A mom-of-11 who certainly has her hands full in her busy household has shared her hectic daily routine.
Vicky Jamieson, 39, spends up to five hours a day in the kitchen, cooking meals, washing, cleaning, and ironing.
The charity shop volunteer from Speke, Liverpool, United Kingdom, finds herself ironing 21 different pieces of uniform each morning and making three different meals at dinnertime for her brood of fussy eaters.
“It’s definitely a full-time job catering to such a large family, but it’s always been my dream to be a mom,” said Vicky, a stay-at-home-mom. “We have a five-bed house where seven of the kids live with us full time, and Craig’s two come and stay at the weekends.”
“Our days start pretty early, and the kitchen is one of the most hectic places to be,” she added.
However, Vicky and her partner, Craig Williams, 37, make sure to stock up on all of the essentials to cater for their blended family, who go through 84 pints of milk and 10 loaves of bread per week.
Vicky is a proud mom to Tom, 22; Ellie, 21; Libby, 16; Lexie, 15; Mikey, 13; Craig, 13; Riley, 8; Annie, 6; twins Matilda and Teddy, 4; James, 13 weeks; and Emma and Lottie, who sadly died.
Sharing more details of her household, Vicky said they have only two bathrooms, thus getting all of the kids washed and dressed can be difficult, especially with the “bathroom hogs,” she stressed.
While two of Vicky’s kids are in high school and they get hot lunches, the primary school children have packed lunches that are super quick and easy to put together. The twins, on the other hand, are at nursery part time, so they come home for lunch, and usually tend to have some quick sandwiches.
“Craig and I are in the kitchen from around 3.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. for dinner each day as we usually have to cook three entirely different meals, as a few of the kids are pretty picky eaters,“ Vicky said. “We cook everything from chicken nuggets and chips to pasta bakes, spaghetti Bolognese, and curries.”
With a busy schedule during the week, Vicky says that Sundays for the family are quite relaxing when it comes to mealtime.
“Everyone loves a Sunday dinner, so I try and make a roast at least twice a week,” Vicky said.
Apart from spending a lot of time each day in the kitchen, the busy mom said that she also has to iron kids’ uniforms, and put on the first of several loads of washing.
“Most of the kids will wear their clothes for one day and then just put in the basket, so it’s something we are trying to cut down on, as it’s just nonstop cycles up until 9 p.m. each night,” she said.
As for cleaning, Vicky gets as much done in the morning as she can before the twins return back home.
“Teddy is like a tornado creating messes in my wake,” Vicky said. “Although Teddy does really enjoy cleaning sometimes and even has a little rag and spray bottle that he walks around the house with.”
All of Vicky’s kids are tasked with tidying up their own bedrooms, and also do occasionally lend a hand at mealtimes.
With such a big family, days out can be expensive, so Vicky and Craig make sure to be as frugal as possible, exploring parks and having picnics.
“The young ones love going on walks and on days out,” she said. “Craig takes them all on muddy walks by the sea, and they just love getting messy and splashing around in puddles with their wellies.”
During the summer, the family makes sure to pack a big picnic as they have a lot of local parks around.
Vicky also dreams of having a big farmhouse where all of the wellies are lined up at the back door. However, for now, she thinks it’s great for the kids to enjoy other ways of nature.
After catering to the needs of their kids 24/7, Craig and Vicky very rarely get any personal time, so they have had to be inventive with ways to get away every now and again.
“I volunteer at a charity shop, and it’s so nice to just be me and be called Vicky, rather than being shouted at with ‘mom’ or ‘mommy,'” she said. “It’s nice to have a change of scenery every now and again.”
The couple also rarely have date nights but still manage to get out for birthdays and anniversaries.
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