The proud mom shared a back-to-school picture of her eight youngest children.
Back to school! Nadya Suleman, often referred to in the media as Octomom, shared a new photo of her eight youngest children ahead of their first day of school.
“First day of 8th grade. Be proud of yourselves kids for being kind, respectful, and helpful to all your fellow peers, teachers and staff. You are exceptional role models to the 6th and 7th graders. I love you ❤️,” she captioned the photo posted to Instagram on Wednesday.
Suleman added a little disclaimer for her followers, writing, “(Side note to critics: their older siblings did not want me to post a picture on their first day. I respect their choice, so should you)."
In the picture, Suleman's octuplets, Makai, Jonah, Josiah, Noah, Jeremiah, Maliyah, Isaiah and Nariyah, pose in front of a garage with their arms linked around each other as they flash their smiles for the camera -- and show off their individual back-to-school styles.
Missing from the photo were Suleman’s oldest children, Elijah, 21, Ameerah, 20, Joshua, 19, Aidan, 16 and 15-year-old twins Calyssa and Caleb.
While her oldest children remain largely out of the spotlight, Suleman often posts pictures of her youngest children via Instagram.
In January, the proud mom celebrated her eight babies becoming teenagers.
“Happy 13th birthday to Nariyah, Isaiah, Maliyah, Jeremiah, Noah, Josiah, Jonah, and Makai! You are all growing into some of the most kind, humble, grateful and loving human beings I have ever known. Each of you possess rare and unique characteristics, and are unlike any other child of your age, particularly in our society today,” she captioned a throwback picture of her kids.
“You are selfless, altruistic, nonmaterialistic, and loving, fearing, followers of God. I have never seen children who love and want to serve others, (particularly those less fortunate), so boldly and confidently like each and every one of you do. You are not followers of this shallow world, but of a God that created and loves you unconditionally. I do not know what I could possibly have done to deserve being blessed so bountifully.
I love you ❤️.”
In 2018, Suleman spoke with The New York Times about letting go of the Octomom persona that she initially felt she needed to make money. Upon letting go of the “caricature," Suleman shared that she had a new perspective on life.
“I was pretending to be a fake, a caricature, which is something I’m not, and I was doing it out of desperation and scarcity so I could provide for my family,” she told the publication at the time. “I’ve been hiding from the real world all my life.”
“I have PTSD from all the reporters coming in over the years," she added. "I would take whatever I could back in the days, and I would let them in. I was spiraling down a dark hole. There were no healthy opportunities for Octomom. I was doing what I was told to do and saying what I was told to say. When you’re pretending to be something you’re not, at least for me, you end up falling on your face.”
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