I know for us we have the boys in bed by 8:30 at night. I need that time to wind down.

I am still working on housework things and laundry.

What things do you do to help your household run efficently with lots of people.

One thing I do is keep an extra diaper bag in the car stocked for the baby and with extra clothes for the 5 and 3 yo. That way if we are out and I forgot the bag or didn't get any diapers put in or some gets wet or dirty I can fix it.

I try to run a relatively efficient household...for my own sanity! My dh is a teacher, but then works a second job in order for us to be able to have me stay at home and homeschool our children. So, Monday thru Wednesday, he's gone from 6:30 am until 9pm...then on Thursday and Friday, he's gone 6:30 am until 4:30 or so....and then he works Saturdays from 9-1. Sunday is often busy with church activities...and our Thursday evenings are booked with kids' activities. It doesn't leave too much "family time," so I try to get all the household chores done when he's not home, so we can spend quality time with him.

Our children are also in bed early (usually no later than 8pm), so that we can have the rest of the evening to catch up on household chores and 'unwind.'

I try to be efficient about running the dishwasher and emptying it as soon as possible so that dishes don't pile up in the sink. We have a deep chest freezer in our shed, which helps with food stockpiling and prevents us from having to eat out! I try to stay on top of the laundry, otherwise it gets out of control. I wash and dry the laundry....then fold it on the couch in the living room and sort it into piles according to who it belongs to.....then the kids take up their own and put it away.

I also keep an "emergency" bag in our van...extra change of clothes for the youngest; extra sweatshirts for the other two kids (in case they get cold); hand wipes; a copy of our insurance card; some bottles of water and granola bars, etc.

We have a schedule. Now, my older kids go to public school, so their schedules are basically from the time they get home until bed, so approx. 3:15-8:00. I do have a schedule for myself and my little ones, but it is more of a "suggested guideline" than a set in stone schedule. My older kids have really benefitted from the afternoon schedule. The schedule includes lots of playtime, but has a set time for chores, homework and video games/computer(my kids are allowed 30 minutes/day).

I have my older kids who go to school set their clothes out the night before. We decide at the beginning of the week if which days we want hot lunch(they are allowed 2 hot lunches/week), and then it is easy for me to get up in the morning and see who I need to make lunches for. In our mudroom/laundry room, the kids each have a hook that their coats and backpacks go on as soon as they come in the house. There is also a closet in that room which we have shoe cubbies in, so they put their shoes away immediately as well.

Those are some things off the top of my head...

Right now we're just focusing on being *organized* - a place for everything and everything in its place. :heart:

It's SO refreshing to open a cabinet or a closet and see neatness. I "see" the chaos behind closed doors and in drawers, so to know it's neat and tidy helps my sanity tremendously.

Also, a creative outlet for me. Right now it's photography. I love doing it. I'm an artistic/creative soul by nature and just never have the time to sew or do the things for *me* that I love - but photography is almost INSTANT - so it's a perfect outlet :) :heart:

I am also training my boys to do certain jobs.

Right now G can unload the dishwasher. I am trying to decide what to teach him next. Maybe laundry.

E unloads the silverware.

I want to teach them both to vacuum their rooms.

We have a loose schedule. We clean the house from top to bottom every Friday. We all work together. Kids have various revolving jobs around the house. I am working on the kids learning to see something needs doing and going ahead and doing it. All chores are completed, usually, by 6:45pm. We have wind down time every evening at 7pm. I nurse the baby quietly in our room and my dh reads a chapter book to the children that want to hear it. Everyone in bed by 8pm except myself. Dh goes to work very early.

I too have an emergency bag in the van. I also lay out all things needed the night before if we are leaving early in the morning, like HSing co-op on Thursdays.

Strict bedtime of 8 pm for all of the kids. All 3 boys share a room, so that presents a problem sometimes. Nathan usually isn't tired yet - so he lays on our bed and writes, reads and listens to music. Austin and Adam take turns listening to story cd's and are usually out by 8:30. Then Nate will go in when he is ready to actually fall asleep - usually between 9 and 10. But - it's adult time downstairs. :)

We bought and started using the PEGS system from Family Tools (http://www.familytools.com) I LOVE IT! When everyone does their part, it makes for a MUCH smoother running household. We moved in November and didn't get back into the swing - and I am suffering because of it. DH and I are doing 90% of the household chores - and it shouldn't be that way. The kids do need to get back into the habit. Before we moved, Nathan was doing a load of laundry and the dishes everyday without being asked. It was WONDERFUL. My goal is to get all 4 doing their household jobs on a regular basis without me having to nag. If all 4 each had 3 jobs - that would just make life sooooo much easier.

tequila?

