March 31, 2025

We Are The Hansons: Roles in Our Family

We Are The Hansons: Roles in Our Family

In this episode of We Are The Hansons, we dive into the unique roles each family member plays in our large, dynamic household. From the leader to the peacemaker, the comic relief to the fixer, every role shapes our family’s daily life and strengthens our bond. Join us as we share funny, heartfelt, and relatable stories about what it’s like to be part of a big, bustling family!

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Welcome back to we are the Hansens.

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Today, we're diving into an important topic, roles in our family.

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With the family as big as ours, you can't imagine

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that everyone has their part to play. Some roles are assigned,

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some are just natural, and some are constantly evolving. From

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parents to kids, everyone contributes.

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To making our household run smoothly.

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So let's talk about how we handle responsibilities, the importance

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of teamwork, and the beauty of finding balance within our

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big family. As parents, our roles go way beyond just

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keeping everyone alive. In fact, although that alone is a

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full time job, we are the decision makers, the organizers,

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and the ultimate problem solvers. We try to set a

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tone of love, discipline, and support for our kids and

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I tend to be the planner, the one who ensures

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everyone is where they need to be. I also played

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the role of emotional support, helping our kids through highs

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and lows of their days. Plus, let's be honest, I'm

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the one who remembers who needs new shoes when you know,

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when we got to make sure the kids get to

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the dentist or the doctors, and which child left their.

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Homework on the kitchen table.

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My husband he's the one who builds and fixes things

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and the problem solver when the kids want something but

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know they need to go through a tougher negotiator. He

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also steps in when someone needs that extra push, whether

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it's a kid struggling with confidence or needing motivation to

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finish a tough task. I tend to help with that

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because if my kids are struggling, I'm always the one

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to walk them through it and tell them you got this,

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you can do it, you know. I tend to do

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that Part two. And then in a large family, older

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siblings naturally take on leadership roles. They help guide the

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younger ones and step in when mom and dad are

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juggling too much. Now, Morgan, when you know, she's what

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I call an experienced big sister.

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She's been through it all.

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And obviously McKenna has two, but Morgan has been the

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one that you know, she didn't work right away. She

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was school constantly. McKenna started working during school. Morgan, she

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did two at the very end, but she had so

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much going on during school time with cheer and being

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part of different groups at school.

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She was home.

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And seeing more of what was going on, so she was,

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you know, there through everything and often serves as a

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mentor to her younger siblings. She's also the go to

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for fashion advice, homework help, and sometimes even parent translator.

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When one of the younger kids doesn't understand why we

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said no to something, they go to Morgan and ask.

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Each of our older kids has strengths they bring to

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our family. Some are great at cooking and making meals.

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Others are the best at keeping the little ones entertained,

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and some are the best at resolving sibling fights before

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they escalate. That doesn't always happen, but we haven't had

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a lot of real escalated fights in the family, so

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that's good. The middle kids, like Maddie and Gavin often

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find themselves in unique spots. They aren't the little ones

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who need constant supervision, and they aren't the oldest with

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big responsibilities. They tend to be the peacemakers and entertainers,

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helping create fun and keeping everyone in check. Sometimes, though

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Gavin will instigate, so there's always that too. They make

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up the fun squad, coming up with games. Maddie is

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great at this, organizing activities and keeping the household lively.

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Definitely Maddie.

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Gavin tends to make us all laugh, and they also

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serve as mediators, especially when the younger siblings are frustrated

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or need help with something simple but doesn't want to

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ask one of the older kids or us, they will

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go to them.

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The youngest kids in.

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Our family may not have structured roles, but they bring joy, laughter,

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and let's be real, plenty of messes their role which

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I would say they're my professional testers of patience. They

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remind us all to slow down and enjoy little moments,

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even if it means dealing with an entire role of

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toilet paper unspooled on the floor. They also help bring

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the family together. Nothing unites a group of siblings faster

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than the little siblings saying something absolutely hilarious or needing

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help with something cute. They always try to get the

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older ones to build them a treehouse or a full

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or something. One of the biggest lessons we emphasize in

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our house is teamwork. No one can do everything alone

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and it is important that we all contribute. That means

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for our rotations, everyone has their assigned tasks, the other

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ones take on more, but even the little ones can

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help with smaller things problem solving together, whether it's figuring

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out how to rearrange the bunk beds or who left

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their plate on the table. We encourage everyone to work

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together to solve problems instead of always running to me

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or my husband Jeremy supporting each other.

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Some days.

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Someone is having a tough time and another family member

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has to step up and help out. That's what family

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is for. Everyone helps each other. Roles in our family

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aren't set in stone. As kids grow, their responsibilities change.

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As parents, our approach evolves based on what each child's

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needs at that time, and sometimes life throws unexpected changes

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our way that force us to adjust. The key is

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being flexible and supporting each other through those shifts. Now,

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in our family, we have always moms have a role

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of cleaning and cooking and keeping things organized. Dad in

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our family, my husband, he is the one that goes

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out and fixes the cars or fixes something in the

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house that breaks. Then there's tons of things that need

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to be fixed on a daily basis or need to

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be done and he's doing them. So we both work

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and you know, he does his thing, I do mine.

