How Do You Do It All?

Since becoming more active on Instagram, and sharing pictures from our life--both as a mommy with four kids, and as a DIY-er (fixing up and decorating our home!), I've been asked this question over and over: how do you do it all? How are you keeping up with everything?

My first response would obviously be: I'm NOT doing it all. There's no such thing as a "super mom," and there are MANY things (many good things!) I'm not focusing on at this stage of my life. 

Secondly, we struggle with all the same sort of things that any other family with little kids would struggle with! We might do things a little differently, and we have multiple little kids (I'm pregnant with #5, and our oldest is 5!), but we still deal with crumbs on the floor, and temper tantrums, and toilet paper unrolled all over the bathroom floor. And little kids playing in the toilet. 

I should probably add ONE more thing: the things we do now, work for us at this stage in our life. When I'm breast-feeding, or throwing up in the midst of a difficult first trimester, or when the kids are sick, or when Matt worked afternoon shift, we obviously had to switch around the things we did. So what I'm going to say below has worked really well for us, right now, and it may just work for you, too. But it also may not! Here are some suggestions, some ideas--and I hope they're helpful.

1. Form good habits--both for Mom, AND kids.

This is so huge for us, that I wanted to break it into two categories. First, for me as the mother. Good habits would include waking up every morning between 4 and 5 (please don't stop reading now! this is what I DO, and you don't need to do it, remember?), and showering before the kids wake up. Along with putting on makeup in the mornings, I have done these things every single day since Rachel (my oldest) was a baby. I get up- I get a shower- I get dressed- I put on makeup. It's a routine I've established, that makes me feel ready for every single day. 

Other good habits would include starting the laundry right after breakfast, or starting school as soon as I start the laundry. Habits can be very difficult to form, but I've found that once they're in place, you just get used to doing the same things every day, and it's no longer hard.

Ok, now habits for the kids: every morning, the kids wake up between 6 and 7, but they need to stay in their rooms until 7 (this doesn't happen every morning, but it's a general rule). They'll often turn on their lamp and look at books. At 6:45 (or around there), the girls get dressed and make their bed. Then it's time to come out and sit at the table for breakfast. 

After breakfast, Rachel sweeps the kitchen floor, Jemima brings the laundry baskets to the top of the stairs, and Matthias dumps the bathroom trash can into the big kitchen one. They have each had these quick chores for a while now, and it's just part of what they do every morning. Breakfast over- do your chore (and it takes them only a couple minutes each!).

Now for the "keeping the house clean" habits. We really have one rule for this, and that is: before you leave a room, clean it up. That's it. Does it happen perfectly every time? Of course not, but it's what we're aiming for.

Same goes for the girls making their bed every morning. Does their bed look perfect? No, but one of my favorite "mom" sayings is: It doesn't have to be perfect, but you have to do your best. 

2. Keep it simple. 

As moms, in this crazy and busy world we live in, I think we have the tendency to say "yes" to way too much, and take on way more than we need to. I've found that excess (whether it be too many activities or too many toys), leads to chaos--especially when you're dealing with a household full of littles!

Here are three things we keep simple in this house...

Toys for the kids. I've talked about this before, but we have one basketful of blocks for our kids, and that's it when it comes to toys. They also have a basket full of puzzles, and a shelf for their coloring materials (stickers, markers, coloring books, etc.). I've never found that the kids are happier, when there is MORE for them to choose from, and more for them to play with. 

Shopping trips, or leaving the house. Besides church (and socializing with family and friends) on Sunday, we generally leave the house twice a week--for grocery shopping, and to go thrifting. I'm not involved in mom groups, or tons of "extra" activities. 

Meals. I'm not "huge" into cooking, even though we try to eat healthy food. I usually plan ahead what we're going to eat for each meal, and then prepare for that in the morning--whether that means putting some meat in the crockpot before breakfast, or starting lunch at a certain time so I make sure it's ready. 

3. Stay consistent. For us, that means the same nap time and bed times every day. I feel like this is a similar idea to the "good habits" one I mentioned above--we all get used to a certain routine, if we stick with it for long enough. Since my first was a baby, she slept for two hours every afternoon. Whenever another baby came along, they were added to that same sleep schedule, so now we have 4 kids doing either "quiet play" (for the two older ones, who don't nap anymore), or "nap time" every day, at the same time, for two hours. 

For Rachel and Jemima, they have several activities in their room that are ONLY for "quiet play" time, so they LOVE this time in the afternoon. They also love the chance to play uninterrupted from their younger siblings! 

