Wonderful quote from Sora's blog.

8+ children means that at least half of them know how to clean up the kitchen, clean a bathroom and make a meal. It means that you can holler: "Get in the van, we have to leave!" and in 5 minutes they are all in the van, *buckled up*, and you grab your purse and hop in. It means you can get up at 8:30 in the morning if you want to, take a shower, head to the kitchen, and all the children have already eaten, and they saved some French Toast for you and even made you coffee. With a word and a wave of your hand, the kitchen gets cleaned up and you sit down and start reading History. It means you don't have to do the vacuuming anymore. It means you can take a walk with your hubby--just the two of you. It means you can go out to dinner (!!!) without paying a baby sitter! It means you aren't starved for conversation with someone who can say their "R's".

Sometimes I get so down on myself about raising the children and I forget how much they have actually learned. When I read this today, I was reminded how much my own children do help out around the house. Katherine does lunch almost every day, and she can cook supper when I need her to. She cleans the kitchen and bathrooms, and does the laundry as well as I do, and she's good with the younger children. Stephen can do the kitchen and bathroom cleaning and the laundry, and he's good at taking care of minor repairs around the house. Mary Rose is learning the cleaning stuff, and she's really good with the babies -- she will even change a dirty diaper without being asked!

Now, if I can just teach them to speak politely to one another! :-P