I’ve been asked what we do to keep things running smoothly with so many kids so here’s a little peek into our daily routine.   It’s all about the prep, people!
    Meals are planned and shopped for on the weekends.  Kids help once a week with making dinner (one has asked to help each day to learn more cooking skills – will happily oblige and see how long that lasts)
   For lunches, we make pb&js in bulk and put them in the freezer (they thaw by lunch time and keep the rest of the of the lunch cold).  Veggies are cut and put in snack bags in a bin in the fridge along with yogurts and string cheese so they can be easily grabbed and thrown in a lunchbox.  We have one requesting salads, so we grilled up chicken breasts and have the salad fixings chopped and ready to grab.
   Chores are done each morning by all but one kid, who an evening job.  Part of our back to school shopping trip was a family meeting about what everyone wanted to do each day so everyone is feeling ok with what they have and our house stays pretty clean.
     Laundry is one a schedule – everyone has their day to get it done.  If they start it, I switch it over during the day and then they come home and fold and put it away.
    We have two kids (the ones who tend to take longer to get up and rolling in the mornings) so they take showers in the evening.  Everyone makes their lunches the night before and puts them in the fridge.
   Preps makes the difference, it truly helps things run much more smoothly.  Not lying, it’s not always rainbows and unicorns and our people wake up crabby and ornery just like anyone else’s but the expectations are set, and for the most part it all goes down pretty easily.
   Hope this helps someone, somewhere out just a little!  It’s all pretty easy when you make a plan.