A mother of 20 children has opened up about the realities of managing such a large household, from spending $10,000 annually on Christmas presents to dedicating hours each day to meal preparation.
Desiree and Christopher Hart-Spegal, residents of Spokane, Washington, crossed paths in October 2013. At the time, Desiree was already a mother of three, and Christopher was raising eight children from previous relationships.
After their wedding in July 2014, the couple merged their families and welcomed nine more children into their lives, resulting in a family size of 22.
The couple recently shared insights into the challenges and joys of parenting such a large family during an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail.
Desiree, now 37, revealed that having such a large family was never part of her original plan. However, she decided against using contraception after marrying Christopher.
“We intended to stop expanding the family after our marriage when we had 11 children between us,” she explained. “But I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was meant to be here, and I was stopping them. So, I chose to have faith and embrace the unknown.”
Together, the couple now share Gavin, 24, Skyler, 23, Braden, 21, Maliki, 20, Makaila, 19, Kaden, 18, Sarayia and Jayden, both 15, Donny, Chevelle and Andrew, all 12, Christa, ten, Izabella, nine, Chris Jr., eight, Lily, seven, Heavenly, six, Ellie, five, Briella, three, Ezekiel, two, and Zavior, seven months.
The mom-of-20 admitted that one of the hardest parts of having so many kids is managing meals.
A mom of 20 has revealed what it’s really like to raise so many kids… from spending $10,000 on Christmas gifts a year to needing hours just to cook meals
Desiree and Christopher Hart-Spegal, from Spokane, Washington, met in October 2013, when she already had three children from a previous relationship and he had eight
Cooking can take hours and usually involves immense planning and a lot of cleaning afterwards.
She explained that she usually takes one to three hours making breakfast in the morning.
After that’s done, she gets their lunch ready, and she then has to spend hours cleaning up.
‘Holy… yes,’ she joked when asked if preparing each meal felt like a ‘huge task.’
‘I would say the pros to cooking for a huge family is probably cost, I get to buy stuff in bulk which usually drops the prices.
‘I usually end up making restaurant-style menus [so my kids know what they’ll be eating for the week.
‘The con is that you are needing to do this every single day three times a day plus snack.
‘And this means dishes and clean up. So the kitchen is pretty much one of my other rooms [I’m in there so much].’
After tying the knot in 2014 and blending their families, the couple went on to welcome nine more kids together – making them a family-of-22 now. They’re seen with most of their kids
The mom-of-20 (seen with her husband and some of their kids) admitted to the Daily Mail that one of the hardest parts of having so many kids is managing meals
Cooking can take hours and usually involves immense planning and a lot of cleaning afterwards. Pictured are Indian tacos that she cooked for her kids
In past interview, the couple said they fork over around $26,000 a year alone on food for the kids, which averages to around $500 a week.
As for Christmas gifts, Desiree told the Daily Mail that they have to spend thousands.
‘We have spent nearly $10,000 before on Christmas. This year we are actually keeping it a goal to be under $5,000,’ she shared.
The family lives in a 3,200-square-foot come that has five bedrooms and three bathrooms; they transformed their basement into a ‘boys corridor’ where all of their sons reside.
Desiree admitted that ‘keeping order’ in their home is not easy, and explained that each kid has ‘age-appropriate chores’ to do each night.
But still, she confessed that she spends most of her free time cleaning the house, if she’s not in the kitchen cooking.
‘I usually clean my house after they go to school and then of course before they go to bed and sometimes even in the morning before they wake up,’ said Desiree.
Desiree has to do two loads of laundry every day, and on Saturdays, she does 10.
As for Christmas gifts, Desiree told the Daily Mail that they have to spend thousands
Desiree has to do two loads of laundry every day, and on Saturdays, she does 10
Desiree admitted that ‘keeping order’ in their home is not easy, and explained that each kid has ‘age-appropriate chores’ to do each night
They own a 15-passenger van that they use when they go out as a family, but going anywhere with their brood is stressful, to say the less.
‘I name count all throughout any event to keep track and have each younger kid take an older kids hand at times,’ explained the mom-of-20.
‘I usually caboose it so I can watch for any stragglers and dad leads the way.’
Despite the constant ‘chaos’ in their home, Desiree vowed that each of her kids gets alone time with their parents, which she described as ‘highly valuable and treasured.’
‘We especially make time on birthdays as we love to celebrate our children. We have private conversations [with each kid],’ she explained.
‘Another thing we like to do is take one of the kids with us when we run little errands and they all take turns so they get someone on one time.’
After welcoming their 20th child, Zavior, in May, Desiree said they decided they don’t want any more kids and ‘finally made an appointment for a vasectomy.’
The procedure isn’t until next April, however, and Desiree joked that since they don’t use contraceptive anything can happen between now and then.
They own a 15-passenger van that they use when they go out as a family, but going anywhere with their brood is stressful, to say the less
Despite the constant ‘chaos’ in their home, Desiree vowed that each of her kids gets alone time with their parents, which she described as ‘highly valuable and treasured’
‘I think we should be fine as my body has been slowing down as I’m getting older,’ she added.
The couple loves to document their endeavors as a family-of-22 on Instagram, but unfortunately, they have faced immense scrutiny online over their big brood.
‘People literally say we are overpopulating the earth, we’re being selfish,’ Desiree shared.
‘We’ve had people call CPS stating there’s too many to be taken care of. There’s some pretty vulgar comments they’ve made too… some are kind of funny if you ask me.’
In response to her haters, Desiree quipped: ‘To be honest, I don’t really judge them. I just feel like they have no comprehension or understanding from my point of view.’
