop looking at that huge gas grill and think Pancakes and Eggs!!! It's turkey, gravy, and rice for dinner tonight, but I know there's a box of pancake mix somewhere in the pantry.
