mum of 8 saying hello.

[DropItLikeASquat]

Hi guys, I just thought I would say hello.
Im a mum of 8 beautiful babies. I had 7 with my ex HB and a baby boy with my ex partner (long story).
It is so nice to find a group of mommas and papas to many.
I hope to get to know you all and share the highs and lows of being in our lovely (albeit unconventional) large families.
Are their any other loan parents in this group too?
Hope everyone is having a lovely evening, I just got my babba to sleep he's full of cold, dear thing.

Hello!

I only have 4 so take my hat off to you!

How old are your 8

they range from almost 14 to 18 months.
I worked out that I have been pregnant and breastfeeding for almost 15 years

Gosh so none are even grown up!

How many girls/boys?

I have 5 girls and 3 boys, I defo find the girls easier. My pre teen is a bit snappy and hormonal, but my boys jeeeez. They wear me out.

Hi
I only have 4, would love more but dd3 has slightly put me off with her lack of sleeping. I love and need my sleep .

I dont envy your food bill Dropit specially if your lot are anything like mine and always eating

Tsoto, they are literally like seagulls. But I manage to keep my food budget to £150 a week for 9 of us which I think is pretty good. Some weeks if I am not bulk buying something like washing powder or a sack of rice, bulk nuts and seeds for our porridge etc its closer to £120. We bump up most meals with a tonne of veggies and that seems to keep our costs down. Ahhh as soon as she sleeps through the night you will forget and want another :-)

I am a mum of 4boys, I found this forum quite some time ago and find it really interesting, my eldest is 4yrs old and my youngest is 3months old, my friends seem to think I've lost the plot having child after child but I dunno I have so much love to give why not! I'm interested do u drive? We have just bought a Peugeot traveller which feels massive to drive and we often take my mum places with the kids so we're almost to full capacity! As it's a 8seater. What do you drive? Also where do you holiday? I've looked at a lot of places in the past but I find a lot of hotels abroad only do 1 or 2bed apartments which would be a bit of a squeeze! I think villas will be the option for us in the future but I do enjoy my resort hotels, everything a stone throw away no car needed

We dont drive

While you have dc young enough for a travel cot you can usually get a normal hotel room

We did last year with dc aged 9, 8, 4 and 1

We have six, nice to meet other large families. :)

I can drive but we chose not to have a car to keep our costs down, Im saving every last penny for a house of our own. We go camping for a holiday in the summer with my children god parents. They have a huge MPV so all our camping gear get thrown in the back of that and I usually hire a small car and they take the other 4. We go to a small field in Devon, its only £7 per night and is amazing. Very basic so just toilets and a water tap. There is a huge lake that the kids play in, big road swing and a shallow are for the littles to paddle in. We go to the beach and for a few days out and thats it. We always have just the best time, in the middle of nowhere in a massive field. There is a wooden fort and swings sectioned off in the pub next to the field that they are happy for the campers to use. We walk to school, shopping, to run errands etc and get the bus or train if we are going further afield. We are minimalists too really. We have what we need, some toys for the tinies, legos and books, but thats it. I would like to get the bigger ones bikes so they can take them camping and learn to ride. Its a simple but rewarding life. Our dream is to buy some land and build a small home and live as off grid as possible. We are almost totally debt free apart from my student loan and intend to stay that way. We tend to buy used and save the difference while the kids are small and things get drawn on, or drinks spilt etc. Its a dream but I hope one day it will be a reality.

to add, we are currently living in a small 3 bed house, my 2 teen girls share, my two oldest boys star and my other 3 girls are in the middle bedroom. I sleep with the baby boy on a pull out bed in our living room and him in the travel cot. We are however out growing this house with no garden or living space apart from a small living room that I sleep in and the small kitchen diner. Im hoping to find a bigger 3 bed but with a big garden for the kids to play in.

Hi op, 11 dc here!! 8 x ds and 3 x dd! Never a dull /quiet moment but wouldn't change my life!!

drop that camping holiday sounds ideal!

We go camping!! Big ten man tent!!

yay for the campers!!!!!!!
Snowy, we have a six man tent at the moment as mine are mostly still small but next year I'm looking to upgrade to a bigger tent. !! kids must be amazing, I love the busyness of our home and if I wasn't now a single parent I'm sure I would have had more- I'm totally done now though.
its so nice to meet other big families so I don't feel like a complete weirdo lol

Op I thought I was done as a lp with 10. Then I met my dh and had another!! 😂

TBH Snowy, I can't see any man being prepared to take on me and 8 kids. I have dated before and it all goes great until the subject of children comes along and then all goes quiet.
Its okay though, Im happy being on my own, I know that may change, but for now Im content being just me and the kids.

Op your attitude is all wrong!! Nobody' took us on', my dh says he is privileged to have been allowed to join our amazing family!! I am very self sufficient in my ways, don't need a man for anything at all, but having a dh does make us an even more amazing team!! He knew in our first conversation how many dc I had and he says it made me even more interesting and def didn't put him off - he had no dc or ever been married!

oMG snowy I didn't mean to offend you, I meant myself not you. My ex said to me 'nobody will take on you and 8 kids' and I guess its just stuck with me. my hangup completely.

So you need to value yourself more! Only super amazing dm's have lots of dc imo!! A decent man will be lucky to share your life!!

Thanks Snowy! you have seriously cheered me up and restored my faith in men lol

Hello!

I don't have quite as many as you - 6. 1 boy and 5 girls (including twins) aged 6-17.

We love camping here too! We have just bought a third tent (just 1 man) as DS would rather have his own now he is 17. Before we have squeezed into 2: a 3 man and a 4 man.

We live in a 4-bed house so DS has his own room, DDs 15 and 11 share and DDs 7, 6 and 6 (twins) share. DD1 can't wait for DS to move out!

We don't have a car either but manage fine as we live in a major city with goodish public transport.

Did you all grow up in big families? And have you always planned to have so many?

I grew up in a blended (step) family with 2 siblings, but we are 12 years apart, im the eldest then my sister is 6 years younger than me and my bro 6 years younger again. my parents separated and I lived some of my childhood with my grandparents and they had 4 kids. My uncle was a teen when I was an infant so always a busy house.
I didn't want any children when I left school, but fell pregnant at 19 and the rest is history lol.

I have 5 kids
2 boys at 18 and 16,
2 girls at 14 and 13
1 boy at 4
We live in the UAE in a house which is rented and paid for by my husbands employer. It is huge and has 5 bedrooms. My 2 girls share.
When we holiday we get 2 hotel rooms usually. I am keen to try airbnb this year though. Anywhere with 3+ bedrooms and wifi!
I drive a kia carnival which is 8 seats. Plenty of boot space too.
Our food bill is huge at around 300 pounds a week. This is mainly because food here is much more expensive anyway.
I grew up in a family of 3 kids. My husband was one of 6 kids.