14 Children are not enough???

[onecoolmama]

I agree, Robinrs. I am very fortunate to come from such a huge family. They rescued us from a yucky situation. They took care of me when I needed them to. They (my aunts and uncles) picked me up from school when I was sick...becuase my mom couldnt get there. My mom did the same for my cousins and you always had someone to call and talk to.

I was extremely fortuante my mom was one of 13. And I can only get my DH to agree to 7, but I would love to give to my grandkids what my grandmother gave to me!

 

[SC Minnie]

What struck me by this story is she is only 37!!!! I am 36 and could not imagine giving birth to that many children.

 

[ILMOUSE]

I use to live in Springdale, AR and hear many times of this family in the news. What is not on the posts is that as young as 4(I think, I know Ithought it was young) they were sewing thier clothes and doing laundry. They all play musical instruments. Their father ran for the Senate not this year but when the last seat was up for reelection. He didn't win the primary but he and his kids traveled around the state campaigning. The kids would play music and hand out cookies. I remember the clip of the family walking in single file to the voting polls to watch their parents vote on election day.


I feel it is their choice as to how many they have, but I also wonder what type of issues will the kids have transitioning out into the real world of college etc.

I could never have that many kids.

 

[pw2pp]

The article says that she home-schools the children.
I noticed that 11 of the children are of school-age. How does she home-school 11 children of varying ages and levels AND take care of the babies?
Something obviously has to give and unfortunately, I think it will be the education of the children.

 

[Jeafl]

We also have a Jinger in our school, and her name is pronounced Ginger, so maybe it's not as weird as it seems.

 

[onecoolmama]

Originally posted by pw2pp
The article says that she home-schools the children.
I noticed that 11 of the children are of school-age. How does she home-school 11 children of varying ages and levels AND take care of the babies?
Something obviously has to give and unfortunately, I think it will be the education of the children.

Something would have to give..unless she has hired people to help with the babies and schooling. My grandmother did not homeschool, but she had people to help do the laundry and the ironing. My grandfather travelled all the time, he was almost never home, so she really needed the extra help. And remember, for her there were no dishwashers, no microwaves..so bottles you had to boil the water then feed the kids. Dishes all got washed by hand..and so forth. Plus, my grandfather was almost never there when she gave birth, so these people would also come and watch the kids while she delievered.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

According to the magazine article, she had someone comoing in twice a week to help with laundry, and also the kids take on A LOT of the chores--each older child is responsible for one of the younger children as far as getting dressed, etc., and they also teach each other while being homeschooled. While this made sense out on the prairie or whatever, personally, I don't agree with it. I have no problem with asking an older kid to grab me a diaper or something, but I consider the baby to be MY responsibility, not theirs. They're crazy about her and love to help out, but I just wouldn't make it "their" job.

But hey, so long as they're not looking for government handouts and all, and the kids aren't complaining, more power to them. But I do wonder if it's really what the kids would choose for themselves.

 

[disykat]

Originally posted by Jeafl
We also have a Jinger in our school, and her name is pronounced Ginger, so maybe it's not as weird as it seems.

I was going to say the same thing. I don't get why Jeff/Geoff, Stephen/Steven, Cheri/Sherry, etc. are okay, but people think Jinger/Ginger is weird. It's just another traditional name with a non-traditional spelling - a practice which is quite common.

 

[Keli]

Coming from a large family (I have seven siblings, not nearly fourteen but enough to have a taste of what it's like for them anyway) I can tell you that the older (My twin and I are the oldest) kids in most large families do help take care of younger siblings. It really isn't as much work for each person as you might think (and I'm speaking from the perspective of the oldest child). And the benefits of a large family are tremendous. I loved having someone around to do stuff with all the time. There was always someone to play a game with or to ride bikes or whatever. And our family was always really, really close (we still are) to each other. It's great knowing there are a lot of people to give support when you need it.

 

[luvwinnie]

and she's only 37!!

 

[arminnie]

My mother had 7 sisters and 2 brothers. The sisters especially were all very, very close and my cousins were my best friends.

The father of this Duggar family did run for the U.S. senate in 2002 in the primary. He ran against a sitting senator who had gotten a divorce and mostly just wanted to make a statement for "family" values. He never had a chance.

We used to have the most wonderful family gatherings at all of the holidays. Now some of the cousins' children are grown with their own families and people want to have their own holiday gatherings. We used to have 50 for Christmas but only had 12 last year.

Imagine having 50 people for Christmas dinner in a house with less than 1100 square feet! We had tables in all the rooms - even card tables in the bedrooms.

 

[robinb]

I cannot begin to imagine spending my adult life pregnant and changing diapers.

