NOT SO RAD
Sue & Noel Radford admit they ‘don’t have time to speak to each other’ & reveal a typical day in the life with 22 kids
Noel also shares the family's go-to dinners, including some British favourites
WITH a whopping 22 kids and a pie business, parents of Britain's biggest family, Sue and Noel Radford, have a lot on their plate.
The two, who have been married for over three decades, have now bravely opened up about how having a massive bumper brood has affected their relationship - and what a typical day in the life looks like.
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According to their new page-turner, The Radfords: Making Life Count, although Sue and hubby Noel ''work as a double act'', they sometimes get so busy to the point where they ''barely get the chance to have a proper conversation with each other from one day to the next''.
Praising her partner, Sue, 48, said: ''Noel is always there to help me get the kids off to school every morning - and always there to help me get them all home again, and he's here to stat once they are home in the afternoon.''
Noel, who's also got a famous pie business, said this simply wouldn't be possible if he wasn't self-employed.
''I don't think I'd be able to say to the boss, 'Listen, if it's OK with you I'll need to be available to do the school runs twice a day - don't worry, I'll fit them around my duties in the workplace somehow'.''
Sue echoed and added the two were ''fortunate'' to be in such a situation - as there are so many families across ''with real childcare issues''.
Morning chaos
The patriarch of the bumper brood, Noel, starts his day at around 5.30am and proceeds to have a look at his emails - and for the most part, he doesn't bother with or a cup of coffee.
The 53-year-old will then head to his work where he'll work out what they need to do that day, before setting back home ''for the morning rush hour chaos with the kids'' before 8am.
''It's carnage,'' the dad chuckled, explaining the parents need to ensure all the kids have had their breakfast, they've been washed and dressed.
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''Some mornings are better than others, but it's the worst time of the day in my opinion, because you're really up against the clock.''
Once the morning madness is over, Sue, who usually wakes up at 7am, said she'll be ''tidying the breakfast things away and sorting the kids' lunchboxes, water bottles and the bags they take to school''.
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The family usually try to be out of the house by 8.45am to drop off their tots to nursery or school - and although it's sometimes incredibly ''stressful'', they ''always manage to do it somehow'' and avoid arriving late.
Morning and afternoon work
Although the schedules for both parents - Noel at work and Sue at home - look slightly different, the two don't get a chance to sit down and relax whilst the kids are away.
Whilst Noel is heading to the shops to find the necessary ingredients for the pies before making them, Sue will be dealing with the monster mess left at home - whether that's cleaning the kitchen, setting the dishwasher off, sorting out the bedrooms and so on.
She opened up: ''Also, whereas I am sure there must be couples who are able to ring each other up during the day to discuss various things about their kids, Noel and I don't really speak when he's at work and I'm at home - because we never have the time.''
Afternoon school madness
After the school day comes to an end, Noel is back home to help Sue with the kids - and if the two are taking the minibus, this is one of the very few occasions where they ''are guaranteed to get to talk to each other during the day''.
''Literally, for around five to ten minutes!''
Once the children are back, it's just like breakfast time all over again - just pure ''chaos'', Noel chimed in.
Tea and the rest of the evening
The family like to be sat down for their tea by around 6pm most days, as the younger ones then head for a bath around 6.45pm.
''And we just make the one meal - it's not a hotel where people can have whatever they want,'' Noel explained.
He added that some of their go-to dishes are a potato bake, a spaggy bol, a pesto chicken dish with noodles and jacket potatoes.
The little tots of the family, such as Heidie, tend to go to sleep at around 8.30pm - although it can sometimes be after 9pm - whilst the older bunch will ''obviously go a lot later than that''.
If everything has gone to plan with the youngest kids, then Sue and Noel will be able to sit down for a nice cuppa as soon as they can - but it doesn't happen all the time.
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The parents also like to ensure all the kids' uniforms are out and ready for the morning, before they go to bed between 10pm and 11pm.
''But Friday evenings and nights are a lot more relaxed - the routine isn't the same, and the timings aren't the same as they are during the school week.''
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