When Your Family Grows

I have learned a lot about the growing family  and have been trying different things that I want to share. 

As most of you know, I am going to have 4 kids ages 2 and under here soon and have been trying to make my current tribe as self-sufficient as possible. This will make for an easier transition, not to mention a more pleasant home and more helpful children.

So here are some tips on how to prepare for a little one with little one’s:

• Teach Self-Discipline: Every morning we eat, clear the table, make our beds, brush our teeth, get dressed, take care of our dirty laundry... Every lunch time we eat, clear the table, do the dishes, wipe the table, sweep the floor... Every dinner we do the same. Every night we pick up the toy room and the whole house before we go to bed. 

“You seriously CANNOT expect my one-year old and my two-year olds to do this!”

“Oh yes you can!”

It seems like a LOT of work for mom (and it is, at first), but as time goes on, your two-year olds actually know how to wash a dish themselves, clear the table and wipe it down themselves, and grab the broom and attempt to sweep themselves. They don’t complain about daily chores and helping you around the house because (A) You didn’t let them complain and (B) It’s just what they do everyday. 

• Potty Train: I have been told each child is different when it comes to potty training and you have to wait until THEY are ready before it will work. I have potty trained two of my three and will start with Hayven in May (She will be 16 months old). So far, my opionion is that potty training is NO DIFFERENT then anything-training. 

You tell them what you expect, 

you walk them through it, 

you be consistent, 

and they will do it!

• Be Organized: I have become a very organized person since becoming a parent. I like a month full of meal planning, receipts all together, coupons organized, lists of things we need and when I am going to get them. I like things in their place. I like meals and snacks pre-made, stacked up in the freezer and cupboards. It just makes things so much smoother! We don’t follow a “daily schedule” per-se, but when it comes to meals, homeschooling lessons ect, where each and every penny of each and every pay check goes, we have a plan.

I have learned I avoid frustration, surprise money spending binges, and a lot of stress knowing what is coming and planning for it ahead of time. It reminds me of the Proverbs 31 Woman (READ IT!)

• As much as it depends on you, plan ahead: 

I know that I am having a boy.

I know he will probably be a month early (July).

I know that my husband is wanting to take the month off of work to help the family situate. 

Therefore I know I need some boy clothes.

I know I need some new cloth diapers (ugh... for a later post...)

I know we need to save up money for that time off of work.

I know I need to plan meals and snacks since we always eat much more when Alex is home. 

I know I need to get the girls to be as helpful as possible.

A wise woman sees what is coming and does all she can to best prepare her family for it.

• Get Rid Of Stuff!!!!: I LOVE to down-size. My husband doesn’t think I down-size enough most times which I am thankful he isn’t the other extreme, wanting to keep everything. There is so much happiness in simplicity. Now these are our personal standings for out family. They may be different for you:

• When something comes in, something goes out! (When new toys comes in, old toys get donated; when boy clothes come in, baby girl clothes go out; when a new appliance comes in, one I don’t really use goes out; when a new end table comes in, an old, falling-apart bookcase goes out ect).
• It should NOT take us more then two days to pack our whole apartment (which it doesn’t)
• I would LIKE to say that each child has enough clothes to last about a week or two without washing and no more then that... but I have girls... and I am not quite there yet.

What I am NOT saying is that always preparing for things has to rule your life! Now I am also a firm believer in the “Chuckism” Blessed are the Flexible, for they shall not be Broken. We obviously CANNOT prepare for everything and we CAN choose NOT to be stressed out by the circumstances around us. 

I mean, I end of moving into a new living situation EVERY SINGLE PREGNANCY. 

We end of taking several out-of-the-blue trips EVERY YEAR.

My husband may be laid of by the end of this week. 

Hayven may not do well with potty training and I may have TWO little ones in cloth diapers again!

What I AM saying is that you have such an important, blessed, awesome, cherished role as the wife of your husband and mother of your children!

What JOY it is to see the needs of others and do everything in your power to bless them as much as you can!

Read through Proverbs 31 and Titus and tell me that you don’t see the above attributes in these women of old. (Please do! Dig into your Bible and ask God to reveal what He has for you to do in your home)

I have SUCH a PASSION for everything that I do at home. 

I have SUCH a JOY to serve my husband and my children.

God has worked so much into my heart and life through my calling to be a wife and a mother and I wouldn’t change ANYTHING about it.