You've heard them yourself, no doubt, but they are truly words to live by at the Rossi house.
You Gotta Laugh or You'll Cry
We've learned to laugh at our situation, or we'd pull our hair out. One of our favorite things to lighten the stress load around here is to declare our children in percentages or ratios. For example, if three of our children are crying at once, we are at a 75% failure rate. Or if they all have bowel movements at the same time, which happens much more than we like to admit, we are at 100% discharge. Sometimes when the chaos reaches maximum, such as loading all four children in car-seats and they all start fussing, Peter brings out the orchestra hands and sings, "Dum dum, de dum de dum de dum..." to the children's whining.
Survival is Success
This one is easy. If you make it to the end of the day, your children are in bed, fed and alive and you are not drunk, you have succeeded. Congratulations.
When in Doubt, Throw it Out
You may not throw your children out. However, this saying doesn't only apply to food (what's that smell??), but it also applies to everything in our house. Hmmm...haven't hung this on the wall in two years - bye, bye. Kiddos haven't played with this toy in a long time...bye, bye. Do I like this shirt? Well I did in 2002 and I'm hoping it comes back into style because it cost me lots of cash. Bye, bye. This keeps the mass of stuff down to a minimum and we are minimalist type of people. And believe me, with every gathering, day of school and so on, the stuff just keeps coming so we keep tossing or giving it away.
Just Use Your Hands
This isn't the same as saying that idle hands get into trouble. This is the reality, that our hands really are the best tool in life. Let your kids paint with their hands, eat with their hands, or stir the cookie dough with their hands. Our kids have also been known to use these amazing devices to smear prints on the windows, mirrors, oven door, and car windows; rub paint on the walls on their way to the bathroom to wash said hands; empty entire bottles of soap and toothpaste; and dump out the dirt all over the bay window from the house plants. See how useful hands are? I have many more examples if you are confused.
Tomorrow is Another Day
You may have succeeded because you are all alive and in bed, but the reality is that the day blew. We've had lots of these. Days where all of us have the stomach flu and we can't change sheets fast enough, days where the dishes are still piled up from yesterday because the babies were teething and grandpa was in the hospital, etcetera, etcetera. The good news is that if you messed up today, you get to try again tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day.
This too Shall Pass
When you're on your knees cleaning up the spilled box of cheerios in front of the lazy susan, and two boys are crawling all over you smashing the cheerios and playing horsey...remember this line. When you're on your ninth day of rotovirus...remember this line. When your husband is in New Orleans for a business conference and you are home in a blizzard before the subzero temperatures set in right when the pellet stove breaks and fills your house with smoke then continues to smolder, you have three of the four kids sick and your van won't start....remember this line.
Live Life to the Fullest
Our life is full. So I think we've got this one down to an art. I think the key here is that we live in the moment and don't stress too much about what the future will bring. If we do this, we sure have a good time laughing with and at our children (in the most encouraging positive way I assure you).
If Life Gives You Lemons....
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what if you don't like lemonade? We say, throw the lemons back or say no thanks.
If You Run Out of Money, Go Make Some More
When you reproduce, there is more of everything. More laundry, more dishes, more shoes to buy, more love, more laughter, more vomit, more dust bunnies. There is also less money. So if you run out, go make more. And get creative.
Love and Laughter Really are the Perfect Remedies for Any Bad Day
Indeed. A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.
