I SURVIVED
Parenting challenges show parents are more resilient than they think
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Photo by Jason Monaco Photography
BY CORTNEY FRIES aybe you’ve read the “I Survived” books with your kids and talked about what it means to persevere. Or perhaps you’ve just been pondering how you’ll make it through another sleepless night or tantrum-filled day. Parenting is challenging, even under the best of circumstances. These three Chicago families faced some big challenges and made it through to tell you how.
Survived: Raising six boys under 5 years old Parents: Chad and Kristie Miller Kids: Andrew and Alec, now 9, Nicholas, Brady and Benjamin, now 6, Owen, now 4 “Congratulations,” Kristie Miller’s ultrasound technician exclaimed, “there’s three babies in there!” Glancing at her husband, Chad, and their twin toddler boys, the tears gushed. “I knew what we went through with the twins. Finding out we were going to add three more was very scary,” she recalls. After struggling to get pregnant for two years, the Millers underwent intrauterine insemination to facilitate fertilization. They were thrilled to deliver healthy twin boys, Andrew and Alec. Since Chad had wanted two kids and Kristie four, they decided to go for a second treatment, hoping for one more child. They got three: Nicholas, Brady and Benjamin. Two and a half years later, surprise baby, Owen, their sixth boy, came along. “We both got what we wanted,” Kristie laughs. Two plus four equals six. Just thinking about the feedings every
two hours, endless diapers and mounds of laundry can make your head spin. But with Kristie and Chad’s easy-going demeanors, you can see how they made it. “It would not have worked if he was not a hands-on dad,” Kristie says. They also have an extremely supportive family and Chad’s six-week paternity leave to thank. Their secrets? Schedules and creativity! “You run baby shifts,” says Chad. “When one cries, you get them all up,, change and feed them all at the samee time. I became a station connoisseur with swings, tummy time mats and Bumbo seats.” You also have to be crafty to get chores done. How does he cut the grass with six kids? “You get a wagon!” the Millers chuckle. Or six toy mowers and the kids all follow like ducklings. But you have to respect that each parent has their own way of doing things. “When they were with me, the babies were all in onesies for easyy access,” Chad says.
Preparing and paying for Christmas is mindboggling. Packing school lunches and managing four different baseball team schedules requires a lot of planning. But they do it. “We are very lucky to have six healthy boys,” Kristie says. “We are grateful and wouldn’t ever change a thing.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 50
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