RAISING kids certainly isn’t easy, but parenting has no limits for this mum-of-10 who adopted six kids – as well as having four biological babies of her own.
But despite the chaos of having so many kids under one roof, Alicia and Josh Dougherty, from Pittsford, New York, refuse to let them help with chores.
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Sitting on the living room floor and surrounded by a mountain of clothes, the super mum shared a clip on TikTok and explained why she and her husband bear the brunt of the chores alone.
Alicia said: “They didn’t ask to be a part of a large family so they shouldn’t have to do extra chores just because they are.”
The super mum added that six of her kids were adopted from foster care which means they “already missed out on a childhood due to their traumatic past.”
Instead, she wants them to just “have fun and be kids” – and besides, “acts of service is my life language,” she explained, so doing things for others is what she likes to do.
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In a 2018 interview with People, Alicia and Josh explained that all six of their adopted kids have behavioural issues and suffer from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) – making family life a little more challenging.
Although they weren’t aware of this when adopting their first son Alex – who was four at the time, the parents threw themselves into helping him – and went on to help other kids with “difficult behavours.”
“We became known as the parents who could handle the difficult behaviours,” Alicia said, and now, the power duo share insight into their hectic family life in TikTok and Instagram.
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Although the kids aren’t expected to do chores, they do have some responsibilities, Alicia explained.
To help manage the hectic family schedule, each child’s daily activities are written on a white board in the kitchen, which has their entire day broken down into time slots.
The boys play football in a team with their dad as the coach, while some of the older kids take music lessons.
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In summer, all of the kids swim daily for hours “to burn off excess energy, and because water is a calming, therapeutic source.”
With 10 kids aged between two and 15, arguments between siblings are plentiful, so the parents have fitted every room of their six-bed home with cameras.
Not only is this useful for the parents to keep an eye on everyone, but Alicia and Josh use the footage to keep the kids accountable when they do something wrong.
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What’s more, some of the kids are prone to compulsive behaviors such as eating until they’re sick, so the parents are forced to lock the kitchen food cabinets as well as the fridge.
And that’s a lot of food the parents have to hide as Alicia regularly shares exactly what a grocery haul for a family-of-12 looks like.
From huge cartons of chips and condiments in bulk, a typical shop often involves multiple trolleys full and comes to roughly $600 (£424) – but it varies week to week.
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And with each child favouring different snacks, Alicia is forced to stock up on a wide range of treats – and she isn’t shy about the amounts either.
What’s more, Alicia revealed that she has to visit the supermarket almost every day to stock up on items she forgot or that they just ran out of.
The busy mum also shared what Sunday dinner looks like in their household and the eye-watering amount that’s required.
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Detailing what’s involved in a pasta and meatballs dish, the mum-of-ten explained that they typically go through three pounds of pasta, sixty meatballs, four jars of pasta sauce, 16 pieces of garlic bread and a whole bag of frozen corn – for just one meal.
Understandably, Alicia revealed that “once upon a time” she would have made the pasta sauce and meatballs herself, but life got that much busier with ten kids and she just doesn’t have the time.
After dinner each night, the family spend some quality time together and they each share the best part of their day.
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While many parents like to treat their kids to ice-cream every now and then, the cost of this family’s trip is enough to put you off for good.
Alicia revealed that a single scoop of ice-cream each will cost a huge $65 (£46) for the family-of-12 as she shared the mega order on TikTok.
Typically, it would consist of eight vanilla with sprinkles and four hot fudge sundaes – with ten very happy, smiling faces.
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Alicia continues to spread awareness about adoption and foster care, and after multiple miscarriages of her own, insists that parenting is a blessing and is not a chore.
She told People: “When times are tough we refer to our family motto: ‘Doughertys Don’t Quit.’”
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