The Routines That Keep Me Sane

“How do you keep everything straight with 5 kids?”. I’ve been asked this question so many times over the past few years. It’s definitely not easy. I’ve written a few posts about the different systems I use to survive and run our house of 7. I figured I’d put them all in one place. This way, you can get a summary of the things that work for me. Then get more details by clicking through to the other posts in that category. Here are the routines that keep me sane.

(I’ll preface this by saying this is not a perfect science. I admit that I do slack and get lazy about my routines at times. My one New Year’s Resolution is to be more consistent. I know the huge benefits I get when I do. Life is a whole lot easier, more organized and less stressful. That’s if I just put in the effort to be consistent. Same for you!)

Getting Out On Time

I follow a nightly routine on Sunday and weekday evenings to get our house ready for the next day. For us, Sunday prep includes washing and braiding my girls’ hair, picking out clothes for the week, ironing, cleaning out my purse, and reviewing the calendar for the week. Weekday evenings in our house involves emptying and packing backpacks, packing lunches, and laying out the things we’ll need for the morning. On weekday mornings, I follow a timeline to try to get everyone out the door as close to “on time” as possible. From experience, the weekday morning is usually a breeze if I’ve stuck to my Sunday and weekday evening prep routines. It’s a disaster if I slack or hit the snooze button too many times.

Again, I’m working on consistency!

The post How To Get Out Of The House On Time shares more details about my Sunday, weekday, and morning routines. And you can grab the worksheets and get step-by-step instructions on building your own routines in my popular digital library, the Balanced Mom Toolbox.

Dinner Planning

With a house of 7, eating out can be pretty expensive. So, I make a point to cook 5 nights a week (most weeks). For dinner in our house, I follow a dinner meal rotation. I have a set 5-week schedule of meals that we just rotate through every month. We don’t always get to the 5th week of meals. But those extras work well as “back-ups” in case we get a little tired of the rotation. Even though we’re repeating, the meals are pretty varied and spread out. The kids rarely notice they’re being repeated. To plan the rotation, I made a list of dinner categories that we commonly use. I then planned the meals under each category, and spread them out over the 5 weeks. Once the rotation is set up, you really don’t have to adjust it very much.

Check out this post for more details on the dinner planning rotation: Mommy, What’s For Dinner? | My Tips For Easy Dinner Planning

Lunchbox Planning

My older kids do most of their lunch box planning. But, I’ve found it helpful for them to think in “categories” just like with my dinner planning. I use lunchbox planning sheets to plan lunches, so that they’re as balanced as possible.

My post Lunchboxes Made Easy | Tips For Lunchbox Packing summarizes the system my kids use.

My printable lunchbox and dinner rotation planning sheets are also available in the Balanced Mom Toolbox, along with everything you need to create a meal rotation for your own home. GRAB YOURS HERE!

Online grocery shopping

This has probably been one of the biggest time-savers for me. I use Shipt grocery delivery, and rarely have to go inside a grocery store. I’m able to add groceries to my online cart throughout the day. I place my order when I’m ready, and have it delivered to the house within 2 hours. The app saves a list of things I’ve bought before, so I can just go in and reorder them. What I used to do in an hour, now only takes a few minutes.

Check out my review of Shipt Grocery delivery (and other services I’ve used). Once you’ve tried it, I promise, you won’t want to step foot in another grocery store.

Laundry

This is probably the simplest task to plan of them all, but the hardest for me to follow through on! That’s mainly because I absolutely HATE folding and putting away clothes. I can sort and wash all day. But folding is one of those things I’d delegate out if I ever had the chance.

Because we have so many people in our house, I typically have to wash twice a day. On my main calendar, I list out the categories that need to be washed each day. And when I actually stick to it and wash, fold, and put the clothes away the same day, my laundry room stays sane (and I’m sane too). Our weekly washing categories include: Darks (x2), lights (x2), whites (x1), baby (x1), diapers (x1), rugs (x1), sheets/towels (x6).

Cleaning

I don’t have a detailed system for cleaning, but I simply do one big overall cleaning every week on my day off – going room by room. The number one thing that keeps out house relatively tidy on a regular basis is forcing the kids to clean up after themselves. That means cleaning their rooms before they do anything else. Cleaning up their toys when they’re done playing in one room before they destroy the next. Cleaning up after themselves when they’re done at the dinner table. They each also have their own chores, to contribute to keeping the house clean. If that’s all done consistently, I really only have to focus on the floors, counter tops, kitchen, and bathrooms.

Again, not a perfect science, but we’re all getting better!

For tips on creating a cleaning system that works for your home, check out the “Cleaning Made Simple” worksheets, also available in the Balanced Mom Toolbox.

Keeping track of activities

This used to be a disaster area for me. I used to forget that the kids had things due. Forget that they needed to bring in something for class. Or totally miss that 2 kids had activities at the same time.

Now, as soon as I get a date or an assignment for the younger kids, I write it in my calendar. And not just one calendar. I put it in my phone, then write it in my physical calendar. The Living Well planner has been a lifesaver for me as a physical planner over the years. (You can read my review of the planner here). My iphone calendar is automatically shared with my husband. That way, if I happen to miss something coming up, he at least can remind me. We also have a big dry erase calendar hung up in the house, where we write out the activities for the month. It’s hard to miss something when it’s written in so many places!

Having the kids empty their backpacks out every night has helped me to not miss important papers. Every night, their backpacks are placed by the front door or in the van. On weekends, they’re hung up in the laundry room, out of the way. This system has also helped us to not lose things. It also helps to ensure the kids have what they need when they need it.

In the post 7 Tips For Balancing Your Kids Activities I share my best tips for keeping your calendar straight.

Homework stations

Each of our kids has a spot to do their homework. Their spots may change, based on how comfortable they want to get. But, it’s helped to have multiple areas set up with paper, pencils, pens, markers, crayons, color pencils, glue sticks, scissors, rulers, etc. Whatever they need, it’s usually right there. So they don’t have to waste time running around the house looking. Or stalling because they don’t want to do their work.

The post 10 Tips For Surviving Homework Time lays out the homework routine that gives me the least amount of stress. Plus tips to make it through homework time every night.

Decluttering

Twice a year, I do a huge decluttering project. I set aside a few hours a day for about 2 weeks and I just start getting rid of stuff. For me, June (right after school ends) and December (either right before or after Christmas) are the best times. In June, I get rid of all the kid’s old things from the school year that just ended. This helps a lot, before we do their back-to-school shopping and load up on new things in the fall. In December, I just like to reset before the new year starts, plus get rid of old things we’re no longer using, before new gifts come in for Christmas.

Before I start decluttering, I make a plan and estimate how much time it’ll take. That way, I’m not just scatter-brained and overwhelmed. You can get more details about my declutter plan here: My Best Decluttering Tips

That’s it! I hope this summary post has been helpful to you. Again, my life isn’t perfect, and you shouldn’t expect yours to be either. But, if you can pick even one system and implement it, you can make such a big difference in your life. Then, once you’ve got that one system down, add on another. Automating, organizing, and setting things into a routine takes a little extra time to set up at the beginning. But, once it’s set and you actually start sticking to it, I promise life gets a tad bit easier! Try it, and let me know how it goes!

If you have any other routines or tips to add, please share them in the comments below!

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If you love these tips, be sure to check out my 170+ page digital library, filled with step-by-step instructions and  the tools you need to create effective routines, manage your time, prepare meals,  clean your home, care for your kids – and so much more!