Russell Math lesson, my little family

It’s math time at the Russell house. I often think I have a small family. Really when people say I have a big family, I think, no really I do not. I think of the three that are in heaven and the ones that I would welcome into my home if the Lord saw fit to send them and I think my family is small. I look at other families my size and think they are big, but mine is not so big. But, I know my blessings are big! Then I think of the smaller families who think my job is so big… and perhaps it is a bit bigger than your average family. Do you have any idea the logistics of running a home where 9 people reside? The clothing issues alone are enough to make your head swim.

Consider these numbers for a week at the Russell house- (Let me say here, I am extremely grateful for my washer and dryer! I have no desire to do my laundry the way my grandmother, Mae Sadler did for most of her child rearing years, nor do I even have it as bad as my mother did raising the 7 of us)
126 socks to match (Where do all the missing socks go?)
63 pairs of pants (check pockets for crayons, army men, play dough and food, first!)
63 shirts (not including undershirts or just "I think I'll change in the middle of the day' shirts! And those of you who know Hannah, know this number can grow rapidly.)
63 pair of underwear (though boys at certain ages think one pair should work for a week… this is not an option)
21 misc. articles of underclothes (unmentionables)
31.5 pairs of pajamas (you CAN wear them 2 nights in a row)
add to that sheets: 7 beds changed a minimum of once a week.
Towels (I am trying to convince the children that it is indeed important to hang them on the nice towel racks so they can dry and be used for a second day… but they prefer to lay them on the floor, add to this an occasional comforter and blanket along with kitchen towels and wash cloths, jackets and sweaters and you begin to feel like an in-house laundry mat might come in handy! Has anyone thought of the idea of disposable clothes?

If the laundry isn't enough, think about the dishes!
At the very least you begin with-
315 pieces of silverware
189 plates and bowls (that's if everyone only uses one at each meal, when is the last time that happened?)
189 glasses (leaving out the ones for sips in between meals)
pots, pans, baking dishes and the containers that you eat the leftovers out of (as if that is an everyday happening- usually it's either there aren't any or they die some horrible moldy death in the fridge...)

And then you get to the meals. Does anyone out there actually feed their family what the food pyramid says to feed them?
For us that would be 284 servings of fruits and vegetables a week!!!! We would need our own orchard and a garden the size of a baseball field! Milk = 189 cups of milk per week, that is almost 12 gallons per week. We need to get a cow or two!
Meat would be almost 22 pounds per week. Then the grains! 378 oz per week, which is almost 24 pounds! Then once you get all of these foods you have to prepare them into good nutritious meals. Add in a picky eater or two and it’s enough to make your hair turn gray. (please, no comments about the gray in my hair)

Sweeping… Kitchen is done at least three times a day and living areas 1-2 times. I could figure out the square footage, but I think not. Then there is vacuuming and mopping and… the toilets… Let’s not talk about the toilets. It is enough to say we are blessed to have them inside the house and not outside. But they do need maintenance and cleaning on a regular basis.

Now on to education-
We still have 5 that we are schooling at home. I must admit that I sometimes follow way too many rabbit trails when we do unit studies and get burned out when doing it by the books…. So I tend toward the unit studies thought it takes us a while to finish a unit. But the numbers alone might show you why we have chosen this method though it sometimes gets crazy.
Consider for yourself what it would be like to teach 30 subjects at separate grade levels if I followed a traditional curriculum. It would look something like this-
(all taught on 5 separate levels)
10 spelling tests
25 science lessons
25 math lessons
25 English lessons
25 history lessons
25 Bible lessons
plus sports practices and games, coops, church, etc.

Did I mention that I have a toddler, in case it has been too long since you have been blessed with one of those… if it gets quiet, there is a problem! If it gets loud, there is a problem. If by chance the toddler and the 5 year old are gone at the same time, it may take you hours to recover the bathroom from the mess they made while experimenting with baby powder, tissue paper and water!

So, now, you may ask what it is that I have to be thankful for with all that work to do? Well, I'll tell you my friend. It's like this-
Scripture tells us "That my father owns the cattle on a thousand hills" so I know we will always have food to eat!
Also, remember that story about the sparrows, that God arrays them in splendor? So know I don't have to worry about clothes for a while- like forever, I guess...

As for a roof over my head? "He shall cover me with His feathers and under his wings shall I trust."
If everyone in the family learned just one scripture a week different than everyone else in the family we would be at 468 scriptures a year! I wonder how long it would take us to learn the whole Bible at that rate? Oh, now my head is churning… I think we can do it! Where do I start? Gonna go play with the numbers and make some plans and chase that rabbit for a while!…………..

So the next time you begin to feel overwhelmed, come back and look at this list. You never know when you might be blessed in this way, too! But until you are, enjoy how quickly your housework can be done!

I know that I often look to my many friends who have more children than I do and I maybe should, but I don’t think about how much work they have to do, I think about how incredibly blessed they are, because I know I am so incredibly blessed with my little family!