Our 6 living children playing together.
I know there are people who look at our family and wonder how in the world we do it.
You wanna know why I know people wonder this?
It’s because they say it!
all. the. time.
They are shocked I am still alive and they are even more shocked to learn we are okay if the Lord chooses to bless us with another one. We are not at our wit’s end and *gasp*, I even homeschool them all which means I spend all day, every day with them!
Probably the comment I hear the most is,
I can’t even handle my two children. I don’t know what I would do with as many as you have.
The fact of the matter is, they didn’t all come at the same time and it does get easier as they age.
{my husband is fond of telling people we had them the hard way…one wife, no twins}
But, then there are the mommies in the trenches of lots of little sticky faces and loads and loads of dirty diapers wanting a better answer than that.
They feel like they are drowning and they just want someone to throw them a lifeline.
Here is my attempt to offer that lifeline…
Every Tuesday here at Raising Arrows you will find organizational tips, logistical tricks, and sanity savers all with the larger-than-average family in mind as well as a Link Up of other blogs sharing their tips!
And YOU get to contribute!
If you have a large family and would like to share what works for you, send it in!
And because I know this question will come up…
How large is a large family?
I’m going to rule totally based on personal opinion. Since #4 was my Crossover Point, the rule is you must have 4 children in order to submit a tip.
You do not have to have a blog to submit a tip.
Simply send an email to amy@raisingarrows.net containing
- your tip
- any photos you have detailing your tip
- your name (doesn’t have to be your full name), # of children
- any other information about yourself and/or your blog you would like included in the post
Note: if you have a blog, I would like to link to you, so be sure to include the url! Plus, you’ll get a nifty I Was Featured On Large Family Organization button!
Please understand, I cannot respond to every email and I cannot guarantee your tip will be picked, but I will contact you if your tip is chosen and I will do my very best to offer relevant, helpful, God-honoring content that encourages the large family (or aspiring large family)!
So, get your posts ready for next Tuesday’s Link Up!
Start sending in your tips!
And be encouraged!
What a great idea- I’m really looking forward to it!
And next year perhaps I can participate – our fourth child will be born in february!
Greetings
What a great idea! I’m looking forward to reading!
I doubt I’ll actually participate (Waiting on #4 to make her arrival any day), but I’m sure I’ll be reading to learn. Thank you.
What a great idea!!! And hopefully I can post in February!! We’re hopefully traveling to Congo to adopt our 4th at that time! I like that we may be considered a large family then.
wow….I’m really looking forward to this!! I have 4. Oldest is 8, youngest is 8months. I find that my life is more chaotic than enjoyable with juggling a nursing baby, home school, a special needs child with medical issues, tending to marriage and keeping up with laundry.
Can’t wait to see this!!
Molly
ps…Love what your hubby says about one wife and no twins.
Funny guy he is!!
Molly, I feel the same but I only have 2, a full time nursing 8m and a special needs/medical issues 2.5 yr old. I adore my littles and truly, I want more but have more often than not felt like I’m drowning since adding #2. I’m not sure if I could or even should add more to the mix. It’s something I’ve been praying about.
I understand how you feel. My oldest two are 15 months apart. The oldest was noticeably “independent” at 9 months. God is so wise, had I had my second when number 1 was 2 year-old as I had intended, I would never have had a second. He was such a handful. Now, with 6 kids, ages 11 and under, I see the light. And the truth. It is hard when you are struggling with an infant and toddler and you see these “perfect” larger families. Just remember, you are in a different place than they are. I have to remind myself of that even now as I see my friends and their super amazing lives with their teenagers. My kids aren’t that (smart, funny, fashionable – whatever) now because we aren’t in that stage yet. Keep praying. God is good. And children truly are a blessing. You will see this even more clearly with some sleep and a day without diapers!
I’m amazed at how often I’ve been getting those kinds of comments with one child and one on the way as I plan to leave the workforce in the next month. “My wife lasted six months.” “You’ll need a break.” “Your sister couldn’t do it.” Now, I’m sure a break will be welcomed at times, but spending all summer with my toddler was a huge blessing that I am really looking forward to #2.
I’m looking forward to this discussion, despite my currently “small” family, in part, because I see the operations management principles used in business applying in many ways to household operations. I’ll try to comment to show those connections.
You will love it, Dana!
What fun!! And Im waiting for THAT kind of announcement.
So excited to read all of the posts – especially as one in the trenches with 3 little ones!
I look forward to this series Amy.. not sure I qualify.. even though I have four girls.. I’m not so organized myself! Mine range in ages between 20 and almost 5 so, who knows, maybe I’ll be able to come up with something on how we manage to handle their very different needs due to age difference.
Good luck with this!
No perfect organization needed!
I am so looking forward to this. I have five children, and came from a family of seven children, but I need help with organization. Have a blessed day!
YAY!!! I am loads of excited. I am that mom with 5 cute kiddos under 7 years old. Some weeks I have it together, some weeks I think I might jump off a bridge, lol! I am looking forward to gleaning from the women who have been where I am and lived to tell about it
Perhaps we are twins, Amy! Ha. I feel the same way…some weeks, I’m supermom, and some….ha.
Amy, I am the mother of ten and life is always full of surprises. We have three that are married and We decided that life was too empty, so we adopted seven. We always get the rudest commets. People just don’t understand that children are a blessing and not a curse! I homeschool the seven that I have now and oh what an adventure. I’m looking forward to your Tuesday tips.
We may not be a large family yet but would love to be if it’s God’s will. Also a little crazy about organization so would love the tips!
Thanks so much for all you do, blessings!
