- 3 days ago
00:00 - Introduction
01:42 - The Couzen's Dozen
09:32 - Christopher & Desiree's 18 Kids
17:00 - Mitch & Chela's 10 Kids
24:33 - Veronica & Her 11 Colour-Coded Kids
30:06 - Yalancia & Michael's 9 Kids
34:46 - The Storm Family
42:19 - Christopher & Desiree Revisited
01:42 - The Couzen's Dozen
09:32 - Christopher & Desiree's 18 Kids
17:00 - Mitch & Chela's 10 Kids
24:33 - Veronica & Her 11 Colour-Coded Kids
30:06 - Yalancia & Michael's 9 Kids
34:46 - The Storm Family
42:19 - Christopher & Desiree Revisited
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00I have 10 children and I became a grandma at 36 years old.
00:03My daughter is younger than her nephew.
00:05She was born an aunt.
00:07This is my normal.
00:07All I know is chaos and shenanigans.
00:09Would you like to have any more kids?
00:11We have 18 children.
00:13I don't know when we've ever had the house along to ourselves.
00:16When I go shopping, I spend between $250 to $500 every shopping trip.
00:22People are upset that we're having more children and overpopulating the world.
00:28I have 11 children, so I color code my kids.
00:32I mean, their clothes, their toys, their bedsheets, everything.
00:36I receive a lot of negative comments.
00:38They'll say things like, you know, all the same, dad.
00:41My sister doesn't think I should have any more kids.
00:43How would you feel if she had more children?
00:45I think it would drive me crazy.
00:47We have 12 children and we're the number one dance family in the world.
00:51The negative comments bother me a lot.
00:53Are they all yours?
00:56Is it the same mother and father?
00:58Is it a daycare?
00:59Is it a class?
01:01People think our family is a cult.
01:03We're parents with 10 children.
01:05Do you like color coordinating with your family?
01:07We would like to have more children.
01:09Okay, look, I thought I'd give you some good news.
01:15Oh my gosh.
01:16I have eight beautiful boys expecting another.
01:19They're never alone.
01:20They're always together.
01:21And I think that's one thing that they all enjoy.
01:24They love it.
01:25So when we bring up having more children, they're always excited and happy.
01:28Today, we're going to do a gender reveal.
01:31We're trying to go for a girl.
01:34So we're finna figure out what baby number nine is.
01:38You guys ready?
01:39Yeah.
01:40Go.
01:43We're doing French toast.
01:44Someone did want pancakes.
01:46So if I feel like this at the end, I might make four or five pancakes as well.
01:50Don't want to, but I will.
01:52Usually I try to cook at least three times a week.
01:57Breakfast is usually more like a weekend thing.
01:59And does everybody get the same food or would you cook meals for your individual children's takes?
02:04That depends.
02:06For breakfast, everybody's usually good with eggs, pancakes, grits, bacon, the typical breakfast.
02:13Dinner is when things get, things get a little interesting because not a lot of
02:17dinner things come in big enough sizes for everybody.
02:21My name is Ashley Cousins and I'm 38 years old.
02:24I'm Jerry Cousins Jr. and I'm 40.
02:26The Cousins dozen, yes, because there's two of us.
02:28I'm 10 of them.
02:29So that's 12 and we are a dozen.
02:31We have 10 kids total.
02:33I think they all were surprises along the way.
02:35I personally thought I was going to be the next Britney Spears or in the WNBA.
02:38So I'm not sure what happened here.
02:40We have six girls total.
02:42Alexis, she's 21.
02:44Ashlyn is 19.
02:45Ava is 15.
02:47Adeya is almost 11.
02:49Isla is 9.
02:51And our baby Amora is 1.
02:52We also have four boys.
02:55The oldest being Jerry Cousins III, we call him Trey.
02:59And we have Jersey, Jet, and what's that little boy's name?
03:04His name's Drew.
03:05Drew, the little guy, little guy.
03:06Drew, yeah.
03:08We spent a ton of money on just eating out alone.
03:10And I feel like for me, that's the best way to go.
03:13I've seen my eating out bill be $1,300, $1,400 per month.
03:19Groceries, probably about the same.
03:22It should just stop.
03:23We got to figure out what's going on with that.
03:24Uh, okay.
03:25All right?
03:26Yep, I got you.
03:27You get that taken care of, okay?
03:28Got you.
03:30You want some eggies?
03:31You want fruit, strawberries, bacon, grits?
03:35All right, great.
03:36You guys can get it how you get it.
03:39Do you have any responsibilities as a second oldest?
03:41What?
03:42Do I have a lot of responsibilities as a second oldest?
03:46See, look.
03:46See, she, yeah.
03:48Yes, I do.
03:48I have a lot of responsibilities.
03:51What are they?
03:51What do you say?
03:53Everything.
03:53Everything.
03:56We're very close as a family.
03:57They all support each other from the oldest to the youngest.
04:00Whenever anyone has an activity outside or inside, they're their number one fans.
04:05How would you describe your parenting style?
04:08I'm the hammer.
04:09Yeah, he's way more strict.
04:11I'm the law.
04:11Our parenting style, he's way more strict than I am.
04:13Let's bring it in, y'all.
04:15Can I give you a kiss?
04:16I don't know.
04:17Okay.
04:17I'm kind of like, okay, if they want a popsicle at 8 a.m.,
04:20for the love of God, give them a popsicle at 8 a.m.
04:23Bless you.
04:24Hey, could you tell us how you broke up, then you got back together?
04:27In 2016, we separated for a few years, and as time went by, we just kind of started
04:33re-acting like we were together.
