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setting the mood for your home. It also tends to determine the way people look at you when you go out. I've noticed over and over that when my children are clean, combed and dressed nicely, people smile at them and comment on them in a positive way. Having children dressed in ragged, dirty, stained clothes leaves a bad impression. The clothes do not have to be expensive, just nice and well fitting.

The extra Dollar Store baskets also come in handy at cleaning time. I take a couple upstairs, one to collect dirty clothes and sheets, the other to collect toys and books that need to go back down. They also work the other way, putting them by the stairway to collect the things that need to go up. A basket or two can go to the car once a week or so to collect the things that need to come back in the house. There are so many uses for these baskets, and they don't cost much, so when they are worn out, they are easy to replace.

Having a large age range in children can sometimes be challenging, too. I found that reading really good books to my children as they grew up books that I enjoyed reading as much as they enjoyed listening was always a good thing to do. Babies can be nursed as you read; toddlers will cuddle against your side. Sometimes, I could get someone to scratch my back, with the promise that I would read as long as they scratched! We liked to read old classics, like Old Yellar, The Yearling, Swiss Family Robinson. We read series, like the Little House books and Little Britches. I recently found the Bobbesey Twins on ebay, and am reading them to my younger children right now. We will start the Five Little Peppers next. My children have all grown up very intelligent, and I credit all the reading we did as a family, and also all the reading they did on their own with the biggest part of that. I tried not to give them too many fluff type books, but kept good, morally sound, well written, character building books for them to read.

I never took loveys away from my toddlers. I have had finger babies, thumb babies, blanket babies and pacifier babies. I had a daughter who sucked her thumb until she was seven, a son who took a pacifier until he was three. The only one of my children who needed braces was one who did not have an object to suck, she carried a blanket. Right now, I have a daughter who sucks a finger and carries a blanket, and she's five. This doesn't bother me a bit. I encourage leaving the blanket at home when we go out, simply because she has accidentally left it places on occasion, which causes a great deal of trouble. I also have a 23 month old who still drinks out of a bottle. I have never understood the urgency some parents have wanting their children to get rid of these things. Having a self soother makes the day so much more pleasant for both mom and baby or big kid. They will almost always give these things up on their own eventually, in the case of my thumb sucking seven year old, it was the other children at church telling her babies sucked their thumbs that made her decide she was too old for it.

Always have a bedtime routine, so the children know what to expect, and go down easier. Have your evenings be as predictable as possible. As it gets closer and closer to bedtime, let things quiet down more and more. Make sure everyone gets enough sleep, that's very important for a well managed household. A fan or some other kind of noise reducer in the room of the ones who go to bed early is helpful.

A large family is a blessing if the mother will learn to do her job well. The parents of a large family will never be alone in times of trouble. As the grandchildren come, we get to help do it all over again, this time without having to worry so much about the discipline!

Learn more about this author, Carla Raley.
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