The McCaughey Septuplets

[hrh_disney_queen]

Originally posted by danacara
But I wish they would let that kid play baseball. Surely someone would donate a glove or whatever.

Maybe that was the purpose of the article...Especially the "whatever".

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Originally posted by disykat
Where on earth are people getting the idea they don't let their kids play baseball or hang out with kids from the community? I just read the article. They go to public school. It said they are always asking to play with friends and they can't accomodate them "very often". One wants to play baseball and they've decided not to " for now" because they have weekend commitments with their family that they think are more important.

Does everyone here honestly allow their child to play with friends almost every time they ask? Do you really value letting your kids play on an organized sport team at age 7 more than spending time with your extended family? I was trying hard not to be judgemental of all the comments on this thread - but I've changed my mind!

The things you are judging her for are shocking to me. Shocking because I think parents should make sure that family time is a priority and that there should be times when your family isn't going in all different directions. Large families have to work even harder at this. I saw nothing in this article that indicated they don't let their kids have friends or activities - just that they prioritize them. What in the heck is wrong with that?

disycat........I couldn't agree more.

I think our culture these days says that if your child doesn't play sports at 5 or 6, then your child will grow up somehow "missing something". Funny, my father grew up as one of 6 children, couldn't play sports much because he had to quit school at 16 to support his family. He played with his brothers/sisters and went to public school also. What are we saying?? That our chilren won't grow up to be happy adults if they can't play sports when they are in elementary school??

What about the WWII generation?? They didn't have the luxuries that we have today but they were responsible enough to defend our country when it was needed.

And I love my children so much, I would die for them. Any need/want they have, I want to give it to them. But guess what? They are not first in my life. Of my earthly blessings, my DH comes first, then my children. If I let anyone/anything come before him, we wouldn't have the great relationship we have today. My children know that my Dh and I love each other more than anyone on the face of the earth. Do they think we don't love them?? Do they feel second rate?? NO WAY. In fact, they are secure that Mommy and Daddy will still be together 20 years from now just as we have been for the past 20 years. We have date nights, and once a year we go away for the weekend. Our relationship is priority. I think more need to do this. Maybe we wouldn't have the 50% divorce rate if we did.

I'm not saying I agree 100% with this family either. ANd if people are "giving" to them, then there are no strings attached. When I give to someone/something, I GIVE it. If I don't like how they are running their family/company and don't want to support it, then I DON'T GIVE IT!..To say they have to do this or that because they were given so much by the community, doesn't stand the test of giving.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I don't think you should push children into organized sports either. The article said that the little boy "begged" to play. Don't you think the parents couldn't given a little bit to allow him to at least try it. What in the world is so bad about a little boy playing on a baseball team. I never pushed my kids - they tried different sports and found the ones they liked. They were in dancing school and cub scouts - only as long as they were having fun. I have a large extended family to but I don't think you should limit your children's exposure to just family.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Originally posted by DisneyMomx7
I don't think you should push children into organized sports either. The article said that the little boy "begged" to play. Don't you think the parents couldn't given a little bit to allow him to at least try it. What in the world is so bad about a little boy playing on a baseball team. I never pushed my kids - they tried different sports and found the ones they liked. They were in dancing school and cub scouts - only as long as they were having fun. I have a large extended family to but I don't think you should limit your children's exposure to just family.

Don't they go to public school?? That is 40 hours a week they spend with non-family.

 

[OhMari]

Not to get off the subject, but what does Bobbi's husband do for a job now. He used to be a car salesman, then he switched to a motivational speaker? Anyone?

 

[mrsltg]

Ok, for the record... every year since these kids were born their borthday has been chronicled. They are a human interest story. They seem to be good parents just trying to be good parents - much like the rest of us. Let us not forget that in addition to the fact that they have 8 kids, 2 of them are handicapped. I think Bobbi has her plate full. As far as accepting the house - their community built that for them - why shouldn't they accept the house? They were living in an 800 sq ft home when the 7 babies were born. There was a need, and the community filled it. I also don't see where they are sequestering their children from the community. They are very active in their church, and they live in a small town. It's kind of hard to keep from the community. And as far as her having septuplets - she was not expecting that. She thought twins, maybe triplets, TOPS. I remember seeing her interviewed saying that she was terrified when she found out that she was having 7 babies. She relied on her family and friends to help her - what's wrong with that?

Erin

 

[CarolA]

How many of you would like to submit your every parenting decision for public exposure? I am sure NONE of you ever make a parenting error.

I find threads like this very distrubing. Are we all so prefect that we have noting better to do that throw stones at other people?

 

[Alice28]

I have to add my .02.

I only have two boys right now and am pregnant with my third. My DH is going to be gone for over a year....I have already discussed with my 7 year old that we can't do sports in the spring when baby is due, cause I just cannot see myself running around to practices and games with my 3 year old and newborn in tow. And that's only 3 kids! I allow playdates with the kids on our street at almost any time, and allow my kids to go to most birthday parties. But I can see with 8 kids that one would really have to pick and choose what events to take part of. The kids ARE being socialized with others at school. I just think she was probably trying to say that if they agreed to sports AND playdates AND birthday parties, etc every time they came up, they would CONSTANTLY be on the go-go-go & it would be utterly exhausting.

