Large Family Logistics

Homemaking isn't an inherent skill that surfaces as soon as the kiddos show up. It takes effort, a mindset, self-discipline....and a thousand other intangibles you won't know until you encounter them. Kim Brenneman has nine children still at home, and wrote Large Family Logistics with the hope that other up-and-coming housewives and mothers who read it will be able to avoid some of the difficulties and frustrations she encountered in the early years of caring for young ones and keeping the house clean and having meals ready for her husband and maintaining a devotional schedule and....and....and....

The first half of the book starts with an attribute-by-attribute exposition of the Proverbs 31 woman, then goes on to provide encouragement for mothers and underlying concepts that support the practical ideas included in the second half. Chapters cover topics like how to impart a good work ethic to your kids, developing goals and systems for reaching them, having a good attitude, dressing practically, and the importance of Scripture and prayer. While she calls this section "philosophical" it is also thoroughly practical, though often in a more theoretical sense.

Part two is much more hands-on as Brenneman shares advice on how to manage everything and not go completely insane. She provides a "day" model, in which specific days are set aside for particular activities, such as cleaning the house, paying bills and doing errands around town. There's not a lot that isn't covered, whether it's finding time for regular family worship, how to integrate homeschooling with all the other elements of running a house, planning meals and getting them made, etc. Even women who've been at it for a long time are likely to find good hints and ideas here.

That's partly because Brenneman doesn't rely only on her own experience. Much of the advice she offers came from talking to and working with her mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and godly women she met later in life. And if you're thinking you can't possible use this book because you only have three kids, you're mistaken—this isn't just for mothers struggling to raise a Duggar-sized brood, it's for mothers with any number of children who need help, tips, encouragement, even just the knowledge that they aren't the only ones who don't feel like domestic goddesses all the time.

Two appendices are included to help you jumpstart your more organized approach to homemaking. Brenneman's intent was to create a book that could be read straight through or used as a reference, and with the clear table of contents and direct chapter titles it certainly lends itself easily to either use. However, if you're just starting out and don't have much experience, or if you're at your wits' end what to do next, it's probably in your best interest to read part one straight through initially because the concepts outlined there are so foundational. Not matter how you read it, though, Large Family Logistics is an excellent resource for mothers of any-sized families.