 

[Saphire]

While that life would never be for me, I don't see the problem with accepting the fact that they are pursuing happiness in their own way. Isn't that what the American Dream is? Everyone seems happy, the children are wanted, loved and cared for, the parents are together. So what if the family consists of fifteen kids? The many benefits of a large family have already been mentioned. I guess I don't understand the problem with the choice they have made, it is their choice, not mine. Best wishes to them.

 

[Jeanny]

saphire, I don't think anyone "has a problem with accepting the fact that they are pursuing happiness" most of us are in awe that they have that many children...and she's only 37, that's amazing!!! I could never do it. I dated a guy who had 12 in his family and that was a huge family to me....I come from a family of 3, my older brother is 6 years older than me and my younger brother is almost 10 years younger. I just can't imagine having that many kids, but it would be nice to have someone always around to do something with... I just wouldn't want to be changing all those diapers at once!!! ppppeeeuuuu.

 

[ducklite]

Well, I hope the children are all happy and healthy.

But, I worry about the population growth in our world. We simply can not sustain ourselves if the population keeps growing.

While I would never expect couples to have no children if they wished for children, I'd rather see them limiting their family size to two children. At least that way the population would remain stable rather than increasing.

The other fear I have with situations like this is who will pay for college for these kids? What if their is some sort of emergency with the family? Who will step in to take care of these kids? In a "normal" family (which come in many varieties, but I think we can all agree that having that many kids is not "normal") if the parents become unable to care fot the kids, usually a family member can step in to care for the two, three, even four children. Very few people would be able to care for that many kids without breaking them up, sending a few here and a few there, which would be a shame. And are the parents insured for enough to provide for their care?

Lots of things to think about here...

And I agree wholeheartedly with BuzznBelle'smom, definitely not fair to make the older kids responsible for a younger one.

Anne

 

[Stepharoonie!]

 

[Lewski709]

Originally posted by ducklite
Well, I hope the children are all happy and healthy.

But, I worry about the population growth in our world. We simply can not sustain ourselves if the population keeps growing.

While I would never expect couples to have no children if they wished for children, I'd rather see them limiting their family size to two children. At least that way the population would remain stable rather than increasing.

The other fear I have with situations like this is who will pay for college for these kids? What if their is some sort of emergency with the family? Who will step in to take care of these kids? In a "normal" family (which come in many varieties, but I think we can all agree that having that many kids is not "normal") if the parents become unable to care fot the kids, usually a family member can step in to care for the two, three, even four children. Very few people would be able to care for that many kids without breaking them up, sending a few here and a few there, which would be a shame. And are the parents insured for enough to provide for their care?

Lots of things to think about here...

And I agree wholeheartedly with BuzznBelle'smom, definitely not fair to make the older kids responsible for a younger one.

Anne

I think you need to do some research and then head over to China for a swell life of your own.

Edited to add: those with multiple births should just be shot too, right?

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Lewski709
I think you need to do some research and then head over to China for a swell life of your own.

Edited to add: those with multiple births should just be shot too, right?

Of course not! There will always be couples with multiple births, and those who choose to have no children. My point is that if each couple would voluntarily make an attempt to limit the size of their families, it will be better for our world in the long run.

As far as China, maybe you need to do some research. The "One Child Rule" was instituted in the late 1970's due to overporpulation in China's urban area's. It was primarily applied to those living in urban areas, and didn't apply to certain ethnic monority groups. Recently the law has been somewhat eased, as China's population has decreased by about 300,000 million.

Anne

 

[aprilgail2]

Personally I would never have that many kids...heck I would never have more than one which is what I can afford to have and still live comfortably and travel as I wish, but if it is what makes them happy and they can afford it then more power to them....as long as my tax dollars aren't going to support a 14 kid family on welfare because they can't afford to feed them it fine by me!

 

[Lewski709]

Originally posted by ducklite
Of course not! There will always be couples with multiple births, and those who choose to have no children. My point is that if each couple would voluntarily make an attempt to limit the size of their families, it will be better for our world in the long run.

As far as China, maybe you need to do some research. The "One Child Rule" was instituted in the late 1970's due to overporpulation in China's urban area's. It was primarily applied to those living in urban areas, and didn't apply to certain ethnic monority groups. Recently the law has been somewhat eased, as China's population has decreased by about 300,000 million.

Anne

People should have as many children as they can afford.......it's that simple. You say it will be better for the world in the long run, I don't think so. There are plenty of people who don't want kids and don't have them. On the other hand, plenty of people who want more than two and do have them. It all evens out.

Who is going to pay for this and that? I don't even know if I will be able to pay for my children's college. I will help the best I can. It isn't because I can't afford things for them now.

If you want a second child in China, you need to petition. Why do you think it has "somewhat eased"? Yeah, population decreased...it did what they wanted now they are allowing petitioning. If it was such a great idea to begin with, they would stand firm on the whole one child per family.

Do more research!