I’m going to do a real series of blog posts. They are probably going to sporadic, but I’ll do my best to keep up. I get the comment, from the title a lot. Either they think I’m a freak or they are just curious how in the world I manage a home with four children under the age of six with one on the way and homeschool and work on adoption (which now that just involves waiting). I know I’m not the only mom who has more than 2.5 children, but my friends that have that many or less have been curious…especially my friends who are new moms. I’m not tooting my own horn, I just want them to see that I’m a real mom who makes sacrifices in some areas and works hard in others.

So, how do I do it? Really??? Well, to start these posts off, I’ll have to say I don’t! My house was last cleaned…to my satisfaction before I had children. To the satisfaction that my mother-in-law wouldn’t freak out when she brought the kids over while we were in Canada…the night before we left for Canada. Oh, I did finally clean the toilets and dust the bedrooms last week because, I didn’t want my kids using the bathroom in gray toilets…call me crazy!?!

Cleaning is not my strong suit and still a struggle for me to maintain on top of everything else.

As I said earlier, I don’t do it all, all of the time. I just can’t. So some things we sacrifice…like a cleaning routine for now. Somedays we sacrifice supper for my sanity. Mark just prefers sanity over a hot meal.

So for my mom friends who try to figure out how to do it all and you may just have a newbie…stop trying to figure it out. Concentrate on your family and meet those needs first…then as you get comfortable work from there.

And point number two, unfortunately, there is no set formula for how to manage a household. What works for some, doesn’t work for others. So, this series is just full of ideas. Take what you think might work and try it. If it doesn’t work then chunk it or adjust it to fit your family and your needs. I have been very blessed to have several women at church who have more children than the “average American.” I love to listen to them talk about how they manage their homes. I also am addicted to the Duggars series and the Gosselins series on TLC and get a lot of ideas from them. My sister-in-law is also fun to be around because I can see how she does things differently. Some ideas from all of these families I take and can apply to my home and my personality…some, I just smile and am glad it works for them. And some, I try and readjust and make work for my family. So, if you aren’t doing something the way I am, either you’ve found a way that works for you or you can use my ideas and apply them to your family.

Now some of things I want to share about in this series includes household stuff like laundry, cooking, (not cleaning), organizing and home schooling. The homeschooling one should be fun since there are some people, who don’t read my blog, who seem pretty skeptical that I actually get any schooling done with two to three little ones running underfoot…just watch…it can be done (and again, sometimes it’s just not). I have proof too…ask Zoe to read any book up to 3rd grade level and she’ll outread almost any kid! Tada!

So enjoy, or just know when to skip a day reading. I’m labeling these posts Family Management for easy access. Offer your tips too when you have them. I know some moms would enjoy reading them. I know I do!