Her sons called her "Tears on Wheels". This Belarusian raised eight children

Valentina Buterus is the mother of the Belarusian singer Janet. She has eight children and eleven grandchildren. All sons and daughters are talented and successful, and Valentina Vasilievna herself is in no hurry to take a well-deserved rest: she continues to work as a social worker. We talked with her about the secrets of upbringing and the traditions of a large family. Named after... Valentina Vasilievna was born in Lithuania. She lived there for 20 years and got married. Her husband, Vladimir Aleksandrovich, was an officer in the flight troops, therefore, like any military family, the Buterus had to move more than once: first to Germany, then to Belarus, to Machulishchi. They have been living here ever since. What is remarkable
“I followed fashion all the time. Before marriage, she went to shows with young models. I especially liked the two blond, blue-eyed children, Jean and Janet. Even then I thought: if a girl is born, I will call Janet, if a boy - Jean.
As a result, children with both names appeared in the Buterus family: the first was Jean, the second - Janet. The third is a daughter, who was named Ella. This is the name of the main character of Valentina Buterus' favorite film Scarlett. The next son is named after Eduard Khil, the fifth - Herman - after a talented actor. Dean - in honor of the famous singer Dean Reed, who came on tour to a military unit in Germany, where Valentina Vasilievna's husband served.

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- When I became pregnant for the seventh time, I found out that there would be twins. Even then I decided: if at least one girl is born, I will call Diana. And so she did. But the name of the second girl could not be chosen until the neighbor said: “For the sisters to be friends, their names should differ by only one letter!”. So I named the eighth child Liana. I have always wanted my children to have rare names. It seems that it worked out, - Valentina Vasilievna remarks with a smile. She cried, as Valentina Vasilievna sang, recalls that when Janet was born, the neighbors were surprised: the baby was crying so that you want to listen to her.
- I was perplexed: she is crying, but they are pleased ?! - says our heroine. - And in Machulishchi, a neighbor once remarked: “Something your daughter hasn’t been doing music for a long time. When she sits down at the piano, I tell my wife: “Well, if only the girl would sing!”
By the way, in the Buterus family, not only Janet is vociferous: Dean and Eduard sing. Everyone simply listens to the song of Vitas performed by Edik! "Tears on wheels" Our heroine assures: there were no problems in raising children. All eight are just for fun! The elders helped look after the younger ones.
“I never yelled at them, I never punished them,” says the mother of many children. - It was like this: I go into the room, I wait a long time when they notice me. Finally, one of the children exclaims: “Mom has come in!” We had many unifying moments. We watched KVN together, laughed, and made up jokes ourselves. Be sure to turn on the TV when they show Paris Fashion Week.

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Sports competitions, kickboxing, for example, were also watched by everyone. Except mom.
“I always gave my children a choice,” says Valentina Buterus. - For example, if they were busy with something, and I asked them to complete some task, they clarified: “Can we do it in 20 minutes?” I agreed because I knew it would be so. I am a very sensitive, suspicious, whiny person. That's what my boys called me: Tears on Wheels. If they saw that their eyes were shining, they tried to do everything so as not to cry. A bunch of guys, but she manages to do everything Valentina Vasilievna recalls how after Germany it was difficult for her to get used to Soviet reality: to come for milk with a can, for sour cream - with a jar, to buy sausages by the piece. Share one chicken for all. And if you have 10 people in your family, then ...
“There were already seven dishes in my head that could be prepared from this chicken,” recalls Valentina Buterus. - It was expensive to buy a lot of cookies at that time, baking them was much cheaper, and even tastier. For the birthdays of children, especially younger daughters, the whole class was invited, and everyone had to cook. At night she baked pies for guests, during the day she made jelly. Then the parents of classmates were interested in: "What did you treat them to so tasty."
For dinner, the family's favorite dish is manti. The pressure cooker, bought back in Germany, is almost 50 years old, but it is still used today. For the holidays, both children and parents must sculpt up to 160 pieces of manti: not only to try them together at the table, but also to take them with them. How is it to leave your mother without gifts?
- Yes, it is not easy to lead a life in a large family. But it was especially hard to hear from people: “A lot of children, and she manages to stand in line, and take everyone to a music school, and on weekends hit the road somewhere with them on the train!”
All the children of Valentina Vasilievna graduated from the Machulin Music School. They studied there diligently and with great interest.
- Once we were offered a piece of land for a garden. I suffered, thought for a whole week, then refused. I realized that there is not enough time for everything. Choosing between the garden and the education of children, she preferred the latter. After all, our whole family had to dig, plant, and water. And when, in this case, do children play music and study? I don’t regret my choice, our heroine sums up. “I rejoice for everyone equally” The whole large family traditionally gathers at the table on January 23 in honor of a double holiday: Valentina Vasilievna's birthday and Janet's wedding day.
Together they meet the first days after the New Year, they definitely gather if there is a replenishment or the time has come for the baptism of a newborn. When relatives from sons-in-law and daughters-in-law also come to the house, more than 40 guests are obtained.

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To the provocative question of whether Valentina Vasilievna loves all children equally, the mother of many children answers without hesitation:
- Of course, I love everyone. But, of course, I miss now more the one whom I have not seen for a long time. I feel sorry for those who are sick. I worry about who needs help the most. And I am happy for everyone equally. Unfortunately, I don’t have many grandchildren yet - only eleven: four girls and seven boys. When there are at least sixteen of them, two for each of the children, then I will say: “That's it, I shot back!”
One of the main gifts of God, our heroine considers daughters-in-law and sons-in-law, whom she calls only golden ones.
- If I need to meet with my son, I call not him, but my daughter-in-law and say: “I haven’t seen my son for a long time!” In less than half an hour, he calls back: “Mamusik, are you at home? I'll come to you in half an hour!"

| Tamara MARKINA, . | Photos from the personal archives of the heroine and open Internet sources.

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