Choose Your Battles
When you have children, messes and accidents are going to happen—it's unavoidable. It's important to expect the unexpected and to really weigh which battles are worth fighting. There are some great ways to harness these moments, though:
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Learn what's a good idea to keep around...and what's not. The wooden coffee table, for instance; is a great thing to have around—even if it takes a bit of a beating, it will look like “character” not “my son chipped his tooth there” (although you'll probably be telling that story later, anyway!). The porcelain deer passed down from your great grandmother is probably NOT something you want to have laying around, though!
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Teach your kids to think before they act and clean up after themselves. Take a deep breath and count to ten if necessary, then use the opportunity to show your children how to take care of things that are breakable, full, or not-designed-for-baseball-bats. Also, these are great moments for teaching children to take responsibility for their messes and clean up after them.
Play to Your Strengths
Your family is a team, but you're all individuals. Use that to your advantage—find your individual strengths and weaknesses and use them together. If one of you loves laundry but the other is a whiz with the dishes, then split up the chores accordingly. Teamwork is about knowing what each person is good at and using it to the best possible advantage.
