Two turkeys, 30 pounds of butter, six gallons of milk and eight pie crusts. That was a single Derrico grocery run — and it was only Thanksgiving. For five seasons the show turned a 16-person household’s logistics into must-watch TV, and with Deon Derrico saying the cameras are rolling again for a comeback reportedly targeted for 2027, fans are already arguing about which part of daily life deserves the spotlight. So we ranked the five hardest everyday battles in the Derrico house, from the one that merely tests your patience to the one that never, ever ends.
No. 5 — The School Run: Fourteen Backpacks, One Morning
The Derricos ran a hybrid schedule mixing campus days with schoolwork at home — and still had to get a dozen kids out the door by the bell. Karen shared the reality in August 2024: “Week 2 of school is done! Each week I’m tweaking, constantly figuring out what works and doesn’t work!” Deon revealed in a November 2025 podcast interview that he drives a school bus now, while Karen works as a substitute teacher. The eldest Derrico has flown the nest — but 13 kids still need to be somewhere by the bell.
No. 4 — Birthday Season: Fourteen Kids, Six Dates
Fourteen kids, six birthdays — and no month in that house is ever quiet. The quintuplets share September 6, the twins Dallas and Denver share October 9, and the youngest triplets share July 6, so the family throws a party for five, or three, or two kids at once, every single time. Karen summed up the quints’ 11th birthday in September 2024: “Blessings x Five!!! Happy Birthday to our Quintuples!! The big 11!!!” The triplets are seven now; the “triplins” Diez and Dior are nine. See all 14 Derrico kids ranked youngest to oldest: 13 years separate the eldest from the youngest.
No. 3 — The Grocery Run: Feeding 18 on One Cart
“Just know, this is not a normal dinner. This is Thanksgiving dinner for a family of 18.” Deon said it in the Season 4 finale, “We Are Family,” as he loaded his four eldest kids into the car for the Thanksgiving grocery run for a family of 18. Thanksgiving runs ten dishes, with 30 pounds of butter and two turkeys. Derrick had to return his bacon — wrong brand — because, as he put it, “Poppy’s OCD is on another level when he shops.” At checkout, Darian guessed $300, the boys $250 and $231, and the episode cut away before the total was revealed.
No. 2 — Homework Hour: Nine Kids, One Kitchen Table
Before the hybrid schedule, Karen homeschooled nine of her 14 children through Bridgeway Academy — nine students, one kitchen table, one very strict drill sergeant. “I start them getting ready by 7:15,” Karen once explained, with an 8 p.m. bedtime rule — 15 minutes docked for every misstep. Hybrid school in 2024 did not make it simpler, just different: Karen’s August 2024 montage showed kids hunched over laptops and worksheets, the youngest ones using a bench as a table while sitting on the ground. It repeats every single weekday — no holiday version, no day off.
No. 1 — Laundry Mountain: The Chore That Never Ends
No episode ever fully showed it, because no camera could hold it all in frame. Sixteen people generate a mountain of laundry every single day, and unlike a birthday or a grocery run, there is no finish line — fold one load and three more appear. No applause, no dance video, no checkout total — just a household that outgrew every washing machine it ever owned. Laundry Mountain takes the crown because every other battle on this list ends. This one just waits for tomorrow.
YOU MAY LIKE“We’re Filming Right Now” — Deon Derrico Confirms the Derricos’ TV Return Is ComingSo here is the question for the comeback: Deon drives a school bus now and Karen substitute-teaches — when the cameras roll again, which daily battle should the new season film first: the 6 a.m. school run, or the laundry pile that never, ever shrinks?