04:35So, yeah, we had two more kids very quickly after that,
04:39and then we actually just recently got married two months ago in June.
04:43How did you feel when Alexis told you she was pregnant?
04:45When I found out that my oldest was pregnant, there was a split second there that I was
04:50taken back, like, oh my gosh, why would she do this to me?
04:53But that quickly went away, and we jumped in as mama bear and papa bear to help her
04:59be the best mom that she could be.
05:00How old were you when you became grandparents?
05:03When we became grandparents, I was 36.
05:05Don't say this too loud.
05:06I was 38.
05:07Yeah, it's crazy.
05:10So this is Cash's clothes.
05:12He has two huge buckets of clothes.
05:16I like to do yellow.
05:17I think we're doing yellow today to match with these cute shoes.
05:21So Cash is my two-year-old son.
05:24That's my wuggie.
05:25That's my everything.
05:27Yeah, it's like my happiness in a bundle.
05:30He's a good boy.
05:30Like, he's very sweet.
05:33I got pregnant with Cash when I was 18, but I ended up actually having him when I was 19.
05:37And how did you feel telling your parents that you were pregnant?
05:40Parents aren't like, they're more on the chill side, I guess you'd say.
05:43Like, obviously growing up, I had what I think was strict parents.
05:46But by the time I was 18 out the house, it wasn't like super scary to tell them.
05:51Yeah, I think my mom, like being a teen mom too, she definitely had
05:54some sort of understanding with me.
05:58Did you experience any judgment around that time, kind of becoming a mom at 19?
06:03I feel like the only judgment would probably be on social media.
06:06And I'm not going to say I condone, you know, having kids young.
06:09Honestly, I would say it's not easy.
06:11Like, I'm not promoting that by any means.
06:14But I think we do a really good job at it.
06:16We've definitely received some judgment about our daughter having her son.
06:19Basically saying, oh, you're just repeating the cycle.
06:22You had her at 17, she was a teen mom, you know.
06:26What kind of example are you setting for her type thing?
06:29My daughter is younger than her nephew.
06:31She was born an aunt.
06:34I love being a young grandparent, man.
06:35I get to enjoy the little dude.
06:37I get to hang out and play with him and stuff.
06:38I really don't feel like a grandparent to him a lot of the times.
06:41He just is like just one of one of the other kids.
06:44He actually calls me mom.
06:46That's only because, you know, everyone else is calling me mom.
06:48He knows I'm not his mom.
06:49Stuff I like doing with my family is I like to draw with them,
06:53play basketball, of course, football, you know, and just anything really.
06:56Because, you know, when I'm just with them, it's like cool, I guess.
06:59But yeah, mostly outside though.
07:01I like going outside with them.
07:02Ready?
07:02One, two, three.
07:06How did you decide to start sharing your experiences on social media?
07:09It kind of became for me like a little competition thing,
07:12and I just started sharing.
07:13Once I put on there that I had eight kids, then nine kids, then 10 kids,
07:17that people were just like, whoa, and they just tune in for sure.
07:20People love it, man.
07:21It's entertaining for me to see how it's entertaining to people.
07:25So it's just everyday life to me.
07:26I feel like when we do share some personal things,
07:29the majority of it is great feedback.
07:31People are excited, they're happy for us, you know.
07:33But then there are a lot of people, some people,
07:35who are more negative and controversial, trolling, if you will.
07:40Some negativity I've received was that I've been accused of receiving
07:45a lot of money from the government because we have so many children,
07:47that I'm just having children to receive money from the government.
07:51Another negative feedback I received was that I'm like a hoochie mama.
07:56They would think I have a whole bunch of boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, baby daddies, etc.
08:00When I only have just one, not that I'm knocking other women, but I only have just one.
08:04Some things people have said to me, they said I'm like a dog, like a breeder.
08:08And also most recently, like a week ago, someone told me that having this many kids
08:13is like a form of child abuse.
08:14They said I'm contributing to overpopulation.
08:17And also like, stop opening your legs.
08:18Like, oh, she's going to be pregnant within a year.
08:21It's exhausting.
08:22Stop having kids.
08:24It's disgusting.
08:26The list goes on and on.
08:27But what I would tell people that have judged my family is they don't know what it's like,
08:31you know, to walk a day in my shoes.
08:33And this to me is normal.
08:34This is my normal.
08:35All I know is chaos and shenanigans.
08:37Yeah, I don't, the judgment doesn't bother me at all.
08:41What people have to say really don't matter.
08:42I'm happy to catch it down here and bring it up.
08:46I love playing sports with my family.
08:47We do it all the time.
08:48Every day we're out here.
08:49There you go.
08:49Ooh, he put that up there for real?
08:51If I had to describe my family in one word, I would probably all.
08:54I want to say extraordinary to be, you know, cliche.
08:58Definitely extraordinary.
09:00We're great.
09:00Like, I really think we're elite, if you will.
09:03We're just great.
09:06What I see in the future for my family is not hopes.
09:08I'm going to go ahead and speak it to existence, success,
09:12family, togetherness, a lot of smiles and good times.
09:17I agree.
09:17Would you like to have any more kids?
09:19I personally do not want any more kids.
09:21I think 10 is plenty enough.
09:24I want more kids.
09:25No, I'm kidding.
09:25I don't want any more kids.
09:26I don't want any more kids.
09:28No more kids.
09:29I love them all.
09:33I have, like, all five little girls.
09:36And then I have the middle girls.
09:37And then I have the boys.
09:39Then I go on to my teenagers.
09:41Malachi, Braden, Kaden, Makayla, and Mom, oops, and Dad.
