Back in 1988, I met a girl in college who would turn out to be my best girlfriend throughout my adult life.  The man she began dating was in my boyfriend's Bible study, and don't you know we became engaged within a week of each other.  Their wedding was in June, ours in July.  Our firstborns arrived within 10 months of each other, and we have matched each other almost child for child over the past 13 years.  They just had their seventh last month.

Tonight Lisa brought her brood over for dinner because both of our husbands would be working late.  A mutual friend said, "So, you and Kendra are just having dinner together?", to which Lisa replied, "Yes, the two of us and our 13 children!"  We used to be a table for 4; now when our families get together we have to rent the banquet room.  Once when we walked into a little Mexican restaurant in our small town, an elderly lady took one look at us and asked very innocently, "Is this a Sunday School group?"

Lisa and I have learned a lot about managing heaps of little children over the years.  While we love to spend time together, we plan our days so that we aren't overcome with chaos.  Maybe what we've implemented can be a help to you when you plan a day with friends:

1. Buy the red plastic cups from Costco and label them with each child's name.

2. Plan a schedule for the time you'll be together.  Likely you have order to your day at home- why abandon it when with another homeschooling family?

3. Pair up the children for periods of time.  This has been a neat thing as we've seen different relationships between our children develop that might not have happened naturally.  A typical pairing might be:

• 12-year-old plays Hi Ho Cheerio with 3 and 4-year-olds
• 11-year-old takes 2-year-olds for a walk in the stroller
• 10-year-old girl plays dolls with 6-year-old girl
• 10-year-old boy plays guitar with 8-year-old boy 
• Other 8-year-old boy plays war in the backyard with 6-year-old boy

They do the above activities for 15-30 minutes (depending on what we moms dictate) and then switch to another like schedule of activities, including everything from watching a video to helping each other with schoolwork to baking cookies.  We are sensitive to the fact that the older ones like to spend time together playing games and such and so we schedule that for them at the end of the cycle as a blessing to them.

4. Make a quiet hour mandatory.  We have done this different ways- letting everyone be in one room together, pairing up children in different rooms, and separating everyone into different areas of the house.  They read books for an hour and cannot socialize.  Lisa and I then get an uninterrupted hour to chat together and the children get a rest.

5. Plan a service project to do together.  One time we packed lunch bags to hand out to the homeless.  Another time we filled a care package for missionary friends. 

6. Use your time together as a mini co-op.  What subjects do you both teach that you can pair up on?  This afternoon I had planned to teach history to my children so Lisa left hers here while she ran errands and I taught the whole group our lesson for the day.  Just as easy to teach eight as it is to teach four.