<p>In case you are missing having kiddos around the house…you could always do as the Duggar family:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,291949,00.html[/url]”>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,291949,00.html</a></p>
<p>You’ll never feel the empty house syndrome again! :D</p>
<p>I"ve seen them on tv. They seem to be very happy! The children seem very well behaved too. That lady is a saint.</p>
<p>Home schooled, all of their names start with the same letter, 16 brothers and sisters… there’s a cult getting ready to form here in 20 years or so. Haha.</p>
<p>^ lol, yea it does remind me of a cult</p>
<p>Check out the clothes they wear–remind you of anything? (They remind me of the polygamists in Utah).</p>
<p>I’m not an empty nester yet, but I soon will be. I plan on enjoying it! :)</p>
<p>Yes, the children seem very well behaved. No, it does not seem normal in that house. I think all those older kids basically raising the younger ones (as buddies) seems bizarre. And the fact that the only comraderie or social life they have is with each other? I don’t think it is healthy.</p>
<p>And since we are on a college website, do the Duggars plan to educate their 17 children after homeschooling through high school, or is college out of the picture (too many scary influences out there!)? I saw the oldest son interviewed, and he mentioned nothing about attending college. I know the father hopes all the children will live on their property (they have like 20 acres) in the future.</p>
<p>Kind of a “closed” life, IMO, but hey…if it works for them (the thought of being pregnant or nursing for 20 years straight doesn’t do it for me either).</p>
<p>they remind me of the Amish (but with more technology)</p>
<p>Eventually they’ll expand outside their self-enclosed world.</p>
<p>I have watched the show/documentary about them on Discovery channel and they seem to be a very nice family, though the number of months that woman has spent being pregnant boggles the mind. (She has had several setse of twins, but still …) 17 children <em>does</em> seem like a lot (understatement of the year!) but the Duggars seem more than able to care for and raise that many, so more power to 'em! I have my hands full with two. As I was watching the program, I did think it would be interesting to check in with the family in five to 10 years and see what the children are doing. I couldn’t help but think that one or two of them might rebel and choose a different lifestyle, but that might just be my own urban cynicism speaking. If it works for them, well, who are we to criticize?</p>
<p>I find having to breed that much obscene and disgusting</p>
<p>how about foster or adopting or something else, but no, saying its all God’s doing when gee, use some control</p>
<p>having that many children is selfish, unelfish is bring some needy kids already born into that home if they indeed have that much love to give</p>
<p>ive watched them on tv. they arent mormon, but conservative fundamentalist christians, they belong to this movement called quiverfull, <a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiverfull[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiverfull</a>. the families on a lot of those shows on tlc and discovery health about having a lot of kids belong to this organization. they seem very happy though, and the parents are able to provide for all the kids. its kind of weird how they have a Janna, Johanna, and Joy-Anna, that seems like the same name.</p>
<p>rumor also has it their house is a “church” so no property taxes</p>
<p>There is definitely a creepy factor with this family.</p>
<p>This family apparently follows suspicious Christian teachers such as Bill Gothard and Gary Ezzo. They employ draconian parenting methodology in order to create a “peaceful home.”</p>
<p>Another issue I have is the gender-specific chores. The girls in this family are overburdoned with the work. Is it sensible for a 14yo girl to cook for 18 people every day? Is it right for a 12 year old girl to wash every day ? (yes, one of the daughters is in charge of the wash for the entire family. It’s her “job”.) Why is it the girls who are given the most tedious and servile jobs?</p>
<p>Also, I read that, as homeschoolers, the girls are not taught science or mathematics like their brothers; that they are being raised to be mothers (or servants…).</p>
<p>Why can’t Michelle take care of her own children instead of pawning them off on her older kids? Children need nurturing from their parents, not their siblings (although this is nice too, just not exclusively).</p>
<p>Has Jim Bob ever fed a baby or changed a diaper? The gender issues in that family make me sad. Those poor girls, in their long frocks, doing dishes and laundry and not being allowed to do math. And the kids all sharing a big gender-specific bedroom? Weird! What teenager wants to share a room with his toddler and elementary school aged brothers? </p>
<p>No, these people give me the creeps and it isn’t merely because they have spawned 17 (yikes) children.</p>
<p>
Then there’s George Foreman with his 5 sons all named ‘George’ and 2 daughters with ‘George’ as parts of their names. I find it more humorous than weird though.</p>
<p>egad…when I saw the program it was like watching little robots…</p>
<p>having all the names so similar is almost like not caring about the kids themselves, just in being clever</p>
<p>Definitiely weird. I am not a fan (for many of the reasons Allmusic and CGM have mentioned).</p>
<p>There seems to be a nerve struck with this situation. It exhausts me to think about it. If they truly can provide for them and they all feel loved and cherished…who am I to judge? OTOH: if the remarks about the limitations on the female children are accurate…outrageous…but is it possible a home school curriculum would be certified which did not include math and science? I am puzzled. They all look remarkably sturdy, attractive, healthy, even the mom, which is amazing considering all the depletion of her own physical resources…remarkable genes.</p>
<p>The Duggar kids’ education is actually quite scary. The curriculum consists of “wisdom booklets” which are based on scripture, lots and lots of it. These come out of Bill Gothard’s Advanced Training Institute (ATI). The same booklets are used for K-12 and when they finish them all they start over again. They also provide higher education in their Verity program and Telos, which is distance-learning. The older boy is in this program, I believe, and is studying to attend Oak Brook College of Law and Government Policy, which is based in Fresno, California although it is named after Oak Brook, IL. Unfortunately for the students, none of these schools are accredited. You can take the bar exam in CA if you get out of Oak Brook, but not in any other state. </p>
<p>Disclaimer: I have no personal experience with any of these programs. I looked all this up on the internet back when the Duggar tv special aired because I was interested in what programs the older Duggar boy was talking about when he said he was going to college and law school.</p>
<p>Why all the hate?
These people seem happy, their kids seem happy, they aren’t doing anything to hurt anyone…
There is so much selective judgementalism in the world.</p>
<p>People can be hurt without recognizing that they are being hurt. It is possible to be hurt and happy. </p>
<p>I would say that is likely the case if smart young women are spending their days doing laundry and cooking for 18 people and smart young men are studying at un-accredited schools. There is more they could dream about if they were given the opportunity to dream.</p>
<p>Don’t you think it’s strange that out of 18 kids there’s not one kid who would like to play in a rock band? Wear a ripped t shirt? Not one girl who might want to be an engineer or an architect? No child who dreams of going off to college–or would have such a dream if it were feasible?</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the family besides what is in the article or said in this thread, so excuse me if I am wrong about the Duggar family.</p>
<p>(Coming from my own perspective, I of course am hurt for the statistically likely child(ren) in that family who is gay. I don’t think homosexuality would go along with Duggar family values, so he or she–assuming such a child exists–will probably marry and have an unhappy and unfulfilled life or be forced to leave his or her parents and siblings. This is of course a decision that many young people have to make, even myself to some degree, and I’m not particularly fond of any family that forces a child into those situations.)</p>