Going to the Store? Pick up Milk.

Last year 19 people gathered at Brian's parent's house around New Year's Eve time to celebrate Christmas. We couldn't all get together on the actual day of Christmas so we settled for the next holiday after.

With that many people eating, sleeping and showering under one roof you can imagine the amount necessities we flew through at world-record pace. Eggs, cereal, milk, hot water, clean bath towels, a mattress or even just a pillow to sleep on and, of course, let's not forget the Nash family favorite: beer.

We were all stuck trapped nestled into one house for four loooooong days. A trip to Target or the grocery store was seen as a grand vacation from this chaotic house.

Brian's mom would yell out, "We're out of eggs!"

You could simultaneously hear four voices shout, "I'll go out and get some!" I'm not sure but I think I may have been one of those voices each and every time we ran out of something.

We were begging for some freedom. Even if just for a half hour. But that freedom came with a cost. Brian's older brother instituted the rule that if you were the lucky one that got chosen for a bit of freedom you had to do something for everyone else. You had to buy beer. A pack of twelve or more. None of this six-pack business. We were all slowly going certifiably insane and we needed beer to feed our souls dang it!

And so it went, that's how the Nash family never ran out of beer at Christmas/New Year's.

Though the story isn't nearly as entertaining, our tiny family of three has slowly become that way with milk. I tried to make milk a luxury around here zoning it off to dinner only for the adults and only at mealtimes for the kiddo. But someone hasn't been following the rule. And that someone has been me. William too. But mostly me.

So I hereby enforce the Nash Family Christmas Beer Rule into my own tiny and unchaotic household. If you're going to Target or the grocery store, please, pick up a gallon of milk. Or two.