21 kids and counting

[thannyflaps]

Just watching the latest episode - how on earth do they afford to run that household? iPhones for the kids, holidays to Spain for 20 people, a new kitchen.

There is no way a bakery would generate that much money. Would channel 4 really pay that well for their participation in the programme?

Thanny Flaps

They have an older son, who is 29, he does not seem to feature, I think he has his own life away from it all.

The one who had the most “normal” foundation years. He was the only child for (I think) 4 years. Every child after him was usurped within a year or so. They didn’t get the same bonding experience with mum. He had 4 years of normality and even after the next few came, there weren’t 21 instantly. There were 3/4/5/6 etc. He had the most normal frame of reference of what family life is/should feel like. Unsurprising that he left when they took it out of the realms of normal.

Trauma during the post natal stage like being removed from mother causes psychological damage that can result in emotional stunting. There is also suggestion that women stop “emotionally maturing” when they have their first baby. No idea if that is true, it sounds like guff, but given that sue has essentially repeated the same year of her life 21 times over the last 30 years it makes sense that she still sounds like a giggly teenager.

Unsurprising that he left when they took it out of the realms of normal

I read somewhere that Noel kicked him out. He was estranged from them until fairly recently (which is why he was photoshopped into every picture. Sue put a picture of her granddaughter on IG recently and everyone was asking 'who's that?' as they never announced her birth, unlike Sophie who got a newspaper article every time she had a baby.

I noticed this time that Sophie kept a very low profile on the programme, maybe she is trying to take a step back? She also works in the shop.

I was upset that a small child was being held down by an older boy then bounced upside down by the same boy and was then seen crying on the floor and no one came over. Another incident of an older boy punching one of the little ones again and again, and no adult to be seen. And of course Chloe shouting calm down to the crying toddler. I felt sorry for both of them. She isn't capable of looking after all those children, yet the parents expect it.What an admission that expensive things like televisions get broken and they don't have any idea who did it. Where are they? The giant hole in the wall! I thought it was appalling to laugh at the poor child over the paella. Also the children on the work surface and cooker hob??? The one sitting in the fridge??? Why are those two toddlers bedroom a cupboard with no windows???? Where is all the children's stuff? They have clothes and a bed. There are hardly any toys for all the toddlers. Where are the books?
Awful.

Her adoptive parents have been in 1 or 2 episodes when they've been in hospital giving birth and needed help with the kids, they also watched them whilst Sue Noel and Chloe did the Christmas food shop on their YouTube although you didn't actually see them.

I wonder if Noel kicking him out had anything to do with him refusing to be controlled like cattle.

Sue's parents have been seen in at least one of the shows.

When they arrived in Benidorm there was a child sleeping on the tarmac.

I’m just watching it now, do you think they have crated alife entirely supported by TV and sponsorship deals which would dry up if they didn’t keep going?
Meaning it would make their life unsustainable if they stopped?
I don’t know, just speculating.

There would not have been a programme after 20 and counting if 21 wasn't on the way...

‘ sue has essentially repeated the same year of her life 21 times over the last 30 years it makes sense that she still sounds like a giggly teenager’

Spot on. Sue is a production line for babies. That’s all she knows, it’s what her entire life is. She loses interest pretty soon after they’re born by the looks of it, and responsibility passes to the older siblings. I agree that the older kids talk more sense than Noel and Sue, but naturally they lack the maturity to be expected to take on the parenting role- hence the shouting and manhandling the younger kids which seems to be the only form of communication in the house.

The toddler crawling towards the edge of the worktop, the one sitting in the fridge, the endless chucking each other around and the setting up the little boy to scare him over the paella... all these things were disgusting. It may be that the TV crew encouraged some of this to make ‘good tv’ but that doesn’t excuse it, in many ways it makes it worse because it shows Noel and Sue couldn’t give a shit about their kids’ feelings; they’re happy to exploit them for the dosh

If I were Sue I’d feel very vulnerable and worried about what would happen to me after the menopause

I'm really fascinated by large family dynamics and watch another of the big families that was on with the Radford's in 16 KAC. I also follow the Duggars, the US' biggest family who had/have a TV contract series. It is interesting now that Michelle (the mother) is usnable to have any more children that she is almost completely irrelevant and the focus has had to turn on the children who got married and had babies in succession.

