"I have 10 kids under 16 – here's how I survive Christmas!"

To find out exactly what that looks and feels like we spoke to Kayleigh Archer, mum to a big brood of 10, from the ages 16 to just 1, to see how she survives the festive period.

"I have to start Christmas shopping in June"

I have a general rule that when I see something I think one of my children would like from June onwards I will buy it for Christmas. It may seem really early but if we don’t space it out as much as possible it becomes a last minute panic and much harder to afford!

I’ll note down anything I’ve bought as I go along to make it easier to keep track of who has what and who needs what, then generally by the week of Christmas we are near enough done!

Up until last year we generally bought each of our children between 15-20 presents each – mostly small fillers with their main “big” present on top. Unfortunately, as everything has become more tech heavy over the years we found they weren’t really touching the majority of what we bought them so we have now adopted the “want, need, wear, read” present buying rule.

They get given a pretty generous (but still affordable) budget for their “want” (main) present – this can vary depending on finances that year, but is always enough for what they ask for.

We then get them to pick a book each for their “read” present. The “wear” and “need” presents are mostly picked by myself unless there is something they specifically ask for in those categories, but generally they are happy to let me decide.

As they get older we do have to set a strict budget when it comes to their main presents, as they get more and more expensive! And these have to be bought a few months in advance, a couple at a time. With everything else it’s thankfully not so much of a problem as we start buying so early.

"Hiding presents before the big day is always a bit of a nightmare!"

In the past we have had to get pretty creative with where we store them! We’ve hidden them under inconspicuous piles of folded clothing, under beds, under piles of coats in the understairs cupboard, behind hung up jumpers in my bedroom wardrobe and inside pram carrycots under blankets!

I must admit though that we have been very lucky as we have never had an issue with the kids going present hunting – they do tend to just wait until Christmas Day and enjoy the excitement and build up.

The younger ones still believe in Santa, so I don’t think it even crosses their mind to search. The older ones are happy to assume it’s all gone to plan and wait for the big day.

"My biggest Christmas fail?"

I think the year my then 11 year old son had to unwrap his Christmas presents wrapped beautifully in Disney princess paper was probably not my finest moment! Not because boys can’t have princesses but because it ruined my “genius” attempt at sorting the presents carefully.

I try to be as organised as possible and buy a different wrapping paper style for each child, so it's easier to organise the Christmas presents at a glance on the day ready for unwrapping.

Unfortunately, that year I miscounted and mixed him up with his 4 year old sister. I realised when I sat wrapping them on Christmas Eve and by that point it was too late. I was so sure I had just misplaced his wrapping paper somewhere until I saw I had bought double the amount of his sister’s wrapping paper.

Luckily he found it funny and didn’t mind at all but it’s made me double and triple check every year since!

"I do sometimes feel guilty, but they never go without."

I do tend to feel rather overwhelmed when I look on Instagram and see everyone’s perfect trips to Lapland, stunning Christmas trees and ginormous present piles.

It can at times trigger an intense pang of guilt when I think of all that my children may be missing out on, purely because it’s unaffordable to buy each of them 50 presents each or go on fancy Christmas days out. However, it’s only fleeting and a side effect of too much social media on my part.

I remind myself that they never go without what they’ve asked for and to never to compare myself to others. The experience they have being in such a huge family with all the excitement and hustle and bustle that they are surrounded by on Christmas Day is really quite special and something that not a lot of people get to experience.

It’s chaos and daunting at times, but somehow we make it happen every year. I think that’s something my partner and I really need to remember and give ourselves a pat on the back for more often!

"Last year we opted for a party food spread rather than a roast dinner."

We get our big Christmas food shop delivered on Christmas Eve and then head out to the shop to replace anything substituted and pick up the final bits.

On the big day there is an element of chaos and a certain amount of tweaking, due to a few of my children having additional needs and needing their food a specific way because they won’t eat certain foods due to sensory issues.

My two and three year olds are currently awaiting an ASD diagnosis and the foods they will and won’t eat can change almost daily, so we just have to buy a varied selection and hope for the best!

We try to plan in advance as much as we can but with ever changing preferences and aversions, it’s not possible to get everything perfectly sorted weeks in advance as much as we’d like to.

This year I haven’t quite decided which way to go – party food or roast dinner.

A roast dinner with some party food bits to choose from for those that don’t fancy it may be the best decision for everyone’s wants and needs.

"We can’t do big fancy Christmas days out and that’s something I’ve had to make peace with."

Trips to Lapland UK and the like are totally out of the question as it would be unaffordable and I do feel guilty about this at times.

In this day and age, where everything is beautifully presented on social media, it’s very easy to feel like you’re failing your children if you don’t do everything that everyone else is. And that just isn’t realistic.

That’s not to say that we don’t do anything.

We still visit Santa and we take the kids to the Panto – but it will only be a few of the children at a time. Some of the children are either too little or feel like they’re too grown up to want to come along to one now.

My two and three year olds are also very noise sensitive and find crowds and loud pantos very overwhelming and just wouldn’t find them enjoyable at all.

"My top tip for a big family on a budget? Start buying as soon as possible!"

It may seem ridiculous to be Christmas shopping in June or July but you’ll thank yourself later.

Also, make sure you sign up for anything that helps contribute to your Christmas fund. Last year we signed up to the Asda Rewards Christmas saver cash pot and have done so again this year. We do our weekly shop, try to complete as many “missions” as possible and then add the rewards to our Christmas Saver cash pot. Last year I managed to save over £100 just doing this and didn’t really ever have to buy anything out of the ordinary to do so.

I also do a clear out of anything we don’t need or hasn’t been used regularly for months. Putting anything that you feel may be worth selling up on Facebook Marketplace or Vinted can help bring in the extra pennies and free up much needed space for the new presents.

"We find it’s best to just match the activity to the child."

If there’s a Christmas craft morning going on at our local café, I’ll take the children that would want to go. If there’s a Christmas parade I’ll take the ones that are interested and can tolerate the noise and lights etc.

Our local community centre has a SEN session for the Santa visit this year, so we will be heading along to that one and then enjoying the Christmas market and lights switch on afterwards.

It can mean that there’s a lot of popping back and forth with different children to different events but it means no one has to go to something they wouldn’t necessarily enjoy just for the sake of it.

It also involves having to split the Christmas events between myself and my partner as someone will go along with the children who are interested and someone will stay at home with the ones that don’t.

It used to make me sad that we couldn’t do everything together as a family as a whole, but then I realised as long as everyone is happy that’s all that’s important. It’s much nicer to not have a very distressed child posing for a photo because they were forced along to something they didn’t want to go to or couldn’t manage.

"Every year I dread getting all of the presents out of their boxes and set up."

I swear this seems to get harder every year! Since when did we suddenly have to unscrew toys from their boxes like they were a flight risk?

Breaking out the screwdriver to unbox a playset for a very excited and slightly impatient three year old whilst the baby is trying to climb up my legs to grab everything and anything – it can be a lot!

There’s normally a queue too, lots of children wanting me to sort their toys for them alongside said Velcro baby that doesn’t want me to move more than 6 inches away.

It can be hard not to get a bit flustered at times but I just remind myself to take a deep breath, it’s only once a year and one day I will really miss all of this, so I don’t want to wish it away!

"Hearing the children excitedly shouting “Mummy, look!” as they open their presents is the moment I look forward to the most."

It definitely makes all the planning and the panic worth it.

It is so lovely when you know you’ve got them something they really love and you can’t wait to see their reaction.

Putting on that Christmas music, watching the living room floor disappear under ripped wrapping paper and hearing lots of excited voices chattering away is what MAKES Christmas for me.