Just kidding. We don't drink at all!

Strict bedtime of 8 pm for all of the kids. All 3 boys share a room, so that presents a problem sometimes. Nathan usually isn't tired yet - so he lays on our bed and writes, reads and listens to music. Austin and Adam take turns listening to story cd's and are usually out by 8:30. Then Nate will go in when he is ready to actually fall asleep - usually between 9 and 10. But - it's adult time downstairs. :)

We bought and started using the PEGS system from Family Tools (http://www.familytools.com) I LOVE IT! When everyone does their part, it makes for a MUCH smoother running household. We moved in November and didn't get back into the swing - and I am suffering because of it. DH and I are doing 90% of the household chores - and it shouldn't be that way. The kids do need to get back into the habit. Before we moved, Nathan was doing a load of laundry and the dishes everyday without being asked. It was WONDERFUL. My goal is to get all 4 doing their household jobs on a regular basis without me having to nag. If all 4 each had 3 jobs - that would just make life sooooo much easier.

You mean *GASP* YOUR KIDS HAVE CHORES?? Doesn't that take away from their childhood??? :lol: Sorry, I am being facetious of course!!

I am subscribing for help....its chaos around here every day and I can't take it any more!!

The morning chore list, without it my house would be a furry, smelly, soppy mess. It includes: empty and load dishwasher, start a load in the washer, scoop all the litter boxes, feed and water animals and children ;); bathe and dress everyone, tidy bedrooms

My best friend that I talk to every day, I swear she DID save my sanity and does on a daily basis.

My chore lists, I have three, the daily chores, the weekly chores, the projects to do list

Paying my bills online. SAVED me.

Meal planning once a week, sale ad in hand.

Learning to let go of perfectionism, ongoing.

DH doing the bedtime routine

Flylady crisis cleaning - sometimes the only way my house gets clean.

We also do a group bedtime. My oldest has flexibility, but he stays in his room and reads or plays while the younger kids are going to sleep.

Waterlily-I also switched to online bill pay and I cannot believe how helpful it has been.

I recently switched to 2 monthly food co ops and 1 CSA vegetable delivery. I hit the grocery 1-2 x's per month for only a very few perishable items. I loathe grocery shopping so this works perfect in our house.

Oh,those are some great things I have tried.I have a firm bed time and it helps.Love fly lady and I am fluttering along.I have many more days now that my youngest is old enough to entertain herself for half an hour at a time.I can get the dishes done once a day.I have gone back and forth with menu planning by the week.I need to be more consistant.

tequila?

Just kidding. We don't drink at all!

today that sounds good and we don't drink either. :lol:

Something in my house that I'm constantly running behind on is laundry... with 6 little girls there are so many different sets of socks, panties, and "whose shirt is this??" type thing... I'd have the kids take turns helping put it away, but unless I was right there watching stuff was always getting put in the wrong rooms. heck, half the time I can't remember whose socks are whose how do I expect them to?

so what I started doing a few weeks back is that each of my kids' rooms has their own laundry basket. only those in that room put their dirty laundry in it - when it gets full I wash it and dry i then put it back into their rooms. Then they are in charge of making sure it all gets put away properly. (Plus each room has a "sock drawer" where all the kids in that room are close enough to the same age that they can wear the same socks. lol) My older ones are able to help w/ the younger ones stuff, but now since they know which room it all belongs in they know where it goes.

All that leaves is me, dh, and the baby and a few loads of towels (and linens) a week. I know it sounds crazy but I've found that this saves me loads ( :lol: no pun intended) of time!!

I've also thought alot about learning how to make do with less. Just less "stuff" in general. I think that would really help keep things neater and more organized.

oh undies! Writing first and middle initial on undies saves me from searching for the size tag.

oh undies! Writing first and middle initial on undies saves me from searching for the size tag.

We do something like this too. I think it was LifesABeach that mentioned it.

We make one dot on the oldest's clothes. When they get handed down, we add a dot. Each time it is passed down, it gets an additional dot. So, how many dots determines the owner. This helps my dh a lot. I know every detail of every piece of clothing. Dh gets confused. :)

I finally decided on a system for underware that works for us. Each boy has a different brand of underwear for the current size. So size 8's are hanes, 6's are fruit of the loom, anything under that are cartoon. I am planning to continue to rotate because I think that when we buy the next size up there will be enough difference in size between the 6's and 10's that I can easily tell them apart. This has saved me a ton of time since right now G wears 8's and E wears 6's and I was driving myself crazy having to check the tags to put it away.

