“Mother’s Day is a very special occasion for me, as it’s one of the few days of the year when I don’t have to do laundry. I love everything about having a big family, except the fact I need to load up our 18kg washing machine at least twice a day.
We have 19 children and four dogs living in our house in Morecambe, Lancashire. Our eldest two, Chris and Sophie, have moved out and we also have our angel baby, Alfie, who sadly passed away.
Alfie [who was stillborn in 2014] is very much a part of the family, and I’ll always count myself a mother of 22 because of that. We talk about him to keep his memory alive and we put flowers on his grave.
My kids always make Mother’s Day as relaxing as possible. I get a day off of doing chores, breakfast in bed and loads of homemade cards.
I have received a lot of those over the years and I keep them all. I’m quite sentimental like that.
People think it’s strange having so many children, but to us it’s normal. We only actually wanted three children, but we loved what each child brought into our lives.
About 16 years ago we bought a house. We are so fortunate we were able to buy one, as we have a successful family pie business.
It has 10 bedrooms and we said, “Let’s just fill them all!” So that’s what we did – and more!
A few of them have to share, but they enjoy it so much that when it’s their turn to get their own room once somebody has moved out, they’re often reluctant.
We didn’t have kids expecting somebody else to pay for them. We’re the providers, and we want that attitude to rub off onto our children.
We’re grateful the online side of the business took off in the pandemic, after we had to briefly close the shop. It can be a lot of pressure for us to feed so many mouths, but we’ve been lucky.
What we’re most rich in is love. The last year has brought us even closer as a family.
Full house
Our house is full of happy, laughing kids, playing and having fun. I crave peace and quiet some days, but mostly thrive off the busy lifestyle.
Lockdown has been bearable, because with so many of us, it’s impossible to be bored. The only thing I’ve found hard is homeschooling, as that’s a full-time job in itself.
We have so many different ages that I’m having to teach loads of curriculums. The big kids help, but they have their own work and jobs to do.
I was so relieved when they announced schools were reopening in England. The bedtime routines went out the window in lockdown, but that’s just life.
There’s always something going on in our house, or a celebration – we’ve had 295 kids’ birthdays over the years. We try to make each one special.
I have to start planning the Christmas presents in August. It takes a lot of organisation to do anything for the family. Going on a plane for a holiday involves so much counting. It’s chaotic but worth it.
When we’re out in public we get such a positive reaction. People ask how I manage. A few criticise us on social media, saying we can’t have enough love and attention to give them all, but we do.
I don’t have favourites. I love them all equally, and the children never question that. It’s easy to distribute our time, and actually our children don’t want us around them constantly.
They all have lovely bonds with their siblings and rarely argue. They are protective of each other, but luckily nobody has ever encountered any trouble.
Their friends are more just amazed by it and say our house is quieter than they’d expect. It all seems to flow.
In general we’re very laid-back and the children are well behaved. It’s not my style to be telling them off all the time.
We’re spending around £450 on food every week during lockdown – in normal times it’s £300. We use 24 toilet rolls every week, 16 pints of milk and four loaves of bread per day.
Fruit and chocolate spread goes the fastest. They seem to eat and eat. Mealtimes are important, so we always try to eat together at our huge table.
It might be the first time that day we see the older kids and get to hear about what’s going on in their lives. We’ll only ever make one meal option, because my house isn’t a restaurant.
Noel used to be a chef, so he usually leads dinnertime cooking. If we have a barbecue we’d use 56 sausages, and a Mexican means getting through 5kg of chicken, 1kg of cheese and four packets of tortilla wraps.
Going to a restaurant takes an hour just to get out of the door. We have to book in advance.
Unsurprisingly, Noel and I rarely get time to ourselves. Occasionally, we’ll be in the living room alone, but it doesn’t bother us – we like being surrounded by family.
Noel says, “When lockdown is over we’re going out for dinner.” I’ll look forward to that, but we’ll end up talking about the kids!
I had my youngest child, Heidie, last April, which was a different experience.
Because of the pandemic we couldn’t introduce her to friends and family immediately, but it was nice that all the siblings were at home for her first weeks on Earth.
One big tradition we have is when we first arrive home with the new baby they’ll be passed around to each child for a cuddle.
People might think it gets less exciting, as we have so many, but that’s never the case.
People also think that because I’ve had 22 children the babies just fall out of me now, but truthfully, birth is always painful!
Proud mum
Usually by the time we’ve settled in with the new baby I’m feeling broody or am pregnant again. This time I’m not feeling broody, so we’re finally done. No more.
When the kids all fly the nest we’d like to travel in a camper van. We’ll never have an empty house, though, as we’ll have grandchildren, too.
We already have six. None of the children want as many as us. Three is the most any of them want.
It doesn’t matter how many kids they have or what they do in life.
All I want is for Chris, Sophie, Chloe, Jack, Daniel, Luke, Millie, Katie, James, Ellie, Aimee, Josh, Max, Tillie, Oscar, Casper, Hallie, Phoebe, Archie, Bonnie and Heidie to be happy, healthy and have fun whatever route they choose.
That would make me the proudest mum.”