09:48When I met my wife, I had eight children.
09:50And I had three.
09:51And together we've had seven.
09:53When I cook for the children,
09:55it usually takes me anywhere between one to three hours,
09:58depending on what I'm making for the day.
10:01I can usually kind of get everything ready.
10:04Like, I'm going to pull out the hamburger for dinner tonight after I pretty much get breakfast rolling.
10:08But I can do a lot of stuff at the same time.
10:11A typical day for us is pretty much go time.
10:19I'm like, okay, put the laundry in right now.
10:22And then I'm going to go start the breakfast.
10:23And then while I do that, I'm going to have them hop in the shower.
10:25And then I'm going to get the lunch ready right now.
10:28And then I'm going to clean up.
10:29So I kind of keep things in order.
10:31How did you both meet?
10:34My daughter had been in an accident.
10:36I was in a place where I could not communicate with her.
10:40Or I didn't have all the information.
10:42She knew all the information.
10:46I didn't know her at the time.
10:47It started over just telephone, us talking.
10:49And I started calling her every day.
10:51And then in July, I came back to Spokane.
10:55And we got married 20 a day later.
10:56We actually had conversations prior to getting married.
11:02And I kind of laid out some things of where I still wanted to have a big family.
11:07It wasn't intimidating.
11:09It seemed like my whole life, my whole childhood,
11:13I was preparing to be all their moms.
11:17How did you react when you found out that your two families were going to merge?
11:22I was excited at the time, but kind of nervous.
11:24I had two other brothers.
11:27It was just the three of us.
11:28And then having a ton of more people come in in my life was just like,
11:32a little weird, but it was fun.
11:34I actually met my stepmom before the wedding.
11:37So I knew her, but I didn't know her kids.
11:39And I actually didn't meet them until I believe a day before.
11:42So it's kind of a little bit like, whoa.
11:45When I first found out that we were going to have a blended family,
11:48it was kind of like a mixed feeling.
11:51We didn't know we were going to have this much sibling at this time.
11:53It was like, oh, it's not going to be that many.
11:55But then like after years, it's kind of like, wow.
11:59We ended up having to get two SUVs very quickly.
12:02Actually, we had a truck, a truck with six and a SUV.
12:07But then it's over the years, you know, it's been one by one added on.
12:11So the SUVs get bigger and bigger.
12:13Yeah.
12:13What are the difficulties of having such a big family?
12:17Keeping things clean and organized and everybody else on track.
12:22Those are like my biggest difficulties.
12:26Do people have any misconceptions about what it's like to have a big family?
12:29Negative comments.
12:31People are upset that we're having more children and overpopulating the world.
12:37And so that's kind of one where we're like, well, hold on a minute here.
12:40We're not raising people with entitlement issues.
12:44We're raising people who are going to put into society and into the world
12:48and be more of an asset, you know, than a liability.
12:51There's a huge misconception.
12:53I think that they believe it's chaos.
12:56I think when they see a big family like, oh, my God, that must be chaotic.
12:59Oh, that must be so much work.
13:01It is work, obviously, but I think any home comes with work.
13:05So it's a matter of what order you put that work in and how efficient that machine runs, right?
13:12When I go shopping, I usually buy like four to five gallons of milk at a time.
13:19So we're on our last bit.
13:22We just use all of our eggs, which go right here.
13:26And I think we use like a 24 pack.
13:28I spend like really between $250 to $500 every shopping trip.
13:35So I'm like ordering from Costco, delivery, you know, Instacart.
13:39While I'm cooking, I'm like, oh, I need this.
13:41And so I'll usually put an order together like that.
13:44And how often do you make those grocery trips?
13:48Usually at least once a week, if not more.
13:52What's Christmas like?
13:54Christmas is, I say it's fun, but it's work.
13:58It is work.
13:59Yeah, we're going to drop 10K on Christmas.
14:02Yeah.
14:03That's what that looks like.
14:05So I sleep here with Heavenly and Ellie.
14:09They're both one and two on the king size.
14:12And on the queen size, we have our five-year-old, Lily, and then a six-year-old, Isabella,
14:18and a seven-year-old, Krista.
14:20So that's all that sleeps in this room.
14:23I do have siblings that get on my nerves.
14:25If they get in my stuff, or get in my makeup, or my nail stuff, it really ticks me off.
14:32This is where Andrew sleeps.
14:35And Andrew is nine, right?
14:36I'm eight.
14:37Eight.
14:38Oh, he's eight.
14:39Andrew's eight.
14:41And then, this is Christopher's bed.
14:44I think he's four.
14:45He's five.
14:47You need to keep going.
14:49And then this is Donnie's bed.
14:53Donnie's the same age as Andrew, and apparently he's eight.
14:56So this is a little boy's room.
14:58My siblings do get on my nerves quite often, mainly the younger ones, because, you know,
15:02they're still trying to understand boundaries.
15:04Why can't I do this?
15:06Why can't I do that?
15:07This is my parents' room.
15:09So the baby, Briella, sleeps in here with my mom and my dad.
15:17And some of them just like to chill in here.
15:20Do you ever feel lonely in this house?
15:25Lonely?
15:26No.
15:27You want to be lonely in this house.
15:30Do you ever get the house to y'all selves?
15:33No.
15:35No.
15:35I don't know when we've ever had the house alone to ourselves.
15:39I don't think we ever have.
15:40No.
15:41Impossible.
15:42What do you think it'd be like if y'all have the house to y'all selves?
15:47It'd be clean.
15:47If I had the house to myself, it would be clean.
15:51I would take a nap.
15:54That's what I would do.
