Mum-of-22 Sue Radford’s kids left unimpressed and grumpy by latest Elf on the Shelf prank but she finds it hilarious
MUM-of-22 Sue Radford created an Elf on the Shelf prank for her kids – but they were less than impressed with her efforts.
The Morecambe-based mum, 49, had positioned the cheeky toy riding on a reindeer with a bundle of presents scattered around.
While the gesture was thoughtful from Sue, her kids were unamused.
On her Instagram Stories, the busy mum could be heard saying: “What have the elves done?
“Heidie, are you going to open your present? Does it have your names on?”
Three of Sue and Noel’s kids opened their packages to reveal the mystery contents inside – and weren’t happy at all.
The ‘elves’ had wrapped up their school uniform ahead of lessons that day.
Chuckling, Sue asked: “What? What have they done?! They’ve wrapped your school uniform!
“Hallie is unimpressed.”
Meanwhile little Heidie, four, ended up chucking her uniform away from her in the lounge.
Sue captioned the comical moment: “Take them back to the North Pole.”
Sue and Noel are parents to Chris, 35, Sophie, 30, Chloe, 29, Jack, 27, Daniel, 25, Luke, 24, Millie, 23, Katie, 22, James, 21, Ellie, 19, Aimee, 18, Josh, 17, Max, 15, Tillie, 14, Oscar, 13, Casper, 12, Hallie, nine, Phoebe, eight, Archie, seven, Bonnie, six, and Heidie, four.
Sadly the couple’s 17th child Alfie was still born on July 6, 2014.
The family are known for going all out for Christmas, so it’s no surprise their ‘millionaire mansion’ has yet again been transformed to look like Santa’s grotto.
Dad-of-22 Noel took to YouTube to show off some of their decorations, which include a Christmas tree in nearly every room, twinkling lights, and more fireplace stockings than you’ve ever seen.
Christmas Day certainly doesn’t come cheap, with Sue revealing she typically spends between £100 and £250 on each of their children.
Shopping can be a mission, with Sue sharing she usually gives around 300 presents in total.
Radford Christmas lists
With this huge task in mind, the Morecambe-based mum, 49, shared on her YouTube channel how she was helping her kids write their Christmas lists.
In the clip, Sue and Noel read out some of the requests, and this year the kids are hoping for slime, make-up, sweets, headphones, a PlayStation 5 controller, and a colouring set, among other toys.
Noel said: “Slime seems to be quite popular across the board here.”
In the months leading up to Christmas, the parents pinch their pennies to save £5,500 to buy the kids’ presents.
And while most families simply chuck their presents under the tree when they’re wrapped, Sue has a personalised sack for each child so the gifts don’t get mixed up – and to save herself having to buy hundreds of tags.
Wrap artists
Of course, wrapping doesn’t come easy, and Noel and Sue also get through a staggering 70 rolls of wrapping paper every year.
Thankfully, Sue considers herself a “demon wrapper”, according to MailOnline, as she can wrap a whopping 20 presents in just 15 minutes and has got her process down to a tee.
She added: “I buy presents through the year, and wrap them as they come in.
“One of our biggest headaches at Christmas is where to hide all the gifts. We have them everywhere — even in the boiler cupboard. The trick is remembering where.”
How does family-of-22 the Radfords afford to live?
AS Britain’s biggest family, it may come as no surprise that Sue and Noel Radford must have some hefty bills.
Between them, they have a whopping 22 children and seven dogs, which often has some people wonder how they manage their money.
The Radfords support themselves with the proceeds of Noel’s bakery, The Radford Pie Company, which is located near their home.
On their website, it says: “We have owned our own lovely bakery since 1999 which is how we manage to provide for (and feed) our huge and expanding family as well as for the local people of Heysham and Morecambe.”
The family expanded their business to cater to online orders placed across the UK.
The business is a family affair, with Noel at the helm, and some of their children helping out.
The older kids, who are working at least part-time, don’t get a free ride as they’re made to pay a small amount of rent to their parents.
“Us older ones do pay a little bit of board. Granted it’s not a lot but I’m also trying to save up for my own house at the moment.” their daughter Chloe said in a video on the YouTube channel.
Sue added: “We’ve always said if you want to buy somewhere, renting is a bit of dead money, so we’d rather you saved that money up and stayed at home a bit longer.
“I also do believe they should pay board if they are earning. We’ve always been brought up by our parents that we had to pay board.”
Noel and Sue famously don’t rely on benefits for their bumper brood and live off their pie shop for income.
They also revealed they make money from brand partnerships on social media.
The Radford family stars in their own reality TV show 22 Kids and Counting – which has run for four series.
Brand expert Andy Barr believes Noel and Sue have been paid less than £10,000 for each show.
He told the Daily Mail: “The typical fee per episode is going to be in the thousands rather than the tens or hundreds of thousands that people often think is the case with TV shows of this nature.
“If they continue to get commissioned for a fourth or fifth season, then they are going to be able to command a higher fee.”
He estimates that the Radfords make £ 5,000 an episode.