(I should mention that these two hours are so amazing for me as the mom, to either rest and re-focus, or work on a painting project, paying the bills, and so on!).

At night, all the kids are in bed by 7:30. (We happen to get up early, which is why they go to sleep early!)

We generally do the same things every day, in the same order. Breakfast, then chores, then start laundry, then I read to the kids (Bible, science, and history), then Caroline takes a morning nap while I start school with the older kids. And it goes from there. 

Another area we try to stay consistent would be having the kids obey us, every time. One of the things we're working on is the kids sitting still while watching a movie or reading books together... and teaching our kids is way more important than the book or movie. It's hard to be consistent here, because obviously our tendency would be just keep pushing through, give the child what they want so they'll just BE QUIET so we can HEAR the MOVIE, but obviously that's not best for the child or the situation!

So this is what has been hugely helpful to us recently, and I hope it may be encouraging to some of you! 

Nine "Cleanliness" Habits we are Teaching our Children

I'm going to let you in a little secret: I don't actually love cleaning.

If I could spend an hour doing whatever I wanted to, cleaning wouldn't make the list. 

But here's the thing--I live in a house with four natural mess-makers, otherwise known as children. It can be a full-time job just cleaning up after my kids!

When little ones are still toddling around, drooling and wiping banana-hands on your glass, there's not much for a mom to do besides follow them around with a Windex bottle.

But I've discovered that as children start getting older, they are capable of more than making messes. In fact, they can help keeping your house clean!


And I don't just mean teaching them how to scrub the toilet (though that is, of course, a brilliant idea.) 

Keeping a house clean is all about habits--those little things we either do or don't do, every day, all day long, which determines if our house will be neat and clean or a chaotic disaster.

I've found some specific habits that have been extremely helpful to keeping my housework minimized, so that once the kids go to bed, I don't have to spend the next couple hours cleaning!


Nine "Cleanliness" Habits we are Teaching our Children:

• Take off their shoes at the door. We generally have a no-shoes-in-the-house policy (unless they're "inside" shoes). You'd be surprised how much less dirt is tracked in onto the floors and carpets. I still have to sweep and vacuum, but this policy has gone a long way in keeping especially our carpeting and rugs nice. As a follow-up to taking their shoes off, we also teach them to...
• Put their shoes away. If their shoes are very dirty, I'll wash them or hit them together outside to shake off excess dirt. But if they seem relatively clean, they need to immediately put them away in their shoe box. (Even Matthias, who is 2, can easily do something like this.) This keeps the foyer from getting cluttered with shoes!
• Make their bed before leaving their room in the morning. If you want your kids' rooms to instantly look more presentable, straightening their sheets and pillows is a huge step in the right direction! The girls still need help making their bed, but we're working on this. It's a great goal!
• Clear their dishes after eating, and stack them into the dishwasher. This only takes each child a few seconds, and it helps keep the table and the kitchen counters clean! 
• Wash hands [and face] after every meal. Of all these habits, the girls have this one "down" the most, probably because they love running water so much. I still help Matthias with his face and hands.
• Keep all food items in either the kitchen or dining room. The only exception to this rule is popcorn while watching movies (in our family room), but no other food is allowed outside the dining room area. Remember, all these habits are about lessening the amount of general cleaning that the parents need to do. Food crumbs are not only disgusting, but they invite ants in your lovely home. No, thank you. 
• Put their dirty clothes in the laundry. As opposed to, of course, on the floor. Floors are meant for walking on, not throwing your dirty laundry!
• Clean up their toys when they're finished playing. While the kids are young, their biggest messes will often consist of toys, but as they grow older, there will always be things that need cleaned up or organized. I figure if they learn to "clean up" now, it'll be so much easier to adjust to other, bigger "messes" when they're older!

And lastly (and one of my favorites)...

• If they're finished with something that they want to keep, they must find a place for it. If they're finished with something they don't want to keep (a used band-aid, perhaps?), they need to throw it away. 

Probably because I'm so familiar with the trash can, my kids love throwing things away, too. I have to be very specific when I hand something to them, so that they know to put in the "laundry" or the "sink" or their "drawer," and not in the trash. 

Why do these habits even matter? Because they all add up to a naturally tidier home. Of course you'll still have to clean, but it shouldn't be nearly as overwhelming... even if you have kids. 

