advice from large families...?

Question

my husband and i are planning on having a large family, if God sees fit....

just wondering from some families with a lot of kids how you prepare meals, afford groceries, and just tips on giving all children equal attention and letting them know they are loved....

Answer 1

We have 4 children and a step son. We donate equal time to each child. We have a 7 seater car for days out. On school holidays we order our groceries vover the net and have them delivered to our door. Our shopping costs about £120 a week. Meals are planned in advance, everyone of thewm is loved as much as the other.

Answer 2

We have six adopted children, ages 10 months, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9. We love it. As far as meals and housework goes - everyone has a job. Even the five year old can help sort and fold laundry (we have had to lower our standards.....but it gets done) Our nine year old can run the washer/dryer/dishwasher. The seven year old sets and clears the table. Everyone helps pick up and sweep. We have also found that it is sometimes cheaper to eat out than fix a big meal. For example, you can get a lot of tacos at Taco Bell for very little money. We also try to get individual sized fruits (like the little Del Monte snack size or small individual sized applesauce cups) because it is just easier and faster to put those on the table than open a bunch of cans and dish them all out. Paper plates and plastic silverware are our best friends! When we eat at a restaurant, the small kids share meals. For example, my 4 and 5 year olds split a meal. Otherwise, there is a lot of wasted food which means wasted money. As for spending time with the kids, we try to make sure each kid gets some one-on-one with us. Sometimes it is just a matter of taking one to the grocery store with us. Then the next time, someone else gets to go. I think large families are a lot of fun. Best of luck to you.

Answer 3

I have a total of five children and preparing meals is actually simple, we cook as a family at least a few times a night. I let the kids put things into the mix, like if I'm making a pasta sauce I will cut up the herbs or measure the spices and let the kids pour it in the pot. Other nights the kids will play in their room or with their father until the food is done.



As far as money I was blessed to find a man who is talented in his career and money is not an issue for us.



For attention, I will occasionally buy little presents for each child when I go out without them. I play games with them as a group and one day I'll take Damien with me on all my errands - my go to lunch and he helps me pick out dinner and stuff like that, the next day I'll do the same with Will and the next day Jenna and so on with Brianna and when Jared is old enough he will join my rotating schedule.



My kids know they are loved from the things we do as a family and all the hugs and all the times my husband and I tell them they are loved.

Answer 4

God has seen fit to give us seven beautiful children. We are blessed in so many ways that it's hard to imagine life with a smaller family.



Meals are prepared in advance as much as possible, and we usually double or triple a recipe. Our meals are usually pretty simple, but we do a variety of things and thankfully our kids are not picky eaters.



Grocery shopping is done in bulk; thankfully we have lots of storage space and are able to make this work. We do most of our shopping at warehouse-type stores.



We have also been blessed to be given lots of good quality hand-me-downs from clothes and shoes to toys and bikes.



As far as individual attention; we use bath time and bed time for the younger kids. For the older ones we take walks, play board games, or when we run errands take turns with one child going along.



We also use our "20 Points Chart" in which each child can earn up to 4 points/day by completing expected tasks. When a child has earned 20 points they may choose a special treat to be done with mom or dad - dinner out, ice cream, bike ride...



The challenges are great, but the rewards are incredible!

Answer 5

We have 5 boys, ages 8,6,6,4 and 2 weeks. We attend church every sunday and keep our priorities straight. The laundry can wait a day, the dishes can wait a day. We spend all the time we can with our boys, either fishing, camping, parks, zoo, movies. I am a stay at home mom, so i run them all over town doing all their "activities" They play T-ball tues and thursday evenings, and monday and wen they have reading programs they attend. And in the winter they have church on wen nights. We stay plenty busy and it seems like things never slow down. Except for now, i finally get a 10 min break LOL. My hubby works as a route manager, he makes about 34,000 a year. We arent rich by any means, but our boys do have what they need, and we live pretty comfortable. We do live in a cheaper state (north dakota) so that really helps alot. The cost of living up here is much much cheaper. And of course its a very safe state and i wouldnt want to raise my boys anywhere else. We prepare 3 meals a day, the cost of feeding the boys at the ages they are at really isnt too bad. Its when they get older, they will eat us out of a house :) We shop around for groceries, and buy the things on sale. We do some grocery store shopping at wal-mart and also sams club. That keeps our bill lower. I also cut coupons. I love having a big family. Its great and i wish you luck on having one yourself!! :)



Mom of 5 boys

Answer 6

It depends on how large of a family you're talking about. My friend is from a large family there were 17 children and they each worked the farm, slaughtered there own cows, pigs, chickens, and the girls did canning, baking etc. Each of them had special times with the parents and although everyone says it there are children who you find that have a more special place in your heart than others not that you won't love them or take care of them, but it will not be equal. Groceries and cooking are going to be a big todo and you will need help with laundry, cleaning and preparation to go to church, outings, etc, being creative and allowing others to help you out will make it easier on you.

