{"id":107836,"date":"2026-03-31T10:15:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/31\/13-surprising-tips-from-parents-of-large-families\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T10:15:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:15:44","slug":"13-surprising-tips-from-parents-of-large-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/31\/13-surprising-tips-from-parents-of-large-families\/","title":{"rendered":"13 Surprising Tips From Parents of Large Families"},"content":{"rendered":"


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These past few months, as I\u2019ve been getting my footing as a mom of three<\/a>, I keep catching myself thinking, \u2018How do moms who have more<\/em> children ever do this?!\u2019 Today, experienced parents share their tips, including a game for kids of all ages\u2026<\/p>\n

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From Kate Baer<\/a>, mother of four (aged 7, 9, 12, and 14):<\/p>\n

1. If it\u2019s quick, do it now. If something can be handled in less than a minute (permission slip, text to a teacher, signing a form), do it immediately. It\u2019s not the big tasks that put me in a spiral, it\u2019s the pileup of tiny ones.<\/p>\n

2. Be the hosting house. When I found out I was unexpectedly pregnant with my fourth, I fell into a dark hole of despair and overwhelm. One of the reasons was that I assumed no one would want to have a four-kid family over for dinner. It was one of my greatest fears, and guess what, it came true! The solution is to be the hosting house. We host everything from New Year\u2019s Eve to the Fourth of July. It\u2019s become one of my greatest joys.<\/p>\n

3. Say \u2018Let me think about it\u2019 instead of yes\/no to a request. A six-person family means a six-person calendar, and managing it is one of my part-time jobs. Overcommitting is the quickest way to kill family morale. When the kids ask if we can go somewhere or invite friends over, I give myself space to consider if that makes sense and prevent an emotional reaction from any of us.<\/p>\n

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From Shoko<\/a>, a mother of five (aged 12, 21, 23, 25 and 27): <\/p>\n

4. When all five kids still lived at home, eating dinner together every night was our time to bond. It\u2019s during these meals that I learned who my kids\u2019 friends were, what they were looking forward to during the week, and any other things that were going on in their lives. Eating meals together at the table can be hard to manage with young children, but as my kids grew older, it became one of my favorite parts of the day.<\/p>\n

5. We\u2019ve never flown together as a family because flights for seven people are expensive! But we do lots of road trips. For entertainment, we relied on games. One of our favorites was finding words in alphabetical order outside of the car (thank you, billboards). Everyone would end up playing, and it even helped teach the younger siblings how to recognize words.<\/p>\n

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From Caroline Chambers<\/a>, mother of four (aged eight months, 3, 5, and 7): <\/p>\n

6. Don\u2019t overthink one-on-one time. With work and kid schedules, time can be tight, but even just spending 10 minutes with each child, like reading together, playing with the dog, or walking to the mailbox, makes us feel much more connected. <\/p>\n

7. All four of my kids are under age eight, so there is lots of picky eating during meal time. Every kid has to at least try<\/em> the meal in front of them, but if they truly don\u2019t like it, they can have a sandwich. Letting go of the \u2018eat all of your carrots!!!\u2019 feud mentality has made our dinners more enjoyable.<\/p>\n

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From Kristin Young<\/a>, mother of six (aged 13, 15, 20, 22, 24, and 26):<\/p>\n

8. Teach them to wash their own laundry. As soon as each kid turned seven, we assigned them a laundry day because I was tired<\/em>. On their day, they would start their wash before school, and I\u2019d switch it into the dryer during the day. When they got home, they\u2019d fold their freshly laundered clothes. Also, assigning their own laundry day is key to knowing who left behind a mess!<\/p>\n

9. I realized we were throwing a birthday party every other month (!) so we stopped doing big parties. Instead, we celebrate as a family and let the birthday kid choose a friend to bring along. <\/p>\n

tw: child loss<\/em>
10. This paragraph talks about child loss, so please be aware, thank you: My second son, Colby, passed away at 15 from a brain tumor. After he died, my husband and I had to learn how to grieve the loss of a child, while also guiding a grieving family. We\u2019re Christians, so we believe that we will see Colby again in heaven. What\u2019s also helped is talking about him. For example, when we get donuts from Krispy Kreme, we\u2019ll always say, \u2018Colby would love this!\u2019 We recognize that our kids will express grief in different ways. My oldest was Colby\u2019s big sister, while our youngest was four when Colby passed \u2014\u00a0so both children had very different relationships with and memories of him. But we all deeply love and miss him; he was a great brother and son.<\/p>\n

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From Alex Steele<\/a>, mother of four (aged 3, 7, 10, and 11):<\/p>\n

11. I asked my older kids to read to my younger kids. At first, they pushed back, but when I explained that they\u2019re helping their siblings\u2019 brains develop (cool!) and they could pick whatever books they wanted (freedom!), they got into it. Three favorite books to read together are I Want My Hat Back<\/a>, Rumpelstiltskin<\/a>, and Extra Yarn<\/a>. <\/p>\n

12. I\u2019m one of seven, and when we were younger, my mom came up with the game \u2018Big Mouth.\u2019 She\u2019d take us to a park with a big stretch of grass. Then we\u2019d all take a deep breath, and yell<\/em> as we ran, as far as we could, without stopping to inhale. We would play it all afternoon. I still remember the joy I felt \u2014\u00a0the game fulfilled a deep need to have my own physical space. Now I play \u2018Big Mouth\u2019 with my kids at the beach, and everyone LOVES it, including myself.<\/p>\n

13. When my kids aren\u2019t getting along (which happens daily), I\u2019ll tell them, \u2018Look around. This is it. These are the people you\u2019re going to be spending the rest of your life with<\/em>. These are the people who will love you and be there for you. You need to take that seriously.\u2019 <\/p>\n

Do you have or come from a big family? Any other tips? We\u2019d love to hear.<\/strong><\/p>\n

P.S. Five tips for sibling rivalry<\/a>, how to help kids feel safe<\/a>, and what\u2019s the age gap between your kids<\/a>?<\/p>\n

(Top photo by Kate Baer<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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