"Are all these children yours?!" says the random person in the grocery store.
My Mom then replies that yes, they are all hers.
"From this one, my eldest [pointing at me] to this one my youngest." [pointing at my two year old sister].
The random person then asks and says: "How DO you do it?! I wouldn't ever have the patience to keep up with everything!" Or they say something like: "Well you have your hands full!"
My mom then says that her heart is full too. ;)
See, the problem with most of the people who ask us these questions in the grocery store is that they are seeing all the laundry pile up, undisciplined children who play all the time, and chaos. They see all the work my Mother would be doing and does. That's what they see.
What they don't see is how we all work and help together. My siblings don't sit on their butts all day or play the day away in the summer. They help! And they help a lot. They work in the garden, they help with the house work - washing cups, putting away silverware. Anything that is on their level, they do. Even my two year old sister helps. She loves to fold wash cloths and she loves to help put laundry on the line. My four year old sister hangs up all her dresses on a hanger and puts them away, my 7 year old brother sweeps and washes the table. As they get older, stronger and taller, they do bigger stuff. We work together. My mom has said before, and it has always stuck with me, "If your two year old can operate in IPhone, then they are quite capable of folding washcloths."
If the things I mentioned above aren't accessible for your children, like hanging out the laundry, then make it accessible. For example: we have 2 cloths lines. One line is toddler level. They can reach it. You will find that children are very often willing to help do "big" things. It makes them feel older. They even ask to help. Don't ever discourage that. If they ask if they can help, give them something to help with. Christ was a servant and we are to practice what He practiced. Help them enjoy serving. This means never discourage them when they want to help.
So you see, we may be a big family, and we may have way more laundry or dishes then you. But we are all in this together. We don't just stand around and make Mom do all the work. That would be ungrateful! After all, she bore us for nine months and raised us. It's our duty to serve in return.
Learn to work together.. it makes life easier. ;)
