I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for 15 years and have spent a good portion of that time learning new concepts to make life simpler in the home. But, unfortunately, it didn’t come easy- I had to go through a ton of trial and error to find the proper routine for our family.

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Here are some of the things I’m doing that are working for us:

• Prepare the night before
• Weekly grocery pick up
• Simple daily laundry routine
• Load and reload washer and dryer nightly
• Empty and fill the dishwasher nightly
• Stick to the weekly routine

Prepare the night before

1. Clean out school folders and sign all papers
2. Make sure all homework is signed off
3. Prepare snacks, lunch, and a water bottle
4. Have outfits on top of dressers
5. Place clean socks in shoes and place shoes next to backpack
6. Clear out and reload dishwasher after bedtime

Here’s a small list of our nighttime routines. I’m only listing some things that help us create a smoother morning routine. Some tasks are missing from this list, but I’ll save the details for another post. Ideally, beginning our nighttime routine immediately after school is essential because we must get everyone in bed on time, and bedtime in a house with seven kids comes quickly.

Another important thing we do is start our shower time early. We begin showering/bathing following after-school snack time. Why? Because we have nine people in the home, shower time can take up quite a bit. It’s just a lot easier to get everyone showered before dinner at six; that way, we can get to the rest of our nighttime routine after dinner.

Weekly grocery pick-up

Here is a time-saving hack for a large family- grocery pick-up. I take full advantage of this service. Grocery shopping for a large family would take me nearly 2-3 hours, shopping off my list and for an entire week of meals and snacks for a family of nine. However, grocery pick-up takes only 15-20 minutes.

Another excellent reason I use pick-up service at my grocery store is to see how much I’m paying for my groceries at check out. This service ensures I stay within my weekly budget for groceries.

Simple laundry day routine

The long hours folding clothes, bedsheets, and towels on the couch are long gone! I can’t believe I would spend an entire day doing laundry. Some weeks, laundry would take me two days to get done. That is because I was doing laundry wrong this whole time! I gave myself one day of the week to wash all the laundry. Not only was this the worst idea but also the most time-consuming and inconvenient and gave me the biggest headache. I dreaded laundry days for years. But now, I don’t have to dread it because I’ve found a system that works for us.

Here’s what I do now:

Every day of the week, I have assigned a laundry day for every room in the house. For example, my 11 and 10-year-old daughters share a bedroom, so I have given Monday for their laundry day. My nine and 7-year-old daughters share a bedroom, and I have Tuesday assigned for their laundry day.

Here’s why I love this system:

1. Some of the kids are old enough to put their laundry in the wash and can fold it and put it away themselves. Giving the kids this responsibility teaches them accountability and frees me from a day of doing laundry. Total win-win!
2. Timesaver! It only takes me 1-2 hours daily to mark laundry done. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

LOAD AND RELOAD THE WASHER AND DRYER

To simplify things, I’ll load the washer the night before with the laundry assigned the next day and then dry it in the morning. That extra step helps to save even more time!

Empty and reload the dishwasher

Adding this chore to my nighttime routine saves me the chaos and the hassle at the breakfast nook on a busy morning with seven kids.

Unlike our nighttime routine, there isn’t enough time in the morning to get a lot done. Once that alarm goes off, we are on the go! I only have one hour to spare, and I plan to use that time wisely. An empty sink makes me feel like I am a step ahead of the day as it helps to create an easy-going breakfast time.

I also make this the last thing to do on my to-do list because no one wants to clean the kitchen several times at night. So, I wait until everyone is done eating for the night, usually when the kids go to bed.

Stick to your weekly routine

I may have some time throughout my day for unscheduled play dates or last-minute emergencies, but that isn’t the case for an entire week. If I can’t keep to a schedule, I’ll only find myself in a hole by the end of the week. Having an after-school system, nighttime routine, and morning routine is an absolute game changer for me!

I have my week planned out the week before and then finalized at the beginning of the week. This helps me prepare for the upcoming week and not just the week of.

ALLOWING ROOM FOR ADJUSTMENTS

Though I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for 15 years, I’ve learned that my home-management system is never solid. Things change, and sometimes that means your schedule will change too. The older my kids get, the more adjustments I need to make, and I learned to be okay with that.

With that said, I am always open to more suggestions and love learning from other moms. So if you have some ideas, you’d like to suggest, drop them down in the comments!

Would you like to know about my morning routine? Let me know in the comments below!

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