9 Kids

Just a few musings whilst I drink my (essential) morning cup of coffee (or three!)

It's not that hard having 9 children. The mess and laundry create is hard. It's not even that expensive in the scheme of things. And this is why

They are never bored. They always have someone to play with. I am here when they need Mum time but I tend not to be wanted for play activities. They are always on the go and so I just clean up after them

Or rather every evening as if I cleaned up after them it would mean my life consisted of little more than cleaning - and that's no life at all!

We have everything we could ever dream of thanks to car boot sales and bargain hunting (my obsession - my husband is the see and spend sort)
We buy good quality secondhand clothes which last more than 10 washes and so can be handed down or resold. Buying cheap new clothes is a total waste of money as they just do not last.

Our food bill is probably less than the average family of 5 because of economies of scale and buying what's on offer rather than sticking to a fixed menu and we only buy junk as treats. We dont have takeaways except for special occasions and the children have to have packed lunches as we cant afford the £80 odd a week for school meals (or rather it would be an extortionate price to pay)
The children eat like pigs and so there's always healthy snack foods on tap and cereal, fruit etc.
The older ones all know how to cook a balanced meal and the girls tend to cook the evening meal. I dont want them to leave home and only know how to open a tin of beans and go to the chippie - even my 10 year old can bake a decent cake and ice it too and my 12 year old has been able to cook a roast chicken dinner for a couple of years too (and does it far better than me)

We live in the same size house that we would if we had fewer children, our washing machine is used more of course, but it's always full. We use the same amount of central heating as we would if there were only 2 of us here.

The children are all so so different. They have their own personalities which is fun to watch. It's a happy household and the children are happy and smile a lot. I feel the good things far outweigh the bad

And as for me - yes, of course I have time to do what I want to do. I just have to be like the children - flexible and able to adapt. There is no point having a rigid routine with a large family as it would just lead to frustration! A loose routine is the only thing that works for us.

It's far easier than having a smaller family for the above reasons I find and so I have lots of time to drink coffee and procrastinate! And I type (with 3 fingers) VERY fast!