We have had some problems with our septic system (old, cheap, small, lots of people in the house....) and came to the point we couldn't use the toilets until the septic company came to look at it.
11 people with no toilets for an estimated 3+ days.
Yeah, not gonna happen.
A couple of quick phone calls and we, for all intents and purposes, bugged out- we threw everything we could think of possibly needing into the car and left for my dad's house (it was almost supper time and I needed to get there to cook). He's out of state visiting relatives, but has his phone so we didn't just move in. We had his permission. ("Borrow my what? House? Of course." (In the tone of voice that says "Why are bothering to ask? You know I don't care."))
It was like a vacation in a way;
My oldest son got the system fixed today (what the company said needed doing) so we are back home now.
We left Dad's house very clean which was fun.
But walking into ours we left so fast...
Sigh.
Though I should spend a couple of hours cleaning here, I think I'll take a nap.
11 people with no toilets for an estimated 3+ days.
Yeah, not gonna happen.
A couple of quick phone calls and we, for all intents and purposes, bugged out- we threw everything we could think of possibly needing into the car and left for my dad's house (it was almost supper time and I needed to get there to cook). He's out of state visiting relatives, but has his phone so we didn't just move in. We had his permission. ("Borrow my what? House? Of course." (In the tone of voice that says "Why are bothering to ask? You know I don't care."))
It was like a vacation in a way;
- Different environment
- Different schedule
- Different food (cause we missed some things when we left our hose and had to improvise :-)
My oldest son got the system fixed today (what the company said needed doing) so we are back home now.
We left Dad's house very clean which was fun.
But walking into ours we left so fast...
Sigh.
Though I should spend a couple of hours cleaning here, I think I'll take a nap.
Oh noooo! :( It's great that you were able to trek over to your dad's house, though -- it sure beats the alternative, I'll tell you that for free.
ReplyDelete-- David
P.S. I think it's pretty cool that your son's *so* handy he can fix a septic system! This might be an advantage of having so many children -- the older ones have to pitch in with household management, so they learn a ton of skills that most people don't acquire until long after leaving the nest. Does that sound accurate or am I full of it again?
Oh you are right on:-)
DeleteMy boys (my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th children) have helped my dad build his garage (which is actually bigger than my house!), re-roof and repaint his house, rebuild the engine in our van, rebuild the tranny in our other van, as well as many smaller repairs on our house and Dad's. They are really quite handy. My Mom has taught the older girls to sew, crochet, embroider, cook, and many other things. I have confidence my 2 older girls (1 and 5th children) could easily run an entire household if they needed to. the next 2 would come pretty close.
So maybe it's really my parents more than my family size:-)
But team work and everyone pulling their weight is essential. I simply can't make up the difference by myself.
Also, I look at these homemaking and home repair skills as part of school. Your education is supposed to prepare you for adulthood, and so needs to include cooking (and nutrition), cleaning (and the accompanying chemistry and time management), money management, shopping skills, and all the other things adults need to know.