<p>People who write articles about how they raised their children are inviting comment. </p>
<p>The human pyramid with the baby on top is adorable.</p>
<p>Well thanks to all members of the family who responded (and so eloquently). The parents did something right (yeah yeah I know they could have done it just as ‘right’ with only two but they did it with 12). ;)</p>
<p>Thanks, I enjoyed the personal comments. It is great that the “kids” chimed in. It added that warmth to the article that I was wishing to see.</p>
<p>Wow! Did it ever occur to anyone that the article doesn’t mention the emotional angle because that’s not the topic being addressed? I don’t get the critics, either. Thanks to the kids for weighing in.</p>
<p>I am so happy to be a part of this thread. Especially loved your post, Blueiguana. And how nice it is to hear from some of the Thompson children themselves. It’s an eye opener to read how dubious and yes, harsh, some posters are about and by what they think large families must be like. I wonder over the years how many of my friends with “average” sized families actually had private feelings or judgements similar to the more negative posts above about my parenting choices. I suspect not many. I think they saw our family in action first hand and understood that our seven kids are happy, and healthy, and so are my husband and I; that we made the choice to forgo many of the personal (time) and material luxuries we could have had with fewer children in favor of what was the luxury, TO US, of a house filled with kids. There are many, many, right ways to raise kids, regardless of family size. Big families are as varied in childrearing styles and traditions as small. Kids can be deprived of their parents time and attention in both. And obviously not all parents are suited to raising a passel of kids . </p>
<p>With twenty years between my eldest and youngest, I’ve learned and evolved and adapted as a parent–changed the rules, broken the rules, suspended the rules, made new rules depending on the needs of the kids at hand and my own needs. Flexibility was key at all times. My older kids will sometimes say they wish they had had the greater resources and freedom the younger ones have now as our family finances have improved over time. But they also say how much they appreciate having had to help out around the house or with their siblings, a valuable life experience which they feel the younger ones have missed. The younger ones will often say they wish they had had more years with every one home, that they miss the bustling, crowded house now that their siblings have grown or left for college, that they would frankly appreciate a little bit less of mom and dad’s time and attention. </p>
<p>We do gather as a family, seven kids, three grandkids, three spouses, several times a year and in between the siblings and nephews and nieces see each other often, or skype or talk daily. I don’t have the words to describe how wonderful it is when we are all together. Twelve kids and their extended families, as in the article, would be far harder to assemble every year, and already I sadly anticipate that my kids’ jobs or own family demands will mean en masse Christmases and other holidays will be harder for them to attend. But isn’t that what we want for our children: rich and busy and rewarding lives of their own? </p>
<p>As far as how this all applies to funding lots of college tuitions…I was the eldest of ten in a family with parents who did not have the resources to help all us kids emotionally or financially. I launched out on my own very early, like my siblings, and benefited from the full financial aid at an Ivy League school (my independence and fortitude was rewarded by many ivy league admissions offers.) My own seven kids don’t qualify for financial aid and yes, it’s a struggle to meet all those tuition bills and they help by working and taking out loans. But we are very happy to help make their journey through college and beyond easier than our own. Some need more help than others. One thing about having so many kids–I never cease to marvel how different they are from one another.</p>
<p>To the kids from the original article-did any of you have learning disabilities that precluded taking “every AP course”? If so, what did your parents do about that? Did any of them have food allergies? Were any food accommodations made for them?Did any have any kind of physical issue that made playing sports a problem? If so, what accommodations were made for them? Did any of you forgo the junk car because you felt that the mechanics were too difficult to understand?</p>
<p>I’m a little unclear so maybe some of you could explain-if you were in school, then at sports, then eating dinner, then doing homework, then caring for your siblings, when did you have time to do things like ride you bikes to the beach? Or did things like that only happen during those three-week summer vacations? Did any of you resent having to help raise your “special child”? I know people who had to do much of the childcare for their parents and they greatly resent it-and had only a single child themselves later on.</p>
<p>I think the original article (dad) said no food allergies and no food accommodations (everyone ate the same thing and if you didn’t want to eat that thing you didn’t have to but you couldn’t have anything else until the next meal)…</p>
<p>I also come from a large family of no learning disabilities. None. All average or better than average intelligence. Also no food allergies as children. None.</p>
<p>So what if the kids resent their chores and responsibilities? Kids resent a lot of things. Part of the package of being part of the family.</p>
<p>That this family has been so remarkably successful with all of these kids is a wonderful thing. I have nothing but awe, envy and admiration. I don’t get the negative remarks. </p>
<p>Yes, there was a large element of luck in there too. If there were kids with disabilities, particularly cognitive ones, there would not have been the same results. Food allergies, illnesses, accidents could have upset some of the flow. BUt with a family so disciplined, I’m sure they would have coped well.</p>
<p>Does everyone have to be so jealous and ugly about it? They raised twelve kids who are now productive members of society, and will most likely never be a social burden. Can’t you just say, “good for them,” and move on if you have nothing better to say? Why do you have to attack them?</p>
<p>@sseamom - nobody forwent learning how to work on a car. It was pretty much a given that it was gonna happen. Plus, who wouldn’t want a car at that age! junk or not.</p>
<p>as for just regular fun and enjoying life, that was pretty easy to do, sports wasn’t all day long every day. there are on seasons and off-seasons. We learned to do most of the “fun” before 6pm</p>
<p>As with any family this size, there is gonna be a heavy dose of drama, but over-all, looking at the big picture, aside from the dad with crazy, weird rules, life has been good. :)</p>
<p>moerderin, Thanks for the photos #159!
