Big Families
|
Big families present big fun, and it takes some unique approaches to raise big families. Find out about handling issues with big families such as simply matters like grocery shopping to annoying comments about your big family from strangers. Here are tips and advice for moms with big families. Big Families editor: Lisa Douglas |
 |
Having a big family is pretty awesome nine times out of ten. There's always a birthday party to throw. Always a milestone we get to celebrate. And the morning wrestling wars in bed? Made of awesome. The one time it's not fun? ILLNESSES.
Today was a flurry of birthday parties, one after the next, packing up our brood of six, off to the skating rink for two hours, followed by some lunch and another party for a newly one-year-old at another place. In all of the parties I've ever attended, with our growing family, never did I ever hear someone apologize to me for having invited me. Until today.
It was a hot summer afternoon and the kids were worse than cranky. We had just moved and I felt stranded in the middle of nowhere, with four kids under ten and a newborn. The humid weather only made it worse. I needed to get them all herded into the Suburban to run some errands. With any luck at all, at least a couple of them would fall asleep on the ride, and the air conditioning had to feel better than this muggy dampness.
With our large family, there are certain things that need to be done everyday to ensure our home runs smoothly. We enlist the help of our children to get it all done, as we're all in this together. For other, smaller families, our methods may not work, because they won't need to do all of these things daily, as we have to. But for us, with having six children, doing the following everyday ensures our home stays somewhat neat, which is a feat in and of itself. This provides me with some semblance of calm in the crazy life of having a lot of children.
For Christmas we did the unthinkable - we packed our huge brood of eight into our minivan and spent Christmas away from home. Of all the times in the world, coupled with the luggage and such our family of eight needs, we stuffed our minivan to the hilt with presents, to boot. Honestly, it wasn't the best of experiences we've ever had, especially lugging Christmas gifts to and fro, but at the very least I can tell you what worked and what didn't when traveling a great distance with children.
Have you read our Budget Challenge articles yet? With the economy in the state that it's in, we're working together to help save money. You can catch up on the recent articles, Join My Budget Challenge, Budget Challenge Check In, and Budget Challenge to Pay Down Debt. This time we're talking about ways to cut back and save at the grocery store.
Read more: Save on Groceries with Big Families Budget Challenge
Octuplet Mom Nadya Suleman is helping to re-enforce the stigma that big families are a drain on tax-payers, putting big families on the defensive and making this mom-of-many wonder what will happen to her children.
Clothing is never cheap my any means. Having to outfit an entire person in socks, shoes, underwear, tee shirts, long sleeved shirts, sweaters, pants, shorts, pajamas. Whew! That's a mouthful, let alone a wallet-full. Here are some great tricks for anyone, not just big families, to tackle the adversary I like to call "The Clothes Monster" (and no, we're not talking laundry. That's another talk entirely!)
Was one of your resolutions to save money for 2009? Why not join our Budget Challenge, and let's do it together! We're taking baby steps to saving money, why not stick around?
More Articles...
Page 1 of 3
