A SUPERMUM with 12 kids has revealed that she only gets five hours of sleep each night – but she still doesn’t get enough family time.
Zoe Sullivan, 46, husband Ben, 49, and their dozen children make up one of the country’s biggest families.
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The couple are parents to Elisabeth, 19, Olivia, 17, Noah, 14, Evangeline, 12, Tobias, 11, Agnes, seven, Joseph, six, Florence, two, and two sets of twins – Charlotte and Isabelle, 16, and Leah and Erin, eight.
The bumper brood live in a six-bedroom house in Burghead, Moray, where they regularly document their hectic lives on their YouTube channel.
And between school runs, filming social media content and keeping on top of household chores, Zoe’s days are long.
In a YouTube clip, she said: “We probably go to bed about midnight normally and we’re up at 5am, or somewhere between quarter past and half past.
“We get up so early so that we’ve got enough time in the morning to do all the things that need doing, I like to get everything done.
“I like to get the washing on, we get the kitchen cleaned, we get the lunches ready, getting the school bags ready, drinks, all those sorts of things.
“But it’s that time when we also get to chat about what we need to do that day [and] what we need to film that day.”
Despite getting very little sleep, the devoted mum says she lives for “family time”.
And she’s even considering ditching homework or homeschooling her brood so they have more quality time to spend together at home.
She said: “We don’t agree with primary school homework.
“Now hear me out, I don’t mean a bit of reading or the odd project or worksheet, I mean sitting for hours completing sheets and sheets of academic work!
“Kids are at school five days a week, six hours a day. Out of school time should be for other activities and family time which in itself leads to many more learning opportunities.
“Of course, we do our best to complete what they get given but all
I know is that I want to spend the little time we have with the children outside of school time, doing things with them, not fighting over homework!! “
She added: “Family time is so important for learning and development so why is it pushed to the bottom of the list by the powers that be?
“Honestly, I just don’t see how they need to do even more academic work at the weekend.
“Even though their new school is better, I’m still so torn with whether to homeschool them all.”
It turns out Zoe’s not alone either, with many parents taking to the comments to share their own thoughts.
One mum said: “You are exactly right Zoe. Children need to be with their families and doing their hobbies and play activities . Not doing hardcore curriculum learning after school.
“Childhood is precious and fleeting . It shouldn’t be filled with extra stress and pressure for them or their parents. There is enough of that in daily life anyway.”
A second echoed: “Totally agree! I have seven children, the small ones go to bed early. I don’t want that few hours I get in the evening spent doing homework! They are tired and need downtime too!”
A third chimed in: “We never do the homework, who has time for that when there are adventures to be had?! Children need time to be children!”
Another parent wrote: “I once complained to a teacher that I was doing her job, for her, at home. It never happened again.”
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A fifth fumed: “Children spend so much time at school! They can learn so much more from spending time with family and joining in with a home life routine.”
Meanwhile, a sixth said: “I don’t agree with homework full stop. They need some time to be with family and friends and time to recharge and be kids. Seriously considering homeschooling too.”
