Eight boys keep Carson woman's hands full

On a typical day Rhonda Carter might make 25 trips to town in her car.

There's the grocery store, the bank, work - typical errands that occupy the life of a busy mother.

But Rhonda's family has a twist. Her house is full of boys - eight boys, to be exact - and she's hanging on for the ride.

Rhonda and husband, John's, sons range in age from 11 months to 17 years. And between the baby feedings, sports practices and clean up, she works twice a day as a crossing guard at Bordewich-Bray Elementary School.

To the outside observer hers might seem like a schedule that simply does not permit work. Work for her is just another item on her daily list of chores.

The ups and downs, she says, are easy enough to handle with the right attitude.

"It probably would be overwhelming if I always had a big group," she says. "But just like anything else, you grow into it. I just got used to it."

Like most boys, the Carters' interests vary. Some like football, others baseball and wrestling. One of the boys has always wanted to be a police officer. With all the variety, juggling schedules is a way of life. On the walls of the family's southeast Carson home, the day-to-day errands are mapped out.

Rhonda said she starts the day by getting the children fed and ready for school. After dropping three children off and working the crosswalk at Bordewich-Bray, she sprints home where she does home schooling for two more. Then its back to school for afternoon crosswalk duty and getting the next batch of kids to their practices and after school activities.

On top of the day-to-day schedule, Rhonda is also currently serving as the Little League Baseball commissioner.

All of the children have had at least a portion of their education in the home. Rhonda said she started the practice when she was "young and idealistic." She continues, she says, because it instills a sense of independence in the children. "I feel very strongly about the influence of peers."

The children are regularly tested by the school, she says, and score very well. Some of the children finally enrolled in public schools to participate in sports.

At home everything is shared with little personal space. The two oldest boys, 16 and 17, share a room. The rest of the children "play musical beds" or sleep on the couch - wherever there is room. Add to the mix the limitations of two bathrooms. Rhonda says it's not very complicated with boys, "but sometimes I can't go to the bathroom."

Cooking for the clan is a challenge. Instead of picking up a weekly Costco-size load of food, Rhonda gets to the store several times a week. It keeps the reality of the enormity of her family in check.

"If I bought a week's worth of food it would just be too much. It would take me an hour," she said.

A typical dish on the Carter family table might require 4 or 5 pounds of meat. Getting used to cooking large meals is like getting used to all of the other tasks of family life.

"It's easy enough when you're used to it," she says. "We spend more time going to the trash than anything else."

Rhonda and John, who both hail from the East Coast met in a Las Vegas church while on vacation. He works at the Nevada State Prison on Fifth Street.