15:58What I love most about raising a huge family is really the end goal.
16:04We're molding people.
16:06So it's a huge responsibility.
16:08Our hope, right, is that we're raising world changers.
16:12People who are going to come in and show the same grace and mercy they were raised with.
16:17And make the world a better place.
16:20What I like about having so many siblings is you're never alone.
16:23And there's like always something to do because there's always somebody to do something with.
16:28I like that there's like a lot of different personalities like in the mix.
16:33I think everybody in our family knows what their part and their role and their position is.
16:38Yeah.
16:38And they know how to move when they're called on it.
16:41Yeah.
16:41And that's something that I think we do well.
16:43And as far as a team goes, we make a great baseball team.
16:47Mm-hmm.
16:47We're not planning on having any more, but...
16:52I'm absolutely 100% not planning on having any more children.
16:55I love the numbers that we have right now.
17:01Where's mom?
17:02I'm the first one in the kitchen today.
17:04You're first today.
17:05There you are.
17:06All right, what have you got for breakfast?
17:08What would you like?
17:09Pancakes.
17:10Pancakes.
17:11All right, pancakes it is.
17:13My name is Mitch and I'm 62.
17:16My name is Chella and I'm 40.
17:19We have 10 children.
17:20The oldest are twins.
17:22Oriel and Sheena.
17:24They're 16.
17:25Chalice.
17:26She's 15.
17:28Shayla is 13.
17:31Orian is 12.
17:34Orison is 10.
17:36Renee is 8.
17:38Shalai is 6.
17:40Shandell is 4.
17:41And Azrael is 2.
17:44We all eat the same foods.
17:46We don't cook different meals really.
17:49Unless someone doesn't particularly really like something.
17:52But that's not often, so.
17:53How much do you spend on groceries a month?
17:56About $3,000 to $4,000, yeah.
18:00Do you usually make breakfast for your family?
18:02Yeah, but everyone kind of like helps.
18:05How did you two meet?
18:07Oh, it goes back many years.
18:09I was singing at a restaurant and she requested a song.
18:14Yeah, the rest unfolded later on.
18:18Did you always want a big family?
18:21Well, it just happened, you know.
18:23I just went with the flow.
18:25Twins came first and after that.
18:28Third, fourth, fifth, sixth.
18:29Just the ball kept rolling and I just kept on bowling.
18:33How do you make time together as a couple?
18:35Or do you make time together as a couple?
18:37And as you can hear in the background, it's very hard.
18:41I think there's no time for us, but.
18:43There'll be plenty of time later, hopefully.
18:46Taste that?
18:47It's actually going to give me a taste.
18:51Oh, it's really good with the maple syrup.
18:53So we got the time there when you go shopping or to the beach or to the park.
18:57You know, we're all together.
19:00Always all together.
19:04You all want to go and have a look?
19:06Purple?
19:06Purple.
19:07You like the shirt?
19:07Purple.
19:08So we're wearing purple tomorrow.
19:10Do you want to wear a skirt with that or?
19:12We like colour coordinating as a family because when we go to the store,
19:17we all see this top and we all like it and want to get it.
19:20Colour coordinating is an everyday thing for us, so.
19:23Yeah, we enjoy it.
19:26Why do you colour coordinate as a family?
19:28The colour coordinating started, well, with the twins.
19:32I used to dress them the same and then Chalice came along
19:36and she wanted to wear the same outfit as the twins did, so.
19:40But it just looks so good, you know?
19:42I mean, it's like an entourage.
19:44Whenever we go to a shopping centre or something like that and everyone just looks and
19:48it's not that we want the attention, but that's what happens.
19:53How much do you spend on clothes a month?
19:55Probably three to five hundred on clothes, depending on the month and whose birthday it is.
20:02What's it like having nine siblings?
20:04Crazy and fun.
20:06Yeah, you always got someone to play with, so.
20:08Yeah, you're never lonely or anything.
20:10There's always screaming or something.
20:13Yeah.
20:14Who's the eldest?
20:15I am.
20:16I have some responsibilities as making sure that no one gets lost in the shops.
20:25We all kind of do that.
20:26Yeah, we all kind of do that.
20:28Go watch them.
20:33You want me to sit in the front?
20:33Oh, this one.
20:34How many can you fit into your car?
20:36And now we've got one and it seats 14.
20:3914 people.
20:39All right, let's go to the park.
20:47The challenges with having a big family are probably more the outside people.
20:52You get treated different.
20:54So some of the comments we got online are,
20:57I feel bad for them.
20:58Two parents could never give 10 kids the amount of attention they really need.
21:01I don't know why they would say this.
21:03They go wherever they want and yeah, we're always with them, so.
21:07Yeah, plenty of attention.
21:08Too much, I think.
21:09Too much attention.
21:11Why do you always dress them alike?
21:12They need to have their own style.
21:15I think they dressed us alike.
21:16They don't want to have their own style.
21:17They just want to have everyone the same.
21:19Why didn't you give them normal names?
21:22Normal names?
21:24We've given them beautiful names, but somebody else's opinion.
21:28Yeah, I'm happy with their names.
21:29They're happy with their names.
21:30They're happy.
21:31They look like their own cult.
21:33Even the doctors, when you were having the last child,
21:37we were in the hospital.
21:38Are you Aangish?
21:39Are you guys a cult?
21:41Well, when you go to school, you all dress alike and you belong to that
21:45community, yeah.
21:46Even when you go to work, you all have to dress the same.
21:49Same.
21:50I guess we're all a cult.
21:52At the end of the day.
21:53In one way or another.
21:54In one way or another.
21:55Would you like to have more children?