As a great alternative to YOU cleaning your house, why not choose professional and qualified cleaners to clean your house FOR you? If you live in Melbourne, I'm happy to recommend Maid to Clean, an environmentally friendly, simple to use home cleaning service. Offering a 100% price back guarantee, plus a $20 discount for new customers, Maid to Clean is the home cleaning service you've been looking for! 

Keeping Up With Six People's Laundry [Without Feeling Overwhelmed]

You wanna hear some sarcasm?!There's nothing better than getting ready to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer, only to open the dryer and see cold, wrinkled clothes that you'd totally forgotten about.

There aren't too many sights more beautiful-to-the-eyes than your guest bed, covered in piles of unfolded clothes.

Yeah, wow. What about your laundry room floor, strewn with dirty clothes... like, everywhere?

First thing that comes to mind, is to whip out your phone, and start pinning these awe-inspiring images to Pinterest, am I right?!

Ahem.

No. Not a chance.

Here's more the feeling that overwhelms me when I see this: discouragement. Feeling like the laundry is a MONSTER, that I'm JUST TOO TIRED to keep fighting.

I was a little nervous about adding a fourth child's laundry to our "laundry situation"--especially since a baby goes through a good deal of clothing the first few months. It's small clothing, but still... clothing nevertheless that needs washed and put away.

But honestly, it hasn't been too bad. Really. I adopted a system of doing things, that seems to be working nicely. It's pretty simple, too, and the laundry is almost always done for the day by lunch time. At least, that's the goal!

So, here are my favorite tips for keeping the laundry under control...

Dirty laundry everywhere? No. Designated spots where dirty laundry is contained, until washing? HUGE HUGE HUGE YES.

We have two laundry baskets--one in the girls' room, and one in our master bedroom. The girls are pretty much in charge of putting all the KIDS' dirty laundry in their basket. So if I'm changing Matthias's jeans, Caroline's sleeper, you name it... the girls come and get it [immediately], and put it in their hamper. The girls are more than welcome to change their own clothes, or put on their nightgowns, etc., as long as they put their dirty clothes in their hamper right away. We have a strict "no dirty clothes on the floor" policy.

What about dirty towels and sheets? Blankets? This might sound silly, but when we have dirty towels/sheets/blankets, I throw them down the steps towards the laundry room, and then whenever anyone of us (including the girls) are going downstairs, we pick it up and place it right into the washer. That way, they're already there, ready to be washed, along with the clothes.

How much laundry is there? I mean, isn't there, like, a TON, with six people? Okaaay. Maybe there's a lot, but honestly, I think you'd be surprised how LITTLE there is, all things considered. And here's why: We only change clothes if they're actually dirty. Otherwise, we wear them a couple days in a row. If you know me personally, I'm a bit of a clean freak, so don't worry--if the clothes are actually dirty, they're getting changed. It's not like I have dirty kids running around. And this system works VERY well in the winter time (when they're primarily playing inside), as opposed to summer days (when they're getting dirty and sweaty, having fun outside).

As for pajamas, the kids don't wear them every night. It's kind of like a special treat, though the girls are wearing them more often now, since they can dress themselves. But it'll take SEVERAL wearings of pajamas before I proclaim them needing-to-be-laundered.

I don't know how much this ACTUALLY plays into LESS LAUNDRY, but my kids' outfits are pretty simple, meaning they don't have a ton of clothes to begin with. The girls wear shirts, skirts, and leggings every day, Matthias wears a shirt and jeans, and Caroline's favorite outfit is still cuddly sleepers. ;)

The girls can mix-and-match the pieces in their outfits a lot, so that it appears that they're wearing different outfits, but really... we're working with the same basic pieces. :)

Oh! Oh! I want to talk about socks. I'm just a wee bit passinate about socks. ;) I buy ALL the kids' socks from Old Navy--every time. I try to buy cool designs--so Matthias has orange fox socks, gray and black raccoon socks, striped or plaid socks, etc.

Similarly, the girls have pink, polka-dotted, purple, striped, and so on. Not white, which get stained easily (not a fan of stains over here). When the socks are very colorful/specific (who could accidentally match an orange fox sock with a purple polka-dotted one?!), then it's easy to match them up, and tell whose are whose.

And by the way, the girls wear the same size socks, which makes it awesome. Old Navy had a 5 pairs for $5, so I bought five pairs, and the girls share them.

