<p>K I admit it, I watched the “new” program about that family last night- she had # 17…oldest is 19</p>
<p>do the math</p>
<p>Didn’t she have a set or two of twins in there?? Either way, the girl should take a break!</p>
<p>yeah, there are two sets of twins.</p>
<p>I think maybe 2 sets of twins. If you watch it, it can all definitely seem a bit over the top. On the other hand, the kids do seem well-behaved, bright, responsible, etc. So while on the one hand I want to say “are you nuts?” on the other hand I want to say “good job”.</p>
<p>People who can raise kids up to be productive, responsible members of society <em>should</em> have more kids. Typically, people who do the best job raising kids (yes, that includes many of us here!) have the fewest.</p>
<p>If you have watched the Duggar family and also the silly series, “John and Kate Plus 8” you will probably admire the way the Duggar family has raised their kids. The endless yelling and fighting on the “John and Kate” show is unbelievable.</p>
<p>I don’t know… Jon and Kate seem more… normal? to me. Plus, they have 8 kids, 6 of whom are under 5. I wouldn’t expect them to be perfectly behaved.</p>
<p>As for the Duggars, I’ve read a few articles on them, and honestly they just rub me the wrong way.</p>
<p>
i agree… i was watching the show with my dad once, and a few of the sextuplet children were screaming at the same time-my dad said he would lose it if he were in their situation :). considering their circumstances, i think the gosselins’ behaviour is understandable (and often warranted)-they seem like nice people, overall.</p>
<p>as for the duggars… i think they are a nice family- i like watching their specials.</p>
<p>The strong delineation of the kids’ activities along gender lines is one of the things that “rub me the wrong way.”</p>
<p>Yes, I can agree with the above posts, about the Duggar’s “rubbing me the wrong way.” I can see that, too. But the amound of respect shown among family members is so unlike the “Jon and Kate” show, where Kate continually yells at her husband.</p>
<p>I’m not a fan of the Duggar family. I thought there was a post on this once, but I couldn’t find it when I searched. One girl makes lunch for everybody everyday; one girl makes dinner for everybody everyday. I’m assuming one girl does everybody’s laundry. The older children help the younger children get ready for the day, teach them their studies, change diapers, and everything else. Women in the family are submissive to the men. Females can only wear dresses or skirts, not pants, and they cannot study math or science (and I’m using the term “science” very loosely). Boys wear slacks and polo shirts. I can’t find the link, but I remember reading when this came up on the CC board before that they follow a practice of training their youngest children (not my words) by sitting a kid on a blanket and hitting the child whenever he reaches outside the blanket. The site said this can be a slow process, so a family can speed it up by putting attractive toys around the blanket and then hitting the child when he reaches for one of the toys. There’s a sign up sheet in order to talk to a parent. </p>
<p>This is far from the ideal family, I think.</p>
<p>No one wants to admit it; but why don’t you just say it. You don’t like the fact that the Dugger family is founded on religious values. You just don’t like that. It’s ok to say it. It’s also OK to admit that you don’t like the fact that some families are quite happy and secure with these religious values and that they don’t mind having roles. You just need to admit that because you don’t believe that woman and men are different; and that you don’t believe that they should have predefined roles; that no one should be allowed to have such beliefs or values.</p>
<p>Having lived/worked/visited 15 countries now in my life, I have seen many different cultures and traditions. I find it ironic how so many people in our country spout out how important it is to have diversity. How our melting pot of different cultures and nationalities is our strength. That we shouldn’t force our belief and culture on other countries. Etc… Yet, when a family in our country lives by a set of religious beliefs that the honestly believe in and cherish; and isn’t being forced on anyone else; they are considered wrong. They are accused of brainwashing the kids and now the kids don’t know any better. How they are abusing the kids and enslaving the women. All because some people don’t like or agree with it. Such hypocrites.</p>
<p>So, why don’t you just admit it. You don’t like the Duggers because of their religion. Hmmmm; how many times have we heard about people being persecuted because of their religious beliefs. I guess the only way for it to be acceptable is to by a farm some place and start a town like the Amish to they can be “Properly Monitored”.</p>
<p>What ever happened to zero population growth? We are all suffering from too few resources, including college spots, in this country, for the numbers we have in the country. I think this is actually a very selfish decision to have so many kids.</p>