21:57Yeah, we would like to have more children.
21:59Yes, it's definitely.
22:00We're definitely trying.
22:01And just a matter of time.
22:03We did try to have another one, but that ended up in a miscarriage.
22:07A miscarriage last year.
22:09And what do your friends and family think of you having another baby?
22:12They just say, you're crazy.
22:14Yeah.
22:15Why would you want to do that?
22:16Yeah.
22:17And I haven't told her mum yet, but I think that's what she's going to say.
22:22Yeah.
22:24Yes, Susie.
22:25Hi.
22:25Hi.
22:25Hi.
22:26How are you?
22:27Had a good day?
22:29Yes, really good.
22:30All right.
22:31Okay.
22:32Look, I thought I'd give you some good news.
22:35What's that?
22:36The good news is Chella and I, we're trying for a baby.
22:45Oh boy.
22:46Are you crazy?
22:47What?
22:48But you've got 10 lovely children already.
22:50Why do you need more?
22:52Why not?
22:53You heard it from your daughter.
22:55Why not?
22:56Because more the merrier.
22:57More the merrier.
22:58Oh my god.
23:00I really thought that maybe the 10 was enough and you're both pretty worn out anyway.
23:06You're getting on.
23:08And by the time that baby's 20, you're going to be an old man.
23:13Sorry, I said that again.
23:15I don't look, Cole, and I don't plan to age.
23:18I'm a little bit disappointed, really, at, you know, you don't agree with Chella and I.
23:26All we needed was a little bit of family support and you're not being rude.
23:31You've let us down.
23:33It doesn't mean that I'm not going to support you.
23:36Of course I will.
23:37You're entitled to your opinion.
23:39Yes.
23:40We're entitled to ours and I guess we have to agree to disagree.
23:43And by the way, I'm still young, Susie.
23:46I'm not an old man.
23:48I don't have any gray hairs.
23:51Not today.
23:52There's no gray hairs on me at all.
23:54Susie, even though you don't agree with us, we still love you.
24:00And, yeah, we're going to have to love you and leave you and goodbye for now.
24:06Yeah.
24:07I love you too.
24:09And I will always go along with you.
24:12Thank you very much.
24:13Goodbye.
24:14All right.
24:15Have a good night.
24:16See ya.
24:17What we hope the future holds our family is more kids.
24:22One word to describe the family.
24:24Fun.
24:25Fun, loving.
24:28Yeah.
24:29Live entertainment.
24:33I have 11 children.
24:35I've spent probably about eight and a half years of my life pregnant.
24:39So this is Victoria, Andrew, Adam, Mara, Dash, Darla, Marvelous, Martelia, Amelia, Delilah,
24:44and Donovan.
24:46Like, it's very hectic sometimes.
24:49Living in a large family like this, it's like pretty loud.
24:52They, especially since some of their sleep schedules is off, so it's kind of loud all the time.
24:56How do your friends react when they come over?
24:58I usually like bring them into my room so it's not as much of all the little kids trying to
25:04climb on them and stuff.
25:06It's like being at a party but without music.
25:09The color coding system is incorporated into almost everything.
25:14Anything that I can find in their color, I'll buy.
25:17Their clothes, their toys, their sheets, towels, toothbrushes.
25:22Did I say cups and plates?
25:23I don't know, just everything.
25:25And it's almost obsessive.
25:28When I first started having kids, obviously I only had one and it was Victoria.
25:32And because she was a girl, I just bought her a lot of pink, you know.
25:35When I had a boy, well, you know, boys wear a lot of blues.
25:39And then when I had Adam, he really loved frogs and turtles and alligators.
25:44So like, if it was green, he loved green.
25:46That was when I realized that I really liked the color coding.
25:50That was, what, 13 years ago.
25:53The kids love the color coding.
25:57And they always say that they just feel like it suits them so perfectly.
26:03We're going to go to the park to meet with my sister.
26:06The last visit was very brief and I hadn't seen her in years.
26:12Well, my sister's name is Diana.
26:15She was the only sister I had growing up.
26:18My mom only had two kids.
26:19And so she always tries to give me advice that I don't listen to.
26:28Honestly, she told me that I should stop having kids a long time ago.
26:31And I just, I couldn't.
26:34I mean, I just love growing my family.
26:38Oh my goodness.
26:39I receive a lot of negative comments regarding my family.
26:43They'll say things like, you know, all the same, dad.
26:45Do you know what causes that? Or do you own a TV?
26:51Stop sucking your thumb.
26:51When people question my parenting, I kind of want to hand them a mirror
26:57so that they can look at themselves because I don't think anyone's a perfect parent.
27:02I feel like when people see us in public, a lot of times they start counting.
27:09So for me, social media is, in a way, it's like an outlet.
27:13I really like sharing my family.
27:15I think that it's good in a way, like to raise awareness.
27:18Because there are so many people who think all these negative things,
27:21like there's no way you can meet the emotional needs of 11 kids.
27:24But I can.
27:26Let me show you.
27:33Okay, so I'm going to be 100% honest here.
27:36And I cannot point out every single one and name them.
27:40That's the honest truth.
27:41So Victoria, Andrew, Adam, Mara, Dash, and then that's when it starts getting confusing.
27:53But I think I lose track of them as they get smaller because we've been apart these last five years.
28:00And all these ones are, you know, within the last five, six years.
28:04It's hard living in different states with pretty much the only family I have.
28:10She loves the kids, but she has said many times that I should stop having them.
28:15What do you think about your sister having this many children?
28:19Oh, my goodness.
28:20Okay, so first, first it was like, you know, only a couple.
