Kids grow up fast, don’t they? One of the reasons parents don’t seem to notice time flying by is because they always have their hands full. One kid alone can be demanding and change your life drastically, so what of a bunch of kids?
Don’t worry; you can parent your bundles of joy and avoid the hassle by trying smart parenting. Here are six tips on how to organize your life when you have a lot of kids.
Try Day-care Services
At one point, you will realize that you need help if you are to take care of your kids and keep your affairs going. A day-care service is a safe option. Your kids will be in the care of professionals with experience raising kids.
Day-care services also offer other benefits such as passive education and a controlled environment for your kids to learn social skills. Your kids are precious, so go for the best day-care service you can get, and remember to get clothing labels for daycare wear.
Have One Calendar for All Kids
You will be surprised by how hectic kids’ lives can get, especially once they start attending school. This means that your life will get just as hectic, being the central pillar of their lives.
You will be expected to attend several events for each kid, fulfill all doctor appointments, and be there for every event that requires your presence. It is easy to get overwhelmed and lose track of the schedule, so you should consider a single calendar for all the kids.
Be sure to mark all upcoming events on your calendar. It would also help if you turned on notifications for upcoming events, just in case you forget.
Make Preparations the Night Before
Morning is the most hectic time for a parent with several kids. You have to prepare every one of them while still dealing with breakfast and other necessities, not to mention the petty battles that you could certainly do without.
You can ease tomorrow morning’s load today by making some of the preparations before going to bed. For example, you can pack the kids’ bags and prepare their clothing for the next day. This will free up a lot of time in the morning so that you can start your day off on a less hectic note. You will also go to bed glad and relaxed that some of the work is out of the way, and a good night’s sleep.
Create Weekly Routines
The last thing you want to do when you have a bunch of kids in your hands is flying blind. Life is much easier when you have a routine that everyone sticks to. This routine should cover everything, starting with the mornings when the kids are preparing for school and ending with bedtime, and everything in between, including cleaning times and other responsibilities around the house. Make a fixed schedule and have everyone know what to expect and what is expected of them.
Get an Emergency Kit
Kids get into messes and accidents all the time, and things can go downhill fast if you don’t remedy the situation quickly. It can be something as simple as your kids getting hungry when you are out of the house, in which case it would help to have some snacks. It can also be something as alarming as one of the kids getting in an accident and injuring themselves, in which case you would need some bandages and necessary first-aid supplies.
There is no telling what your kids will get into next, so anticipate all likely occurrences and get an emergency kit to respond to each one. Please don’t overdo it or become paranoid about it; have a positive outlook of life but tread with some caution.
Assert Your Authority and Teach Self-Sufficiency
Kids respond to authority, and they can deliberately take advantage of you if you go too soft on them. As such, assert some authority and let them know who the boss is. You can easily assert authority without making your kids scared of you. It would also help if you taught your kids how to be self-sufficient. This will take years to teach, but the long-term benefits will be more than worth the effort.
Start Now!
It is easy to feel overwhelmed when you think of the task ahead, but it can get easier if you approach it wisely. As such, sit down and come up with a solid plan of how you will parent your kids going on forward – these tips will help you get started.