Large Family Living the Dream

With so many reality shows featuring large families, many people believe we all operate the same and march to the same drummer. There are a few shows that don’t even deserve mention, shows that highlight families who are complete train wreck’s. Others that are tolerable, but none, not one show, that portrays an inherently happy, thriving, exciting family. The Duggars, believe it or not, are the closest in this regard. They seem nice enough, they seem happy enough and they even venture outside of the box when it comes to life, dabbling in adventure, homeschooling their children, not pushing college at all costs … for them raising children is not merely a drain on their emotions, a tug at their freedom. They appear to be in the minority as parents … they are happy.

We are similar to the Duggar’s in that we live off the grid and that we are happy. But the similarities end there. While they are incredibly organized, we are not so much. We live day-to-day. And when I say live, I mean LIVE. We actually live, we engage our lives, we explore God’s paradise, we push our limits, we are … adrenaline junkies. Fear is our goal and conquering it is our mission. We are a team. We do everything together, we are all best friends. That’s not to say we don’t fight, we don’t have drama, of course we do, in fact it’s happening right now, as I write, that’s normal. I’m not saying we don’t do all the mundane things every other family does from cleaning to cooking, but it’s not a priority. Our living is a priority. No cubicle coma’s here. We set out to build this life and there were a lot of bumps and near catastrophe’s along the way, but we made it — we are now living the dream life.

The Dream is possible for everyone, you just have to be willing to shed societal norms. You have to make a decision to live off the grid, not make clothes and furniture and remodeling your priority. To transition from having to have new stuff to not caring that your vehicle is 11+ years old. Make the conscious effort to make fun and life and togetherness your priority. Look out your window – get outside. Pack up the kids and do something, anything every single day that makes your heart pump, your blood flow. Get wet-n-wild. It doesn’t matter how old or young your kids are … just pack them up and go. Don’t use your kids as a deterrent to do crazy things – use them as a reason to. Remember being a kid, the world was yours – channel that and revive all the things you used to love to do. Your kids will love that you’re not just a spectator, but a participant. Don’t just watch them snorkel, snorkel with them. don’t just watch them climb a tree, climb with them. Everything they do, do it as well. I kayaked until I was 30 weeks pregnant, so pregnancy isn’t even an excuse. Get your butt up and play, have fun … you only get one round, you better make it the best round you can.