My daughter had a booth at Monarch Fest, held at Eagle Marsh, a protected wetland with trails and a barn for education. She loves to hike through the marsh, and for several years has taken her little brother with her every Sunday. They enjoy their time together and I get a break from children.

When he was very young, I had seven children at home. They played with him and helped take care of him. My eldest child moved out when the youngest was two. By the time he was six years old, we were down to four children. He’s had his own bedroom since then.

His sisters were four to a room in Wisconsin; one moved away before we came to Fort Wayne. Three girls sort of fit into a smaller bedroom here. As soon as we could clear the finished half of the basement after our move, one girl moved down there. Our eldest daughter returned home after college. We had two up, two down, for several years.

I didn’t mind having them all home as long as they took reasonably good care of their stuff and helped with housework. I’m thankful we’ve never had a problem with dishonesty; they have all lost keys or debit cards or cash at some point. We all pitch in to look for it, and when it’s found, we return it.

One daughter was in her second year in the dorm at St. Francis when my husband died. It was the third or fourth week of class; she didn’t know her roommates well and they were not sympathetic. So she moved back home. Another daughter had started her first job at McDonald’s a month before; that did not go well. We were all puddles of mourning together for a year or so.

Gradually emotions evened out, more or less. One daughter graduated from St. Francis and another started there. Two moved into an apartment together. I had three living at home and only two homeschooling. I needed a break from children, frequently. The youngest two needed Mom just as much as the older ones did, but Mom has less energy now.

This year three are renting a house together, and the number six child is planning trips to Idaho and Indianapolis, working long hours and hoping to move out. I’m only homeschooling one, and as a senior, he does almost all of it without my supervision.

What’s weird is that I have time now to think and write. That little boy is 17 and taller than me. He’s growing facial hair and noticeably stronger this year. He does activities away from home nearly every day. I’m still driving him. A driver’s license is on his list of things to do, but not high on his list. It takes time to drive him and we get to talk and listen to videos on the way. He has good taste in music. We both love to learn and are interested in almost everything. I kind of, don’t want a lot of break from him… and yet, he needs to become his own person.

My mom lamented that as soon as her children got really interesting to talk to, they moved away!