DOING laundry – a weekly chore that most of us dread and avoid like the plague.
But if you thought your few socks and T-shirts was a nightmare to deal with then spare a moment to pray for one mum-of-12 who has to go through a whopping 60 loads of washing every week.
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Alicia Dougherty, from New York, better known as Dougherty Dozen on Instagram, demonstrated just how massive the mountain of laundry gets – and it’s making people panic.
The huge brood consists of Alicia, her partner John, as well as their twelve children, some of whom the couple’s adopted.
Of course, this means a never-ending stream of dirty clothes, which the mum has to tackle at the end of the week.
According to the US-based parent, at the end of every seven days there will be an astonishing 60 loads of laundry for her to sort out.
As she’s sitting on her knees making her way through the pile, the mountain of fresh garments looks so intimidating, people have even demanded Alicia received an award.
But whilst some were praising the mum, others were less than impressed – they insisted the older kids of the bunch needed to assist her.
”If they helped everyone would be happier,” one Instagram user commented.
Someone else agreed, writing: ”I think the older kids should fold their own clothes.”
”again you’re posting this as if it’s normal,” a third penned after watching the viral video.
”Everyone in the household should help with basic chores such as laundry. this is ridiculous.”
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The family regularly shares their everyday routine on social media and recently showed what each morning looks like for the busy mum-of-12.
After getting up before 6am, Mum Alicia recorded herself in the kitchen on a weekday morning.
In the short clip, she starts by laying out bacon covering two baking trays and then puts them in the oven.
Next up, she laid out 24 slices of bread on the kitchen counter – she adds, spreads, ham and cheese and folds each pair over to make a sandwich.
The mega mum then cut these in half and put each in a separate bag.
Next she laid out all 12 children’s packed lunch bags and added an apple, drink, yoghurt, sandwich, crisps and what looked like a Christmas card to each.
She packed those away and next up she broke and whisked 30 eggs and put them into a pan on the hob to make scrambled egg.
The final job for the busy mum was to serve up the mounds of bacon, mega pot of eggs and pile of buttered toast for her brood.
Josh and Alicia Dougherty struggled with infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss for nine years and so decided to adopt from foster care.
Their first child Alex, now 16, moved in in 2010 and they adopted him in 2011 when he was five years old.
Just six days after adopting Alex, the couple found out they were pregnant with Zoe, now 10, who was born in 2012.
Next the family adopted James, now 15, who formally joined the foursome when he was six years old back in 2013.
It was only two weeks later that they found out they were once again pregnant with Dash, now 8.
Next up, they were asked to take in twins Jason and Jordan, both now seven. This was only supposed to be a temporary foster care placement for five days in 2015, but three years later the family adopted them.
The couple then had two more biological children Bodi-Blaze, now five, who was born in 2016 and Harlee-Quintin, now three, born in 2018.
Just after Harlee-Quintin was born they found out about siblings Patrick, 13, and Brie, 11, who were in a residential treatment facility and needed an adoptive family.
They took in the brother and sister to avoid them being seperated.
Finally they opened their home to Deshaun, 12, and Nivea, 14 who Alicia explained were the children of a friend and they would be staying as long as they needed.
