Arkansas couple has 17th child!
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive August 2007:
Arkansas couple has 17th child!
CNN Article!
Yikes. To each his own. It wouldn't be, and obviously wasn't, my choice.
I have seen them on television. As much as I would have loved to have had a big family, that would be too big for me! And what kind of a name is "Jingers'? Poor kid! LOL!
Without trying to move this to the debating board, I just wonder how well you can do by your kids when you have that many. And, apparently, they only have one income!
Yikes is right! If they're happy, tho, who are we to say? LOL!
The article says that if all clumped together, Michelle has been pregnant 10.5 years of her life. Can you imagine? I loved being pregnant, but that is something.
I guess they'll quit when the run out of names that start with J. 
I agree, to each their own. I watched the discovery channel shows about them and they don't have any debt. It seems she does a lot of sewing and they shop second hand. they also do not have tv or internet and the kids are home schooled. I think that would help cut down on what the kids "have" to have. I think their average grocery bill was over $1000!I think the amount of chores the kids have is alot, but I guess they haven't known any different. Their new home is beautiful but they used to have 15 kids in a 3 bedroom! yikes!
15 kids with only 3 bedrooms? Yikes! I can't imagine 17 people in my 3-br house!
When does she find time to sew??? LOL!
Weren't they the ones who lived in an old church building until their house was finished?
I think Jinger is Ginger with a J.
Hol, they used to live in a four bedroom rancher. I'm like Dawn, to each his own. My hubby & I talked about this a long time ago and he said he wonders if she is addicted to being pregnant. (is there such a thing?) Regardless, all their kids seem really nice.
When does she find time to sew? Well, she cares for the littlest ones until a certain age and then they are paired up with an older child who takes over the daily duties like getting them bathed, dressed, etc...
The Duggers have been on TV for a few years. They built their 7000 sq. ft. house mostly themselves, to accommodate their HUGE, growing family. And yes, Jinger is *Ginger*, with a J.
I believe the father is in real estate, or someting along those lines, he apparently makes decent money to support them. The kids are all home schooled. They are very religious. Each child has what they call *jurisdictions*, they are responsible for specific chores. The older children also have a *buddy*, they are responsible for a lot of the daily *duties* that go with raising a young child. They also have a *community closet*, a room where all the clothes are kept. They have organized what they wear, even - boys wear black socks, girls wear white socks. They teach modesty, the girls don't cut their hair, they wear dresses, they actually wear certain colors on certain days of the week, I read. The bedrooms for the kids are actually dorm-type rooms.
While I don't agree with having that many children, they appear to be a very happy, very close, well adjusted family with strong family values and a whole lot of love.
This family lives very near my hometown in Arkansas. Very nice family. I joke about it having 17 kids. But in all honesty, these kids are probably more appreciative of things then my 3 kids that are pretty darn spoiled. I kind of like their ideas and values. I like that she and her husband are on the same page with this and it works for them. I have friends back home that knew this family and my friend told me that when she would call their home the children had the BEST phone manners she had ever encountered. lol
As for families with a lot of children. My first fear is that it is taking it's toll on this Mom's body (heart, etc...to carry and birth these kids). So I hope Dad at some point suggest that they stop and be content with what they've got. Child birth is a life or death thing, ya know? My ex dh Mom was the 13th child of 13 children. His aunt came from a family of 12 kids. My Grandma came from a family with 8 kids...and so on. I use to think I only wanted TWO children. Then Blake was born after a V gone bad and I ended up with three children. I don't know what I would do without Blake in my life. And NOW I often have thoughts of how nice it would be to have one more child...a girl around 4 or 5 yrs old from China of course. lol But I am sure that feeling will pass soon! ;)
I admire the family. I could never enjoy 17 kids. I just don't have that personality. I'd never be relaxed. I would have to take major drugs. lol Or drink more and I would probably be a chain smoker. HA They impress me!!
sorry for all the typo's!!!
