It's hard to even dignify that with a response, but I'll try... these children are not in a cult. People are afraid of what they don't understand, and their 1st instinct is to criticize and find fault. These children take private music lessons (outside the home - I might add) and they enjoy activities outside the home and church (I saw one thing where the oldest boy was ice-skating on a date - GASP! Normal!) Yes, the girls do most of the cooking, but they have been taught to change a tire and check the oil. The boys are trained to fix the cars and make home repairs, but they also cook on occasion (mostly on the grill, LOL, if that's not normal for a man I don't know what is). And when has it become so bad to instill domestic things on children, anyway? The mom worked outside the home, she knows the value of an education, she certainly "works" whether or not people think raising a family is work or not! She could probably teach some middle managers a thing or two about organization, delegation, cooperation, and reward!
It amazes me how people talk about how hard a job it is to raise their children up right, yet, look around for the absolute cheapest child care they can find! I work, so don't get me wrong, I know most people who have children and work, don't have a choice, but a lot do have the choice and even then they will "shop" around to find the cheapest person to do the most important job.
And I disagree that these children will "get out in the real world and realize how the rest of the world was allowed to grow up"; I think they will grow up and realize how blessed they were to have such loving, supportive, parents AND siblings, and how sad it is that so many people only talk/see their families on major holidays and funerals! They will probably feel very lucky!
) I think if you don't nurture each child's own personal interest and make them all play violin, and make all the girls do laundry and cook, then this is what you get.... Simply Drones
