Carpools and Potluck dinners

I'm so not the typical, large family, home cookin', housekeepin', denim dress wearing mama. People often assume, erroneously, that since I've birthed lots o' babies that I have domestic skills. HA! I so wish that I was skilled in the kitchen or naturally kept the house tidy. It's something I struggle with every single day.

I absolutely hate to cook. I've tried, I really have but I just can't find my niche. The kids demand to be fed three meals each and every day. :) I've gone through casserole phases, pasta phases and now were stuck in a taco and spaghetti rut. I'm seriously thinking of enrolling into some culinary classes this spring semester.

The housekeeping is a bit easier now that the kids have daily and weekly chores. But the laundry never ends. Sometimes, I actually get up in the middle of the night to switch it out. UGH.

Naturally, you'd think that carpools and potlucks would be something a big family like ours would relish. Sadly these are the two things that shake me to the core. I have my own routine. We are involved in way too many extra curricular activities. I know this. I know that it probably would give me a break to be involved in a carpool. I hate them. I don't want to have to worry about other people's kids. I don't want to have to worry if my kid is buckled safely, if the driver is paying attention, if they are really watching my kiddo like I would or not. I don't do carpools. There is no question that on the first day of school I will be bombarded with the high pressure carpool sales pitch from the more "natural" mothers. Bring it on, I'm ready for you this year.

Potlucks are just, well, nasty. It's one thing to eat dinner as a guest in someone's home. It's an entirely different thing to eat a mix of stranger's masterpieces on a wobbly paperplate balanced on my knees, especially when this occurs outdoors. I can't help looking everyone over, wondering who brought what item. Did the lady covered with cat hair bring the pasta dish? Did the woman with the dirty children wash her hands? I just can't eat meals from people I don't know. I really need to see their kitchen and their animals before I can eat their food. I stick to to the bucket o' chicken or pizza and blissfully try to enjoy each bite ignoring the unwashed hands and general uncleanliness of the fastfood person who prepared them. After all, I can't see that person so it isn't an issue. :)