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One college kid, one parakeet, one dog, two high schoolers at two different high schools, three elementary school children, plus thirteen sports equals one busy schedule according to Mrs. Jamie Kramer. Kramer says that the schedule to school used to be even worse.

‘When we still lived in Boston I had one child in high school, junior high, middle school, elementary school, kindergarten, and preschool,’ said Kramer. ‘All six of the schools were in different buildings and had different bus schedules.’

St. Teresa’s Academy senior Taylor Kramer’s family of six kids has a hectic schedule after school, before school, and to sports from their Leawood house. This busy family arrives to all their activities and sports on time due to carpooling and having an organized schedule.

‘I like having a lot of things to do, and so does everybody in my family,” St. Thomas Aquinas freshman Holly Kramer said. “Also, all the activities give my mom a break from us [kids].’

Out of all the kids Peter Kramer has one of the busiest schedules. Peter is the forth child and at only 11 years old he plays football, hockey, basketball, baseball and golf and is involved in more sports then anyone else in the family.

‘I enjoy doing a lot of sports,’ Peter said. ‘It’s really fun.”

Husband and wife John and Jamie Kramer believe in having at least one parent at a child’s game, to achieve this they split the sports between them. For example since John coaches 10-year-old Emily’s basketball team he always drives to those games and practices. However, when it comes to carpools to and from school the Kramer’s are not always successful.

“A couple of times last week I was left [at school] and I had to call and wait for my mom to pick me up,” Holly said. “I got my homework done while I was waiting alone with the creepy janitor.’

The ‘craziest’ part of the day according to Jamie is not when she is orchestrating carpools or keeping the schedule straight. Instead the the most stressful time of the day is the morning. According to John the whole scene is controlled chaos.

“In the morning my sister and I are always fighting over the bathroom,’ Holly said. ‘Someone usually can’t find something that they need for school and my mom has to make like five lunches.”

Despite the schedules Jamie calls herself fairly laid back and attributes it to her simplifying her own agenda. She does this by keeping a large calendar that contains the dates for various sporting and school related events. Jamie said that she no longer over schedules herself by doing social things like bunco and volunteering because they cause to much chaos.

“I think of myself later, I focus on the kids first,’ Jamie said.

Try as she may, Jamie can’t do everything herself and the kids are more than willing to chip in according to Taylor Kramer. The two main chores in the house are cleaning the dishes and their room, but Taylor helps out in other ways.

“I help cook, resolve fights, and drive Olivia to dance a lot,’ Taylor said.

With help from the kids and carpool the Kramers ensure the schedule will run smoothly. For some people, these six kid’s hectic schedules would send them over the edge, but Jamie looks at it in a positive way.

“I always wanted a big family, there are some sacrifices but it is worth it,’ Jamie said.