One of my 7 year old's buddies is one of 6 boys... they are allowed to do occasional playdates, and only neighborhood bday parties because the mom has explained that otherwise she would be shuttling the boys around 24/7. I respect how she runs her family because I think these days so much is centered around how many activities a child does, that family time gets lost in the fray.

JMHO.

 

[phorsenuf]

Originally posted by CarolA
How many of you would like to submit your every parenting decision for public exposure?

They are the ones that make their lives public hence opening themselves up for scrutinizing. If they don't like it, don't give interviews.

 

[disneysnowflake]

I'm wondering, too, what the father does for a living. Could you imagine having to feed 10 people every day?

I couldn't even begin to imagine what it must be like to have 8 children under the age of 8. I only have 2 boys, and their after school activities can be a handful at times.

There is no way I can judge anyone else. I can only imagine that with 8 children (and 7 being the same age) along with some of those children being handicapped that this family has a very full plate.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Ummmm, my mom and dad raised 12 kids, and guess what? We played sports! All of us, at one time or another got to play the sport we loved. My older brothers even got to play football! Not a cheap sport, because you have to buy your own equipment.

And we were poor, poor, poor. Mom did not work and dad made less than $30,000 a year. As porr as we were, we were never deprived. Yes, mom had to say no to many many things, but, when it came to something near and dear to our hearts, they found a way to make it happen. My sister even got to go to those expensive sports day camp few years (she was the spoiled one)

So, given that my mom and dad raised MORE kids than the McCaugheys, given that mom and dad were not handed a house mortgage free to raise those 12 kids, fully equipped with all the appliances (*including the laundramat laundry room), given that mom and dad never ever even went away for a night, anywhere, ever. And still managed to let us play sports, and...AND....go over and play at friends houses..AND.... AND...have friends come over our house!

The McCaugheyts CANNOT cry poor mouth, not considering all the charity they have been given, and every time those kids have their picture in a magazine, they get a nice cozy check.

JMO. From someone who knows what it is like to have MORE siblings than the McCaugheys have.

 

[Kallison]

A responsible fertility doctor would not let a pregnancy such as theirs happen. My SIL has been a fertility nurse for 20 years and none of their patients has ever had more than triplets.

 

[SueM in MN]

One of the Mccaughey boys is having surgery this week. Here's the story from the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Iowa septuplet to have treatment in St. Paul
November 9, 2004
One of Iowa's McCaughey septuplets will be spending his seventh birthday learning to walk again.
Nathan, the sixth baby born to Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey on Nov. 19, 1997, is headed to St. Paul this week for a procedure that could improve his ability to walk, the Des Moines Register reported Monday.
Nathan was born with spastic diplegia, a condition related to cerebral palsy.
Doctors at the Gillette Specialty Network campus will perform a procedure called a selective dorsal rhizotomy, which involves severing nerve rootlets.
The process, which also involves intensive rehabilitation, will take about six weeks.
Sister Alexis has a condition also related to cerebral palsy, but hers does not make her a candidate for the same surgery.
Nathan's mom will accompany him to St. Paul while family members take care of the other children -- older sister Mikayla and the rest of the septuplets -- Kenny, Natalie, Kelsey, Brandon and Joel.

I have one child with cerebral palsy. Although the two septuplets with CP are not as severly affected as my DD is, it would still not be easy to care for 2 kids who require extra care and therapy. This article didn't say anything, but I remember reading in some past articles or seeing on TV that several other of the kids might have learning disabilities and that one (I think it was Kenny) had attention deficit disorder. There are lots of people out there with one child with one of these conditions that are having a hard time coping, so I did think this family needs to have people cut them some slack.

That said, though, they have always struck me as very naive and expecting that whatever they choose to do, it will turn out OK. I'd call that "Jump off the roof and expect God to catch you" Syndrome.
And yes, they did make choices - she didn't just pop up out of the blue pregnant with 7, they made some choice to have that happen. Even though she was taking Pergonal (a pretty high power fertility drug), she didn't expect that it could produce more than twins (from what I have read). A comment I remember was something on the order of "we only had one before, so why would we expect to have more this time." Whether she only heard what she wanted to hear or the doctor didn't do a good job of informing them, I don't know. It has struck me as odd though that in a lot of the interviews before this one, she has said she'd like more children... while she and her DH were on camera looking totally overwhelmed.
This was the first article I saw where she didn't talk about homeschooling. I think she's not quite ever given up her fantasy of being a mom of 2 or 3 kids who she home schools and who play quietly in the backyard while she bakes cookies and bread and makes all their clothes for them.
I send my best wishes to her for the next few weeks; from what I have heard about the recovery from the surgery her son is having, they are in for a tough 6 weeks and lots of extra therapy.

