How I keep my family happy.

Keeping two small boys and a husband happy might sound like an easy task, but truly it is not. Especially when they all have different tastes and interests. I do my best to keep the peace and make sure my whole family is smiling, no matter what the situation. Here are a few of my tricks.

My first rule of thumb is to always keep to a schedule. My five year old is constantly asking me what day and what time and when we're going to do whatever. I show him on the calendar, we mark it down and if I stray from it, he'll make sure to let me know. My youngest will be especially grumpy if his usual schedule is not met, sleeping, eating and playing are probably the three most important parts of his days. Even my husband can get a little upset if we're running behind schedule on our way to something. My best bet to getting anything done without complaints is to just make my schedule and stick to it.

Another thing that seems hard to come by in our house is sharing. I'm almost constantly breaking up fights over toys, tv shows/movies, or some times just something random the kids have their hands on. In these cases I end up refereeing them while they take turns. "You can have the toy for 5 minutes and then your brother gets it for five minutes." I use the kitchen timer to keep track. Or, "We'll watch your show today, and then tomorrow it's your brother's turn to pick a show." I sometimes even need to use this method with my husband. If one of us gets more free time than the other it's just not fair, so we take turns with the bedtime and other
things so that we get a fair amount of downtime. It truly keeps us both happier.

We all tend to get cabin fever if we spend too much time inside the house, so I try to make sure to plan activities outside the home that are fun for all four of us. We rarely even look at our couch on the weekends because we're outside or on an adventure.

Often times I feel like I'm the official at a sports game, trying to keep the peace between opposite teams. But for all the work, it's worth it when I see those smiling faces having fun together.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Farm Rich blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

This is a sponsored blog post. By posting I have a chance to win a $25 gift card. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.