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Meet Australia’s Biggest Family: What Daily Life Looks Like When Your Tribe Is Massive
One thing was clear to Jeni when she first met her husband Ray: she had no desire to have children.
“Ray wanted at least four kids. I thought that was crazy. Like, who has that many children?” Jeni told Mamamia.
They are now the delighted parents of sixteen children, more than thirty years later.
$600 every week on groceries
You may have heard of them if you’re from Australia, but when I first started reading about the Bonell Family, it was rather shocking to me.
Raising 16 children in Australia, the Bonell family’s life is anything but typical. Jeni and Ray Bonell have mastered the skill of juggling everything, from taking care of their huge brood to managing the turmoil of everyday life, and they do it with a good dose of humour.
Jesse, 35, Brooke, 34, Claire, 31, Natalie, 30, Karl, 28, Samuel, 26, Cameron, 25, Sabrina, 24, Tim, 22, Brandon, 20, Eve, 19, Nate, 17, Rachel, 16, Eric, 15, Damian, 14, and Katelyn, 10 are the nine boys and seven girls that make up the Bonell family from Toowoomba, Queensland.
Comedian Jim Gaffigan once joked, “You know what it’s like having a fourth kid? Imagine you’re drowning, then someone hands you a baby.” So what’s it like to have sixteen kids?
In order to keep their pantry filled, Jeni, the mother in charge, spends an incredible $600 each week on groceries. That budget has increased by $50 as a result of the severe inflation. It takes a lot to keep everyone fed in a family of eighteen, including eight children who are still living at home.
The weekly grocery list is very amazing: Four dozen eggs, fifteen boxes of cereal, forty-five tubs of yoghurt, and seventeen three-litre bottles of milk.
“We go through 50 litres of milk each week and one to two loaves of bread every day,” says Jeni.
Getting a good family photo is difficult
For the Bonells, it’s all a part of the routine, but for others, it’s a logistical nightmare. The routine of the Bonell family’s home life is meticulously planned.
“Getting a good family photo is difficult,” says Jeni, laughing. “You need an extra-wide lens, and there’s always someone looking away, pulling a funny face, or with their eyes closed. But we enjoy those little quirks in the photos. They’re not picture perfect, but that’s part of the fun.”
Keeping up with the hectic pace of everyday life is more important than simply capturing pictures when you have sixteen children.
Imagine managing a household with 16 children, a full-time job, and part-time jobs. That’s Jeni and Ray’s reality.
“I used to think life was busy with little kids,” says Jeni, “but I’m certainly busier these days with older children.” Between coordinating three different schools, sporting activities, part-time jobs, and the older kids’ studies, it’s a juggling act. And yet, Jeni wouldn’t have it any other way. “Life is very hectic – but it’s good.”
The evening routine in their home is a perfect reflection of the Bonell family dynamic. “Take an average-sized family and multiply it by eight, and that’s what our evening routine is like,” Jeni laughs.
Stretching every dollar
Some nights it’s total chaos; other nights, everything falls into place like a well-oiled machine. But regardless of how the evening unfolds, one thing is always consistent: dinner time. “Dinner is always great,” Jeni explains. “Some nights we have eight people at the table, other nights we have more than 20!”
The Bonells are experts at making the most of every penny. Jeni is well-known for her inexpensive lunches, which often range from $2 to $10. To assist others in controlling their food expenses, she frequently posts about her grocery shopping trips on YouTube.
“It’s a struggle for everyone at the moment,” says Jeni, “We’re all feeling that pinch with the budget.” To stay organized, Jeni uses a chore chart to divide household responsibilities, making sure everyone from age eight upwards pitches in. The kids are also taught to cook from a young age. “Our 12-year-old can put a roast dinner on for 20 people with almost no supervision,” Jeni says with pride.
The laundry load in a house like theirs is equally immense. Jeni does three full loads of laundry every day, which amounts to about six average-sized loads. And when it comes to grocery shopping, Jeni fills up two trolleys each week. “I always need one of the kids to help with the load,” she says.
The Bonell Family religion
When it comes to their finances, the Bonells have learned to make sacrifices. While they pay off their home mortgage, the financial pressures are still real. “It’s expensive and you definitely have to make sacrifices with your budget,” says Jeni. “But we all work, and our family doesn’t live off the taxpayer. However, we do get a lot of criticism for having so many kids.”
Despite the Bonells’ strong religious beliefs and frequent church attendance, Jeni maintains that their huge family isn’t just the product of their faith.
“God has a funny sense of humour,” says Jeni. They have no regrets, though. ”It just feels right for us,” says Ray, who works as an electrician. ”People have to do what’s right for them. Having 16 kids is not for everyone, but it’s what works for us.”
Despite their busy lives, Jeni and Ray find moments for themselves. “Do I get alone time with my wife? Of course, I do. We make time for each other,” says Ray with a smile. “It’s important to look after each other.”
As Jeni and Ray become grandparents to two grandkids, the dynamic of the family is further complicated by the fact that their two elder children have now moved out and gotten married. It demonstrates how the Bonell family continues to expand. However, the love, laughter, and sense of community only grow stronger with each addition.
Inside their roster system
The Bonells have established a reliable routine in a household where order is essential. The Bonells manage everything, from making lunches and school clothes the night before to establishing a chore rotation schedule.
“We have a roster system, so when a kid turns eight, they get put on the roster,” says Jeni. “They rotate through chores like sweeping, mopping the floor, packing up the table, and helping with meal prep.”
The air fryer pizza bites and egg cups are two of Jeni’s favourite snacks that she shares with her YouTube admirers. These snacks are ideal for school lunches, easy to make, and freeze well.
For the Bonells, it all comes down to putting in place a structure that enables everyone to participate and help out. And it’s evident that love, cooperation, and humour sustain the Bonell family’s success despite the turmoil of running a home of sixteen.
The Bonells manage everything with a grin, whether it’s taking care of the kids, managing the house, or finding time for a quick coffee date.
The Bonell family ultimately demonstrates that anything is possible with a little imagination, a great deal of planning, and a lot of love. Raising sixteen children is indeed difficult, but Jeni and Ray see it as all part of the journey.
The Bonells know how to make it happen, whether it’s offering money-saving ideas for feeding a large gathering, managing the never-ending laundry, or simply taking pleasure in the chaos of family life. And all the while, they’re building a house that is full of laughter, memories, and unending love. Family, no matter how large, is always worthwhile, if that’s the one lesson we can all learn from this.
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