Madeleine West details the reality of shopping at Christmas with six kids

Madeleine West may be a celebrity, but that doesn’t make her immune to the everyday stresses of life as a mum, particularly during the festive season.

In a column for 9Honey on Tuesday, the 40-year-old actress revealed the relatable hardships she encountered while Christmas shopping with her six children.

The Neighbours star is mum to Phoenix, 13, Hendrix, 10, Xascha, eight, Xanthe, seven, and twins Xahlia and Margaux, four, who she shares with her celebrity celebrity chef husband of 15 years, Shannon Bennett.

Madeleine admitted she was reduced to ‘tears’ during a recent shopping outing with her brood. 

And after spending five hours shopping with her kids, Madeleine couldn’t help but notice the other ‘exhausted’ parents at her local shopping centre. 

At first she questioned whether her ‘panic’ was prompted by ‘the usual festive frenzy’ or more ‘a product of Mass-crisis than Christmas.’ 

She also noted that she’d witnessed ‘four drivers in the carpark having a verbal stoush from behind their wheels as they vie for the last remaining spot’. 

Madeleine revealed she felt a strong sense of camaraderie with the other parents, and confessed she had became a ‘woman on the verge of tears’ simply because her favourite takeaway store had shut down.  

Despite the traumatic shopping trip, Madeleine maintained that she’s still looking forward to Christmas this year. 

Last week, she confirmed her mother, Jules, had come to Sydney to spend time with the family after spending months in stage four lockdown in Melbourne. 

Posting a few photos of her mum on Instagram, Madeleine revealed her daughters had already enjoyed some bonding time with their grandmother.

‘Real life actual evidence of the impact of lengthy social distancing and border closures… when grandma finally arrives from after a full year away, the six-year-old twin granddaughters will transform her into a human hairdressing salon,’ she wrote.