Can’t wait to read more! Love ideas on how to be more organized. I have a few…ahem…trouble areas I hope someone will post about. We have 5 kids from 2 to 16. The older ones help a lot. My husband says, “Delegate, delegate, delegate!” (Easier said than done for me!) Love your blog, Amy!
This sounds great! I’m looking forward to both sharing & receiving tips. As a mom of 6 under 11 (with 5 under 8 and 3 under 4!), I have figured out some helpful organizational ideas over the years; but some things I am still figuring out, so I welcome any advice from moms who’ve traveled that path before me!
Blessings on all of you with “large” families. Blessings on all of you with families. As a want-to-be-mom for 17 years, God finally blessed me with 2 through adoption 4 years ago. My desire growing up was 4 kids, but God knew better. Looking forward to what all of you have to share.
The wonderful thing about organizational tips is they can almost always be adapted and adopted to your particular family.
What a great idea! I have 5 blessings and can really use tips and advice on that organization thing! I’ve learned a little through the years and look forward to learning more! And I’ll be thinking about anything I can share, too!
In my experience, it is always a mommy in the trenches who says: I can’t handle my one (or two), I don’t know how you do it!
Inevitably, that mom has one or two toddlers.
Ha! I can’t imagine how I did it back then either! Those were the hard days! These days with 8 children and one on the way, are the easy relaxing days. I haven’t buckled anyone into a carseat in 4 years. The big kids do that. I don’t even push the stroller, the big kids fight over that privilege.
Fight over the stroller, and the grocery cart, and buckling the baby, and feeding the baby, and dressing the baby. Some days I almost forget I’m the mommy! It is a joy (and stressful, too, but always a joy)!
This is great. I look forward to joining in. not sure if I am very organized but I do qualify with the large family. I have 8 children 14 years to 7 months. Open to the lrod giving more if it is His will.
I have a few ideas that I use so maybe I can bless some other women. Thank you for hosting this.
Susan
My kiddos are 3.5, 3, 2, and 2 months, so I’m in the trenches so to speak of toddlerhood. We work on learning to speak effectively in order to resolve conflicts on their own from a very young age…that way I’m not constantly referreing & the kiddos are learning important life skills.
What a great series! For me, I always thought that 4 was kind of a small family, LOL. My mom had four kids and everyone else’s family always had more, seemed like. For me, 6 kids would be considered large but I know people who Had 18 kids
!
Four doesn’t seem large to me anymore, but I know 4 was where things got much harder!
That’s interesting! I’ve always heard that after 4, it’s all the same. For me personally, going from 1-2 was my hardest transition. Suddenly I wasn’t just Ginger plus Baby; I was a real mom! lol
Great idea. Even though we only have two right now I will tune in. I’m sure there will be some tips even I can use and who knows where God is taking us in this adoption process.
I am glad you are posting this as a series. I am currently pregnant with our 5 baby (praise be to the Most High God). I have 3 children now and 1 in heaven. We just started homeschooing in Aug., right around the time it was completely and utterly obvious that I was pregnant.
And OMGosh!! I have never been bombarded with so many comments/questions about my children in my life!!! From “I can’t believe that you’re going to be with ALL of your kids ALL day” to “Did you just always want a huge family?” and even “I don’t know what I would do with all of those kids because my 2 drove me crazy.” And mind you, all of these comments were made IN FRONT OF MY CHILDREN!!!! Have we no tact?!?!?!
So as a result, I have explained to my children that not everyone is blessed to view children the way we do. I told them the Bible says the children are like a reward (-Psalm 127:3). I asked them to think of their most favorite reward and they all agreed–Chuck E. Cheese! (LOL) So I told them that whenver God blesses us with a baby in Mommy’s tummy, Mommy and Daddy feel like we’ve gone to Chuck E. Cheese. It translated and it stuck with them–thank God. Sometimes I think people just react without thinking about the impact their questions/comments about a family’s size can have on the children.
Anyway, I think I’ve written a book in your comments section! But I’m so glad that you are doing this because if God says the same, I’ll be joining the large family group and advice is welcome!!
Take care and God bless.
Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I am expecting my 6th baby. My eldest is 6. I am desperately in need of such a series, and am pretty sure that I have nothing whatsoever to contribute! 
I will be drinking in the advice and hopefully putting it to good use!
Add me to the list of folks waiting to hear THAT kind of news here!
Thank you! I am seriously looking forward to this series- we have just hit our crossover point (#4 as well), and also hope for more
I hope I can learn to thrive as a “small large” family.
Thanks!
Nancy
I am so looking forward to this series! I have 4 boys(8,6,2,1) and our 5th child (I’m guessing another boy!) will be born in May. I currently work outside the home 2-3 days a week, but will be quitting when this little baby gets here. (I can’t wait!!!).
I still feel like there is so much I’m learning about being a “large” family. My husband and I both grew up in small families and around other small families so figuring out what to do with more than 2 has been a challenge for us. I’ll try to contribute if I can think of anything that might help.
We have six children and are expecting #7 in December.We get comments like that all the time to. People ask is this the last one or you’re not having any more are you, not really asking a question said more like a statement. Our favorite is “you haven’t figured out what’s causing this yet?” Most of the world can’t see children as blessings sent from God, they view them as burdens. You wounder why they have children at all. We homeschool all of ours, so I’m around them all day every day and I wouldn’t want it any other way. We love our children and will gladly accept more if the Lord sees fit to bless us with more. I have never posted anything here before, but I love reading about you and your family. Your such a blessing to everyone out there. I still cry every time I see your little girls picture on your site. I know you can only continue on because of Gods help. May God continue to be with you and your family and continue to bless ya’ll. Have a great day!
What a fun idea. I can’t wait to participate! Number five was my crossover baby! LOL! I imagine number 11 will be also!