I'm a mother of 5 under 8! Share your tips!

boysrus

Sat, Jan 10 2015, 10:32 pm

a) Simple suppers, ie easy food preparation , why?/ as a time saver. Everyone always wants you late afternnoon, it is hard to be in the kitchen then. Alternatively, prepare supper before the older ones get home from school/ playgroup etc
b) Bedtime : Have children of similar age share bedrooms, and put them to bed at the same time, eg room 1, kids aged 7 and 6, go to bed at 7.15, room 2, kids aged 4 and 3 both go to bed at 6.55.

c) make time to look after yourself, so yu dont burn out!

d) teach your kids how to clean up after themselves, even 2 year olds can do a reasonable clean up of toys.

e) give each child his own special drawer or box to put their own things in. then when you find their stuff lying around you can just dump it in their box for quick clean up and schedule time to organize their boxes every so often

just remember, you are blessed! good atitude helps!

smilingmom

Sat, Jan 10 2015, 11:13 pm

I had six under eight and was working full time.
I bathed my kids at night and put them in the next days clothes, which were always comfy sweatsuit sets.
Gave them breakfast put on their sneakers and combed their hair in less than 30 minutes.
I put them to bed in shifts. One in their bed, one in our room, when they fell asleep, the one in our room was shifted to their bed and the next two were put in, again, one in their bed and one in our room. No set order, just whoever I felt will fall asleep first.

We had a set menu for dinner, for years every Monday was A, Every Tuesday was B, etc. it worked well for us, but there is nothing wrong with having macaroni for dinner twice in one week.

Remember having five under eight is easier than five teens, and having five teens is easier than having five young adults.

Laughing Bag!

Sat, Jan 10 2015, 11:19 pm

I'm in it now with 4kids under age 6. I try to teach my kids to help. Laundry in the hamper, clearing the table, setting the table... basically anything that kids can do my 4 year old likes to vaccume so he does that almost every week. My 2 year old helps too picking up fromfloor, outing toys away... I'm actually having it hardest with my 6 year old who doesnt really like to help and tries to vet out of everything even putting her own laundry in the hamper sometime is a battle 😢
As for suppers I found the Imamother supper for a year cookbook very helpful as it has easy to prepare suppers that are tasty and I have the menu planned for me. I try to prepare before kids come home from school or at least almost prepared lol I do have the 2 little ones home with me all day 😃.
Bedtime I try tohave dh home to help but I know that it is a struggle either way so I just take it as it comes I let them listen to a tape or look at books for a bit. I just ask Hashem to give them a good nights sleep regardless of the time they fell asleep. My theory is as long as they are quiet in their room then I don't do anything. If they don't let anyo.e sleep that kid comes out of there.
Life is not supposed to be easy. Life here is hectic but I try to console myself with the fact that I Love My Kids and after all they are Cute. 😃

rosebunch

Sat, Jan 10 2015, 11:50 pm

SCHEDULING!
My children already know what will be for breakfast and dinner every day!
Also, I do laundry same set days/time every week.
What I also found to help me is cooking large pots of food that freeze well and stock up my freezer so I never need to cook more than one dish for dinner, since I take out from the freezer.
Same goes for shabbos- I cook/bake a ton and then replenish it, one dish every week so it's much easier!
ORGANIZATION!
My kids know that they must put their laundry in the hamper, and same goes for clearing their dirty plates.
My 7 yr old loves setting the table for shabbos, as well as sweeping. So they each pitch in according to what they enjoy doing!

zigi

Sun, Jan 11 2015, 12:20 am

each kid has their own colored hangers, its helpful with uniform shirts, they also know the size that they need. each one has their own brand or character of under wear so its easy to put away.

the older ones can help. also the younger ones. they can get their own snacks and get cups of water if they are thirsty. I have a stepstool near the sink.

older ones can help with kriah and teaching alef bais. etc.

also lower food standards a good supper is if 3 out of 5 like it. I have bread and cheese or peanut butter available if they don't like supper. the older ones have more mature taste buds by now. bh. their diets will round out by the week. I have one kid that will only eat the pasta the other will only eat the meat etc.