A couple who never planned to have any children have revealed they now have a huge brood of eleven, the Daily Mail of UK reported.
Joseph Sutton, 35, and wife Nicole, 30, live with their eight daughters and three sons in their three-bedroom home in Aspatria, Cumbria, England.
The couple envisaged a quiet life – and the thought of children never entered the equation when they first met back in 2005 – but after falling pregnant with daughter Rhiannan, now 14, the babies just kept on coming.
And even though visions of fancy cars were swapped for a 17-seater mini bus, the couple say they could never have dreamed of being so happy, and love their big family.
However, Joseph admitted that it’s sometimes been a struggle in lockdown, explaining: “People ask how we’re getting on and say they wouldn’t want to be looking after them. Some days it’s harder than others when we’re tired but they’re in a routine and they all get on most of the time, like any brothers and sisters.”
But wife Nicole said: “Lockdown has been brilliant because we haven’t had to have as much routine and we’re not rushing to get out of the door. We’re having BBQs or lazy movie days and we’re making memories because we’ll never get this time again. Nobody is ever bored, that’s for certain.”
The pair, who don’t rely on any benefits apart from normal child benefit, fit in looking after the family around their jobs – with Joseph working as a coach driver and Nicole as a part-time shop assistant.
Two years after falling pregnant with Rhiannan, their daughter Lacy was born, now 12 – followed quickly by Mackenzie, 10, Skylar, nine, Henley, seven, twins Cobi and Parker, six, Hadley, four, River, three, Ocean, two, Navy, one and Hallie.
Organised mother Nicole lays out toothbrushes, school uniforms and dishes for breakfast in the evening, wakes up at six before getting the children up at seven to spend an hour dressing the eldest eight kids, doing the school run and spending the day with the youngest three.
Nicole spends half an hour making 12 beds, washes three loads of washing a day and hoovers five times every day. All food shopping is done online with an average of 12 baskets being delivered weekly.
The mother said: “It’s all about routine, everything is laid out the night before, uniforms, toothbrushes, dishes. I gave up on ironing years ago and just use the dryer.
“I pick the kids up and we eat at five, so I set the plates out while dinner is cooking and assign everyone to seats. Six fit at the table in the kitchen, three in high chairs and the rest sit on the sofa for some peace and quiet. It’s absolute madness.
“I make huge batches of spaghetti Bolognese and roast dinners so every meal is like Christmas dinner but sometimes I’ll chuck in chicken nuggets and chips. Don’t we all.
“Picking up toys is constant and Joseph does the bath and bed routine because he leaves before the kids wake up so misses all the action. Friday is usually the worst washing day because I have to do the PE kits so that’s an extra two washes and Saturday is bed changing day so there’s even more washing but it’s all fun.”
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