raising multiple children

I am a SAHM to 5 children and I am always asked 2 questions:

1) Are you crazy?

2) How do you manage it?

Well, the answer to the first questions is YES I am a little crazy. Not a lot just a small amount of craziness.

I mother and manage 5 children all under the age of 10 by many different ways.

1) We do Chore Sunday ~ Every Sunday is our chore day. This is the day that we clean the playroom, bathrooms, rooms, vacume, dust, wash floors, etc. etc. etc. My 3 oldest children (ages 10, 8 and 7) clean their own bathrooms .. Yes they clean their sinks and their toilets. It is very good way to give them responsibility and if it isn't clean would you want to use it?

2) We have "buckets" which consist of plastic bins. These bins are our clothes bins. Everytime these clothes bins are filled to the top with clothes it is time for them to put their clothes away. They must bring me down an empty bin ~ if not that means their clothes aren't put away. It makes them feel as thought they aren't putting clothes away everyday.

3) They make their own lunches. The night before a school day they pack their lunches with healthy snacks and then make their own sandwiches. Yep, a 3 year old is capable of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich just as a 10 year old can make herself a ham and cheese sandwich. Again, we are instilling responsibility into them.

4) We pick out our clothes the night before school! No fighting in the morning on what we will be wearing it is already done!

5) We have a breakfast and dinner menu. We do this every Saturday night for the next week. They know each day what we will be having for breakfast and dinner. Boy does this make my life easier. I can then grocery shop on Sunday for the things that we only need for for the following week. Not only does this make it easier for me since I know what I will be making for breakfast and dinner, I also save money.

Whether you have 1 child or 8 children these few little steps will help manage your life a little better. It always helps to have some small solutions to things that can become HUGE issues.

Hope this helps, it sure does help me!