Plan ahead!

When you have children, especially a handful of them, it's wise to plan ahead!!!  I learned from a fellow teacher, Dianne, in Irving, TX in 1995 to PLAN AHEAD.  I would run off worksheets 3 weeks in advance because of her guidance.  Therefore, I was always prepared for unexpected illness, etc.

I try to do the same thing with our household!  Granted, our laundry to-be-ironed pile is often high, but I try to do other things early.  Yesterday, I went ahead & bathed the 2 youngest children at 3pm.  When the triplets came home, the 2 little ones were scrubbed clean and in their pajamas!  It allowed me to focus on the triplets for a while, and we even played a board game after dinner!  

Once they walked in the door, I fed them their snacks and unpacked and RE-PACKED their lunch bags.  Yes, always pack your lunches the night before!  I put them in the refrigerator overnight & add frozen yogurt, ice packs, and water bottles the next morning.  After their snacks, I went ahead & bathed them as well!  By dinner time, all of the children in their pajamas!  My friend, B, has always been really good at the early baths.  

I try to stay on top of my laundry, and I wash several loads a day.  I purposefully don't have laundry baskets so that all dirty clothes go straight to our laundry room.  I will put away clothes while watching children in the bath.  So, I started yet another load just before reading with the children.

As soon as they were in bed, I filled out all forms and put them back in their folders in their backpacks.  I try to fill out forms immediately & send them right back in so that they are not lost in a pile of papers!

Those are some tips from today from a mama of trips plus two!