The greater the size of our family became, so did the need to become more organised. Organisational skills were not something that came naturally to me. As time went on I realised that keeping a house – and life in general – running smoothly with 15 people to take into account was made much easier if I did certain things.
Get a large calendar
We use a large calendar which has a generous space available for logging every appointment, meeting, club activity and more for whoever has something to add. We keep it hung in the kitchen where it is easy for everyone to see at a glance what any other member of the family will be doing when and where. The main tip here is simple but makes such a difference: we make sure we stick to the golden rule of adding times and dates as soon as we know of them.
Keep in sync
As well as a hard copy of the dates and times of to-ings and fro-ings on our calendar I also keep a record on my phone’s calendar which is synced to our computer and accessible from anywhere or any device.
Keep copies of important documents portable
When we first began travelling I lugged along an A4 folder packed with paperwork. Now I keep a record of important letters and documents saved on custom flash drives instead which offer more portability. These are especially handy when travelling and I need to take along copies of insurance paperwork, breakdown cover and accommodation information.
Menu plan
Not just a handy tip when trying to budget, menu planning also helps us to avoid those moments where we are halfway through creating a dish only to discover we don’t have enough of a vital ingredient to complete it, or for forgetting to take something out of the freezer in time for it to defrost. I do the latter often.
Get to the bottom of the laundry basket daily
No matter what we always try our best to see the bottom of our laundry basket every day. It avoids the overwhelming laundry mountain and a quick turnaround means nobody is left hunting for that all important club uniform or outfit that they just had to wear.
Do you have any top tips for keeping a large family household running smoothly? We’d love to hear them!
A large calendar is a must in our house and there are only five of us. We also have boxes by the door which houses their shoes and school bags – I’d love a locker room so we can keep everyone’s bits together
I am so with you on the locker room. That would make storing everything so much easier and would avoid the last minute ‘Can everyone find x’s shoe!’
Oh dear! I really don’t know!