Wild Indians Combat Chaos

My parents, who where both only children, knew little about raising a family with lots of kids. But they were both very good organizers. In fact, my Dad's job as a Management Consultant entailed his looking at businesses and making suggestions that would make the business stronger. He brought this focus into our lives and with my Mother's insight into our personalities, they were able to keep our household running smoothly, at least most of the time. 

One example - When I was little, toothbrushes were manufactured with only four color choices. This could be a problem for a family that had twice that many children. So about twice a year, when we all got new toothbrushes, my Dad would line-up the new ones, get out his pocket knife, and make little notches in the handle of each brush. The color helped us know which toothbrush could be ours, but the notch count was the deciding factor - Barbie had one notch, Cherie got two, mine had three notches and so on. It's a good thing little Susie only had a few teeth to brush - her toothbrush ended up with eight notches (not that she could count that high yet). By the time Kitty was born, toothbrush makers had figured out additional colors would sell very well. 

About the time we were awaiting Greg's arrival in late1960, it became apparent that my Mom needed more help with the tasks of keeping six children clean and prepared for school or play each day. Barbie was nine and Cherie was eight - very grown up to the rest of us. So they became our Indian Chiefs and each was assigned a tribe of Indians.  Barbie got the girls (me and baby Margie) and Cherie got the boys (Tommy and Rick). This system worked very well, and we learned to ask our Chief (instead of Mom) for help with baths, homework and an assortment of other things that came up each day. Within a year, Barbie and Cherie were allowed to walk us to the park or the local shopping center where we could get an ice cream cone for 5 cents, or visit a branch of the local library. As new babies arrived, they were assign a Chief, who were their main diaper changer and bottle feeder. 

Each Christmas season, we drew names from a hat (actually, a bowl) to see who we would buy a present for. I'm not sure how my parents managed it, but one tribe always seemed to draw the names of the kids in the other tribe. We would pile in the car and Dad would drive us to a local outdoor mall, all beautifully decorated for Christmas. This was a big deal because it was night, and the spirit of Christmas was brighter then the beautiful lights. A return time was agreed upon and Dad would give the Chiefs money (our limit was $5 each). Off we'd go with our Chief to do Christmas shopping. We'd alway try to spend a little less so the balance of each $5 allotment could be spent on something little for our parents.  

The tribes prevailed for many years. I know my Mom was very grateful for the help, but also really proud of Barbie and Cherie. It seemed so logical at the time, but until I grew up I never realized how young they were when this all started.