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This Should Be Interesting November 18, 2004

I grew up in a pretty small house. Not tiny, but not large either. Our house had three small bedrooms, one tiny bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen/dining room. It was sufficient for the five of us, but it’s not like there was room to spare. My brothers shared a bedroom until I went off to college. I’m sure they enjoyed that. Having to share one bathroom was always a source of contention, especially when the three of us were teenagers.

Now that my brother and I have spouses, holiday time leads to an even more crowded situation in my parent’s house. The house will be even more packed this Thanksgiving. Imagine nine people sharing one bathroom. Oh, my. Somehow my parents, their two great nephews (who my parents now have custody of,) my brother and his wife, my other brother, my husband, and myself will all have to find a way to manage with only one bathroom for a few days. Should be interesting.

The sleeping arrangements get kind of tricky, too. My parents will of course sleep in their bedroom, and the two munchkins share a bedroom. That leaves one guest room and the living room. My husband and I have dibs on the guest bedroom, one of the perks of being the oldest. Plus, if anyone were to give me flack on that this year, I’d just play the IVF card. You know, “I really need to sleep somewhere comfortable, because I’m injecting my butt with an inch and a half needle every night.” Not that the guest bed is that comfy, but I’m all about having a little privacy. My single brother will get the couch, but that leaves my other brother and his wife. I think they might end up sleeping on an aero bed in the middle of the living room floor. It would make sense for someone to get a hotel room, but my siblings and I are too cheap to pay for a place to stay when we could stay at my parent’s house for free.

So, it will be an experience. I’m sure it will be fine as long as we don’t have a repeat of the Thanksgiving where we all ended up with food poisoning.

Comments»

1. Julianna - November 18, 2004

Hi Amanda. I’ll be thinking of you.

What a nightmare to get food poisoning on Thanksgiving.

Take care of yourself.

2. Sheri - November 18, 2004

Good luck with the 1 bathroom situation! Yikes!
!

We had the whole sick Thanksgiving too. Imagine grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins rushing to the bathroom to throw up every 5 minutes. Ahh, the holidays….

3. Brenda Sumner - November 18, 2004

You’ll survive… your parents house sounds exactly like my parents house… I’ve seen that house with 30 people and 1 bathroom and we all survived. LOL

Good luck… and send me some corn bread dressing and
boudin!!!

4. Anonymous - November 19, 2004

1 bathroom and 9 people? I guess you should be thankful it’s not an outhouse!

Have fun!
Marla
middle Way

5. Dee - November 19, 2004

Holy mackerel! Depsite the crowded environs, I bet y’all have a great time getting together. That’s why I love to spend Christmas-time with my in-laws et al. It’s a three-ring circus there. Luckily, since we moved back home this year, we’re only 90 miles away and can drive home instead of figuring out where we’ll be sleeping (the first time since 2000)!

We do travel to my mom’s for Thanksgiving and–while not as crowded as your folks’ place–this year she’s since moved into a one bedroom apartment. Rather than overload her, A, me, our 2 big dogs, and her 3 cats into the place, we’re staying at a local Comfort Inn. Should be pretty holiday-like, don’tcha think? We’ll make the best of it…as I’m sure you will too. At times I wish I had such an extended family to share with (I’m an only child, from a long line of ‘em too).