00:00I have eight children in total and three sets of twins. I did not have eight kids
00:04just to get taxpayers money. Have you ever heard of birth control? We're paying for
00:09those children with our tax dollars. You read things like that it's like wow you
00:13absolutely do not know what people go through. The day that I went in to give
00:17birth to my last set of twins my husband was turning himself into prison. It's been
00:22rough. A lot of sleepless nights. I'm kind of like drowning in it all. Trying to stay afloat.
00:29My brother Chase has very strong views far as I shouldn't have to be doing it on
00:33my own. So we gonna keep it real with you. What can he do from there? Are you mad at him?
00:39So this morning we're gonna do pancakes and eggs and sausage and bacon. It's a
00:44big family to feed. My name is Lita. I have eight beautiful children which includes
00:49three sets of twins and I am currently raising them all by myself. The baby's
00:54breakfast bottles ready. Want to take that back into the room? Thank you ma'am. Make
00:58sure you're holding his head Kenyan. I have Cameron who's 18. I have Kenyan inside my
01:03first set of twin boys. They are 12. I have my second set of twins which is
01:08Antonia and Anzaria. They are nine. I have Angel who's eight. And I have my brand new
01:14twins Aurora and Antron who are two months. So with it being a lot of a lot of y'all
01:20usually paper plates right so we don't have to do a lot of dishes. You playing games this
01:25early in the morning ma'am? Sorry. No I don't like that. How would you describe your
01:30parenting style? I would say that I'm pretty laid back. My dad always says you're
01:35more of a friend to your kids than a mom but I think in this day and age you kind of
01:39have to be both. A lot of communication is important when you have a big family.
01:44I have an open-door policy with my kids. They know that they can come talk to me
01:48about anything. There's nothing off limits. We listen and we don't what? That's right.
01:56And how would you describe family life in your household? Family life is busy.
02:00Try to keep everything organized. Try to teach them how to be organized. When it
02:04comes to cleaning we got a lot of hands don't we? Raising so many kids, does that
02:09get expenses? Oh yes. You got clothes, shoes, trying to keep up with the household,
02:14toilet paper, laundry detergent, dish part liquid, soap, toothpaste, you know. It all
02:19adds up. How much do you think you spend on groceries per month? Average monthly a
02:24little over $2,000. A lot of mouths to feed. A lot of mouths to feed. Do you ever feel like you ain't
02:29getting enough? Like one of your siblings gets the bacon or something like that? Well, I don't
02:34really think it's not fair because we still have food to eat. What about you? You feel like that sometimes?
02:41Never. Never. You want some good kids. Did you always plan to have lots of children?
02:46I think I've said since I was a little girl that I wanted a lot of children. Maybe like 10. I ended
02:53up with eight. I have one baby daddy. I have three children which is my first three sons with him.
03:00And I have a husband which my last five children will bring back. This is my three girls Antonia and
03:08Zaria and Angel's room. We do bunk beds just to keep them all comfy. We open up some blinds and let
03:16some sunlight in here, okay? Okay. And then a quick to the right. We got the three boys' room.
03:24What y'all got going on up in here? Get this bed tidied up. You got pillowcases on them pillows?
03:29Yeah. You know how I feel about them pillows and them pillowcases. Get those together, okay?
03:34This is me in the baby's room. You have a husband but you're parenting your children alone. Why is that?
03:41Well, my husband is currently incarcerated. He was given three years with 25% to do so roughly about
03:47nine months. The day that I went in to give birth to my last set of twins, my husband was turning himself
03:53into prison. What was supposed to end up being an hour and a half surgery turned into a seven-hour
03:58surgery. It was a very emotional day. Raising my newborn since my husband's been away has been rough.
04:04A lot of sleepless nights, a lot of prep bottles, changing diapers, holding two babies at one time.
04:10My older kids try to pitch in as much as they can. As far as like responsibility, I try to even it out
04:17for all of my kids. But of course Cameron carries a little bit more weight because he's the oldest.
04:21It's not a requirement that they help me. It's just something that they love to do just because
04:25they love their younger siblings, which is a blessing. When and why did you decide to share
04:30your story with the world? I often say that I have a heck of a story when it comes to my children.
04:36When the news originally interviewed me, I did not even think that the world would have anything
04:42negative to say. As far as like the negative comments that I received on the news clip, I was definitely
04:50caught on guard. I wouldn't say surprised because of course the internet is the internet, but
04:54definitely was a whirlwind of more negative than I expected. I've seen a lot of people like,
04:59have you ever heard of birth control? Your body is a body, not a clown car. I almost died this last
05:04pregnancy. I ended up having to have seven blood transfusions. So when you read things like that,
05:08it's like, wow, you absolutely do not know what people go through. A lot of government assistance
05:13comments. We're paying for those children with our tax dollars, but I don't really let it bother me
05:19because I know I'm a worker. I've been working since I was 15. Your tax dollars are not covering
05:23my children. I'm not going to allow people who sit on the internet behind a screen to ruin my spirit.
05:30At the end of the day, I'm still going to love my kids. I'm still going to love the decisions that
05:34I've made and I'm going to keep going forward with it. Hey, good. How you doing? Yeah, I know. We're ready for
05:40you to come home too. You want to talk to the girls? Okay, hold on real quick. I got it. Here.
05:46My brother Chase is coming over today. What up? What y'all doing? She got it. The girl's on the phone
05:53with their daddy right now. What does Chase think about the fact that your husband's incarcerated?
05:59Chase has a lot to say about my husband being incarcerated. As an older brother, he expects for
06:04my husband to make better decisions. What you been there to? Not too much of nothing. I'm tired today.
06:11I didn't get too much sleep last night because the baby's tearing me up. What's his plans and go?
06:15You want to get out? I don't know. You got to get it together. It's quick. The kids getting older.
06:20What can he do from there? I'm kind of like drowning in it all. Trying to stay afloat. Do you think
06:28Chase worries about you? Oh, for sure. He worries about me as far as I shouldn't have to be doing it on my own.
06:34Whenever I called you and told you I needed you to watch the kids for me to go to the hospital that
06:41day and they kept me and I was there till I gave birth, like, that was a lot I know probably on you.
06:48I appreciate it. You know, good. It's whatever. You got to do whatever. Go for the kids, but
06:57it's tough. Are you mad at him? I'm mad at who? Him for having to turn himself in the same day.
07:02He's been mad. Mad ain't the word. That's his life. He got a baby. You know, what can I do?
07:10Don't keep it real with you. You're always going to be overprotective.
07:15Let's want the best for you. Just want you to be strong. You know, just be ready to go through the
07:22battles. I definitely appreciate you always being there for me. We're close-knit, so everybody got to
07:28stick it out 47. For sure. What's been the most challenging thing about raising
07:33eight kids and young? Making sure I allow them to have a childhood is the most important thing and
07:38the most challenging thing. You want to keep your kids happy. You don't want to put pressures on your
07:43children that they don't need at a certain age. Being a good parent definitely consists of you
07:48listening to your children, being open-minded, and just embracing them where they are in life.
07:54Do you think Lita's a good mom? No, I think Lita is an excellent mom. Hard working, staying busy.
08:00The mothers, the role models, always there for kids. So, you know, not just saying that because I'm a big brother.
08:06What do you hope the future holds for your family? I pray for success, so however that may come.
08:13Anything that makes them happy, anything that they want to pursue with their life or their careers,
08:18as long as it's positive and they're viable citizens to society, that's all that matters to me.
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