A Day In The Life of Moo

So if you thought having 7 kids was bizarre enough....let's talk about how a day in the life of Moo's house really goes.

Our schedule is probably about as normal as everyone else except we have a few unconventional ways.

Everyone is up by 7am......except me. But we'll get to why that is in a little bit.

The first up is typically our 4 and 5 year olds'. They have some internal message that tells them their favorite TV shows are on. Sometime between 5am and 6am, Nick channel switches from the more "teenage" shows to the kiddie shows and my kids know this! They usually come bouncing out, smiles on their faces, asking for channel 100 to be put on and breakfast with a drink, oh! and don't forget the kiss good morning Mommy please. (this is on the rare occasion that I am awake). Otherwise it's kisses from Daddy they are asking for.

Hubby gets up and gets the kids around for school. Our oldest son isn't in school right now. He's home bound due to him having some health issues, so he's out for the rest of his 10th grade year. It's actually worked out a lot better than we thought it would. So well, that come next year he'll be home schooled full time. After the kids are off to school, Hubs gets the babies dressed for the day, breakfast fed and bottles given (I am still sleeping this entire time.) He takes care of what needs to be done throughout the morning.

Let me back up and explain a bit. Back in October, Hubby had to take a leave of absence from work. I desperately needed his help here due to the health issues I was having. This led to his employer letting him go, for lack of a better term and he's been home collecting unemployment. Unfortunately, we live in an area where there are NO jobs available, not even for young people who they could get away paying minimum wage to. The job market here stinks! But for me, this works out pretty good. I'm nocturnal by nature and do my best work when everyone else is asleep.

I get up sometime between 10am and 1pm depending on how late I've been up the night before. I hang out with Hubs and the kids, do some chores around the house, then it's time for the kiddies to get off the bus. That's when things get BUSY! It's homework time, then dinner time, a little play time, bath time, snack time, medicine time and then bedtime by 9pm at the latest in this house.

This is when I start MY work, which I don't get paid for. See, I'm a mega-blogger. I've just started here on this site, but I have another, more active blog on another site. The other one is based on medical things and this one is based on my family life, both of which I love intensely. If I could make money doing what I do best.....writing, I would. But like every other field, there are no job openings and for someone with no formal training, my options are quite limited. Write for free or well, nothing.....So, I write for free and it's something I enjoy immensely.

From about 9pm until some time after the sun rises, I do research, write, draft, edit and post. Here on this blog, I kinda just wing it! I have so much experience being a Mommy of 7 and being with the same, wonderful man for 19 years, topics come naturally for me here.

So, that's our routine....and really not that unconvential, except we have 7 kids, one of which is home bound, two that are in public school and 4 little one's that pretty much rule the house during the day. Hubs is unemployed and I work at night, for free. So......I guess we really are weird!

Welcome to our day!

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!

5 Ways To Help During Tough Times

Being a parent is the hardest job you'll ever have. It doesn't matter if you have 1 or 20, it's tough. Yes, the more you have the harder it gets and sometimes the less you have the more expensive it can be. With the economy being the way it is right now, more and more people are finding themselves out of work, living on less money and still having to figure out how to feed, clothe and shelter their families. Wants go on the back burner and needs come to the forefront. We can find ourselves feeling guilty because all of our money is going to pay bills and there's nothing left for the fun stuff. I think there's a few things we can do to lessen the tension on our budget ropes.

• Have a yard/garage sale! Go through everything you own and inventory it, placing an asking price next to the item. Everything you haven't used in the last 6 months goes. I have about 6 boxes of dishes sitting out in my garage, it only takes 2 sets to feed my family, the other 6 can go. If you have spare pots and pans hanging around.....price them and set them out too. If you haven't seen whatever item you have in your hand in the last few months, most likely you don't need it and you should sell it.The money you make from the yard sale can be used for some "fun" money.
• Plant a garden......the price of food is ridiculous.What you will spend on the seeds is only a fraction of what you'd spend in the store for fruits and vegetables.I can remember being able to fill a cart in Walmart and spend less than $200 including meat, now it's much more than that, even at Walmart. It's not their fault, it's just the way the cookie crumbles right now. 
• Cut coupons. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, but there are a few coupon trading sites out there that can be helpful to you. A little bit of time can save you a lot of money. I have one friend who uses her coupons so efficiently that she's able to get a lot of stuff FREE! 
• Buy used! I know a lot of people who balk at this idea, but when money is tight, it's time to stop being a snob. We have many consignment shops in our area that sell brand name clothing at a fraction of what you'd spend in a department store. 
• If you buy new, only buy what's on sale. If you can get clothes for buy 1 get 1 50% off or better, then go for it! JC Penny's has awesome sales all the time. There are times that I have bought new clothes for all my kids and still spent less at JC Penny's then at any other store. Many times you can find deals there for $1 to $3 for a shirt or pants. 

These are just a few of the things a family can do to lighten the load a little bit. There is tons of information out there on budgeting, how to generate extra income (surprisingly blogging is one of them), gardening, couponing, etc. 

Sometimes....it's just a matter of a change in lifestyle that we need and change can be hard. But if we want to give a little to our children instead of always having to say ,"No, not this week!" then that change can be good. 

About Our Family

Well.....I'm a mom to 7 awesome kids! I know, everyone says that, their kids are awesome and everyone else around them says, "Yeah, I know what she's really thinking!" But, I mean it, my kids really are awesome! We have 3 boys and 4 girls, all ranging in age from 16 years old down to 7 months old. Hubby and I have been together since high school and have been married for 13 years!

Let's get some of the "awkward" questions answered right away. 

"Are they all yours?" Well, no, they are both my husband's and mine, we are equally responsible for our brood. And we didn't pick up a single one in the produce aisle or the baby aisle of Target.  

"Are any of them adopted?" Nope! Our dog is our only adoptee in this house. We actually rescued him from some pretty horrific conditions and with his goofiness he fits in well with our family. 

"Do you know what causes that?" Why yes, we do and we obviously enjoy it ;)

"Don't you have a TV?" Actually, we have 3 TV's but there isn't anything as entertaining as, well.....

"Why doesn't one of you get fixed?" This question has always confused me. Obviously neither of us are broken, so why would one have to be fixed? I usually answer this question with, "Nope! We actually preferred to get broken!" This usually gets some pretty odd looks as many people don't understand our answer. 

"Are you going to have more?" No, we are not. During Baby #7's pregnancy I developed some major health issues, so we decided that it was a good time to, get broken. I think it makes both of us sad....but in truth, it is for the best. 

"How do you manage so many children? How do you afford them?" Well that's a lot of what this blog is about. I want to help other parents. 

So how about we get started and do just that!