“If you don't approach parenting with humor, you can cry for days on end,” says a mother with many children. Katerina gives advice on how to help parents in difficult life situations. A mother with many children shares life hacks that have a positive effect on life not only in large families, but also in families with only one baby.
Katerina, a mother of four children, chose the most common difficult situations in a large family and shared her experience on how to cope with them. The advice that will help many parents can seem both sensible and ridiculous. However, mothers are so confused that any, even ridiculous advice will be very useful for them. For example, let's remember a stay in a maternity hospital. Mothers sometimes simply forget to eat, for which the doctors swear and remind them of this. Below you will find tips and life hacks that will make life easier both in a large family and in families with one child.
Lists are a good organizer
An unorganized and even crazy morning can be in any family. And this does not depend on whether there are many children in the family, or one child, or not at all. But when in a large family one child does not want to get up, the second cannot find his pencil case, the third does not like omelet for breakfast today, but rather croutons are preferable, then mom is not far from a nervous breakdown. There is a way out - make to-do lists.
- Use a notebook, notebook or download the application to your smartphone / tablet;
- Write down morning activities for all family members. The list should include everything that needs to be done by the children before leaving the house. Getting up, morning toilet, cleaning the bed, breakfast, collecting a briefcase, etc .;
- Various badges, stickers, emoticons or other nice prizes will help motivate kids. The main point is to make them want to do what is on the list;
- To-do and reward lists should be placed side by side so the kids can see what needs to be done. Leave encouraging notes or emoticons around the house.
Children - more independence
“I pack four lunches for school every day. To be honest, this is my least favorite duty. But since I involved the children in the process, everything has become much easier, ”says mother of many children, Katerina.
- Buy 3 plastic containers to fit on the bottom shelf in the refrigerator. Stick pictures of fruits, vegetables, snacks on each, or simply sign them;
- In the evening, wrap pieces of fruit, vegetables, healthy snacks in foil and place everything in appropriate containers;
- In the morning, when you are busy with the main part of lunch, the children independently select and pack snacks in their school backpacks. You save time, and the little ones cannot complain about the fact that you forgot to put them an apple.
The child should be comfortable in the kitchen
Children show independence from early childhood. Support the desire to be independent in them, do not try to do everything yourself, otherwise a feeling of constant fatigue is guaranteed to you. Very little is needed for this: the kitchen space should be convenient for children so that they can independently perform elementary actions. For example, in the morning of the day off, have a snack, and you can rest an extra hour.
- Buy a specific color for each child. They will know their plates and cups, which will prevent arguments about who should eat from the red plate and who should wash the green mug;
- Children's dishes should be placed in the closet so that kids can get them on their own;
- You can do the same with foods for breakfast or snacks. For example, place a container with milk in the refrigerator below, cereals - in the lower cabinet of the kitchen table. Waking up on a day off, children can have a snack themselves. The main thing is to remove all spices, flour, etc.
For rewards - a jar of stones
That's right, you heard right. Need a jar of stones or chestnut fruit for each child. This is the most convenient way to keep track of received or spent bonuses, for example, to control the time spent by children in front of a computer or TV.
- In addition to stones and a jar with a sticker on which the child's name is written, a timer is also needed. You can allow each of the children to decorate their own jar;
- Decide on the rules that will regulate the time children spend in front of the TV screen or at the computer for 1 stone, for example, 15-20 minutes. But there is a limitation - stones cannot be saved for a long time in order to sit behind the screen all day;
- Determine what the child needs to do to get one stone. Here everything is individual for each family. This can be some kind of homework, a nap, a completely eaten lunch, etc.;
- The child sends the earned stone to his bank. When he wants to use it, he will pay you with a stone. That's all! BUT, you must adhere to the rule: you cannot take stones as punishment for bad behavior. Stones are not a means of blackmailing a child, he himself “earns” and “spends” them himself. But you can offer a compromise: pay with stones. For example, a child is mischievous and does not want to clean toys or bed. Suggest the following options: do the cleaning yourself and get 6 stones, remove with you for 3 stones, you can remove for the child, but he must give 6 stones. The choice is his.
Hang up the signs
Repeatedly repeating the same thing annoys many parents! Children often turn a deaf ear to everything and then get upset that they upset you. To prevent an open tube of toothpaste, an apple core on the table, or uncleared things from ruining your mood, help each other!
- Make an eye-catching reminder board and hang it where kids keep forgetting to do something. There is no need to be zealous and write about everything at once, because home is not an army with unquestioning observance of the charter;
- Reminders like these quickly change the family atmosphere. Adults do not get annoyed, do not constantly remind children of their duties, and children do not get upset because they again forgot about your instruction.
If you use these tips every day, then life with children will become easier and, most importantly, more interesting!
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