Once they're dirty, they get put in the wash. While folding clothes, all the socks get thrown a pile, where they are then matched up and distributed.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Each day, right after breakfast, the girls dump the two laundry baskets together, and I carry it down the stairs and start the wash. In this season of life, it's all one load, folks. No sorting. (But that's just based on our preference!)

[[our laundry room]]



An hour or so later, I go BACK downstairs, and switch the wash into the dryer. Then an hour after that, the laundry is dried and ready.

Woo-hoo! Excitement, excitement. Clean, warm laundry!!

And then what happens??? The girls open the dryer, pull out all the kids' stuff, and distribute it. We're still working on the folding aspect. Right now, each child has a dresser, with certain drawers designated to hold different pieces of clothing, and the girls deliver the clothes to each drawer accordingly.

Then, whenever I get around to it, I'm "in charge" of the adult clothing--which, considering we're doing a load every day, it isn't that much stuff.

As for towels and rags... I fold them, and the girls put them away.

What about all the bedding? Extra for an extra crib sheet, we don't have any extra sheets. So if I strip the bed (or beds) in the morning, I try to have the bed made up again by the time it's needed for naps/night time.

All this being said, my biggest tip for laundry (especially the distributing part) would be...

Just Do It.

Same with cleaning the bathrooms, wiping the floors, doing the dishes. Sometimes, it'll never seem easy, and you'll never FEEL like folding, even if it's a small pile.

So just start working on it, and little by little, you'll soon see your hard work pay off!

No more piles?! Hurray! Definitely a cause for celebrating.

How I Organize My Kids' Rooms

You all know how I LOVE some organization, right? Well, one of you wonderful readers wrote to me, asking how I organize my kids' rooms--specifically their clothes, shoes, and books. In the past, I've mentioned a few ways I keep the kids' bedrooms organized, but it's been a while (or perhaps never) that I've written an entire post on the subject.

Before I launch into "how I keep my kids' rooms organized," I should mention that our house has three bedrooms. Rachel and Jemima share the "pink room" because almost everything in that room is pink) and Matthias and Caroline share the "owl room" (named for the owl-covered bedspread). Because I generally organize the "owl room" the same way as the older girls' room, I thought I'd just focus on the latter for now.

Here is Rachel and Jemima's shared bedroom.





Now you understand fully why we refer to that bedroom as the "pink room."

As you can see, each girl has a dresser of their own, but honestly, they could share one dresser. Not only are they getting to the point where they are almost the same size, neither one of them has a ton of clothing.

They also have built-in shelving in their closets, but the majority of their clothing is kept in their dresser drawers.

The top drawer holds their pajamas (1-2 pj outfits each) and underwear.

The second drawer holds shirts (7-10 each).



The third drawer contains jeans (2-3 pairs, though they never wear them), skirts (5-7 each), and leggings (4 each).



The fourth drawer is for their "church" items, such as stockings or dressy sweaters.

The girls wear the same basic outfit every single day: shirt, skirt, leggings, and I've tried to buy items for them that they can mix-and-match to make multiple outfits. We also do the laundry every day but Sunday, so they don't need as many items.

I'm a big advocate of boxes or baskets (found at the dollar store or Goodwill) for smaller items such as hairbands (which we keep on top of the dresser), or stockings or underwear (kept in baskets inside the drawer).

Moving on to the girls' closet.



We hang the girls' jackets, play sweaters, and dresses.

The baskets are for the girls' scarves/hats and their shared socks.



This is the girls' shoe basket.



We generally have a no-shoes-in-the-house policy, so as soon as the girls come inside, they must take off their shoes and return them to this basket.

For those of you who are curious as to what types of shoes the girls own, and how many pairs, here's the girls' shoe inventory!

Winter:
one pair of snow boots
one or two pairs of general-play-outside boots
two pairs of church boots: one black (or silver), one brown

spring/summer:
one pair of cute flats
two pairs of flip-flops or sandals
one or two pairs of church sandals

Matthias has a small shoe box in his room, too, but his shoe inventory is VERY simple: one pair of flip-flops, one pair of play shoes, one pair of church shoes.

What about the kids' toys and books?

Generally, the kids don't keep toys in their room. They're allowed to keep a few books on the shelf in their closet, because there are times during the day that they sit and read, but MOST of the books are kept downstairs on a small bookshelf.

I know I'm a bit of a minimalist, and this sort of thing isn't for a lot of you, and that's okay, but honestly... we don't HAVE very many books. All the kids' books are kept in one basket, on the small bookshelf that keeps our DVDs, books, and photo albums.