Another laundry saver for me is. The boys all have baskets in the laundry room where I fold their clothes and put them in the basket, this is for night clothes, socks and underwear. I don't put these clothes away they stay in the laundry room and then the boys just go in there and change or grab their clothes at night.

About 2 kids ago (lol) a friend suggested that I do one load of laundry per kid per week and I thought she was nuts because I couldn't wrap my brain around not sorting the laundry. Therefore, my laundry was out of control. So, for the past couple of years we've done this. Each child has his/her own basket. Only his/her clothes go in this basket. Each child then has a set laundry day -- one child per day, except on Friday 2 of the kids share a day. The child has all day to do his/her laundry -- wash, dry, fold, put away. The only help the smaller kids need is putting soap in the washer and they ask their older sibling partner to assist in this step. 5yo has his parter hang up his shirts and 2yo's partner helps him wash, fold, put away. My laundry day is Sat and dh's is Sunday. The kids are also supposed to wash their bed linens on their day, but it doesn't happen unless I remind them. Dd's before bedtime chore is to collect all the towels from the bathrooms and kitchen and wash them. 6yo's morning chore is to fold the towels and 5yo's morning chore is to put them away. Since implementing this system we have never had extra laundry lying around ever. Oh, and each child's laundry day is their designated mail day. They go out and get the mail from the mailbox that day and are allowed to open a package if it arrives on their day only.

We have the kitchen chores down too, except that there is way too much bickering and slacking IMO. ;) 14 yo washes pots and pans, cleans off counters, sweeps dining room floor. 12yo reloads dishwasher, sweeps kitchen floor and saves leftovers. 8yo unloads dishwasher and dishrack. 6yo clears dishes off table. 5yo puts away condiments and unloads silverware. I do 95% of the cooking and clean up my own messes as I go along.

I've paid my bills online for years. I do it on the last Monday before payday. I know all the bills and when they're due, so I pay them all at once. I keep all the bills in one folder.

We open and deal with mail immediately upon bringing it in the house. Bills get opened and put in folder. Envelopes and extras get recycled.

Each person in the house has one water cup and a sticker on it with their first initial. Dd transfers stickers to new cups after supper so everyone has a clean cup daily. I use the blue painter's tape because it comes off easily.

I have a calendar on my computer and everyone has their own color-block. Each activity (boy scouts, sports, dr. visits, etc) is color-coded to the person. I can glance quickly at the calendar and see who's doing what during the week. I keep it open at all times for easy access and add events/appointments as I make them.

I recently got a new cell phone/pda. Oh man, wish I'd had this a long time ago. It's helping me to get organized.

We do something like this too. I think it was LifesABeach that mentioned it.

We make one dot on the oldest's clothes. When they get handed down, we add a dot. Each time it is passed down, it gets an additional dot. So, how many dots determines the owner. This helps my dh a lot. I know every detail of every piece of clothing. Dh gets confused. :)

I do that with the boys' clothing, too! Their clothing is very close in size - and they all wear pretty much the same type of stuff. It has helped THEM in helping with laundry, too.

Also - each boy has 12 pair of his own kind of socks. Nathan ONLY likes one kind of sock, so that is what he has - mid calf length without the grey bottoms. Austin has 6 mid calf and 6 ankle length with grey soles. Adam's are like Austin's, but they have blue writing on them. :D Oh, and they all have different styles of underwear. Austin has boxer briefs that have contrast binding on the legs, Nate has tidy whitey's (lol), and Adam has boxer briefs. Makes it SO much easier than searching for sizes.

I think if it was girls - for underwear I would do each girl has certain character unders, or colors. Or a particular color sharpie mark on the tag.

Oh, another thing we do with a LOT of stuff - colors. Each child has a color... we try to get their towels, cups, blankets, etc all in thier color. It helps to know whose stuff is whose.

Here is a laundry tip from a friend of mine with 6 children. They use small safety pins to hold their socks together in the laundry. When they get the socks out to wear them they just keep the pin in one sock. Then when they take the socks off to put in the dirty clothes, they pin the socks together. This way there are no missing socks and she doesn't have to sort. Now her children are ages 13 to 5 with a baby so they are able to do safety pins.

