WITH a group as close and great as The Cowsills, it's not too hard to imagine them being happy. But if you'd like to know just how happy, stay tuned ...
"Some people might think a big family like ours can't get along," Barry said. "And sometimes they're right. But only when we all want to use the phone at the same time or all want to take a shower that we have trouble. Otherwise, we never get in each others' way. We love each other."
In some big families, eating is a problem. Unless the mother is willing to cook as if she were running a kitchen for an army barracks, meals are often not eaten together. But Barbara's not only willing, she insists that her family make mealtime a real "together thing."
"It's not easy," she admitted. "One growing boy eats more than two growing girls. And since I have an awful lot of boys, there's an awful lot of cooking to be done. You wouldn't believe how many potatoes have to be peeled for one dinner!"
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Maybe we wouldn't believe it, but Barbara somehow sees that everything gets done. When her family sits down for a meal, everyone (unless there's a very good reason for being absent) is there — and hungry!
Breakfast at the Cowsill house is usually 8:00 on weekdays, a little later on weekends. Dinner is served around 6:00 unless the family has been busy with recording or other business. Then they might eat later.
"You learn manners pretty quickly," Johnny laughed and said, "when you're part of a big family. After all, it's impossible to reach across the table if you want something because the table's just too big!"
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After dinner, the family scatters to take care of individual business. For the boys and Susie, that business is homework during the school year, sports during the summer. For Bud, it's taking care of details for the next recording session, TV spot or what-have-you. For Barbara, sadly, it's cleaning up the kitchen again and getting ready for the next day.
If there's recording or rehearsing to be done, it's usually taken care of during the day, in the afternoon. The Cowsills record in Beverly Hills, which isn't too far from their home in Santa Monica. As for rehearsing, it's done in their home—in the special studio Bud had built into their garage.
"Lately, groups have started recording at night," Bob said. "But our folks don't want us to do that. It would keep us up too late, for one thing. And it would interfere with our schoolwork. So we stick to a daytime schedule and get along fine on it."
Get along fine? Quite an understatement. They get along great!
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