5 Tips for Planning and Organizing
As a mom of six kids, I have learned many tips to help make our household run smoothly. We are definitely not perfect but we are doing all we can to lessen the stress of the everyday tasks of meals, kids activities, and cleaning.
Tip #1: Plan a WHOLE month at a time, this includes writing down all your activities for the coming month and even meal ideas. I spend an hour the week before the month starts to write these down on a calendar that we display in the kitchen so all can see. The kids now go look at the calendar to find out what we are having for dinner BEFORE they come ask me!
Tip #2: Share your digital calendar. I have created a google calendar that I also enter our families activities on. Then I share this calendar with my kids and husband to their google accounts. Now all those with devices can add their acitivites. This keeps everyone aware of each other's schedules.
Tip #3: Share a digital grocery list. Through Google Keep you can create a list and share it with others. I love this app because I can add grocery items to the list while my husband is shopping at the store! Also everyone can add items throughout the week so the list will be ready for when we go grocery shopping.
Tip #4 Work and clean together. Who likes cleaning? Not me. But I do like a clean home! Growing up my dad always had us help clean the kitchen together after dinner and do a deeper clean of the house on the weekends. We have adopted this in our house too. It is much more fun to clean together and the work is much quicker. Add a little music and you have a cleaning dance party!!
Tip #5 Block schedule your time. In our home, the kids know what time we have family scriptures everyday, when snacks and dinner time is, when they can jump on their video games, and when to start getting ready for bed. With this block schedule, we each have confidence in the routine of our day. I use the video game time to write blogs and share about Anchor Planner while the kids play video games, watch TV, and read books. By having a routine schedule of our day, there is less "I'm bored." and "What are we going to do?"
These five tips help relieve a lot of the stress of running a home with lots of kids. What are some mom tips you do to help your home run more smoothly?
