Helpful Tips for Busy Families Part 3

Hello Friends!  We are really enjoying the spring days here on the farm, and since I cannot tackle all the gardening and such at one time I find myself just working a little each day and am making progress that way.

Last Sunday we had a lovely day at church.  Four of our girls were singing in choirs, and our hearts were so encouraged to hear the beautiful music the choirs worked so hard to prepare.   We decided to take family pictures upon arriving back at the farm.  

For dinner we enjoyed grilling outside, singing some hymns, and then ending the day by having some ice cream.  That is how we spent our Easter Sunday.  

Packing Tips

Today I am continuing on with my series on helpful tips for managing the busy family.  I'll start with a travel tip.  Since our family will be doing some travel in the foreseeable future I am going to share what has worked for us with traveling with so many children.  We use Ziploc bags to pack our clothes and keep things organized.  

We mainly use the gallon and jumbo sizes and a Sharpie marker to create these bags.  What I do, and now I have several daughters old enough to help me, is that I will write the name of a child on a bag and the day the child will need those clothes.  So each child gets one bag each day with the clothes they need for that day.  I will often give each child a jumbo sized bag for all their underclothes and jammies and then a daily bag with each day's clothing.  One reason the bag method has worked for us is that if clothes were just in suitcases or duffle bags I'm pretty sure my children would be rummaging through all the clothes to pick out something each day.  Of course that would mean that clothes would be all over the floors of the hotel rooms and much would be lost. This approach makes it simple to just say, "Here is your bag for today; go get dressed."  When nine people are dwelling in hotel rooms together simplicity really pays off.  Sometimes I will stick shoes or hair accessories in the daily bags, but sometimes we just carry all shoes in a large tote bag.  We do usually have one big hair accessory bag that we keep all the needed hair twisties, Flexi clips, hair spray, comb and brush, etc. in.  I will say that preparing these daily clothing bags is time consuming on the front end, but I really do feel like they have provided more organization for us when we've been on vacations.  A plus to this is that if we are wanting to color coordinate our clothing this helps us to be sure everyone is wearing the right outfit on the right day.  This method of organization also helps me to be able to see if I have packed what I need for each person.  Usually towards the end of the packing I have a stack of bags for each child and I can check to make sure I have the right number of bags for each child.  Perhaps as our children grow our packing strategies will change, but we have been using this Ziploc bag method for years and found it helpful for our family.

Freezer Meals in Ziploc Bags

Travel is not the only way I use Ziploc bags.  I also like to use the freezer Ziploc bags to freeze all kinds of things for later use.  Sometimes I will assemble some freezer meals that are ready to throw in the slow cooker on a busy day.  

Also, I LOVE to cook a huge batch of frozen chicken breasts in my Instant Pot and then shred it all up.  I use some of it for dinner (usually chicken tacos) and then freeze all the excess shredded chicken in Ziplock bags.  This way I have several bags of frozen, shredded chicken on future nights when I want something quick for dinner.  It is easy to take that shredded chicken and make more tacos or Chicken Spaghetti, etc.  

Early Bedtime Preparation

When my children were all younger we were in an intense season where my husband often traveled overseas for weeks at a time.  I would be left at home with a house full of needy children and was often pregnant myself.  This was a season of survival, and I learned that it was helpful to me if I could get the children ready for bed preferably before dinner.  By the end of the evening I was so given out and could barely take another step.  By having them already prepared for bed it just helped things to go more smoothly.  We would often spend our evenings watching a wholesome video or reading stories.  

Create a Schedule or Flow to Your Day

Some people truly love very detailed schedules with a time slot for everything and thrive using them.  I can tell you that this Mama has never rolled that way.  With seven children I can create a detailed schedule, but life happens and that beautiful schedule is often thrown off track.  I learned that, for our family, what has worked best so far is a flow of events.  What I mean is that my children and I all know that we get up, eat breakfast, do chores, gather for circle time, etc.  We all know what comes next in our day and that helps to keep us on track.  If we fall off routine we just pick up at the next thing we would normally be doing.  I think it has a lot to do with your personality and the uniqueness of your particular family. I would encourage you to figure out what fits your family best.  Are you a detailed, rigid schedule type or does a clear flow of events work better in this season of life?  The point is just to make sure everyone understands the plan.  Children and young people get frustrated when they don't understand what is expected of them and Mamas are left feeling overwhelmed.  As in many areas of life, clear communication of expectations is important.  

I hope these tips have been helpful.  Have a blessed week!