RIGHT OR RIGHTEOUS?
I’ve got seven kids and workout everyday – I refuse to look bedraggled and want more mums to be like me
AFTER fastening son Wilfie into his carrier, mum Emma Lewis picks up her dumbbells and starts her daily workout.
Her SIX other children watch from just feet away.
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The 39-year-old has multi-tasking down to a fine art, and with seven kids in tow still makes time to exercise every day.
Emma does weights while running kids’ baths, squeezes in yoga while they sleep, and does squats while cooking dinner.
She loves her new lifestyle and wants other mums to follow her lead.
She says: “Being bedraggled is not what I want ‘mum life’ to look like.
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“Mums make excuses — I used to be the same.
“I used to feel lethargic and that’s because I wasn’t looking after myself.
“But now I’m in the best shape of my life and showing my kids, and others, that women’s bodies are more than just a vessel for childbirth.”
Emma tops up her fake tan twice a week and never leaves the house without her hair and make-up looking immaculate.
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To free-up time in her day, she gives chore sheets to her kids — Annabelle, 12, Mabel, 11, Bobby, nine, Essie-May, seven, and John, six, while Hugh-James, three, and Wilfie, 18 months, tidy away their toys.
She says: “I used to think I had too much on my plate for ‘me’ time but it was because I wasn’t prioritising myself as well as I was my kids.
“It’s a hard pill to swallow, but it’s total rubbish to think you don’t have time to do a ten-minute workout.
“If you can sit on your phone for 30 minutes, you can exercise.
“Sometimes, if the kids aren’t up, I’ll do yoga stretches but I’m usually grabbing pockets of time between tasks.
“For example, I take weights into the bathroom to do an arm exercise when my kids are bathing.”
Emma, who is married to Jonny, 43, dad to all her children, says her life is a million miles from how it was a few years ago.
Becoming pregnant with youngest Wilfie was a pivotal moment, and she says: “Until that point, I was surviving every day.
“It was constant and I didn’t get a single moment to myself, let alone to exercise.
“I decided enough was enough.
“I’d totally lost the woman I was before the kids.
“I said to Jonny, ‘That’s it. I’m not doing this any more’.
“Life was passing me by.
“Now I exercise every day, even if it means carrying Wilfie in his sling at the same time.”
Emma runs a tight ship at her five-bed home in Ballynahinch, County Down.
She gets up before the kids at 6.30am — sometimes earlier to do a yoga session — allowing enough time to shower, dry her hair and do her make-up.
‘It isn’t rocket science’
None of the children are allowed downstairs until their beds are made and the bedrooms are tidy.
She says: “That’s non-negotiable.
“If you multiply the things that aren’t done by seven in our house, it turns into a massive thing.
“If it goes wrong I shout, and I hate shouting.
“I began using chore sheets a year ago and they’ve been a game-changer.
“Essie-May is Barbie-mad, so her chore sheet says make your bed, put dirty clothes in the wash, and all your Barbie dolls and accessories away.
“It isn’t rocket science.
"The older girls vacuum, mop and clean the surfaces in the bathroom and put fresh towels and toilet rolls out.”
She adds: “The kids moan that I’m a slave driver, but when everyone has their own jobs, we can get the house clean and tidy within an hour, and that means more free time.”
When Jonny gets home from his job in construction, Emma makes sure the family meal is on the table.
She says: “I take pride in the fact that when Jonny comes home the house is tidy, dinner is on the table, plus I’ve worked out and I look nice.
“Every night the dishwasher is filled, the kitchen is left tidy and I’ve picked my outfit for the following day — and the children’s too.
“Then I go to bed with my planner to organise the next day.
“These tiny things make a big impact.
“I never want to begin the day on a deficit.
“Mums need to make their lives easier any way they can.”
Emma says she and Jonny, who don’t claim benefits, never planned to have so many children.
She was 26 when they married and before she got pregnant with their eldest, Annabelle, in 2010, she was earning a good wage, working in HR.
“I was into my job, living the dream,” she says.
I’m fit for fun with my 7 kids
“But as going back to work came closer after my maternity leave ended, I started questioning whether anyone could care for Annabelle the way I could.
“Like me, Jonny was raised by a stay-at-home mum and we realised we wanted the same for Annabelle.
“I quit work and didn’t look back.”
In 2012 Mabel was born, followed by Bobby, Essie-May and John in quick succession.
Emma says: “Jonny is so laid back and if I’d said after Mabel that I didn’t want another baby he’d have gone along with it.
“He was just as happy to have seven as he was to have two.”
When John was born in 2017, Jonny’s work meant he was away from home for two weeks at a time, so Emma had to look after five children under seven by herself.
She says: “My life became totally one-dimensional.
“I didn’t recognise the woman in the mirror.
“When I worked, I looked professional and always had my hair and make-up done.
“But when you’re navigating parenthood it can slip away.
“I decided I wanted to live my life now.”
So in 2021 Emma started prioritising herself.
She says: “I started to set aside ten to 15 minutes every day to do something for myself, and that included exercise.
“I’d go into another room and tell Jonny and the kids not to come in. Jonny got it completely, and I felt a boost in my energy levels.”
Emma found other ways to claw back time, including a strict “open and closed kitchen” policy.
“I could be trapped in the kitchen making snacks and drinks all day, as well as doing loads of washing,” says Emma, who spends £150 a week on food.
“So I told the kids the kitchen was open for breakfast, dinner and only half an hour after.
“If someone says they’re hungry at a different time, tough – saying no means I have time to say yes to things that really matter, like playing a card game with the kids, which they love.
“If I’ve run myself ragged for the rest of the day, I have no energy for that.
“The kids’ bedtime is the toughest task of all.
“My ideal is staggering it but sometimes that’s a nightmare if I can’t settle Wilfie early enough.
“I get relentless comments on social media congratulating me on surviving life, but I made the choice to have all these kids.
“I don’t want people’s pity.
“Thriving as a mum is knowing how to manage challenging moments and having downtime yourself, instead of trying to be perfect all the time.
“I want to inspire other mums to start putting themselves first.
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“I’m definitely a happier, better mum for it."
- Emma shares her parenting tips on Instagram @sevenlittlelewiskids.
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