I have 13 siblings – our mom did 35 loads of laundry a week, they’re my best friends but trolls say it sounds ‘horrible’
GROWING up with 13 siblings might sound like a madhouse, but one woman insists she wouldn't have had it any other way.
Having so many immediate family members meant she and her brothers and sisters always bunked up and their mother's chore list was huge, but they all loved it.
Sarah Van Reeth, 24, said she and her 13 siblings loved growing up together so much that they now refuse to live more than 30 minutes apart to avoid “missing” each other.
She proudly calls them her “best friends” and remembers her childhood fondly.
She has seven brothers: Ryan, who passed away aged 25, Matt, 30, Josh, 27, Nate, 25, Mike, 21, Jon, 18, and Andrew, 15.
And she has six sisters: Meghan, 29, Becca, 22, Nicole, 19, Emily, 16, Danielle, 14, and Laurel, 7.
Clearly attached to where and how they grew up, the older siblings still live within 30 minutes of their family home in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and see each other once a week at church.
Sarah said her mom, Kim Wilson, 59, had her hands full when the kids were young.
She cooked for them every night and did five loads of laundry every day, totaling 35 loads a week.
“My mom is a superhero. She can multitask,” Sarah said.
Although Sarah has now left the nest and lives with her husband Mark in Hamilton, New Jersey, she likes to reminisce on he childhood.
“It was so fun growing up,” she said.
“We’re all best friends. Everyone is within 30 minutes of our parents.”
Kim and her pastor husband Cuck Wilson, 60, had always wanted a big family but didn’t expect to end up with 13 children.
“They wanted a good amount, but God kept giving them more kids,” Sarah said.
When their son Ryan passed away young, they decided to adopt Laurel, giving them 14 kids total.
As for how they all lived together, the family home had six bedrooms, and each of the kids bunked up together.
“Everyone shared a room growing up,” Sarah explained
In fact, her first time having her own bed was when she was in college — and she wasn’t too happy.
“I didn’t like being alone. The hardest part was being away from my siblings,” she admitted.
She married Mark in August of 2022 and the pair moved in together after, but it took some getting used to on her end.
“I don’t like being alone now. It’s really quiet,” she said.
As for how all the siblings keep up with each other, they have never gotten each other presents for their birthdays, so the cost isn’t too high.
They do a Secret Santa at Christmas instead of gifting individual presents to everyone.
“We’re not a presents kind of family,” she explained.
They do, however, reunite regularly, celebrate every Fourth of July together, and have set days around Christmas and Thanksgiving dedicated to each other.
Sarah said strangers sometimes imagine having so many siblings must be “horrible,” but she disagrees.
“It’s not like a circus. I’d never change anything about our childhood. We operated as a very normal family.”
As the family has grown, Sarah has enjoyed the new members, often visiting her six nieces and nephews.
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And she hopes to have a large family herself one day.
“I definitely want a big family — probably about four or five kids.”
