Feeding Australia's biggest family: Sixteen kids down 50 litres of milk a week, 14 boxes of cereal a day
The mother at the head of what may just be Australia’s largest family has revealed the mammoth amount of food and work it takes to keep the clan of 18 going.
Jeni Bonell, from Toowoomba in Queensland, told the Daily Mail she had no plans to have children as a teenager, but that changed after meeting her husband Ray.
He wanted to have a large family, having grown up as the eldest of six siblings, and after the Bonell’s had their first two children, it was Jeni who pushed for a third.
Then came a fourth, and then a fifth, and they were not even close to being done.
The Bonells now have 16 children and they are still open to the idea of more. The kids range in age from Jesse, 26, to Katelyn, two.
“Any number would not be high enough now,” Ms Bonell told Daily Mail.
“Once we had miscarried seven [babies] over the years, once you lose the first one, you appreciate just how much of a blessing children are.
“We threw ourselves into being great parents.”
But it’s not all bunk beds and people movers for the Bonell brood.
Jeni told the Daily Mail it takes about 50 litres of milk per week, and 14 boxes of cereal per day to feed to the kids.
On top of that there is about 30 kilograms of washing to be done – that equals, Jeni said, anywhere up to six loads per day.
But even an endless pile of laundry can prove useful. Jeni’s regular Facebook updates on her family life reveal sock-folding duty has been incorporated into daily life as an important disciplinary tool.
Jeni said the grocery bill tops about $600 a week, adding financial pressure to the already significant workload. It can take two trolleys to get the food from the supermarket to the car.
However, she said hard work and patience, and trusting to god to help provide, had helped the clan overcome the pressure on their pockets.
