When it comes to living arrangements with your family, things can, to an extent, get a little tricky. Maneuvering around the home with a big family can cause feuds over the smallest details. Although it can get better around school time as there are fewer people at home at a time, there will be a point where the entire family is huddled up together and may start nitpicking at everything that goes wrong. Since it can be a little difficult to stay in your own space to avoid those fights, especially if you are a whole family living in a small house.
Things That Will Help You Avoid Fights with Family Members
Create A Place for Each Person’s Belongings
One of the most difficult matters you may face is the idea that each person’s items are jumbled up with another family member. Most arguments can come from not being able to have privacy, not just for themselves but also for their items. So, if it will be difficult to have each person in their own room, at least construct a specific place in the home for each person’s belongings. A good solution for this is to use shelves and cupboards and for everyone to know where each person’s things are so that they do not get lost or mixed up with someone else’s.
Purchase Silent Household Items
Another big issue families who live in small spaces could face is noise! Whether you want to vacuum, play music, or watch television, there will usually be someone who cannot stand the noise. While the volume of music and the television can be lowered, it can be a little difficult to control the noise that household items make, especially vacuum cleaners. In order to avoid arguments on the sound, look for the best vacuum cleaners you can find that make minimal or no noise at all. This does not only apply to vacuum cleaners; it can apply to washing machines and microwaves too. Investing in quieter options will help keep you and your family’s mind at ease.
Make Use of Bunkbeds
When thinking of sleeping arrangements, be sure to assign each person their own space to sleep in. Many siblings fight because they feel like they have zero privacy. The lack of space can prove to be a challenge at times, but your best friend can be bunk beds! They may be tiny, but if you have a small space with children, it will at least give them the option of being somewhat “alone”. If bunk beds are not really an option, you can also opt for wall beds as they can also create more room in the house when lifted.
Create a Schedule
The phrase “too many cooks in the kitchen” can very well be applicable in this situation. In the morning, your children may all need the bathroom at the same time or want to make breakfast at the same time, creating clashes between “who came first” and whatnot. When you have a big family in a small apartment, your best friend will be a schedule. The use of schedules will help people know when it’s their time to go to the bathroom or make their breakfast, watch television, and so on. Although it may seem difficult to adjust to at first, once everyone gets the hang of it, it will certainly help avoid the daily clashes.
Have Everyone Do Their Chores
Even though this may not sound like the most fun idea, creating chores for each family member will not only give them a task to do to help around the house, it may also give them some space so you can avoid arguments. Create a chore schedule for each family member, sit down with them, and discuss if the schedule suits them. The chores should not cause more arguments, it should be a helpful way to keep everyone busy at some point or another. Having chores in the first place will definitely take the load off of the one or two people that are carrying the workload. This will help the tension rest and help your family live more harmoniously.
The most important thing in most people’s lives is family. Constantly having arguments with your family can take a toll on your mental health, so it is best to try and avoid them. Try to go for any of the above suggestions or do more research on how to create harmony between a family living in a small space. After all, you do not want to end up avoiding your own home and family!