Getting ready for school in the morning can be a struggle for a family of any size – so how do Scotland’s biggest families cope?
Surprisingly well, according to mum Emma Hann, whose brood of 13 children, living in Lochee together with dad Roy, is one of our country’s biggest families.
In the mornings at the Hann household, Alice, 22, gets ready for work, while Jennifer, 19, and Jonas, 16, both prepare for college.
Enos, 13, and Eva, 12, get dressed for school at St John’s High School and Posy, 10, and Meg, 6, put on their Camperdown Primary School uniforms.
Mum Emma, 51, of Buttars Loan, said: “We only have four at school now so it’s much easier than it was.
“I wake the high schoolers up at 7.30am then the wee-er ones at 8am. Sometimes they might go in for a bath if they’re sleepy because it helps them wake up.
“It was all quite exciting this morning but it will get harder as the weeks go by.”
Emma said her life was suddenly “much easier” when youngest child Meg started primary school last year, after “decades” of nursery runs and half days.
And even getting the kids’ uniforms was a “doddle” this year for the well practised mum, who said it was “chaos” when she had more children at school.
She said: “We lived in America when we had nine and they didn’t have school uniforms there, then we came back here and it was a nightmare trying to get everything they needed.
“The worst thing is shoes. We tried cheap shoes but it wasn’t worth it financially because they only lasted a few weeks then they needed new ones again.”
Emma says she now buys more expensive shoes, but only purchases a few new shirts, trousers or skirts and cardigans for the first day back, at a cost of around £270 this year.
She then picks up more items as the school year goes on.
However mum of 10, Heather Esplin, from Kirkton, prefers to buy her kids their uniforms all in one go – shelling out more than £1,000 ahead of their first day back.
Heather’s six children who are still at school got four full uniforms each – that’s four shirts, four jumpers, four trousers or skirts and blazers for the oldest and youngest.
And four of the school kids got new shoes in one shopping trip, costing more than £470 that day alone.
Heather, 46, who works as a health care assistant, said: “If I’m on shift three days in a row, I need to know that the kids have their uniforms.
“I’ll do the laundry after I’ve done my shifts – it’s all part of having a big family, it’s normal for me.”
Living with her and husband Alan at their home in Helensdale Avenue, are Baldragon Academy pupils Dana, 16, James, 14 and Robyn, 12.
Younger ones Owen, 10, Alan, 7, and Isaak, 5, all attend Sidlaw View Primary School.
But the first day back was slightly more emotional for Heather this time, as she dropped off her youngest son Isaak at his first day of P1.
She said: “He was very nervous. He was at nursery before but they were in small bubbles so going into a class of 30 was daunting for him.
“Usually they would have school visits when the kids were there and go in for shows and things like that, but they didn’t have any of that this year.
“He only got taken in when the school was empty to see his classroom so he hasn’t experienced what it’s like going to school when it’s full of kids.”
Heather said this left Isaak feeling less prepared for the transition to school than her other children had, but he quickly settled when he saw teachers he knew though his bothers.
She said: “He coped really well and enjoyed it. I was able to take him right into the classroom to drop him off and see that he was settled and happy.
“It went a lot better than I expected and it’s nice to hear that he had a good day.”
P1s start their first day as schools across Dundee, Perth and Fife reopen