I'm trying to collect some classic kids' books (like the Little Golden books!), which I'd be happy to read to the kids over and over. But as for the other "just okay" books, we switch them out a lot. I'll buy books at a yard sale, or consignment sale, and then re-sell them a few months later. We also borrow books all the time, so the kids are continually getting to read new stories, while occasionally hearing the classics we keep downstairs!

Which brings me to another aspect of organizing kids' rooms, and that is... clothes storage. I've gone back and forth on how many clothes to store. It was easy to keep all of Rachel's clothes for Jemima, because they were so close in age, but after having a different gender, I began re-thinking how many clothes I really wanted to store.

At this point, I'm only keeping clothes about 6 months-size in advance, and almost all the rest, I'm selling at consignment sales or our annual yard sale. I'm doing this for four main reasons:

1. I don't like storing stuff I'm not using. I had several totes full of clothing all the way through 3T (which Jemima had grown out of), that I wouldn't be opening to dress Caroline, for 3 more years.

2. The clothes I store end up becoming stained. I've read tutorials on how to get rid of stains (especially on baby items), but I haven't been hugely successful.

3. I like dressing my kids in the current styles. I could keep all Matthias's clothes, but what if I didn't have another boy for 5 more years? I'm SURE the styles will have changed by then.

4. I honestly enjoy kids' clothes shopping. It's one of my favorite past-times! And yet, I don't want to lose money by getting rid of the clothes, either.

[To insure that I don't lose money during this buying-and-selling process, I rarely buy any kids' item for more than $5, because the majority of their clothing is second-hand or end-of-season clearance. Then, whenever they've grown out of those items, if they're still in decent shape, I sell them! I'm especially lucky when I buy my kids' clothes at yard sales for 25 or 50 cents, and then re-sell them for several dollars.]

Similar to what I described with the kids' books, I keep the "classics" from the kids' clothing--such as jeans or shoes... items that won't necessarily go out of style and probably won't get stained, either. I keep those items, sorted by size and gender, in bins in Matthias's closet.

And... I think that's about it!

My 5 Time Management Tips for Busy Moms

Have you ever gotten to the end of an exhausting day, and thought, "I didn't get anything DONE!"

Or worse, you remember exactly what you did, and you're cringing in embarassment because you felt you wasted your time?

As moms, it is very easy to stay extremely "busy" all day long. Yet just being busy isn't necessarily a good thing, if your time isn't going anywhere--if you don't feel as if you're making a difference, or if progress isn't being made.

Each stage of life is going to look very different. Since Caroline's birth, I have felt physically better than I did for the nine months before. I have more energy, and I want to be more productive! And yet, I'm finding that if I don't channel that energy, or PLAN my productivity, then days go by and nothing's really moved forward in my life, around the house, and so forth.

There are a few tips that I've discovered that have been very helpful for me, and I'm hoping that some of you moms might be encouraged by them as well.

1. With your husband's input, decide on your goals--personal goals, goals for your children, and goals for your house. When I don't have goals, I tend to flounder around, unsure of where I'm going or what I'm doing. I like to separate the goals into "General" (such as "raise well-educated children") and Specific ("Keep the downstairs carpet vacuumed.")

I'd encourage you not only to formulate these goals in your mind, but to write them down and review them periodically to assess how you're doing!

Besides the more general goals, I'm a huge fan of written to-do lists with your daily goals. My to-do list is always written on a dry erase board on our refrigerator, so that I'm reminded of what I need to do, every time I walk into the kitchen!

Do you know what these goals do, whether general or specific or daily? Hopefully, they are the deciding factor in how you spend your time, right? But I'm getting ahead of myself.

2. Spend your time working towards your goals. Let me give you a super practical example in my own life: we are currently working on our hallway. After that, we'll probably start remodeling the master bedroom. Although we need to, we are NOT working on our back porch--probably not for a while, actually. So if I'm going to be researching house remodeling projects, no matter how tempting it might be to look up porch re-dos, it's probably a waste of time right now.

Here's another example: one of our main goals right now is homeschooling Rachel and Jemima. Even though their school work is still relatively simple, it requires probably an hour of our time every day. I find that the longer I wait to begin their school with them every day, the less I'm excited about it. So we changed around our morning routine, so that after breakfast, we are cleaning off the table and the counters and setting out school books to insure that our school assignments for the day are accomplished.