2 words : BIRTH CONTROL
They must have a bus to cart them all around.
I mean, GOD BLESS them but sheesh! I know I would lose my mind with that many children. I love my 2, but that's all I could handle.
Would I do it? NO!
I believe it works in their family. I have watched all the shows with them in it. They come across as a very loving and close-knit family.
I can hardly keep track of 2 kids, let alone 17! LOL! Just think of all the birthday presents you have to buy!
It seems to work and they seem to be raising very nice well adjusted kids. Just think baout 17 children for the next generation to hopefully become leaders in various areas. They obviously are able to take care of them financially so that makes a big difference. It is not someone on public assisstance having multiple kids. I work with a lady having her 11th baby and on public assisstance. Makes no sense. I would have loved to have a larger family if financially able. We have four and decided that was it for us.
To each his own, I wouldn't do it, sounds like they are doing well BUT it's not good for the population!
Even wanting that many children is ludicrous to me! If I had more $ and time than I could ever use/need, that many children would not be on my list of things to do. Do these people have a personal life? I'm not sure how you could with 17 children. And how healthy is it to be a child taking care of your sibling(s) all the time? I simply don't get it.
Again, to each his own but I'll NEVER understand it.
Personally, I feel it would be very difficult for me to give the one on one attention I want to that many children.
I also don't feel that it is fair that the children basically don't have a childhood that most children enjoy. They aren't the ones having more children, the parents are, so I don't feel it is fair to pass them off to the other kids as they get past that cute and cuddly stage.
I think it is wonderful that the children are so well-behaved and well-mannered, but I feel that's because they are treated more like small adults than children. When do they have time to interact with other children outside of the family and do "kid" activities other than the ones they do at home? Where do they get to show originality? How do they discover who they are as an individual? When do they have space to themselves as they get older?
I think it is great that these kids have so much love, and I know someone will bring up the fact that they are raising these kids the way that it used to be, but still, being homeschooled, doing all those chores, taking care of the little ones, wearing certain colors on certain days. I just wonder if these kids ever have time just to enjoy their childhood.
Ditto Deanna & Adena. I'm sure they are great people, and that they have lots of love, and that the kids will grow up to be productive upstanding citizens, but do the kids ever have time to themselves to think their own thoughts? Are their days always that regimented, or do they have the opportunity to be spontaneous? When they are old enough to have children of their own, will they follow suit or be totally tired of raising their siblings that they want nothing to do with kids? Are any of them able to let go of their responsibilities so that they can go to a birthday party or sleep over at a friend's house? Are any of them secretly resentful of their way of living? I wonder if when mom announces they are having another baby, do they secretly roll their eyes and wonder who is gonna have to raise that one in a couple years. Those are just thoughts, but I do like them and what they stand for. I find them fascinating.
It will be interesting to see how the kids function once adults, outside the family unit. I hope I'm wrong, but I think they will struggle with identity problems for the reasons Adena and Deanna have mentioned. One segment on the family showed that most of the older kids all play the violin. It's just a given that they all will learn to play this one instrument. I wonder what would happen if one of them wanted nothing to do with the violin? Perhaps another instrument. Perhaps no instrument? Are they free to be themselves? Do they even know who they are outside of the family? Are they given the chance to find out? Are they allowed to rebel against their parents (at least a bit) as a normal stage of separating themselves from them?
Never mind the kids...do the parents do anything but have sex? LOL!
I think they wear certain colours on certain days, so that when they go out, they can be seen in a crowd. I think they do travel in a bus.
There was a family in our town with about ten kids. They also were home schooled. They, too, were the most polite, well behaved children. When I worked in the pharmacy, they would all come into the store holding hands, and sit quietly together to wait for the Mom to get her prescription. There were some single children who would come in with the parents and proceed to tear the store apart.
I do think that families like that are better off because they are like families used to be. And as someone said, they are the future leaders of society.
(The father may be a real nice guy, but he looks like Rusty Yates, the guy whose wife drowned her five children).
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