 

[SnowAngel]

Just poppin in to add..

Why just because someone is in the public eye everyone and their brother think they can decide on how to run the helpee's lives. Just because you read or see things about them does not mean you know them. Just because they accepted money/items in time of need does not mean they are beholden to everone. Okay, it's not fair.. they get it and others in life don't.. but hey who said life was fair.

Whether or not I agree with how she raises her children is not an issue, it's minding my own business.

Well, I could say more but gotta pop back out.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Originally posted by SueM in MN
One of the Mccaughey boys is having surgery this week. Here's the story from the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Iowa septuplet to have treatment in St. Paul
November 9, 2004
One of Iowa's McCaughey septuplets will be spending his seventh birthday learning to walk again.
Nathan, the sixth baby born to Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey on Nov. 19, 1997, is headed to St. Paul this week for a procedure that could improve his ability to walk, the Des Moines Register reported Monday.
Nathan was born with spastic diplegia, a condition related to cerebral palsy.
Doctors at the Gillette Specialty Network campus will perform a procedure called a selective dorsal rhizotomy, which involves severing nerve rootlets.
The process, which also involves intensive rehabilitation, will take about six weeks.
Sister Alexis has a condition also related to cerebral palsy, but hers does not make her a candidate for the same surgery.
Nathan's mom will accompany him to St. Paul while family members take care of the other children -- older sister Mikayla and the rest of the septuplets -- Kenny, Natalie, Kelsey, Brandon and Joel.

I have one child with cerebral palsy. Although the two septuplets with CP are not as severly affected as my DD is, it would still not be easy to care for 2 kids who require extra care and therapy. This article didn't say anything, but I remember reading in some past articles or seeing on TV that several other of the kids might have learning disabilities and that one (I think it was Kenny) had attention deficit disorder. There are lots of people out there with one child with one of these conditions that are having a hard time coping, so I did think this family needs to have people cut them some slack.

That said, though, they have always struck me as very naive and expecting that whatever they choose to do, it will turn out OK. I'd call that "Jump off the roof and expect God to catch you" Syndrome.
And yes, they did make choices - she didn't just pop up out of the blue pregnant with 7, they made some choice to have that happen. Even though she was taking Pergonal (a pretty high power fertility drug), she didn't expect that it could produce more than twins (from what I have read). A comment I remember was something on the order of "we only had one before, so why would we expect to have more this time." Whether she only heard what she wanted to hear or the doctor didn't do a good job of informing them, I don't know. It has struck me as odd though that in a lot of the interviews before this one, she has said she'd like more children... while she and her DH were on camera looking totally overwhelmed.
This was the first article I saw where she didn't talk about homeschooling. I think she's not quite ever given up her fantasy of being a mom of 2 or 3 kids who she home schools and who play quietly in the backyard while she bakes cookies and bread and makes all their clothes for them.
I send my best wishes to her for the next few weeks; from what I have heard about the recovery from the surgery her son is having, they are in for a tough 6 weeks and lots of extra therapy.

AMEN! I could not say it any better, Sue! You read my thoughts exactly! I too had a child (now an independent adult) with CP, and we waited 6 years before having another child so we could give her the attention she needed. I can't imagine having 8 children with multiple problems.

 

[goofygirl]

A responsible fertility doctor would not let a pregnancy such as theirs happen.

ITA!


Unfortunately, too many doctors care about money, not morals.

 

[hentob]

Once again, totally irresponsible of them (and their doctor) to take the fertility route that they did.

God's choice? Blah.

They lived in an 800 sq. ft. home? So WHY WHY WHY would they even be so brazen as to take a CHANCE on living beyond their means (ie. multiple births). Oh, yeah. God again. He will provide.

Wow. I hope they enjoy that cruise one day. I can't even imagine the medical bills, the state/government paid therapy and the countless amounts of other dollars GIVEN to this family because of their selfish choices.


Just my opinion.

 

[Lachesis00]

I've often thought if it was God's choice, why didn't he bless them w/a child w/o help from doctors. I don't mean to be rude, but often I heard them say they were looking to God for answers/help and I wondered maybe God didn't want them to have more children or maybe the time wasn't right in His eyes... It's just something I thought about. Maybe a double edge sword.

I know I will get flamed... It's just something I've thought about a lot hearing them say God would provide. I don't doubt he would... but again maybe he didn't feel at the time it was the right time (not that He gave them 7 or 8 children to punish them... don't think that!).

Originally posted by hentob


God's choice? Blah.

\

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Originally posted by mickey4ver
They strike me as publicity hounds, who come out whenever it suits their purposes..JMHO

An article is published every year around the Septuplets' birthday in November. I hear nothing from them otherwise! To call them publicity hounds is a bit over the top IMHO.

 

[snoopy]

Originally posted by Pete's Mom
Can you imagine shuttling 9 kids around to different houses for play dates?

I can imagine it, my parents did it for years. Granted, we weren't all the same age, but we were stairsteps, with 3 sets of twins.