Raising a big family can be a challenging task for any parent, but Chloe, who is a mother of eight children including twins and triplets, has provided an insight into her nightly routine in their busy household. While many parents may find it challenging to prepare two or three children for bed every night, Chloe has to manage the bedtime rituals of eight kids, with each one wanting their own bedtime stories and cuddles.
Chloe Dunstan, aged 27, along with her husband Rohan from Perth, became parents to three children by the time Chloe turned 22, which included Evan (8), Otto (7), and Felix (6), followed by triplets Rufus, Hank, and Pearl, who are nearly 5 years old. Recently, Chloe gave birth to two more babies, and all of her children were born naturally. Interestingly, two of her kids were initially confused and thought their mother had a “food baby” in her belly. Chloe shared her excitement on social media, announcing the arrival of her new babies and mentioning how thrilled she and her family are to welcome the twins. She believes that the twins will be a perfect addition to their family, and her other children cannot wait to have more siblings to join their big family.
As Chloe’s family continues to grow, their lives become busier with each passing day. A typical day for them starts with Chloe waking up and making sure her children are getting ready for the day. She then assists them with their school work before settling down to work on her own online toy business from home. Both Chloe and her husband Rohan homeschool all six of their children, which can be a challenging task. However, they make sure their kids get to spend time doing the things they love, like drawing, art projects, science projects, and playing outside. Despite their busy schedule, they manage to balance their work and family life well, which allows them to maximize their family time, something that’s really important to them.
As the day progresses, Chloe continues with her routine, preparing dinner for her family at around 4:30pm. While she cooks, her children help each other tidy up the play areas, including the LEGO room, playroom, and drawing table. During this time, the babies take a nap in their rockers, and the older children pitch in with the tidying up. For dinner, Chloe prepares pasta using San Remo pasta, eggplant, zucchini, baby spinach, diced tomato, onion, pasta sauce, and texturized vegetable protein (TVP) as a meat replacement. She prefers quick and easy meal solutions that are simple to make but also nutritious for her large family. By 6pm, the children gather around the table to enjoy their dinner together.
At 8pm, Chloe starts tucking her children into their beds and bids them goodnight before winding down for an hour with her husband, watching television. In a photo, the children are seen wearing their comfortable pyjamas, ready for a good night’s sleep.
After finishing dinner, Chloe and her kids have a nightly routine which involves taking turns having baths, putting on their pyjamas, and brushing their teeth. Meanwhile, Chloe bathes and feeds the newborn twins. The children enjoy watching their younger siblings during bath time and they also spend some time brushing their hair and teeth before bedtime. As part of their night-time routine, Chloe reads a bedtime story from her collection of over 1,000 books, which are arranged on a shelf by color. Currently, the children’s favorite book is The Gingerbread Man. Finally, Chloe tucks her kids into bed by 8pm and spends some time relaxing with her husband while watching television. Although the night-time routine was more challenging when the triplets were younger, Chloe has found a system that works for her family and believes that this is what matters most for parents with big families.
What are your thoughts on this mother’s ability to manage her large family?