Karen Derrico has insisted that she has a “special” time with all her 14 children despite the chaos of managing a large family.
The Doubling Down With The Derricos returned for its new season to continue sharing Deon and Karen Derrico’s challenges and fun times with their massive family. The TLC reality show premiered its first season in 2020 and is back for its fourth series in 2023.
In a new interview, Karen Derrico opened up about the challenges that come with raising so many children, but she insisted that she makes sure to have a one-on-one with every child.
Karen Derrico ensures she has “special time” with all 14 kids
The TLC star got candid on how she juggles her life as a mother of 14 children while ensuring she has time to bond with each one of them.
“One way for bonding is through homeschooling,” she told Distractify in a new interview. “That’s the time when we find their strengths, likes, and dislikes. We make the time by having family meetings and discussing what we are working on and how we as a family will support that individual.”
Karen and her husband Deon Derrico are parents to 17-year-old Darian, Derrick, 12, 11-year-old twins Dallas and Denver, and nine-year-old quintuplets Deonee, Daician, Daiten, Deniko, and Dariz.
They also welcomed five-year-old twins Diez and Dior, and three-year-old triplets Dawsyn, De’Aren, and Dyver.
Karen says family bonding is down to simple chores
Further in the interview, Karen said that the strongest bonding technique is doing simple chores around the house that every child likes to get involved with.
“We have taken shows, picking days with just that one child for errands where they help us, we use time in the kitchen and find helpers,” she explained.
“We use the ones that want to be a chef,” she continued. “Overall, we just incorporate their wants and desires into our everyday living. If this one loves cooking, we bring them in the kitchen and make an announcement that this particular child helped cook. They love the recognition.”
The reality star previously explained that managing a large family like theirs involves washing three to four loads of laundry every day.
Karen and Deon’s jobs and home
Karen is a stay-at-home mom after the success of their reality show. She used to work at a daycare center after graduating from Kingstree Senior High School in South Carolina.
The Derricos patriarch, Deon Derrico, owns the media company Deon Derrico Entertainment and also works as a real estate investor.
Karen, Deon, and their 14 kids live in a 2400 sqft home in North Las Vegas, Nevada. In the new season, the family considers the idea of moving to a different property because the size of their current house is not big enough and they feel like they live in one “room”.
WATCH DOUBLING DOWN WITH THE DERRICOS EVERY TUESDAY AT 10 PM ET ON TLC