Stacey’s Mayhem Management Tip #14

Today, I’m so excited to have my sister guest posting for me. She recently started a site called What My Kids Did. It’s a fun picture site dedicated to art work on walls, broken bones, and kids in a pool in a street. Or really, just any crazy thing your kids do. If you haven’t, you should hop on over and check it out and submit a photo of your crazy kids! But today, she is sharing how she manages it all.

I have been in awe of my sister’s ability to take care of seven children. I love her Mayhem Managment posts and the glimpses it allows us into her amazing life. I was excited when she asked me to guest post and I realized that although I don’t have seven children, I suppose I do have some experience managing mayhem.

I have a six year old, a 3 year old, and 2 almost 2 year old identical twin boys. If that doesn’t create some mayhem, I don’t know what would.

The question I get asked the most often is, “How do you do it?” The answer is, I really don’t have a choice, so I just figure it out.

To cope, I have gotten used to making normal motherhood duties work like an assembly line.

Diaper Changing: I am in the process of potty training my toddler who just turned three, so there are times when all three of my youngest need to have their diapers changed at the same time.

I have found that there is no particular order that makes this job easier, it is simply a matter of whoever ventures closest to me first gets caught, wrestled to the ground, and changed.

Then I repeat the process two more times, all while using the age appropriate methods of distraction like, “Where is your head?” or for the toddler, “What color is mommy’s shirt?”.

Meal time This is another assembly line moment. I line up the plates, divvy out all of the food items, cool them down, and put them in front of each child.

Then it becomes a game of trying to keep track of who actually ate and who put their food on their sibling’s plate, all while attempting to eat my own meal while it is still warm.

Clean up: After the meal is over, I once again start with either whoever is done first, or whoever is closest. Their dishes get washed, they get washed, a kiss on the cheek, and off they go, then I repeat the process three more times. Thankfully my oldest is now able to do many of the daily things on her own, which is very helpful.

Juggling many personalities: I also learn little tricks about how to juggle all of the different personalities during certain parts of the day. My youngest three nap while my oldest is in kindergarten and I have learned that there is an art to getting them all to take a nap and an art to getting them all up.

When it is time to get up, I get Baby B up first because all he wants is a kiss and then to be put down so he can run off and play, while Baby A wants to sit and cuddle on my lap for awhile. My toddler doesn’t wake up quickly and does best if she gets out of bed as she is ready.

So the drill is, pick up Baby B, give him and kiss and put him down so he can play and be noisy, therefore waking up his sister the toddler. While this is going on, I pick up Baby A and cuddle him on my lap. Once the toddler emerges from her room, I can safely get them all downstairs without much drama.

These are just a few small examples of the mayhem I have been blessed with and how I manage it.

Being a mom is a difficult yet extremely rewarding job. No matter how many kids you have or what your situation is, it is a big responsibility and such an important one. Every mom eventually learns how to manage her own mayhem and what ways work best for her.

I have learned many things along the way, but by far the most helpful tips I could pass on are to be patient and to just laugh. Life is short and life is hard, but there are plenty of great moments. Find them, enjoy them, and laugh.