28:24And I was like, okay, that's enough.
28:25You know, I was like, okay, I think we're done.
28:27Three is good.
28:28And she was like, well, maybe.
28:29And I'm like, no, don't do it.
28:30Don't do it.
28:30Don't do it.
28:31Don't do it.
28:31Don't do it.
28:31And she did it.
28:33I did it.
28:35She did it.
28:36I did it.
28:37Do you worry about Veronica's health or finances with this many children?
28:42Or any future children she might want to have?
28:44Health, healthy, yes.
28:45I'm very concerned about her health.
28:49Just recently, she had to have surgery and get one of her kidneys removed.
28:54That kind of stuff is important to kind of keep your body in shape to bear children, you know?
29:01How would you feel if she had more children?
29:03I think it would drive me crazy.
29:06But honestly, I love my nieces and nephews.
29:09So, I mean, the more the merrier.
29:10But I would object to any more for health reasons only.
29:15I love you.
29:17I would say it's a bit crazy here sometimes.
29:20And, you know, I recognize that color coding and, you know, having a big family like this is a little crazy.
29:29So, I just want people to know that just because I have a lot of kids doesn't mean that, you know, I have some weird motive like wanting assistance or something like that.
29:41Do you have plans for any more kids?
29:46I shouldn't.
29:47I shouldn't.
29:48I'm really on the fence.
29:50Part of me is like, you're done.
29:52You're good.
29:52And then the other part of me is like, no, there's three more.
29:54No, six more.
29:55Six more.
29:55Six more.
29:55No, I don't need any more.
29:56No, six more.
29:57Six more.
29:58No, no, no more.
29:59So, I feel like I'm just going to sort of see what happens and let nature decide.
30:07Do you want to get some more kids on the bed?
30:11How many kids can we put on this bed?
30:15Cool.
30:15One, two, three, and four.
30:19So, mom, explain the sleeping situation.
30:24The boys usually have triple bunks up.
30:26So, it's like three to a room.
30:29And then, of course, the baby sleeps in the co-sleeper in the room with us.
30:34And then in the mornings, everybody jump out of bed.
30:37Normal routine, brush teeth, get dressed.
30:41It's usually pretty smooth sailing.
30:42Do you run through your children by name?
30:46Okay, um, Jamel, Michael, Angelo, Gimani, Armani, Sincere, Kaza, and the expecting baby.
30:55We always wanted ten kids.
30:57I grew up in a house with four sisters, so I always wanted a big family.
31:02Yes, and I'm the oldest of seven children, so I'm used to the big family life.
31:08They're never alone.
31:08They're always together, and I think that's one thing that they all enjoy.
31:12They love it.
31:13So, when we bring up having more children, they're always excited and happy.
31:21So, um, in the mornings, we usually do a dozen of eggs, um, and they eat, um, some pancake sausages,
31:29and that's what the younger kids eat, because they're picky.
31:32Believe it or not, I only go to the grocery store once a week, and we usually spend about
31:37400 a week.
31:38My biggest challenge is managing all the, uh, extra laundry and the housework.
31:44That's the biggest challenge for me, I would say.
31:46You want the eggs, Chulo?
31:56But, especially as they get older, it's like it gets easier.
31:58And they become great helpers, too.
32:00Um, I don't have to ask them or bag them.
32:02They voluntarily do it, and it's just been amazing.
32:05They're awesome.
32:06I do believe them having that family togetherness helps a lot.
32:11If money and your health wasn't a problem, how many kids would you have?
32:1520.
32:18Me, I would.
32:18Yeah, if money and health wasn't an issue, he would have 20 kids.
32:22He really would.
32:23He loved children.
32:24I mean, I'm great with the idea of 10 to 12 kids.
32:28As long as my health is great.
32:30Oh yeah, I agree.
32:31I do not like being pregnant.
32:34Yeah, I get severely sick.
32:35I puke non-stop all day long.
32:38It doesn't stop, last a whole nine months, until you actually push the baby out.
32:42If he could carry babies, I would surely let him finish off carrying the rest of the baby.
32:46So that would be awesome.
32:47Do they know what a gender reveal is?
32:55We actually have did a few in the past, so yeah, they do know.
32:58They know.
33:00Why do you want a boy?
33:00So we can keep going up with our brothers and stuff, so we help each other and stuff more.
33:10I think they just don't know what to expect if it was a girl.
33:12I think I don't know what I would expect either, but yeah, I think it's just like the unexpected
33:17for them, so they're like, oh, let's have another boy.
33:19Today we're going to do a gender reveal.
33:30We're trying to go for a girl.
33:32If I was going to Las Vegas, I'd be betting on blue for sure.
33:36Okay, you guys, so we're finna figure out what baby number nine is.
33:41Okay, so we're going to count to three, and on three we're going to pop up and see.
33:45Okay, you can look.
33:46Three.
33:46Look, Chulo.
33:48Two, one, go.
33:55It's a boy.
33:56It's a baby boy.
33:57So are you just going to keep going until you get the daughters?
34:01That's how I want it.
34:02I mean, I'm not going to be able to keep having children.
34:04It's all within my health, so yeah.
34:08Baby boy.
34:10You got baby boy coming.
34:12You're not going to be the little baby no more.
34:13You got to be a big brother.
34:23I love having a big family though.
34:25I wouldn't trade for the world.
34:26Literally, it's never a dull moment.
34:28And everywhere we go, we get great behavior compliments.
34:31They're great children.
34:32I do believe them having that family togetherness helps a lot.
34:38I'm very excited.
34:39I never thought that this would be the life that I actually met.