I am also moving back to doing laundry for one person each day. My schedule that I am trying to get back to is this, M-dh, T-me, W - ds1 and 4, Th ds2 and 3, F linens, S- extra and nothing on Sunday. The non sorting things does sort of bother me but I am working on it.

*we use a laundry schedule. Each child has a laundry basket and they are required to do their laundry on their days. If they miss the day they have to wait until the next one (no exceptions!).
M-Chelsea
T-Brian
W-Libby and Emily
Th-Chelsea
Friday-Brian
Sat-Libby and Emily
I do Josh and Jake during the day while the kids are at school. I do DH's laundry Friday morning and I do mine on Sun. If your laundry is still in the dryer after 9 pm you have to pay me $1. Only two kids have ever had to pay (my two oldest lol) and it was only once ;)

*Every person has 3 towels and washrags. You have to do your towels on your laundry day. You also have to wash your sheets on one of your days. I don't care which one-but you have to do it.

*Underwear is brand specific to each child. Socks are done pretty much the same way.

*Each child has 3 chores. 1 of those chores is their bedroom.
Chelsea-trash, upstairs bathroom
Brian-dinner dishes, dining room
Libby-feed/water dog, day dishes
Emily-downstairs bathroom, breakfast nook
Joshua-empty trash in my bathroom, collect hangers
Jake-put shoes in stair buckets

*Stair buckets! They are great. One if for boys, one for girls. As I straighten up in the day I put their things in the stair buckets. When they get home they have to go through the buckets and properly put their items away.

*When they get home, they put their back pack in a dining room chair. After snacks and chores, we do homework. No exceptions!

*Dinner is at 6 and it's not optional. Unless you have cleared it with me first or you have a scheduled game/practice you must be at the table.

*Every child gets to pick a meal for a day of the week. When I make a list I go around and ask. Sure, we get a lot of repeats but it makes them feel good and I get a week long meal plan :)

*lunch boxes packed at 7:30. Morning lunch making is chaotic so we don't do it.

A
I have a calendar on my computer and everyone has their own color-block. Each activity (boy scouts, sports, dr. visits, etc) is color-coded to the person. I can glance quickly at the calendar and see who's doing what during the week. I keep it open at all times for easy access and add events/appointments as I make them.

What type of calendar do you use?

What type of calendar do you use?

For the first couple of years I had a calendar from Calendar Creator and I just kept the program open at all times for easy access.

Now I use the calendar in Outlook because it sinks to my pda/cell phone and dh uses his Outlook calendar for his pda and I can send him appts as emails that he can drag right into his calendar and vice versa. It's pretty slick.

Each of the kids has their own laundry basket in their room. They each have a laundry day and do it on those days. I help the younger kids, while the older kids do all their own. DH does his own as I got tired of him waking me at 4am, before he left to catch the train to go to a meeting in TO & he couldn't find a certain piece of clothing only after me searching for 15 mins while he was having a shower, for him to discover it was still in his travel bag from the last time. That was it...from then on he did his OWN laundry. Drives me nuts how he does it, that he wastes serveral minutes each am looking for matching socks vs sitting down and matching them when he does his laundry, but I have to let it go!!

We also mark tags, but use sticks. 1 for first child, etc. We initial all the stuff for the foster children so that if I come across something with a stick, we know it was "lent" to them that they don't "own" it!!

I've heard the pin idea for socks but our drying HATES pins & even mangles zippers so that won't work for us. For myself & the wee ones laundry I find it helps to fold it as it comes out of the dryer or off the clothes line. Then it just needs to be put away!!

I have a basket for lost socks that get matched up when someone seems to be having trouble finding something to do & complains they are bored!!

We have days we do the towels as well.

We have a laminated chore chart on the fridge and laminated Saturday chore cards. The kids pick 3 chores to do. The cards list exactly what each chore requires to be completed. I laminated them as they were getting yucky!! This also helps for the kids that work. They have the jobs set aside & can do them when they are home. The kids with pets, take care of their own pets. Even the kids with horses are expected to feed, water, muck out, etc.

Kerri mom to:

Amanda(17), Emma(15), Maddison(13), foster dd(12),
Jonah(10), foster ds(10), Saige & Claire(7, identical twin girls), foster dd(6),
foster ds(5), my little boy Teagan(3) PLUS: 2 horses, 1 pony, 3 dogs, 2
cats, 1bunny rabbit, 4 guinea pigs, 3 rats( one is naked!), 1 teddy bear
hamster & 3 dwarf hamsters & fostering a fuzzy orange tabby
kitten

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