Keeping up

Physical strength is so good to have, and I believe it helps me cope with all I do. Even after all of the duties of caring for a large home and family, I'm rarely exhausted physically, but I do get exhausted mentally sometimes. Usually it happens when the kids aren't getting along and I'm forced to be the ref for too many of their battles. This is where I can feel like a failure as a mom, because often when I've had enough of it, I end up contributing by yelling at them myself, just to be heard. Which is something we all want. To be heard. Even kids need that, but my sons tend to resort to insulting each other, which I can't stand because they are each insulting one of my kids. I will be honest and say that there have been times when I've resorted to sarcasm with my kids too, and it's something I want to change. Treating each other with respect all the time is really tough! I grew up in a household that required a respectful tone of the kids to all adults all the time, even if the adult didn't deserve respect, but that didn't always apply to the adults and definitely didn't apply to siblings. I had good parents, committed to each other and to us kids, but at the same time, rather uninvolved in our lives on any deeper level than supplying our basic needs other than spiritual ones, which meant spending half our lives in church. Maybe they had it right to let us work out most everything on our own, unlike the helicopter style of today. I always felt the heavy burden of far too many rules, not just from my parents, but from every other adult I came across. Where I grew up, on a conservative college campus, there was a rule for everything, so naturally I felt rebellious and was told I was rebellious a lot. But, really, in the whole scheme of things, I wasn't. I was stifled. Constantly. And not encouraged often enough. Whatever creativity I had was usually mocked, not encouraged. This has resulted in a style of parenting for me, that is somewhat less than supportive of my kids average dreams because I always want them to dream bigger. I keep wanting them to have the desire to do more, but today's generation is glued to electronics. While creative in it's own way, I feel like it doesn't exactly instill motivation or strength in kids. One can learn about any subject under the sun with the internet, so I love it for that reason, but whereas many see certain online games as creative because they are "building" virtual cities and worlds, I see it for what it is, clicking a mouse and moving the arrow keys. All the work has already been done for them by some brainiac video game creator. Now if they were creating their own video games, that would be another story. Or if they were actually out in the garage building things with their hands, that would be great. It's a balance and I keep trying to find things to encourage their creativity and activity. But, it's hard to find things that they can all participate in. Having teen boys, pre-teen girls and babies makes that a super challenge. There's only one of me and 6 of them, so I'm clearly outnumbered. How does one find the strength, ability and creativity to meet all of their needs at the same time? Any tips? I'd be glad to have them. It shouldn't have to be complicated, but it is.
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you a hope and a future."