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You know, our kids take out trash, the boys do,

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the girls do a lot of the inside work. Each

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everyone cleans the room. You know, there's different roles in

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our home. And like I said, me as a mom,

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you know, cook and cleaning. Yes, my husband does cook

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and he does help clean, but the majority of it

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falls onto us as moms. He will cook outside on

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the grill, on the smoker, whatever, but majority of that

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role is done. You know, he's got his roles. I

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have my roles. We are a team and we pull

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together and get it done. And then you have the children.

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You know, the boys do a lot of the outside

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work in the yards, taking out trash, stuff like that,

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and the girls do a lot of the cleaning of

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the home, you know, helping, cook, organizing. That is how

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we are in our home. I've seen a lot of

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homes just like ours, and it's nothing bad. I mean,

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everybody has their assigned tasks and that is just how

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we are. Mom and dad are considered leaders of.

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The chaos.

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And we are I mean we take on a role

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that as parents. We go beyond just keeping everyone.

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Alive and fed.

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Like I said, we have so much happening between making

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sure the kids get to school and making sure homework

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is done, and you know, getting to the dentist or

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the doctors or orthodonist or track meet or football or

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whatever it may be. There's always something that's got to

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get done.

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You know.

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Like I said, I tend to be the planner. I

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make sure that things are planned out. If one of

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my kids is sad, I'm their emotional support. I'm always

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there for them, helping our kids, you know, getting through

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the highs and lows. Like I brought up earlier, that

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is important.

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Then my kids.

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You know, when dad's out in the garage, my kids

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are out there too. They like to tinker just as

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much as my husband. So half the time, when they're

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done with their chores and inside, they go out to

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the garage and they're just as part of help with

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fixing whatever is getting fixed out there, whether it be

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a car or maybe Jeremy's building something. They want to

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be there to help. If we jump into a project together,

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my kids are right there with us doing that project,

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and I love it because they're learning as we're building

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and enjoying our time together. And I want them to

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be able to do that with their own children eventually.

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In a large family, you know, siblings take on a

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leadership role. The older ones too pretty much step in

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if mom and dad aren't home. Them older siblings are

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going to be the ones to be the next in

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line to guide them, guide the younger ones in the

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right direction. And that's why we raise our kids the

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way we do, so that as they grow up, they're

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gonna jump in. If we're not around and there's something

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that happens, the older kids are going to know exactly

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what to do and how to handle things. So that's

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what I mean by that. And each of our older

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kids has strengths they bring to our family.

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Some are better cooks than others. Most of the time.

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The boys in our home are better cooks on the grill.

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They aren't so good in the house, but they can

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put a burger on, they can put a broad on,

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They can put a steak on the grill and cook

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it and it tastes great. They try and do that

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in the house, it's totally different. It's not as good.

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It does take practice, and they can cook to make

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sure that they can eat and stay alive, the older boys,

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but a lot of times they would rather order out,

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and that's just their preference.

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Each of the older ones.

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Have a great head on their shoulders.

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They know.

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Their routines, they know that they have to work to

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bring in money to pay bills. They know what it's

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like to buy their butts to have everything that they got.

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You know, just seeing them that way, we know as

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parents that we did a good job raising them. Now,

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the little ones, most of the time, their role in

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our home is to pick up their mess. And yes

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they can help cook. They do do that. Sometimes they

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get a little carried away and it's not the greatest,

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but at least they're trying. They see me mopping the floor,

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sweeping the floor, they want to do it. So I

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give them the opportunity to help and to learn too.

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So when they see mom doing dishes or sweeping the floor,

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or mopping, or wiping the walls down, or cooking dinner,

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or making sure that things get done and laundry gets

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put away, whatever it may be, they are right there

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wanting to help. And that's okay because I want them

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to be able to do that when they grow up

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and have kids of their own. Each person, mother, father,

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older siblings, middle siblings, and younger siblings all have a

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role in a home. Even though every person has a role,

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being a team is the biggest and most important thing

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in a family, especially a large family like ours. Just

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having that team work with you and not against you

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get you a whole new ball game. If you have

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one person in the home that doesn't want to help

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do anything, that can just make things a whole mess.

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So as long as they're willing to put in the

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effort and help and the teamwork works together, you got

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a good team. And I know in our family we

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have a good team. Some days are hard, but it

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gets done and we can all just chill out and

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relax and have a good evening after that. I know

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how that is just because some days I don't want

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to cook, some days I don't want to clean, but

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stuff is not going to get done if we don't

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all work together and do it.

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I think with.

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All of us and all the kids growing up and

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seeing each other, you know, step by step doing it,

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that has helped our family.

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You know, the younger ones.

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Grow up to where they're at now seeing their siblings

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seeing us do it. When they see an older person

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doing it, they're going to be like, oh, while they're

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doing it, I'm going to do it too. So that

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helps a lot. Being in a big family means everyone

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has that role or a role, whether it's being the

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responsible one, the comic relief, or the helper. The beauty

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of our family is that no one is stuck in

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just one role forever. We all grow and change together.

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If you're part of a big family, or even just

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curious about how we manage, we want to hear from you.

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Share your thoughts, experiences, and or questions with us. Thanks

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for tuning in. We are the Hansens. Don't forget to

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