Posted by 
A MUM-of-12 has been forced to hit back at trolls after missing her kids’ first day back at school to go to the hairdressers.
Zoe Sullivan, 46, husband Ben, 49, and their dozen children make up one of the country’s biggest families.
Zoe Sullivan is a devoted mum of 12[/caption]
Tuesday marked the first day back at school for the Sullivan kids[/caption]
Zoe shared cute snaps of the kids all ready to go back to school[/caption]
The couple are parents to Elisabeth, 19, Olivia, 17, Noah, 14, Evangeline, 12, Tobias, 11, Agnes, seven, Joseph, five, Florence, two, and two sets of twins – Charlotte and Isabelle, 16, and Leah and Erin, eight.
The bumper brood live in a six-bedroom house in Burghead, Moray, where they regularly document their hectic lives on their YouTube channel.
After a summer full of trips to the beach, playing in the garden and family days out, Tuesday marked the first day back at school for the kids.
Sharing snaps of the youngest four – Toby, Leah, Erin and Agnes – Zoe revealed it was their first day at a new primary school.
She said: “They were all a little apprehensive, but excited nonetheless.”
She added: “The older ones that are left at high school were much less excited, and there was most definitely no photos!!
“I spent the morning at the hairdressers!!
“Without realising the date clash, I booked my appointment ages ago, so missed taking the little ones into school this morning.”
Despite spending the whole morning doing her girls’ hair and getting everyone’s lunches and uniforms ready, Zoe faced backlash for not taking her little ones to school.
One person commented: “Great, but I can’t believe Zoe didn’t go as well. First day at a new school. As a mum I just don’t understand that.”
A second wrote: “You have said the little ones were apprehensive about a new school yet you chose to go to the hairdresser?”
Meanwhile, a third added: “I find it all so sad.”
Attempting to stop the tirade of abuse, Zoe clapped back: “Before anyone else tries the whole mum shame thing on me again, if I had realised, I would probably have rebooked.
“But as appointments are hard to come by with my hairdresser as she is so fab, I didn’t want to miss it to be honest.
“Does that make me a bad mother?? Apparently so according to the Facebook police.”
Pointing out a potential double standard, she added: “Ben wasn’t there at pick up so does that make him a bad father too?? Or is just the mum shaming that works best??”
“Anyone that knows me knows that I love my children more than life itself.
“I actually only left about ten minutes before they did and I did feel bad about not going, but I made sure they had everything they needed, everything was labelled, their hair was done, they were all set and Ben is more than capable of taking them across.
“Also, I would probably have got over emotional as I hate them going back, so it probably was best anyway.
“Shaming anyone just to make yourself feel better is not cool and being mean doesn’t suit anyone.
“The little ones all had a fab day, especially Toby who has made a whole group of new friends.”
And the fuming supermum was immediately inundated with support from other mothers.
Baby No.13?
Mum-of-12 Zoe Sullivan only gets four hours of sleep each night – but would still never say never to baby number 13.
The supermum gets up every morning at 4.45am after only settling down the night before at around midnight.
She said: “I can’t bear being late to anything, and I can’t bear being rushed.
“So if I get up early, I can have a shower, think about what I’m going to do for the day, and get ready.
“I like to get some of the chores in as well before the kids go to school, so I might do two loads of washing and those sorts of things. It does let me get more done.
“I don’t get to bed until around midnight, so I probably average four or five hours’ sleep – on a good night.”
But she still “would never say no” to having another baby, and added: “I think the more we had, the more we realised how much we love having a big family.
“And to be honest, the more you have, the easier it gets, in a weird sort of way.”
One said: “You can’t do right for wrong with some people , your an amazing mum and all your children are well loved and that clearly shows.”
Another chimed in: “You do an amazing job Zoe, some people are never going to be happy whatever you do.
“If you do too much in their eyes your spoiling them and don’t you’re a bad mummy.
“Ignore them. You’re doing your best. Your love for them shines through. Everyone can see that.”
“So all the work you put into getting them to school doesn’t count?” fumed a third.
“Some people just can’t help themselves when I’m sure they aren’t perfect.”
Meanwhile, a fourth echoed: “Ben dropped them off and you picked them up, perfect combination meaning you both got to be there one way or another on their first day.”