34:43We have 12 children, and we're the number one dance family in the world.
34:50Malachi, Junior, Jani, Trinity, Messiah, Josiah, Love, Seven, Michael, Royal, Heavenly, and Hope.
35:01Did you always want to have 12 children?
35:03No, I didn't always want to have 12 children.
35:05I always wanted children of my own because I had a tough life growing up and I wanted to,
35:10you know, just give someone a better life than what I had.
35:14When I got to child number eight, I was like, oh, that's a lot now.
35:18But then I didn't consider my wife wanting more.
35:21That's how we got to 12.
35:23We met at a party.
35:26It was a house party in Brooklyn, New York.
35:29And I guess I was dancing pretty well because he came over and we battled.
35:34When we battled the first time, I won.
35:37That's not true.
35:42I'm making oatmeal for breakfast this morning.
35:50The children cook and they love to cook.
35:54Honestly, I really don't have an issue with like cooking all the time because they always want to cook.
36:00I thank you for the truth. In Jesus' name, amen, hallelujah.
36:08We spend $500 each week on groceries, roughly, give or take.
36:13Every other day, we'll go to the grocery store to buy groceries.
36:21We're going to be rehearsing the TikTok dance right now.
36:24So before we do it, we practice it a couple of times and then we record it.
36:29I started posting TikToks with my family in 2021 and in January.
36:35And we went viral, I would say like around April of 2021.
36:42My background in dancing is hip hop.
36:45And I also trained in ballet, modern, jazz, African Caribbean, South Side, and Medellin.
36:53My background in dancing is a Brooklyn, New York-born dance style called flexing.
37:09I'm so glad. My dad is an awesome dancer. He's a champion.
37:21In the range of a week, maybe like three days out of the week.
37:25Five, six, seven, eight. Let me go. Let me go. Again.
37:30No, you're doing too much. There's only two steps. One, two.
37:34We probably get at least one good rehearsal in and then the next day, we record.
37:49I would dance and I would be preparing for battles and things like that and the kids would mimic my rounds.
38:10We started teaching our children footwork around three, right out the womb to be honest.
38:18I was just about to say.
38:19I would stand them up and I would, I would like move their feet.
38:23Yes.
38:23If I'm holding the baby, the baby's going to dance.
38:26Next up, we got heavenly. Go heavenly. Go heavenly, John.
38:34The reason why I like dancing is because I like making people happy.
38:38It brings me to a happy place and I like dancing a lot.
38:42The reason why I like dancing is because we have more dance movements and I can learn more flex and bomb breaks.
38:54I can learn new moves and new dance skills and that's just a part of my heart.
39:01Every time we're like on stage dancing, everyone cheers and everyone is excited to see us because we're a great family.
39:09The reason why I love dancing is because people call me cute and I am.
39:24What are the kinds of comments that you guys get on social media videos?
39:29Well, some of the comments that we get is, wow, such a large family. Are they all yours?
39:37Is it the same mother and father?
39:42Is it a daycare? Is it a class?
39:44Yes. We definitely get a lot of stares when we're out in public.
39:50I was at a grocery store and I had a woman come up to me and tell me,
39:55oh, are you married? And I said, yes. And I was pregnant too. And I'm like, yes.
40:02Well, and she says, well, I hope he doesn't leave you because I have six and my husband left me.
40:10The negative comments bother me a little.
40:13A lot. Depending on, no, depending on what it says. Like, it's not possible for you to give
40:20attention to the kids. And that bothers me because, you know, I'm intentional with each and every one
40:28of them and even raising them. We definitely get a whole lot of, I love you guys. You guys make me
40:34smile. Can I live with you guys? And consistently coming back saying, can you adopt me? Can you adopt me?
40:41Come on. You got to fly.
40:45How does it feel to be the oldest?
40:49Honestly, it's great. You know, you got some great kids. Most of the time.
40:54But yeah, it's just really fun.
40:55What's your least favorite part about being an older brother?
40:59It's when he actually get me in trouble for no reason.
41:00It feels like a lot of responsibility.
41:05And with great power comes with great responsibility.
41:08That's what's up.
41:09I thought it was going to be bad because there were so many people around me.
41:14And I thought Yasu wouldn't be able to get to each and every one of us and know us personally.
41:20But yeah, I did a good job with that.
41:22So you're a part of the Storm family, huh?
41:24Yeah.
41:24What's your favorite thing about that?
41:30My brothers and sisters.
41:32Okay. What's your least favorite?
41:35Eating kale.
41:36Eating kale.
41:40It keeps us together. It keeps us moving at one beat.
41:44The ultimate dream and goal for us as a family of 14 who loves to dance is to travel the world
41:55in our 15 passenger van. We're a lot of meet and greets that perform for everyone.
42:02We actors, we're dancers, we're models. I want to do a whole production with just the Storm family.
42:08All over the world have the biggest arenas everywhere.
42:19Hey, Lily, come on, bring your clothes in here.
42:28Introduce us to each of your children's names and ages.
42:33Okay. I'm going to let you take that one.
42:35Go run it, champ.
42:36So our oldest is Skylar, who's 22, and then Gavin, who's 22, Brayden, who's 20, Malachi, who's 19,
42:47Kayla, who's 18, Caden, who's 17, Soraya, who's 14, Jaden, who's 14, Bonnie and Chevelle,
42:56who are twins, and they're both 11, Andrew, who's 11, Krista, who's 9, Isabella, who's 8,
43:03Christopher, who's 7, Lily, who's 6, Heavenly, who's 5, Ellie, who's 4, Briella, who's 2.
