For many parents, one of the hardest parts of the day is bedtime. Getting kids ready for bed is a whole multi-step process. Many times, when you have more than one child, it can be a mission to get everyone ready, fed, showered/bathed, changed, and ready to sleep.
Now, imagine if you had eight children to get ready for bed.
Twenty seven-year-old Chloe Dunstan is a mom of eight. When she was 22, she already had three children. Then, shortly after, she welcomed triplets. Following this, twins!
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Having eight kids makes for a pretty strict schedule.
Chloe shared that making sure all of the kids are ready to go to school, leave the house, have their meals, and go to bed can take a ton of time and preparation.
Bedtime is a routine in her household that takes quite a bit of time.
In a video shared on her YouTube channel, Life with Beans, Chloe shares that she starts “bedtime” routines all the way at 4:30 in the afternoon.
It’s all about strategy.
The mom said that while she preps dinner, her youngest twins nap while her other children get time to tidy up and clean.
After cleaning, they can still play around.
The kids often play around with each other, even stopping for a random dance party from time to time.
Usually, she has dinner ready by 6:00.
The mom said that the kids usually have pasta and veggies for dinner. She says that she and her husband don’t “usually eat with them” if it’s a busy day. Sometimes, they don’t eat until after the kids go to sleep.
After all of the kids are done eating, the bedtime routine starts up.
All the kids need baths to clean up for bed before they begin changing into their pajamas. Sometimes, they have eight sets of matching PJs!
Chloe and her husband bathe all of the kids.
While the older ones bathe in the tub, the youngest get the good old-fashioned sink bath.
Of course, the older kids just love their baby siblings.
When they’re all in their PJs and bathed, they have a ton of time to play and cuddle each other before they go to bed.
The kids all brush their teeth together, too.
The last step before story time is getting those teeth nice and clean. Now it’s time for everyone to wind down.
Right before they go to bed, Chloe reads the kids a book.
Chloe says they have a book collection that is color-coordinated, and their shelf holds over 1,000 books right now.
After storytime, the kids are all tucked in and ready for bed.
While it seems like a lot, Chloe says it’s actually easier than it used to be.
“It’s definitely gotten easier over the years with the night-time routine as all bar the twins can now dress themselves.
“With the triplets there for a bit when they were young, it was a lot of work. But I think with big families you have to do whatever works for you,” she said.
Chloe says goodnight to all her kids.
Chloe goes from room to room to make sure all eight of her kids are tucked into bed and get a “goodnight” from Mom and Dad.
While it seems like a ton of work, it also seems like a ton of fun!
Raising eight kids does seem like a lot of work, but from the looks of it, Chloe and her husband have tons of fun with their bunch and the kids are happy and smiling, too.
h/t news.com.au
