By Emilie Ng
SITTING down to record a podcast or write a blog can be more challenging when children demand nappies to be changed or you need to lug your nine children into the family mini-van.
But parents Michelle and Jeremy Dart and their nine children are up to the challenge, to tell their story of a happy and larger-than-life Catholic family.
“We believe that families need to know that they can do it, that they can be faithful and they can be a family, and that’s a great celebration,” Michelle said.
The Dart parents and their nine spirited children – Sebastian, 16, Olivia, 14, Alexander, 12, Laura, 10, Gabriel, 8, Theodore, 7, Winston, 5, Ruby, 3, and Edwin, seven months – have been encouraging Catholic families to celebrate life since 2013 when they stared their blog and podcast site, Catholic Families.
Catholic Families is a collection of stories, advice and suggestions to show that big families can also have fun while praying Rosaries and grace before meals, and taking 11 people to weekly Mass.
On a recent family holiday to the Gold Coast, the Dart family van paid a visit to Brisbane’s St Stephen’s Cathedral to talk about their crazy life and how God has called them to document it on the Internet.
“We do it because that’s who we are, and because it’s what we’ve been abundantly blessed by God – these amazing children and a great relationship,” Jeremy said.
“It’s something we want to talk about, celebrate all that family can be.”
The Darts don’t hide their true colours either, open about the blessings as well as the struggles of juggling a hectic homes-chooling schedule, weekly Scouts meetings, football training, and feeding the family.
While the family is based in Melbourne, they are already building a steady fan base of Catholics from New Zealand, their hometown Perth, and in Brisbane.
Both Michelle and Jeremy are “humbled” by the huge response to their blog, which ranges from posts on the sacraments, and how to keep kids Catholics, to life at 40, and the challenges of moving a family from Australia’s West to the East.
The more common question posed to the couple is, “How do you do it?”
“We ran into old friends, who when we got married were still single, and 15 years later, they’re saying, ‘How do you do it?’,” Michelle said.
“I said, ‘Breathe and enjoy. They grow up too quick’.”
Breathing is one suggestion, but a strong relationship between husband and wife also helps hide “the dragon lady”.
“With Michelle and I, one of the things we talk about a lot is when one of us is down, knowing when and how the other needs support – when it is you need the downtime or a ‘kid-intolerant day’, or KI, as our family calls it,” Jeremy said.
“You need to live life from the overflow rather than an empty half-glass,” Michelle said.
“You can’t parent with a half-glass.”
The Darts also take refuge in the eternal bond of their wedding vow, publicly declared 17 years ago on October 31, 1998.
“We’ve always stood on the fact that we’ve made a commitment and that commitment is rock solid,” Jeremy said.
“There’s no back door,” Michelle said.
“We closed the back door the day we got married,” Jeremy said.
Following their Gold Coast holiday, the Catholic couple said it was “back to the good lifestyle”, juggling online fans and needs of their nine kids growing in their faith journey.
“We’re constantly saying, ‘What’s next, God? What do you want to do with us?’,” Michelle said.
