Something to talk about

[LWimages]

A couple is getting a new reality show because they have 18 kids.
There are laws about people having more than 15 puppies.
I mean, how can you give fair attentions to all kids evenly?

What are all y'all's thought on this?

[Howard Barlow]

You mean the Duggers? I've never seen such well behaved children, and such organization. Then, there's John and Kate, plus 8. What a riot.

[Jenny Z]

*cough*

Be careful with this topic....

I think if they can handle it, good for them. If it's the same couple I'm thinking of, all their children are happy, all their basic needs are taken care of, and their parents are loving, wonderful people.

I have quite a few friends who have what some would consider a "large" family, the largest being 5 boys... they're the happiest family I've ever seen, and their kids are incredibly well behaved and educated. They all get attention and love, and I envy them.

We hope to have 4, maybe 5 one day. Gotta get the first one though.

[jdwme]

have you seen any of the previous shows? They started filming the family when they had 14 children and were pregnant with the 15th. A little strange in these times but this family works. They are able to care for all of them and they are not in debt. My wife loves the specials on this family and I have watched them all with her. Plus you have to remember puppies are not like caring for kids, eventually the kids can start to help out with the family. It really is an interesting family , some families have only 1 or 2 kids and can't stay out of debt, they have 17 working on 18 and don't have any debt.

[MicWayWal]

Didn't seem to be problem for families in this country up until the last 50 years. Hey when I was a kid in the 60's, I knew families that had 6, 7 & 8 kids all over the place. We thought families with 12 kids was a big family. Your priorities have to be arranged correctly however.

I have my doubts that most families can do it right today, because parents are so concerned about THEIR well being and happiness, not their children. We raised 4 children and it was not hard at all if your priority is your children. They are all young adults 18 - 22, in college right now. All four are well adjusted, straight AB students and well on their way to a good adult life. I am not trying to brag, just trying to illustrate. We were told by well meaning people that trying to raise more than two kids was foolish. We knew better.

[Arnor]

Hi Louis,

My great-great grandfather had 21 children. He married 3 times, lost two wifes to illness and had 7 children with each of them. My grandparents had 13 children who survived to adulthood (born in 1918 - 1945) and two who died young. My parents had 7 children and my mother had 1 from previous relationship. I and my siblings have a total of 13 children if my counting is correct - only one is mine but I have 2 grown stepchildren that my wife had from previous marriage. My wife's aunt had 17 children, 10 boys and 7 girls. So, I am no stranger to very large families!

So, if people can deal with the kids, and usually it seems that people with a lot of kids can, I don't see a problem with it. I think people with one kid have lot more problems than people with more kids. Kids are great babysitters. We babysit our grandson once a week or so and our daughter who is 7 years old basically takes care of him. He absolutely adores her and just starts giggling when he sees her! We've had to take care of him once or twice when she wasn't home and we very quickly realized why it's easier to have more kinds than less<bg>

Best regards,

[MikeyG1965]

With a family that large, you have to be organized and there has to be cooperation from everyone.

[kronos2818]

Originally Posted by louis24x7

A couple is getting a new reality show because they have 18 kids.
There are laws about people having more than 15 puppies.
I mean, how can you give fair attentions to all kids evenly?

What are all y'all's thought on this?

I am the youngest of 10, I have 3 brothers and 6 sisters. My father came from Mexico. Married a local Hispanic female, worked for a auto body shop for 20 years then at age of 45 with 8 kids opened his own auto body shop which my oldest brother now runs (dad past away 7 years ago) had 2 more kids.

My mom was a full time house wife (that took all her time), She would go food shopping once a week, in 1975 the food bill was $107.00 a week. At that time that would fill up 5 full size shopping carts, or 20 full size paper bags.

We went to church twice a week, I came home from school did my homework and worked in our shop everyday except Saturday (fun play day) and Sunday (church and family day). Only one time in our lives did my father except any kind of government help and that was in 1986 when our shop and half of our house burned down. For a month we live in government housing. The family pulled together and rebuilt the shop and house in a month. I sold my first car a 1977 Vega and give the money to my dad to rebuild (I was a senior in high school).

Now I am 39 married my wife and I have no kids just 6 cats and I wonder how did my dad and mom do it. Both I and my wife work and do OK to pay the house and cars. But how they raised 10 kids with a small auto body business I do not know. Dad did not go to school at all he learned to read and write on his own, my mom only got to the 3rd grade and were able to do what they did. I have a associates degree and my wife has a masters and between both of us, we can only keep up with the car payments.

