Meet the Florida Supermom Who Home-schools 16 Kids: ‘There’s No Normal Day’

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From the archives: This story was last updated in October 2019.

Lyette Reback is a “supermom” from North Palm Beach, Florida, who has 16 children but still manages to make time for herself.

Lyette has 10 daughters and six sons with her husband, David Reback, a real estate agent. At the age of 21, she gave birth to her first daughter, Daly Kay, now 23. She has since had 11 additional biological children via natural birth, and the couple has adopted four more as of April 2018.

From oldest to youngest, the Reback family brood comprises daughters Daly Kay, Ryli, Bliss, Kemper, Glory, Trinity, Liberty, Sojourner, Victory, and Verity, and sons Courson, Judson, Shepherd, Ransom, Stone, and Vaughn.

The family also has one dog and two tortoises as per SWNS.

Lyette was an only child. The mom of 16 reveals on her blog that she and husband David fell in love in a heartbeat; they got engaged just 10 days after they met. Lyette was 19 at the time, and just two years later, she fell pregnant with their first child.

In total, Lyette has spent a tremendous 10 years of her life being pregnant. “David and I were blessed to be able to have children and we, truly believe that raising children is an incredible opportunity to do something amazing in the world,” she said, as per SWNS.

Lyette conceded that she and her husband have chosen to live life a little differently than most, but for the Rebacks, it works. “I wake up each morning and think, ‘I can’t believe I get to do this,’” Lyette said. “Raising children is the best job in the world.”

The mom of 16, who has no home help, starts each and every day at the crack of dawn with a prayer and an all-encompassing to-do list. Throughout the day, Lyette homeschools all of her children, making sure her kids devote plenty of time to Bible study besides the usual math, science, languages, history, and art classes.

The Reback kids, said Lyette, are incredibly sporty and competitive. In total, they attend 88 sports practices every week. According to Inside Edition, dad David is their coach.

Despite their number, the Reback kids don’t have to catch the bus; Lyette drives her children herself in the family’s 17-seater Dodge Sprinter. “It’s a full-force family effort,” Lyette told CBS12. “It’s never just me doing everything.”

While Lyette has the daily schedule under control, the family’s grocery bills are astronomical. The Rebacks get through US$650 worth of groceries every single week.

“Usually it takes about 35 eggs to make scrambled eggs in the morning,” one of Lyette’s eldest daughters confided to Inside Edition. But while mealtimes are hard work, all household chores are divided between the children who complete their chores between classes.

Lyette described her typical speed of working as 100 miles per hour. “It’s kind of bananas,” she said, as per SWNS. “With chores, sometimes I’m just like, ‘Oh my gosh, I would pay someone to do this right now.’”

“But at the end of the day,” she reflected, “is the goal to have a tidy house or responsible children? I just really want them to have a solid work ethic.”

Lyette starts each day at 5:30 a.m., teaches 16 children at home and organizes their transport, food, and chore rota but still finds time to work out and honor dinner dates with friends thanks to running a tight ship.

Lyette also runs a family, lifestyle, and parenting blog. In addition, she has penned a parenting memoir and manages Believe With Me, a charity that supports military families with donations and vital gifts after losing a loved one in service.

The exceptionally busy mom admitted that when she was younger she may have baulked at her current lifestyle. “If I had known then that by the time I was 40 I would have 16 kids,” Lyette opened up, “I would have thought it was crazy.”

“If the number of children we have comes up in conversation or people see us out and they don’t know our family,” she continued, “they are like, ‘Holy mackerel.’ People would joke or say things like, ‘Don’t you have a TV in your bedroom?’ Obviously, these remarks were either out of incredulity or they proposed my ignorance, but I am not stupid.”

As the Reback children grow, Lyette describes their situation as “less of a freak show” with every passing day.

According to Statista, in 2018 there was an average of 1.9 children under the age of 18 per family in the United States.

“I don’t know if we will have any more [children],” Lyette mused. “We never put a number on it; we just take it one day at a time.”

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