3. On the other side, cut out everything in your schedule and home that does not fit with your goals. Depending on your family's goals, this looks very different for different people. But let's say that someone gives me the opportunity to go sky-diving (a pursuit that I'm not interested in!). I would decline, because sky-diving doesn't fit with my present goals, and thus would be a waste of my time.

Another example: I found that I was "following" numerous people or organizations on social media sites, that weren't "helping" me at all. I enjoy an occasional motherhood or interior design article, but having to scroll through post after post from people-I-didn't-actually-know or companies I didn't wholeheartedly support anyway... this wasn't accomplishing anything.

4. Even if you're not a strict "schedule" person, figure out some sort of routine--especially for your mornings. Recently, I was reading samples from popular time management books, and one of the most common themes was getting up early, and making the most of your mornings. I couldn't agree more. Every night, I try to set out my clothes for the next day, so then when I wake up, I don't have to spend the time to even pick out my outfit. I do the same things every morning, in generally the same order: contacts, shower, get dressed, make-up, feed Caroline, make breakfast.

We've established a night-time routine, too, which we've gotten used to, and (even more importantly!) the kids have gotten used to. It saves so much TIME figuring out what we should do each night, because we already know!

5. And, lastly: Teach your kids to help. How does this fit with time management for moms? Oh believe me, it does. "Help" doesn't always mean helping with chores (though of course that's part of it). Sometimes "help" entails teaching your toddler NOT to throw around the already-folded laundry, or NOT to pull apart your made-up bed, or NOT to dump all the blocks and then refuse to pick them up. Accidents are one thing, and they just happen... but I'm talking about kids purposefully creating messes, which leads to moms spending their time cleaning up after their kids unnecessarily.

If the kids are taught to pick up after themselves, and even to assist with simple tasks around the house, it will free up the mom's time to pursue the bigger goals, whether it's particular character traits, or teaching the 3-year-old how to count to 20!

Sixteen Ways to Create a Stress-Free Home [with Littles]

"Your hands are SO FULL!!" "You must be SO BUSY!"

I hear this from total strangers all the time. Why, yes, come to think of it... I AM busy. My days ARE very full. But just because we have 4 kids doesn't mean that our busy, full days need to be stressful, overwhelming, and frustrating days.

I am shuddering just thinking of those words. Because I'm sure we've all been there as moms: we've all had those terrible, no good, very bad days where tears are shed by all (including Mom).

But that doesn't have to be the norm. I don't WANT it to be the norm.

That's why I came up with this list of ways to help reduce the stress levels in a home that is full of small children. Many of these ideas are just that--ideas, or methods... Some of them are all about Biblical character qualities. A few of them are super specific, and some are general. But all in all, I hope some of these suggestions might help you as you walk this busy-and-full journey as mommies with littles!

In no particular order... And without further ado.

1. Communicate with your husband. Strive in every way possible, even if you must compromise your perfect plans or ideas, to be on the same page when it comes to your children. This is going to be my only "husband-related" idea, but it's really a huge one. And that's all I'm going to say, because every couple's in a different situation. But yeah, basically: talk to your husband!! :)

2. Have [generally] consistent bed times, wake up times, and nap times. With my husband's crazy, ever-changing schedule, I feel like our kids' bed-times aren't often at exactly the same time, but it's in a general time frame. So is their wake-up time. And nap time. It helps everyone involved to know when the kids are going to bed!

3. Wake up in the mornings before the kids. Again, definitely not something that always can happen, because of pregnancy, newborns, etc. But when you ARE able to do this, it kinda works like magic. That way, you can shower and get breakfast ready while the house is quiet! If you need to sleep later for some reason, ask your kids to stay in their rooms and play quietly until you tell them it's okay for them to come out of their rooms. They'll get used to this pattern, and won't expect to do anything differently than this. It makes the mornings so much quieter and more peaceful!

4. After breakfast, put your littlest baby/toddler back in their crib with a book or toy for 30 minutes. This will jump-start your morning, and will teach your baby how to play by themselves.

5. Of course this leads to: set aside specific times for ALL of your kids to play by themselves. Or, if they won't fight, have your kids play something quietly together! We have a storage closet underneath our steps that's a "special" place for our kids to play, especially when I allow them to take a flashlight in there :).

6. Use a timer as a motivation--even for yourself! Example: when I'm feeling tired, but the dirty dishes are driving me crazy, I'll set a timer for 10 minutes, and then wash as many dishes as I can in that amount of time. You'll surprise yourself what you can do, if you're motivated, in a matter of minutes, and then sit down for a while!

