SEVENTH HEAVEN
WITH seven children, there’s never a dull moment for radio host Ben Hannant and wife Emma – and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
With seven children under 13 it may seem that Emma Hannant, wife of former rugby league star and breakfast radio announcer Ben Hannant, would be swamped with gifts on Mother’s Day, but all she wants is for everyone in her large brood to just be happy for the day.
EMMA Hannant’s day starts at the crack of dawn.
As soon as the rooster crows, the pitter-patter of the feet of her seven children fills the home.
Her husband, former league star Ben Hannant, has already started his shift at 90.9 Sea-FM as a breakfast host, leaving Emma alone to feed and dress seven kids under 13.
After breakfast she sends her three daughters – Ella, 11, Ava, 5, and Mia, 9 – outside on their Tallebudgera Valley acreage farm to feed their two horses, pick up the manure and clean up the paddocks.
Sons Brax, 7, and Kyle, 13, have the job of feeding the chickens and dog.
Inside, Emma looks after Koa, 1, and Channing, 3, while rushing to make lunch for all the blond-haired, blue-eyed tribe before getting them dressed and on their way to school.
“Half of the time I’m in my PJs until two seconds before we leave the house,” she said.
“If we get out of the door and get to school on time then we’re having a good day. As long as they get there, it’s a win.”
But things don’t slow down after the school drop off, as Emma has two boys she needs to tire out before putting them down for a nap at midday.
“I have an hour, sometimes two, to get everything done. It’s a mad rush to clean up.
“Most afternoons we have after-school activities … footy or horse riding.
“When I’m doing good, I get dinner going at lunch time. It doesn’t always happen. Some days we might have chicken nuggets straight from the freezer, and that’s just the way it goes.”
Each day, she is lucky to get an hour of alone time to herself – with most nights falling asleep on the couch after putting the kids to sleep at 7.30pm.
“I don’t think there’s any secret to it at all,” Emma said.
“I think every mother feels like they are inadequate, every mother feels like they fail at some point and at other times we feel like we are all over it.
“I went from having one kid to two kids, I thought I couldn’t do it. But you just do, because you have to.
“We just stretch a bit further. The more children we have, the more we grow.”
When the Bulletin asked what she wanted this Mother’s Day – if she wanted a sleep in, breakfast in bed or ditch the kids for a weekend away with her husband – she said no.
“My mother used to say it every Mother’s Day and I used to think ‘oh come on Mum’ but now I have started to repeat her words … ‘I’d like one day of no fighting, no arguing, and for everyone to just be happy’,” she said.
“That would be the best gift. That would be the perfect Mother’s Day.
“My three-year-old son said to me (on Thursday) ‘What do you want for Christmas? Maybe a new pram?’ I thought it was hilarious, because what does it say about me?”
Even though the big family keeps them busy all day, more children aren’t off the cards for Emma and Ben.
“They are my world. You can take my worldly possessions away from me, but I’ll have my children and relationships forever,’’ she said.
“For me, my wealth in life is my family.
“I treasure (them) more than my riches.
“I’m not saying it’s not hard, because it is, but I truly love it. You’re never on your own. You’ve always got someone.
“I love having children. It brings me so much joy.”