43:10Then we had Zeke, who's like 19 months right now. Before we met, I had three children and he had
43:17eight children. And we have had eight children. So 17 children live with us in the home.
43:24On the regular, I do two loads of laundry per day just to keep up with it. Saturday is probably like
43:32an extra like 10 loads.
43:35Do the children help out with the household chores?
43:37Yes. Yes, they do. Although I have to follow up and make sure they finished them. I had one that
43:44skipped last night. So she's doing them right now.
43:48How would you describe your family?
43:50We actually described our family before as organized chaos. It's very organized though.
43:55How would you describe your parenting style?
43:59My parenting style is really like I watch over everything. So I'm kind of like a hawk.
44:04My parenting skill is a little bit more relaxed. Nobody's dying. Nothing's breaking.
44:10Like, you know, enjoy yourself.
44:11That's just horrible.
44:18Does anybody know he's up here?
44:20What? Zeke?
44:21Yeah, is he up here by himself?
44:22He's just chilling.
44:24Who brought him up here?
44:27What has been happening since we last filmed with you?
44:30I'm absolutely 100% not planning on having more children.
44:33We actually had one more baby since you last seen me, and he is 19 months now. We had one more,
44:43then we had two miscarriages in between, but I am pregnant again. And we waited until we were 16
44:51weeks to announce to social media. Baby number 20 is due May 21st of 2025.
45:04This is good for a girl or a boy, right?
45:06Do you know what gender they are?
45:10Funny thing is, we have a gender reveal.
45:12We have nine boys together and then we have 10 girls. So we're really hoping for a boy.
45:20That way it's, this is 20, it's even, you know, 10 and 10.
45:24Have you received much negativity as a growing family of 20?
45:27We had some really nice comments. People were very, very excited. And then we've had people
45:33comment things like, I just want to know how the heck that's affordable.
45:37But that's actually a really good question. So I sell roofs.
45:40We started posting about three and a half, maybe four years ago.
45:43I feel like most of it's been positive, but there, man, there are some toxic people out there.
45:48There's some people who just, for whatever reason, just do not love families.
45:54What types of videos or subject matter has had the biggest response?
45:58Announcements.
45:59Up to the hospital.
46:00They love hearing that you're having another baby. So funny.
46:03Or they don't like it. Or they don't.
46:06Oh, wow.
46:07They say things like...
46:08You're overpopulating the world.
46:09Yeah, that's a huge one. People are like...
46:12They're actually frantic about that.
46:14Tell me you live off the taxpayers without telling me.
46:17Boy, I wish.
46:19This should be illegal.
46:20There's absolutely zero way of all those kids receive the empathy
46:24and quality one-on-one time they deserve.
46:26We have an open door policy at our house. So when you need time, you get time.
46:30Uh, when you want time, there is time. I like this one.
46:34Y'all need to find another hobby.
46:36Damn.
46:38To me, that's the funniest one.
46:39I typically like to respond to comments, negative or good.
46:45I'm usually really polite and discerning of like, maybe this person is just a little upset
46:51or, you know, they didn't grow up with the same viewpoints.
46:53How do you describe day-to-day life as a family of 20?
46:57Fun.
46:58Do you guys know anyone that has a family just as big as yours?
47:01No.
47:02Wow.
47:04What do you think life as an only child would be like?
47:06Lonely, quiet, kind of boring.
47:10They're peaceful.
47:13Some of the best things about having a big family is there's never a dull moment.
47:18You know, you're never lonely. Like, everything is a big event for us.
47:23The little ones growing up is my favorite.
47:24Just watching them figure themselves out, figure out their surroundings.
47:29So it's just like, for me, it's like constant entertainment.
47:32What are some of the challenges of having a big family?
47:35Ooh, challenges.
47:37These are like therapy sessions sometimes, you know what I mean?
47:42Some of the biggest challenges of big family is the providing part.
47:46You know, just constantly making sure it's enough, enough food, you know, power, water.
47:52What do your friends and family think of you having another baby?
47:57I think that, I think most of them think we're crazy.
47:59Hey, dude, what's up?
48:04Me and this guy, we're inseparable.
48:06What's it like being an uncle of 19 children?
48:10Sometimes it stresses me out like they're my kids.
48:12You know, I mean, no, I absolutely love it.
48:15Um, I got three kids myself and, um, I think that's plenty.
48:19Yeah.
48:19You know, I, I told, uh, I told the two oldest, I said, you guys are lucky you were born first.
48:24The first year I didn't sleep for a year.
48:28And these two just kept coming in my mind.
48:30I was just like, they do this every year for a decade.
48:34I haven't had that in 10 years.
48:36Yeah.
48:36That's what I'm saying.
48:37How did you really feel when I think he told you that we were pregnant again?
48:42Why?
48:46A lot, you know, the good news is if, is, if, um, the apocalypse ever does happen,
48:52you guys got a whole team.
48:55We're locked in.
48:55We're locked in.
48:56All right.
48:57So big question.
48:58Yeah.
48:58Like everybody else.
48:59Do you think we're crazy for having this many children?
49:02No, crazy people don't know what they're doing.
49:06You guys are nuts.
49:07I'm going to be honest with you, I'm winging it.
49:08Yeah.
49:10I'm winging it every day.
49:13It's the pizza man.
49:14Yeah.
49:18We have to get at least six pizzas to feed our entire family.
49:23And that's like going light.
49:26I hope the future holds very positive, fulfilled, uh, giving, unselfish people to offer the world.
49:38That's what I feel like.
49:41What do you hope the future holds for you as a couple?
49:44Retirement.
49:47If I could describe our family in one word, it'd be blessed.
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