Friday night and I've just seen a woman in Lidl with 7 children

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I obviously don't know if they were all her own. Aged, I'd guess from about 2-10yo.

She was calm and smiley. The children were happy but quiet and still. She even stopped, after unloading her trolley, to give the eldest, a boy, a lovely peck on the top of his head.

I was in complete awe.

Once in a blue moon my three do this. Act so serene and calm. People even say what a beautiful, happy family we are. They don't see the fuckery that goes down out of sight at home.

Aaw x the Von Trapp family reincarnated . X

@Deathraystare What a twatish comment.

I’d be in completely awe ew.

7 children. Why do it to yourself. What’s wrong with 2.. or even 3, possibly even 4. Anymore than 4 is bonkers.

@Boots20 "nope, never seen them before in my life"

I wouldn't be so sure. I knew someone whose many children were quiet & still in public. Perfect. Never nagged. Always impeccably dressed & behaved. They freaked me out by being so undemanding.

In private the kids were devils & spiteful to each other. Famous for it if anyone had a playdate.

l was at school with someone who had 12 brothers and sisters. My friend had been to her house and she said it was like sitting in the cinema.

I'm one of the older ones of 8, when I was a teen my mum had 5 under 5's, they were always beautifully behaved and she was all calm and found time for hobbies, so when I decided to have children I was like yes, that'll be easy and lovely.

It is not, I can only assume my mum is some kind of witch because I have followed all of her advice and my children are perfectly behaved for her then I take them back and they turn back into little monsters.

Maybe she gives them 'the talk' before going in? I do with my youngest - I bend down to eye level and whisper in my witchy voice "The merest hint of a mither for a comic, toy, chocolate, felt tips/doughnuts/carwash or whatever and I will put this basket down on the floor and we shall walk out. Do you understand?" Never had to walk out yet!

Siblings tend to lean on each other for attention. As a pp said further up, one can be harder. One needs your attention 24/7. Trust me, depending on the kid, one can make up for many

This is so true. I only have one DC, she's always looking for me to play her games with her etc but yet when my DSC come at weekends DD never looks near me. So for me, having 3 in the house is easier than having 1.

A few years ago in Ikea I saw a woman walking towards me with twins, a toddler in a buggy and one in a sling on her chest.Perfectly calm and happy. I was impressed. Then she passed us and she had another one the same age in a sling on her back! At that point I couldn't even imagine going to IKEA with my single child. Amazing woman.

I’d probably be super chilled if I had multiple children, it’s either that or go completely bonkers. One child is very hard work but the good news in my house at any rate is that half of the time when my DH is taking my DD to an activity etc, I have time to chill out and read a book/indulge my Netflix habit. Onlies are generally needy though. I find wine helps.

a lady behind me tapped my shoulder and said sorry love are those your other 2.....low and behold my other son aged 4 was in a WHEELCHAIR with my 6 year old pushing him as fast as she could up the aisle shouting he has disabilities, my face was burgundy

Haha, that's hilarious 😂

I have four kids and they are beautifully behaved when we go shopping (no delivery services to my area). They are bloody demons when we get home, but I count my blessings!

I once gave serious consideration to abandoning my children in tesco when they were 1 and 2. I had stepped away from the trolley to grab an armful of items and when I turned back they were boxing each other and 2 people a crowd was gathering looking aghast. I was about 3 feet away, just enough for plausible deniability.

I used to look after my Dsis 2 DD and my own 3 DC so had 5 under 5 im my care while she worked, and often night shifts, I found it easier than just mine alone as all 5 adored each other and played happily, the problems only came about when they were picked up. My DD used to hide her cousin in hope her DM would forget her and leave her behind..

I know someone with seven kids but the oldest two have now grown up and left home. They then have three teenagers, an eight-year-old and a toddler.

I would like to say that she's always had them all perfectly under control but in reality the older ones, particularly the girls, have always done a lot of keeping an eye on the younger ones.

I always presume that people who have loads of children have easy children. You know, the ones that sleep well, eat well and are generally happy wherever you take them. That’s why they felt able to have more.

I remember meeting a woman in the GP surgery with her 5th baby, I was on my knees with one and couldn’t imagine having 5. Then she told me all hers slept through from 5 weeks. So different.

Obviously 7 DC is hard work even if they are easy but it’s not quite the same as having 7 of (say) my children...

I can’t understand why anyone would want 7 kids...

Then she told me all hers slept through from 5 weeks I firmly believe this is one of the biggest factors in determining family size.

My 3 are only together on certain nights so I go shopping with them coz we’re all doing a thing together and I love it. It’s not the best night out but they get to choose food and I get to hear them interacting (bickering) with each other and it makes my heart soar ❤️

I looked like this recently in Lidl. But only 4 were mine, 3 a friends and 2 my cousin’s. All 9 though have the same colouring and look like a pack. We share bits of childcare sometimes and weirdly it’s quite easy, they talk among themselves and don’t bother me and stragglers are quickly collared. People give you weird looks but give you space to pack etc due to the size of the gang and you path seems to smooth in front of you, probably due to peoples’ fears that chaos could rein down at any moment.

But yes to the cereal aisle being the flash point (tiny variety multipacks mostly work)

I have 5. We often go out for jaunts in the playclothes I made from our old curtains, singing merrily as he skip along.

If only that were true. They all refused my offer of curtain clothes, and singing. They prefer arguing and wearing the same t-shirt for days (they are teenagers) I do the singing on my own.

When we didn't have a car I used to take them all shopping so we could all carry the shopping home. They weren't too bad around the supermarket, the occasional squabble, till I did the mum threatening hiss talk at them to behave.

We have friends with 9. They are the most lovely kids, everyone's favourite playmates. The parents are lovely too.

Don't see anything to applaud in procreating that much, tbh.