Answer 7

I don't have children - yet - but I do come from a large family. My mom had 5 kids.

She wasn't a stay at home mom, but she didn't work all the time. She used coupons at the grocery stores and shopped at Sam's club a lot! And we always had our family nights when we would study together and just play games or watch movies. I always remember those as great times. And intend to incorporate that into my family once we start having kids of our own one of these days.



But you will know how to show each one you love them just as much as you love the others. It comes naturally!



Wish ya the best!

Answer 8

Depends on what you consider large! I have three kids and people think we have a large family.

Some tips for you on saving money- coupons and sale flyers! I swear by them. We grocery shop at Walmart and a lot of people don't know that they accept the sales from competing stores. So I scan the weekly ads for sale and coupons. When we have a little bit of extra cash I stock the pantry with soups, jarred sauces, pastas, that kind of thing. When there is a week with not so much money I can pick from the pantry. I also make large batches of everything and freeze the leftovers for another night.

I make sure that each child gets at least 20 minutes a day of one on one time. For my oldest, who is three, that is easy. She gets my attention when the twins, 15 months, are napping. The twins are trickier to get alone. I just grab one when another adult is around and take off. We will take a walk or do one on one bath time instead of putting them both in the tub.

Its hard to balance your time and attention, but you will be able to do it with a little work!

Answer 9

My husband and I have seven kids. I think it's easy for us, because we do trust God, for everything, and He does provide. The thing about having more children is that it's slow and one at a time. SO it's not like taking in seven children, it's adding one beautiful personality at a time, plenty of time for adjustments both on time and finances. It helps that dh is the oldest of eight, so we had a wonderful MIL (who passed several years ago) who helped us with advice and tips on family, and he has lots of experience.



Dh works well, not just hard but with ethics and virtue, and is recognized for it. So he definitely makes enough to support us. Preparing meals we just double every recipe. We don't buy a lot of convenience food, first of all it's not convenient when you make it for ten people! Secondly, it's most chemicals and preservatives, and lastly it's much cheaper to use natural ingredients and make it from scratch. It takes a bit more time, but really not that much more. So that's how we afford groceries. We do buy a lot at Sam's Club, esp now that they carry a lot of organic foods. We buy a lot from the local farmers market, and grow some of our own. Clothes are similar, we don't buy a lot of high end brands, but some, and we buy quality clothing because it's worth the investment to have something that won't wear out easily or hold stains.



As for attention, since my life is my kids, it's pretty easy. It helps a lot more that we homeschool, so we aren't trying to fit a bunch of family time in between 3pm and 9pm, and on the weekends. The difference between having two kids and seven is that with two kids, you're splitting your time up. WIth a large family, you spend a lot more time as a group, rather than a lot of individual time. Dh and I take turns having 'dates' with the kids, where we'll take one for ice cream, or dh will take one to work for lunch. They are all precious in our sight, and we're thankful for each and every individual who makes up our family.

Answer 10

We have four girls. You try to spend quality time with them separately and together. Tell them you love them. My wife budgets everything. There are lots of websites out there to help you. But if God wants you to have a large family He will make sure your family has what it needs. There have been times that we weren't sure what we were going to do and by some miracle something would happen and we had no more worries. Put everything in His hands and He'll take care of it. I hope you and your husband get what you desire and that it you will find happiness and have little worries.

Answer 11

I have 3 and the answer is to care for all of them. It's impossible to measure and give everyone equal time. Some will require more attention, others won't. Take some time to spend with them alone, one by one. There's a lot you'll miss when they're all together. If there's something on their minds, it won't come up with all the rest around. They'll feel more free to talk openly if they're alone with you.



Don't have kids you can't afford groceries for...

Answer 12

i in my view have grown up in a extensive relatives, i'm the 1st of five babies and have approximately 20 cousins on my dads side on my own. i like vast households! Me and my relatives party for relatives dinner the different sunday and everybody is so close. it relatively is a robust feeling to have human beings you are going to be counted on. My siblings and that i are approximately 2 years different than for one yet another, it sort of appears like a reliable volume of time. so some distance as what number teenagers you have, that relies upon on how keen you're committed to spending a great deal of your life to the lives of your little monsters:) reliable success to you and your loved ones!

Answer 13

I had 9sisters and 1 brother growing up,it was fun.But I don't understand "how do you prepare meals",honestly I don't understand any of your questions? You just do it!! If you have to ask,you know the rest of what I'm gonna say.

Answer 14

here in Oklahoma my dad goes on harvest. he can make between $250-2,000 in one day. i have 8 in my family.