One of the daughter's husbands recently has spoken out about how they (as grown adults!) had no choice about appearing on the show, implying that the father made them do it and 'took the winnings'. The Duggars are similar to the Radfords in the sense that post media interest their lives took a drastic turn financially and they had a much better quality of life, but they seem to have become reliant on this.

The Radfords have complained so many times about how they will never do any more media as they are sick of the intrusion, the nasty comments and the lack of privacy. They keep going back for more though, not only in the UK, they have done programmes for Japanese TV and i think something in the Netherlands. The prospect of the money must be too difficult to pass on.

Just watched the latest episode, nothing to add really, it certainly wouldn't be for me but I seem to recall that in the first couple of shows that Sue had help in the house, someone helping with washing and ironing and cleaning, does anyone else remember that.

Also on these threads over the years the lack of quality time with the children has always been discussed, in the latest show the expression "quality time" was done to death, Noel mentioned it, Sue mentioned it, some of the children mentioned it, it seemed so staged this time, it was like telling us what we want to hear.

Anyway I hope they stop now, for all their sakes, but especially Sues, she must be bloody exhausted all the time.

Yes I noticed that Noel and the older kids being driven round near Benidorm, being filmed by the camera crew was described by Noel as ‘quality time’ with them

If I were Sue I’d feel very vulnerable and worried about what would happen to me after the menopause

Agreed. Isn't she around 43 now? I think she'll keep going until menopause, though her pregnancies must be pretty risky now.

I always find it mad how the ‘baby/toddler stage’ of pushchairs and nappies and screaming tantrums and little people who need constant attention has basically been Sue’s entire adult life (and beforehand as well!).

Also a PP mentioned about Millie being a twin? According to a wikia page the Radfords don’t have any twins although there’s less than 11 months between her and the next oldest

Also according the dates on there Sue gave birth only a couple of months after her 14th birthday I always assumed she would have been about to turn 15 iyswim

"The bit about the kitchen, I'm not sure Noel can be blamed for that, I'm guessing that the tv company offered them sponsorship if it was done within the time frame of the show"

He could have said no and that it would have been too stressful with his wife about to give birth.

££££££ obviously more important.

On the housetour that Sue filmed for utube, she was really excited about the new kitchen so I don't think it was all Noels idea.

In one of the episodes Noel and Sue go out for lunch to celebrate their anniversary. They had nothing to talk about, and it was awkward to watch, so must have been awkward to experience. When they aren't surrounded by the kids, and the noise and the chaos, there is nothing..... other than making more babies.

I just can't imagine it. How many sleepless nights must they have? Endless nights with ill children, breastfeeding , children who cant/won't sleep. They must spend virtually half their time with ill children who then pass it on to the others who pass it around etc etc. The sheer mundanity of cooking, washing, cleaning must be mindnumbing. Never ending. Plus the impact of one household in the environment.

The sight of the girls lining up for the bathroom in the morning whilst dressed in school uniform and a toddler on a hip was awful.

On the housetour that Sue filmed for utube, she was really excited about the new kitchen so I don't think it was all Noels idea.

It's her job.

The sheer mundanity of cooking, washing, cleaning must be

I agree, but then Sue has absolutely no aspirations and certainly no discernible skill set. Her only value is in pushing out babies and then running the household to the most basic standards. The fact that the beds didn’t have sheets, and the meals being served up were basically cheap processed shit on a plate, shows that she hasn’t even taken on the basics of providing a good standard of physical care. Never mind the emotional neglect of those children. But she knows no different. It’s like she stopped developing at age 13.