Tips For Big Families

Do you have a big brood?

If you’ve got more than three kids, most people will probably think that you’re crazy! After all, all those mouths to feed must cost you a fortune, right? Sure, it can cause some financial problems that will require some mind-bending problem solving skills to figure out, but you will also know that having a large family is absolutely fantastic! Your kids will all be your best friends and will keep you laughing and smiling throughout the day.

Sure, it’s not a total walk in the park, but having a lot of kids under your roof is a fantastic experience. Do you wish you could be a bit more organized in the mornings or keep a tighter control of your finances, though? While also keeping your kids happy and all their complaints down to a minimum? You might think that is maybe asking a bit too much, but it is completely possible. Read on to find out all the tips that can help you do this!

Schedule, Schedule, And Schedule!

Want to know the best way you can keep you and your whole clan organized? You need a super tight schedule! You can now buy family calendars that have different columns for each family member. That way, you will have space to enter in everyone’s different activities and plans. Can’t find a family calendar in which you can fit in your whole family? Just buy two and hang them side by side. When you have everyone’s activities written down in a calendar next to each other, you can easily see where you have any potential clashes or double bookings. If you want to have calendar notifications and reminders on your smartphone, you might also like the idea of signing up for Google Calendar. You can then create separate calendars for you, your partner, and all your kids. It’s then possible to add them all onto one family calendar. Everyone’s plans will be highlighted in different colors so you can easily see who will be busy and when. Once you start using a calendar regularly, you will find that your overall family’s organization greatly improves!

Everyone Needs To Be Hands On

One of the things that annoys most parents with lots of kids more than anything has to be all the housework they get left with. Sure, you and your partner should be sharing all the chores and jobs around the house, but that might feel like it is hardly enough to keep up with all the mess that your little ones leave behind them! There’s one really easy solution to all of this: get all the kids involved with the tidying and cleaning as well! It isn’t as hard as you might think, especially when you turn the chores into games for the little ones. For example, you might want to get the little kids to see how many towels they can fold neatly in a time limit. It’s also possible to turn tidying a room into a scavenger hunt.

Minimize Journey Complaints

If there is one thing that most parents dread, it is taking their kids on a long journey. Thankfully, most parents have to contend with just a couple of kids on their journeys. So, how on earth are you going to cope with your whole gang?! Well, you will be happy to hear that it isn’t actually that hard to embark on a long journey without too many tears and complaints. Firstly, it’s a good idea to make sure that the kids are as comfortable as possible. As you will need a large car, you might like the idea of fitting a lift kit so that your kids don’t complain when you drive over any potholes. Not only that, though, but the great suspension that the kit will give you will make it much easier for the children to sleep through a long journey. It’s also a good idea to keep some snacks in your car. Kids will often complain of hunger, especially when they are bored, so it’s always good to have something close by that you can quickly give them. Leave a couple of books and car games to try and keep the boredom at bay!

Plan Your Menus In Advance

As you have lots of kids to feed, you will no doubt have a lot of different tastes to cater for. Unfortunately, kids are often very picky eaters and a meal that pleases one child might cause another to have a wild tantrum! So, how do you get around kids who like different things? Well, you need to come to a compromise at meal time. Rather than cook different meals to accommodate each child at mealtimes, you need to decide on one meal and stick to it. If you change your meals regularly, then kids will often get a meal that they enjoy and will rarely have to eat something that they are not too keen on. Do you come out in a cold flush whenever you think about having to cook meals for all your clan? It is incredibly important that you plan all your menus at least a week in advance. That way, you can figure out the various ingredients and food you need to buy so that you can do your grocery shopping all in one go at the beginning of the week.

Say Cheese!

You want to know one thing that is surprisingly difficult once you have a lot of kids? Taking a family selfie! You will find that it can be almost impossible to get everyone looking perfect at the same time. Someone won’t be looking at the camera, while another child might refuse to smile and look happy. It can be a complete nightmare trying to get a nice family portrait sometimes, even if you hire a professional photographer! Do you want to perfect your selfie-taking skills? The best thing you can do is to get everyone to say “cheese” at the same time. That way, all the kids will look like they are smiling, even if they aren’t feeling particularly jolly on the inside…

Make Time For Everyone

You will find it easy to make time for you and your partner. After all, you can enjoy some time alone with just the two of you in the evenings once all the kids are in bed! But how do you find enough time to spend some quality time with each of your kids? This can be a lot more difficult, what with all of their school and social commitments. You might find it is easier making time with certain children rather than others. But it is absolutely crucial that you do try and make time for some one-on-one quality time for each of your children. Otherwise, some of your kids might start to feel left out, and it may appear like you have favorites. You don’t have to spend a long time with each child – even just 15 minutes each day chatting with each of your kids will be enough to catch up with them.

Don’t Forget About Yourself

As well as spending quality time with all of your kids, you also need to make sure that you are finding quality time for yourself. After a busy day, you might want to treat yourself to a hot bubble bath with a good book. Or maybe you would prefer to go for a long run or hit the gym? Whatever you want to do, it is important that you find something you can do on your own. This is a great way to indulge in some self-care and self-love, that can be just the ticket after a rowdy day with all the kids!

Out Is Better Than In

When you are trying to think of something to do with all your brood, it’s important to remember this tried and trusted maxim: out is always better than in! That means that you need to get out of the house rather than stay in all day. Even if you just go out and play in the garden, you will find that this is a lot more exciting and stimulating for the kids rather than staying in and watching TV or playing on their computers all day. Lots of families try not to go out so much because it can end up expensive, especially if you go to places that have high entrance fees. Thankfully, though, there are lots of ways you can keep the cost down. Firstly, why not spend some time in your local park? It’s free and you can take your own football to have a kick around with the kids. If it is a very hot day, you might even want to pack a picnic!

As you can see, life with a lot of kids doesn’t have to be a big struggle! Hopefully, all of these great tips can help you cope with all your kids. Got anything else you think we should add to the list? Let us know!