So if they can support 18 kids in this day and age great for them...

[Frazzled LaShawn]

I am the mother of four boys (8, 6, 2, and 7 months)and I get stares all the time. I also get snide comments from people..."I can tell you how to stop that from happening". I think people forget that these are my children you are talking about. Not some mistakes that I am shoving on society. My kids are well taken care of and that is that. These days kids are seen as either fashion accessories (thanks Hollywood) or burdens. I will gladly give up "luxuries" to be able to have my kids....all four of them!

I say, if they can support them all and if they are happy more power to them. My only complaint is that I think some of their childhood can be lost due to having to play second parent when they get older (from what I have seen on TV of them). But hey, not my business. They take NO public assistance which is more than a lot of people with one kid (or none) can say.

[studiocygnet]

I was the oldest of 8 (Irish Catholic) and we all had our jobs growing up. One kid cleared the table, one washed the dishes, one dried, one put them away, and I changed diapers and babysat when I got older. This may very well have led to the reason why my wife and I have zero kids. I did all my kid raising when I was a kid. In fact, my next youngest sister doesn't have any kids either. My third sister had just two, my fourth brother zero, it isn't until you get to the 4 youngest where the brood size increased to 4 and 5. So while it can be done, I think there won't be much time for soccer and ballet lessons for all the kids. Can you imagine trying to ferry all the 18 kids around to a bunch of different sports and lessons. What size minivan can they get for that?
As for the reality show aspect, I personally boycott all reality shows. I think they are a plague on the airwaves.

[Hanky]

I'm sad that television has to be a factor in this but I am grateful they love and want to bring children in to this world.

[Rson]

Duggers = How a large family should be raised; On 100% cash in hand basis.

John & Kate = What is wrong with Reality TV and People today. The list of free items they have received won't fit on this post. I did see that they took off the wish list off their website.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1400462/posts

[C!LLY]

I think they're funny. My family was the text book definition of disfunctional. I have 3 half sisters, 2 step sisters, 2 half brothers, and 2 step brothers. I only grew up with 2 of my half sisters in home and my two half brothers about 70 miles away. I have my bio Dad and an adopted Dad and was eventually raised by my grandparents. Now I have 2 kids with no plans for any more and my stepsisters each have 2 and 1 of my 1/2 sisters has 2 but my other 1/2 sisters has 5 by 3 different men. Kinda makes you wonder why some people make the life decissions that they make.

[Ahh!]

Zig Ziglar was born to John Silas and Lila Ziglar in Coffee County, Alabama as the tenth of twelve children. When he asked his mother why did they have so many, she asked, "When should I have stopped? At nine?"

[sioleabha]

I was very glad to open this thread and actually find it supportive! I had braced myself.

We're having our 7th child in July. This is my 5th biological child, plus I have two step-children who I am legally adopting. I'd gladly have more if I didn't have a medical issue.

The way I see it, it's not like I'm some welfare queen who can't figure out how to use birth control. I'm married, and my husband is the father of all my children. We give our children a stable home, paid for 100% by us and not by the state. (Would you believe that some people try to make me feel GUILTY for not taking WIC?) We're not rich, but we don't suffer, either. The kids do wear a lot of hand-me-downs, but we also pass out a lot of hand-me-downs to friends and cousins. (This spring I gave away ALL of our baby girl clothes to a friend since our last baby is going to be a boy.)

Lots of people look at me like I'm crazy. Sometimes I get unthinking comments like, "Don't you know what causes that?" and "I don't know how you can take it." Most people just think I'm some kind of superwoman and they don't think they could do it. I say, if you love your kids and put them first, it's a lot easier than you think. (I also tell people with 3 kids that I think THEY are crazy -- 6 kids is MUCH easier than 3 as far as there always being someone to help you, someone to play with, someone to entertain the baby for a few minutes. My children always have someone to pay attention to them, and rarely feel left out, whereas my whole childhood as the oldest of three was a competition as to who was playing with who and who got mom's attention.)

C!LLY, I know a woman with 5 kids by 4 different men. She expects everyone else to take care of her and her children. She doesn't have a home, a car, or a job, and often leaves her kids in the care of others for days or weeks on end. Some people don't make life decisions. They just float along and let whatever happens happen, and assume someone else will clean up after them.