Going from family of to 5 to 9 next week hit me with the best you got!

[Loopy Linda]

ok as title says our family of mum, dad and 3 sons will next week become mum, dad and 3 daughters and 4 sons! might be a bit of a change.

at moment i have a high school son, he gets himself up and ready for school but i iron and make his lunch. he catches a bus to school and back.

my next son is in 1st grade who i get ready and drive to school.

then i have a toddler.

next week i will add in 3 more kids at school, kinder, 1st and 3rd grades and another preschooler.

so i need your best tips, what time saving, sanity saving, child friendly tips you got for me?

i believe i had a brainwave the other day but my friends all laughed at me!

ok goes like this, lunches are going to take a while, so i give them all lebanese bread. i melt the marg and use a brush and paint the butter on! imagine the time that woud save! brilliant i think! lol

so go one, hit me with the works, i need to know everything

thanks

[demb22]

Hey Linda

Sorry I can't help but just thought you deserved one responce, how you going? Hope you/re going well.. big hugs if your not and congrats if you are!:D

[anewme]

Hi Loopy Linda, yeah lunches do take a while as does doing hair. These are a few things I do to make it easier to get out the door on time.


make sandwiches once a week and freeze them.
I have a big box in the cupboard with all the school stuff in them ( lcm's, muesli bar, bickie and cheese, bags of popcorn, chips etc. all out of there box's. (zip lock bags are my best friends)
One drawer of the fridge is just school fruit. and a section of the fridge for yoghurt's and cheese etc.
If the morning going really bad I put it all together otherwise the kids make the own ( rules one sandwich, one fruit and two other things.)
I keep everyone hair bands together with the brushes and the hair spray. ( With 3 dd we have lots of hairbands and a few brushes.)
I let you know if I think of any thing else.

[Loopy Linda]

thanks demb

loving 5 thanks, great suggestions. do sandwiches really taste good after being frozen? i am finding hair takes longest but i also have a few bribes/ rewards. we have 2 laptops but 3 kids that want them. so you have to get out of bed have breakfast and be dressed for school before you can get one. lately 2 of the 3 are ready before 8am, well before. the 3rd one hates to get out of bed.

and i really do need to sort a place for hairbrushes and elastics, i have 3 girls now so big change and hassle! hair brushing, and tying, elastics and clips and ribbons and fiiddly things... my boys rarely brush their hair! lol hopeless

ends up only being 8 of us, not 9. so a little easier. but things are going pretty smoothly.

[YMo7]

i got my baby asleep in my arms atm so i will have to come back later, but one thing i do is get a snap lock bag and pack 3 recess things in it (my kids go crazy on fruit at home but refuse to eat it at school so thats no worry) and i have this massive box where they all live... i just grab a snap lock bag per child already made up and off they go. (they catch the bus) maybe you could entice them with if you are ready first you can get a freddo in your lunch or if you are ready last you have to help make sandwiches? (we do lunches last thing)...

we also have an order in which the kids have to do things... for eg, the girls arent allowed to eat breakfast until they are dressed and hair is done, i have a boy who cant have breakfast until he has his shoes and socks on, tie on with top button done up and shirt tucked in... another who has to have his school books packed (even though we try make them do it the night before!) before brekky... just little things that help which are particular to each kid coz otherwise they take too much time doing them.

[Josh]

I have 10 kids(11 in october), and I get asked this question a lot, but I dont have many tips at all:o
I do my kids lunches just before I go to bed, I have 5 at school, my only advice would be you have to be organised with military precision, every thing that you do in one day has to be organised from start to finish.. my kids get up at 7 I have breakfast ready for 4 of them, lunches packed and any other school stuff, dressed by 8:15, and in the meantime I am trying to feed and change a 2yr old and a 1yr old, then I get dressed myself then it is time to drive to school, and everything just flows from there for my day/night, dinner time is the worst for me, my dh doesnt get home until they are almost finished.Good luck with it all.:yes:

[Nex]

Frozen sandwiches are just fine. Sometimes even better because they are fresher by lunchtime. My mother always used to make our sandwiches with frozen bread for that reason.

You only have to be a bit selective what you put into them!

eg, lettuce is a no no. Thawed lettuce is a horrible slimy mess.

[cutiepies]

That is a big change to go through at once.
Maybe make a family meeting and assign jobs to the kids. One kid could make sandwichs, one do snack etc...

I think the laundry will hit you the most as you will have double the amount. It might be helpful to get some extra cleaning help while you are getting adjusted to the change. Get your teenager to do his own laundry

Make simple dinners such as chicken and rice.

[Mathermy]

Congratulations on your growing family, however they came to be :goodvibes: May the force be with you and your growing brood :hugs:

[YMo7]

omg laundry is awful... my washing machine is too fast for my clothes line in winter and then in summer my clothesline is to fast for my washing machine...

we have a dryer that is used daily (for undies, socks, etc) and my dad is building me a huge 2nd clothes line...

and i agree - u need military precision!

i start cooking at 4pm as soon as DH walks in after work, while he baths the 3 yungest kids and the 4 oldest kids d their homework and jobs (they do 1 job of my choice per day. ie. washing up, mopping kitchen floor after dinner, hanging qa load of washing ut, bringing a load in, folding a load, tidying living areas, etc.)