CHRISTMAS has probably left most families a little short thanks to present buying and forking out for fancy seasonal food.
So spare a thought for Zoe and Ben Sullivan who have a family-of-14 to cater for over the festive period.
4The Sullivan family is headed up by mum Zoe and dad Ben
4The family of 14 all live under one roofCredit: Zoe Sullivan
The Sullivans are one of Scotland’s biggest families, with Zoe, 44, and Ben, 46, parents to twelve children, Elizabeth, 17, Olivia, 16, Noah, 13, Evangeline, 11, Tobias, 9, Agnes, 5, and Joseph, 4, two sets of twins, Charlotte and Isabelle, 14, and Leah and Erin, 6, and baby Flo 8 months.
And having so many kids means that Christmas is an expensive time for the Sullivans who spent almost £2,500 on presents for their brood.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, Zoe says: “I start saving for presents as soon as the kids go back to school in August and anything I put away goes towards Christmas.
“Each of our kids is given a £200 budget to spend on what they like.
“We don’t give the children pocket money throughout the year so this is their chance to stock up on the things they want.”
With their brood equipped with heaps of extra swag, Zoe and Ben will be grappling for extra room, which isn’t easy in their four-bedroom house.
“We’re in military housing at the moment so we have two bedrooms with four girls in each, another with the three boys and the baby is still in with us,” Zoe says.
“But we are looking at moving as Ben has just finished his job in the military, but even in our new home I doubt our set-up will change.
“The kids have only ever known sharing, we spoke about if we got a bigger place whether anyone would want their own room and they all agreed that they’d want to carry on sharing.
“They said they’d feel lonely.”
With Ben working full time as an engineer, stay-at-home mum Zoe, has a strict schedule to make sure everything runs smoothly.
“I’m up at half 4 in the morning every morning,” Zoe says.
“I start my day making breakfast for the kids as well as their packed lunches before school.
I’m up at half 4 in the morning every morning
Zoe Sullivan
“Much of the remainder of the day is taken up by laundry – I do at least four loads a day which sounds like a lot but it’s totally necessary.
“When I was out last weekend I only managed to do two loads of washing a day and I am still trying to catch up now!”
But Zoe isn’t totally alone in her battle to keep the house in order.
“My older kids are brilliant and help out loads,” Zoe explains.
“It’s all part of growing up. People fall into the trap of not having their kids do any chores and then they have no life skills because they can’t cook or clean.
“In the 40s and 50s kids had to do stuff and along the line we’ve gone the other way, at the end of the day everybody lives here.
“A lot of it falls to me. I could make them do more if I wanted to but I’m a bit of a control freak.”
FABULOUS BINGO: Get a £20 bonus & 30 free spins when you spend £10 today
While her kids are a huge help, Zoe says that she doesn’t expect them to parent.
“It’s a huge misconception when it comes to larger families, yes my kids help me out but they don’t parent,” the mum says.
“People always ask how we can possibly give enough attention to each child but I would say they probably get more attention than the average child.
“I’m lucky enough that I can be at home all day every day. Our eldest two are 16 and 17 and if we only had them I would have gone back to work a long time ago.
“They would have had to have gone into daycare or after school clubs but I’m always here before they go to school when they get in from school.”
Despite clearly having a very happy family, Zoe says that, like many larger families, the Sullivans are often targets for cruel trolls.
We get comments from trolls all of the time
Zoe Sullivan
“We get comments from trolls all of the time,” she says, “Even before we did social media we would get those comments.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion but sometimes they slip out when they shouldn’t.
“I tend to avoid reading anywhere I can, even though I know it’s not a reflection of who we are but they can get to you.
“And I tell my kids the same, sometimes they’ll see them but they know from us they don’t need to pay them any mind.”
But despite trolls being quick to critique her larger family, Zoe insists she hardly notices that they’re any different.
“To us our family never feels that big,” she says.
“Sometimes I do look at photos and I realise that there are quite a few of us but we’re used to it.
“It’s just our life. Even when we add another child it doesn’t have a huge impact because they slot in.”
And is she planning to have another child?
“Never say never,” she says.
“I would be more than happy with what we have, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t add any more.”
4Zoe gave an insight into her hectic family lifeCredit: Zoe Sullivan
4The big family all squeeze in to one medium sized home
