7 kids 1 bathroom

*Gasp!* I can hear it now as many of you are reading this! Part of it is because you know what I'm talking about, the other part of you, couldn't even imagine.

The last home we lived in was small, three bedrooms (okay, one wasn't even a bedroom), living room, kitchen and ONE very tiny bathroom. So how did we manage.....there's actually a lot to say about this then one would think.

What do you do when it's 6am, everyone is trying to rush to the bathroom at once because everyone needs to go!!!! And not later, but NOW!!!!!

Smaller kids go first.....they're most likely being potty trained and haven't learned how to hold it yet. Anyone who is under the age of 5 gets to go first! Next......whoever gets in there first, gets to go. But only to go to the bathroom, grooming must wait.

While waiting, the waiting children could be eating their breakfast, getting dressed, making their beds, or patiently watching TV and waiting until everyone else is done.

Once everyone has had their chance to do their business......The person who has to be out of the house the earliest gets to go back in first.....brush teeth, comb hair and get out! If this particular person needs to "do" their hair or their makeup or something else.....put a mirror up on the back of the bedroom door. There's no reason for them to be hogging the bathroom so they can primp themselves up. Bathrooms are used for well, the obvious reason of course, brushing teeth and showering.....ONLY! Everything else can be done in their bedrooms or in the car or on the bus if need be. I can remember waking up late for school and having to do my makeup on the bus, it didn't kill me anymore than it'll kill your 16 year old daughter!

We've been lucky in the fact that everyone wakes up at different types, so it hasn't or hadn't been too bad.

Showers are only done at night and we alternate boys and girls. For example, M-W-F are girl's nights and T-Th-S is boy's night. We skip Sunday unless the kids have had a hard day at playing, then we just wing it! I shower during the day, always have. If I want a relaxing bubble bath, I wait until night time when the kids are in bed. But to be honest, bubble baths bore me......

How about the dreaded brushing of the teeth. This can be difficult, especially if you have kids that need to be in there at the same time. Well, one can brush in the sink, the other can brush in the bathtub and the other can go to the kitchen. Worse comes to worse, tell one of them to go use the gardening hose if they absolutely can not wait.

We have had times when one person or another just can't wait, so they've been told, 3rd tree to the left. There has only been one child on one particular day that used that advice as he really could not wait. Thank God our home was shaded by lots of trees where no one could see what he actually was doing.

Back to showers.....each child gets 10 minutes before it's time for the next one to get in. Right now the only one girl who needs to hold to that rule is Gitty as she's old enough to shower herself. But we bathe the younger girls ourselves as they are only 4 (almost), 17 months and 7 months. The boys', other than JP, is a little tougher as they'd stay in there all night if we'd let them!

I hope this helps some of you figure out your bathroom situation, if you are like how we used to be.

We now have two bathrooms and I wouldn't go back to having one unless I absolutely HAD to!

Management

I think a lot of what I learned about managing a large family can help many of the smaller families as well. We as parents are always looking for new ways to make our lives easier, aren't we? That said, if you walked through my house right now, you'd probably wonder if I was talking out my tush here. But the condition of my home is for another time :)

Having 1 child can seem like it would be an easy job, but in actuality it's no different then having several, especially if one or both of the parents work outside the home. Even if one works at home, there are still demands that must be met each day or soon you're home will fall apart and it will look like, well.....mine right now.

Let's take a look at some of the things I have used over the years and see if any of them may be useful for you.

I set up a weekly cleaning schedule. I like to use the one here: Justmommies.com

It helps me as the mom stay on track and when I'm working it can help Hubby to stay on track too.

I also implement everyones help! All my kids make messes and big ones! I often find at least one child who has left a trail of things behind them, creating a huge mess and they think someone else is going to clean it up. That doesn't happen. I refuse to clean up after anyone who isn't willing to clean up after me. Hubby has a bad habit of doing this. When he cleans, he cleans up for everyone. Not me, I wait until everyone is home and I make them all pitch in and help. If I did it myself, it would take me hours to get done what needs to be done. Instead, by having help, it doesn't take more than an hour to get things straightened up.

Have chores for the kids. I suggest printing out and making up your own chores. Not every chore is going to fit for your family. You can also make ones yourself using a spreadsheet already on your computer. These chores can be something as simple as personal hygiene for the younger kids all the way up to cleaning out the garage for the older kids.

We live in a time where most kids spend all their time either playing or doing school work. My kids have between 15 minutes to 2 hours worth of homework a night. We feel bad fitting chores into their schedules when they have no time to be kids. That's why during the week, I don't ask much from the kids. Hubs and I are both home, so it makes it a bit easier. But weekends are different. Saturday and Sunday mornings are mine. They need to use that time to help get the house in order for the next week. Weekdays are busy for us and it's easy for things to fall apart quickly.

Routines! When you and the kids can count on something happening predictably, it can be easier to fall back into that routine if a crisis should arise. With 7 kids, we end up with lots of colds, boo boos and other issues almost constantly. Knowing who has to do what, when, helps everyone else stay focused until things return to normal.

One of these days I'll give you an example of our routine. It's not really exciting, but hopefully it'll give you an idea of how best to help your own family.

Plan! What I mean is, keep a calender of events coming up for the next month. We have a calendar up on the fridge. I write in all the appointments coming up for the following month and anyone who has plans needs to put it on the calendar so we know what to expect.

Meal Plan! This will make your life a thousand times easier, especially if both parents do work. It let's you know what you're going to have for dinner, what you need to get out of the fridge or freezer and what you need to buy from the grocery store. Remember, use those coupons and buy only what's on sale! Plan your meals around your grocery store's sale flyer.

And lastly, don't stress! The laundry will get done, the dishes will get done, the cob-webs will probably go unnoticed if you happen to have company over. The one thing that you have to make sure you do, spend time with your kids. Parks are great places for kids and you to burn off energy. Cuddle with them and read to them often. Let kids be kids, not your own personal workers!