Mornings were crazy: getting lunches packed for all the kids, making sure they were all clean and dressed, and book bags were packed. Ronal’s secret was simple: He taught the kids to take responsibility for their own tasks, and organized things as well as he could. With six kids, it was impossible to not have the occasional crisis, but they were kept to a minimum.

Before bed, everyone had to make sure their bags were packed and their outfits laid out for the next morning. He still helped Rife with his, otherwise he’d go walking around looking like a clown, and Rajoy was still a bit young, but the older kids all took care of these tasks themselves. Ronal would check homework when he got home and signed any necessary permission slips. The older kids were great at helping the little ones with any work they got stuck on.

Everyone had chores they had to do, even Rajoy, and it fostered a great work ethic in them. It helped that their dad tried to instill all these lessons from a young age, using little songs and rhymes he made up himself. They were a very musical family in all honesty, and passersby often found themselves smiling when they walked past the house and heard all the kids’ voices lifted in song.