7. Keep your house clean. Agh... this can be SO HARD when you're pregnant. :-X I don't have any cleaning routine right now, because my energy and pain levels go up and down so frequently. I will often make a list of my cleaning priorities for the day (or week), and then whenever I have a burst of energy, I'll tackle a very small task. Vacuum one room. Sweep the stairs. Use a baby wipe (there are always wipes an arm-reach away in our house! ;)) to wipe down the sinks, and then light a candle to make the room smell pleasant! It will make the whole house feel more calm and under control.

8. Set up times for the kids to JUST. SIT. and Be. Completely. Quiet. This IS possible, y'all, even when all three kids are under 4 years old. When I'm feeling most frazzled, I'll set the timer for 5 minutes (I'm serious), assign a seat for each child, allow them to pick a book, and we ALL have to sit, completely quietly until the timer rings.

9. Have a mandatory rest-time, for everyone in the house, for a long stretch of time. For us, it's two hours long. Jemima and Matthias still take naps during that time, and Rachel plays with something special (as in, things that she's not typically allowed to play with the rest of the day... such as her hair bows or coin jar). Unless I get huge bursts of energy and am DYING to do something active, I rest that whole time, too. It gives me SO much energy for the rest of the day, which is very needed around here!

10. I've mentioned several routine-like ideas here, so I thought I should throw in a different concept now: Be FLEXIBLE!! There are spills and messes and tantrums and tired mommies and sick children. When all (or any) of these sorts of things arise, BE OKAY with dropping your perfect plans for the day and gathering the kids to read books on the couch for an hour! I've had some days where I felt absolutely terrible, and we watched episode after episode on Netflix, because I didn't even feel well enough to READ to the kids. This wouldn't be a good situation if this happened every day, but there are some days that are just. kinda. hard, for whatever reason. Do the best you can, with what you've been given for that day!

11. If there are set aside times when the kids should be QUIET, then I say, there should be times when the kids are LOUD! Have them run outside and roll down the hill, and chase each other, screaming!

12. Prepare for your busy days by making breakfast a day ahead, setting out everyone's clothes the night before, and so on. Mornings are my most difficult time of day, even IF I don't have anything particular to do! So if I can plan ahead AT ALL, it helps keeps my morning stress-levels to a minimum. ;)

13. Keep messes to a minimum. Yup, there's that word minimum again. Maybe I should just say: figure out what are your stressers, and seek to eliminate them. For me, messes often equal stresses. That's why, at this point in our lives, we've reduced the kids' number of toys to four small fabric baskets. I actually dumped ALL the kids' toys in the middle of our family room, and timed how long it took them to clean up all the toys, including putting the baskets back on the shelves. You wanna know how long it took them?? Two minutes, 59 seconds. This told me two things: we have EXACTLY the right amount of toys for our life right now, aaaaand... if it ever takes the girls longer than 3 minutes to clean up their toys, then I know they haven't been going as fast as they could go!

14. Teach your kids to be attentive to your voice, and to respond immediately. We're in the process of teaching the girls that EVERY TIME we say their name, they need to look at us (or come to us, depending on the situation), and say, "Yes, Mom!" or "Yes, Dad!" It is soo difficult, as a mom, to feel like you're talking into a wall, whenever you say anything to your child. At least for me, it causes instant annoyance/frustration. We also just moved to a location where our driveway goes right into the road, and it is imperative that the kids HEAR us, and are ready to COME running if necessary.

15. Assign even your little kids to certain tasks that help out in the household! Matthias is somewhere in the 1 1/2 year old range, and he can get his sleeper out of his drawer, put his dirty clothes in a hamper, and throw away his dirty diaper. Talk about Helpful!! It's amazing! And he doesn't mind at all. He loves clapping for himself, and hearing all the praise that gets showered on his head because we're proud of him. :) One of Rachel's jobs is emptying the bathroom trash can into the [much bigger] kitchen trash can. Just one more thing that I don't have to do! Your kids are definitely capable of SO much helpfulness, and honestly... I think the house runs more happily and peaceably when the kids feel a PART of what's going on!

16. One more, and I put this last because it's so very important: Pray daily for patience and kindness. Sure, your day can look all perfect with its routines and schedules and kids helping out, but if the Mommy's attitude isn't right, then everything will quickly fall apart. We as moms have a great privilege in setting the tone for our house, and we certainly cannot maintain a peaceful, kind, and patient attitude on our own strength.