This is the kind of stuff I love about being from and having a big family. (Except tickle torture–I always hated that!)
I wonder if you or your sib on here could say something about your mom? Kudos to your dad for being so involved with his kids, but I imagine your mom was pretty close to super-woman. Am I wrong?
(My dad was involved with us in some ways–teaching us about his hobbies, mostly gardening and home/car maintenance. But my H is not involved with our kids. Unfortunately he works much longer hours than my dad did.)</p>
<p>So glad that moerderin, sthomson6 and GirlThompson7 have joined the discussion.</p>
<p>I really don’t get why so many posters feel the need to attack the parents of this family and make baseless negative assumptions about them. By all accounts, they exceed the standards most of us would consider to judge them a success. Many much smaller families with looser standards have still raised children who can’t seem to get through school with all the support in the world (or who have major issues with their own parents) so why be so threatened by a family who seem to have done well.</p>
<p>Based on the photos posted in this thread, I’d love to be a member of this tribe :)</p>
<p>To the kids: thanks for dropping in and being so gracious about this bunch of strangers discussing your family! :)</p>
<p>moerderin, sthomson6 and GirlThompson7:</p>
<p>How did you happen upon this thread on College Confidential?</p>
<p>I had no clue that my dad was even writing this article. My sisters husband came across it on a trending news app called flipboard. She posted it on fb late last night, so we all woke up to this article having gone semi viral on linked in, fb, and other sites; this being one of them. </p>
<p>Also to clarify on something, I’m not sure what people consider rich these days, but I feel like our dad was indulging a bit on how well off we were. Back then I think he made between 75-100k. </p>
<p>We were in a 4 bedroom house. The parents slept in 1,and the rest of us shared 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. There were 7 girls and 5 boys, so the girls got to share 2 bedrooms while all 5 of us boys crammed into 1:)</p>
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<p>Median household income today in the US is about $50,000 per year. However, your household was many times larger than the median household in terms of the number of people in it.</p>
<p>Thank you guys for stopping in. </p>
<p>Those pictures were precious! I can NOT wait to have a big famil of my own. Kids EVERYWHERE!</p>
<p>I am child number 3. I LOVE having a big family. I talk to at least 4 of my siblings ina given day and my parents daily. As both #6 and #7 have stated my sisters and brothers are my best friends. My mom gets a call from me every morning as I drive home from taking the kids to school. If for some reason I do not call, she is calling me by 9am to make sure I am Ok. Dad gets a call nightly on his way home from work.
My mom is strong, intelligent, loving, and hard working woman. None of us kids were lacking for love or fun.
As a side note I am going to rock the hand stand contest.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for posting kids. Also, don’t get the critics. There are plenty worse things than raising 12 happy, successful children and so many are reluctant to critique those choices. It’s interesting.</p>
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<p>It’s good to hear from the kids in the Thompson family. I love big families and was one of six myself, which is why I don’t want my own family to be reduced by one because I’ve been run over by a cellphone yakker. Put down the phone and drive, girlthompson3!</p>
<p>– signed, a bicyclist tired of having my cyclist friends sideswiped by cellphone yakkers, and no, hands-free is not any better than a handheld as far as safety</p>