The Upside of a Small Family

The government considers us a "big family".  We even get an extra $10 (or something similar) because of it.  Apparently three kids is becoming a rare thing.  Around here, it's a regular sized family, amongst a whole bunch of families with 4-6 kids.  That's Yarra Valley water for you.

Our foray into kids moving out and becoming a small family, albeit temporarily, has brought out some interesting little observations.

1.  It's so much quieter.
Obviously!  The funny thing about that is that we barely know Miss Mischief is home most of the time, because she holes up in her room and slinks out for food, basically.  Truly, our kids are all at the age where the spend a bunch of time in their rooms like hibernating bears, so why is it quieter?  Because Miss Sunshine isn't here to come out in the evening and wrestle through the ads on TV with her Dad. He has no one to pick on.  No one to bug.  No one to bother.  It's just blissful for this introvert who spends all day with people!

2.  I don't have to cook as often!
This is a new discovery this week.  If I cook the same volume as normal, a meal will go two nights, easily. Plus leftovers for lunches sometimes too.  Oh. My. Goodness!  What a beautiful relief.  I'll cook tomorrow night, and then Wed-Fri we'll just feast on the 2nd half of the meals I've made from Sunday to Tuesday.  I figured if I make three and then cycled back to the start it wouldn't feel like we're just eating the same thing over and over.  And thanks to some new, inexpensive-but-better-than-disposable containers from Aldi, this week, we're all set to store single-serve quantities of some of it.

3.  My food budget has gone way down.
I'm still paying for the girls' food.  They're both poor Uni students, and the reality is, they live at home because they can't afford to move out.  So I hand them $60 each weekend (they blow in, briefly for that!) and they make that work for the two of them.  Meanwhile, I've only spent about $50 on the three of us.  Well....I did do a big Costco shop the other day, so that makes a difference, doesn't it?  Still, even if I spent the same as I give the girls it would be less than when they were here for dinner every night.

4.  The girls are very different in how they connect.
It has become clear, this past week, that Miss Mischief is the connector.  Miss Sunshine is happy with distance.  That would probably change over time, but at the moment Sunshine gal is revelling in being on her own.  Miss Mischief has popped in to get Microsoft Office on her new computer, and organised for me to drive down to Koorong, and buy them lunch, and wash her hair....ok, maybe she just needs me more!  I'm blaming the post-op recovery process.

So while I'm content that they are safe and sound tucked up in my friends' home, Hubby comments every day that he misses the girls.  It's too quiet for his extroverted self!