<p>I do think men and women are different. One of my best friends from high school is about to enter into an arranged marriage. I know some very religious families–most of which homeschool–through my involvement in music. </p>
<p>There is a family I know personally, and they are all very kind people, but I’m not a huge fan of the way their family is structured either. It’s actually structured in much the same way: the kids have very defined roles, the parents don’t play a large role in taking care of the children, and the children are expected to live up to unusually high expectations. The family I know like this is not in the least bit religious, and they do not homeschool. They’re great people, and the kids are great too, but I still don’t see the way they raise their family as something to emulate.</p>
<p>I think that children should be given opportunities to grow, learn, experience, and develop. It seems to me that the Duggar children are being limited.</p>
<p>Now, they can do whatever they want. It’s not my family, and it doesn’t affect me much at all (outside of overpopulation issues). As I said, though, I am not a fan of the way their family works, and I do not see their model as the ideal. You can believe differently.</p>
<p>I dont’ like them because minor children are essentionally responsible for other minor children on a daily basis</p>
<p>That the mom is not raising her own kids, her children are</p>
<p>That she is homeschooling ALL of them, using shall we say, an interesting curriculum</p>
<p>That no woman should breed like a brood mare- just cause you can doesn’t mean you should</p>
<p>That they use religion to justify a strange form of discipline</p>
<p>That they made a Church in their home to avoid taxes</p>
<p>And that the older children, who should be in HS, spending lots of time learning, whether home schooled or not, are teaching the younger kids, so have less time for their own work</p>
<p>The kids don’t see other humans besides family members all day, most days</p>
<p>And the Wisdom Booklets, those scare me</p>
<p>If it works for them, more power to them. It makes me scratch my head in wonder, but fortunately, this is America. They seem happy and well adjusted, and their method of family rearing is constitutionally protected, same as when a gay couple adopts children. It’s their business, and not ours.</p>
<p>It is our business, because THEY have chosen to make it so!!! They haven’t kept it private, nope they are in People Magazine, advertise a finanicial product/program on their website and make the news everytime she pops a J out…so if they want to keep it "their business’ don’t go on TV!!!</p>
<p>As for well adjusted…who really knows? Do they date? Have the internet? REALLY hang out with non- family members? Do they know what is going on in the world"? </p>
<p>And it may be “protected” but that doesn’t mean it can’t be questioned…so once you put out into the world, and get paid for it btw, its fair game</p>
<p>citygirlsmom, I agree, the family sounds like a cult of their own. And still the woman does not even come close to the record!
“The largest number of children ever born to one woman was 69. The woman, a Russian peasant, was pregnant 27 times between 1725 and 1765 and gave birth to 16 sets of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets.”</p>
<p>Speaking of Kate and her eight, I can see why she is yelling all the time, oh dear, what will happen to her when they become teenagers!</p>
<p>Kate and her eight make me laugh…I had two girls two years apart, and I can just imagine mulitplying the little one by 5!!! They are real, and believable…the Duggars, well, creep me out…</p>
<p>Does no one find it odd that never ONCE, was there ANY misbehaving, snarkiness, teen stuff, terrible two stuff, etc shown at all</p>
<p>Who posting here can say that their wonderful kids were well behaved like that all the time</p>
<p>Even with the best of families with the most wonderful kids, is it peaceful and not chaotic all the time</p>
<p>Healthy well adjusted kids talk back sometimes, disagree, debate, argue with mom and dad and their siblings</p>
<p>That well adjusted part- sorry, but you get 17 kids together, there are gonna be problems, don’t care how great a mom and dad you are…its nature for them to argue, complain, whine, fight over a toy…to NOT have that seems odd</p>
<p>Even the most amazing kids can have an attitude about cleaning the toilet, tell mom, I HATE YOU…want to go hang with friends, worry about college, or work, get tired of making 19 people dinner, doing laundry for 19 people</p>
<p>I don’t know, but all this well adjusted stuff- this facade- just seems surreal</p>
<p>
That doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it, particularly since they have chosen to make their lives so public. </p>
<p>I’m not sure how gay couples adopting children comes into this? I hope you realize that gay couples (sometimes even gay individuals) cannot adopt children in many states in America.</p>