The Buddy System-large family help!

I have found several books over the years that I keep coming back to. Large Family Logistics is definitely one of them! If you have a lot of littles (more than one 😂🤣😂) this book is amazing. There are so many good ideas for home management and it's amazingly encouraging! A friend handed it off to me when I was pregnant with number four and I've been blessed by it ever since! I'm so glad I read it before I had even more littles running around.  All of this to say that my buddy system is adapted from Kim's book which you can check out here.

The buddy system is pretty simple to set-up and really saves a lot of time and energy! You pair your younger child up with an older child and they serve one another and work together! Here are some big buddy responsibilities: 

• Put little buddy's shoes on before we leave.
• Take little buddy to the public bathroom while we're out.
• Help little buddy get food at potlucks.
• Decorate the dining room the night before your buddy's birthday, help bake the cake and pick out the presents.
• Keep an eye on the little buddy after church.
• Help little buddy with special projects, crafting, cookie making etc.
• Pick out your buddy's special ornament for Christmas.

Other ideas could be taking a little buddy for a walk, brushing his/her teeth etc. The possibilities are endless and can change depending on the ages/stages of your kiddos. I also let buddies share treats! If a little buddy gets a treat he is expected to share it with his big buddy! Our older children have developed such wonderful friendships with their younger siblings and I think the buddy system has helped. It's often that if a little one gets to go on a special date with mom, they ask for their buddy to go with them! 

We've also given everyone a day of the week (we better stop at seven kiddos!) and that has eliminated a lot of fighting. When someone asks who gets to go with mom to the store or read at family Bible time or pick out the movie we're going to watch, we simply refer to the day of the week.

During advent you get to light the candle and read the scripture on your day of the week, if you are too little to read it's your buddy that helps you😉

Hope this blesses you as much as it has blessed me!