Keeping a Mess-Free Home... with Toddlers

While sitting around with a bunch of friends today, we started talking about our houses being a "total disaster." Although I think that term probably means totally different things to different people, I'll say one thing for sure: since having toddlers around, it is VERY EASY for my house to become--for lack of a better phrase--a total disaster.

 

I don't have boatloads of extra energy right now. I certainly don't want to spend the energy that I DO have, on cleaning up messes. And believe me, these kids know what they're doing in that category. ;)

So. There are certain ideas I've heard floating around, such as... kids cleaning up set of toys before starting on another one, kids being responsible for their own room clean-up, etc... Those are all fabulous ideas, and I tend to follow all of them.

BUT.

What I'm talking about is far more simple, and [maybe] far more radical. Okay, okay, don't get your hopes up. This isn't rocket science, especially since it's coming from me. You've probably heard this concept multiple times over on this blog.

You ready for my #1 tip on keeping a mess-free house, with several young children running around???

Wait for it...

Don't have a lot of stuff.

Minimize, minimize, minimize. Get rid of everything you don't use or need.

I hope you're not overly disappointed. ;)

This would probably be my Tip #2: Once you've gone through every area (and I mean EVERY area) of your house, then give everything you still WANT, a permanent resting place. The kids will know where everything is, and you'll know where everything is.



That basket holds all three kids' summer shoes. When we walk in the door, the first thing the kids are supposed to do (and I remind them constantly, just in case they forget) is to take off their shoes and PUT THEM AWAY. The girls are responsible for grabbing Matthias's shoes--now that he's walking--when we're going anywhere. I'll say, "Jemima and Rachel, go put on your shoes, and please get Matthias's shoes."

And they know where the shoes are. Isn't that AWESOME?!

So as for shoes, by the way, Matthias has two pairs, and the girls have a few more than that (a couple pairs of church shoes, a couple pairs of sandals or flip-flops each). If the shoes are dirty, they get cleaned off before they go into the basket, so that everything in the basket stays tidy. (Oh, yeah, and I bought the basket at a yard sale. Of course.)

Moving onto to our toy situation...



This is it, guys (umm, ladies). The top two fabric baskets hold crafting supplies, and the bottom four are filled with their toys. Occasionally toys will get placed in the kids' closets for the night (so they can play with them again in the morning), but I'm talking only a few toys. At the end of the day, all the toys we own could be comfortably placed in those four baskets.

I realize that a few years down the line, we might have far more toy storage than that. Some of you might be asking yourselves, "Then what do the kids PLAY with??" But right now, the kids are all relatively young, and they really don't need anymore than that. Since it's summer time, they play outside for a couple hours almost every day, or they color, or they look at books, or they hang out with me doing whatever I'm doing. But they've never seemed to need anymore toys than what we currently have.

By the way, I'm not just limiting the kids' stuff. A week ago, I went through all our random storage, and at the end of my re-organization, this is what we had.



Oh, and HALF of that is going to be sold in a few weeks--at two different sales I'm planning/participating in.



Of course it's GREAT when the kids learn to put their things away... it makes life SO much easier... but if there are THAT many fewer things to clean up, it also makes the "cleaning-up" task easier on everyone.

This is the way our living room looks [almost] every night.



Actually, I just ran in and snapped that photo. And that's the GOAL... that mess-making is kept to a minimum, because what we OWN is kept to a minimum.

I'm going to give you one more example--the girls' bedroom.



You'll notice that not much is going on. That's in part because I'm not a great decorator, and a terrible crafter, so I really have no idea what to put on the walls. But even if I DID (and I may, one day), it'd be simple. I'd rather have a room that was empty, than a room full of stuff I didn't want (AND stuff that would just end up making more messes!).



There are several areas, of course, in which I'm NOT a minimalist--or not an extreme one. It's all relative. ;) One that immediately comes to mind would be kids' clothes. I love shopping for kids' clothes, and besides... I'd rather have a few extra shirts/shorts/dresses laying around, for variety's sake, than realize that I hadn't done the wash for a week, and the kids didn't have anything to wear.

So, yup, I like clothes and hairbows. (The girls' hairbows are kept in that pink chevron box, by the way.) And a few other things. ;)

But in general, my mindset right now is...

"Excess leads to mess. Get rid of excess."

Yes, I just thought of that right now. But it works, doesn't it?