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Doug Age: 41
Occupation: design director
Camille Age: 40
Occupation: homeschooling mom
Married: 18 years

CPT: Let's do a quick role call. What are your kids' names and ages?

Camille: Noah is 15, Chloe is 13, Zephan is 12, Noelle is 10, Micah is 8, Jessie is 6, Gabrielle is 3, and Danielle just turned 1.

CPT: Whew! You must be pretty flexible to be able to deal with a 15-year-old and a 1-year-old.

Doug: That's what makes it fun!
Camille: I don't find it hard to switch gears between soothing a baby and having a heart-to-heart with a teenager. The diversity makes things much more interesting.

CPT: What does your typical day look like?

Camille: We have an informal breakfast and then homeschool starts at 9 a.m. I have about 45 minutes of individual time with each child before lunchtime. After lunch we do planned activities that everyone can do together in groups. We go until 3:30 p.m. It's a long school day because there are so many kids. The kids play with their neighborhood friends in the afternoon and then dinner is at 7 p.m. After dinner and family devotions, it's time to start transitioning people to bedtime.

CPT: How do your kids feel about being part of a large family?

Camille: They like all the attention we get when we go places—people come and talk to us. And they enjoy always having others to play with. I haven't heard anyone say, "Oh, I wish I was an only child." They're actually kind of proud of having so many brothers and sisters.

CPT: What do you love about it?

Doug: I love seeing how unique each person is. Even the youngest is an important part of our personality as a group. Believe it or not, if just one person is absent, we feel it. We enjoy all the different personalities God has put in our family—it's the ultimate act of creativity!

CPT: Do you have any unique house rules that help your home run smoothly?

Camille: Our main one is formal table manners. We make everyone wait until everyone else is served before we start eating. Otherwise, the first ones served would already be finished by the time the last ones were getting their food! We'd be running back and forth the whole time getting seconds and thirds. Plus, Dad serves all the plates so there's not the chaos of people grabbing. The other thing we've had to do is train everyone to be ready to go on time. When I say, "Everyone get your shoes and your coats on, we're leaving," I don't want it to take 30 minutes. Losing shoes can be a big problem; there are just so many pairs! So we have a closet where everyone has to keep his or her shoes. Once I took my two-year-old to the doctor with just one shoe on. We couldn't find the other one and we needed to leave, so off we went.

CPT: What are the toughest aspects of parenting eight kids?

Camille: I'd probably say feeling stretched very thinly as a mom. There are so many emotional and material needs to meet. You have to teach children there's a limit to the amount of attention, money, and diversions you can provide them. And I've had to learn to rely on other people. I can't possibly do everything myself with this big of a family, even though I want to. So I have to get my children to help me.
Doug: Parenting eight children can seem daunting. But we didn't give birth to eight kids at one time. Learning how to be parents is a process. We're 15 years into the process and we've still got a lot to learn, but gradually we've been able to handle more and more. And we've developed an intentional vision for our lives based on the everyday ramifications of living by faith, not on what is the most convenient.

CPT: Do you have any parenting principles that guide you?

Camille: It always comes down to pointing the children to Christ. When they mess up, I say, "Yeah, you messed up. This is bad. But there's a remedy for that. There's Christ." Or, "Yeah, it's really hard not to do that same thing over and over. Well, there's a remedy for that, too. The Holy Spirit can help you."
Doug: We don't want anyone to get lost in this group. Everyone is special; no one is more important than the other. So we make a big deal about birthdays, and we're intentional about presents—giving gifts specific to each child's interests. We want our family to be a place that nurtures each child's creativity. We encourage each one to explore his or her interests, whether it's writing, drawing, dancing, or graphic design.

CPT: How do you make time for your relationship?

Camille: We steal moments here and there. I'm in the nursery at church a lot with the baby, and Doug will sit with me instead of going to a class himself so we can talk. And I often write him notes about what's really going on with me. We don't always have time for deep conversations about how we feel, so I write it down.
Doug: Those notes are valuable to me. It only takes me a few minutes to read them, but they provide a window into her world. They help me respond to her better because I have more insight than if I'd just come home and said "hi." I've also recently started calling Camille on my commute home, and that's been a really good time to connect, too.

CPT: What do you look forward to?

Doug: We hope someday we'll be able to look back and, by God's grace, have done a good job raising our children. Faith and hope are a big part of what our family is about.

What About You?
Could your family be a "CPT Family"? Let us know! Please send us your family photo and tell us about your family in 100 words or less. Send your submission to CPT Families at 465 Gundersen Dr., Carol Stream, IL 60188; fax: 630-260-0114; e-mail . We regret submissions and photos cannot be acknowledged or returned.

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