http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32630876/ns/...ing_and_family/

DAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!

I wonder where they were during Family Planning class????

I keep wondering what sort of shape that poor woman's parts are in after all that childbirth. To each his own I guess but seems ridiculous to me in this day and time to have so many children.

I'm wondering...... WHEN do they have time to make babies?..............

My guess is that he doesn't take very long to do his part?????

I don't get it.....why would you have that many?........

God Bless her she always looks so serene. She should bottle it!!

You gals are cracking me up with your comments! But, yeah, when you think about it...how do they find the time or the PRIVACY to make a baby!!??

Gosh she is physically amazing; my body would protest that amount of stretching back and forth. They look like a great family in so many ways...not like mine I can't believe that they raise them all under $2,000. I watched one episode where they went to the Dentist - that visit alone would've surely cost that much.

I think that is just too many children in one family in this day and age. Thankfully it isn't a trend!

Suzanne

Here is my problem with them....how can the mother possibly spend any quality one on one time with her children?? If she were to give each child a half hour a day, that is 9 HOURS!!!! It isn't humanly possible. And having watched the TV shows, the older kids are really raising the younger kids, not the parents. And how they AFFORD to feed all those kids is beyond me. Every meal is like a mini banquet. It is just craziness.

But to each his or her own.

I like the Duggars!

Michelle does have a problem she shall be a guest on Dr. Phil> she is addicted to being pregnant!

Jim Bob never seem like a very active dad in his kids life but the last season show him as a very loving caring parent! One of his older daughters wanted her daddy in the room doing her dental surgery just seem sweet and natural!

One of my pet peeves is> he told the boys they could grow up and be doctor-lawyers etc but the girls could be teachers-mothers etc????? Why can't a son be a teacher and a daughter a doctor???
They are wonderful children and I'm sure if given the opportunity many will do great things with their life's!

This family is amazing.I mean yes they have a huge family,but they do not ask the government for hand outs,they are debt free!! While I would not want that many I think they are doing a wonderful job.GOD-bless

I was thinking the same thing, Jan, although she does have a huge smile on her face!!

hehehehe!!!

I know it's their business and their choice. they are completely self supporting, etc. Seems like a very nice family. However, I can't help but think that somewhere in all that "controlled chaos", there's a child who needs to feel special and needs some alone time with Mom or Dad. When on earth would that child ever get that individual attention? Also, from a nurses (not to mention a woman's) perspective, do they realize what they are doing to her health by having so many pregnancies? All of us who have had children know what a toll pregnancy takes on our bodies, I can't imagine what the long term effects this could be having on hers. I don't know about the accuracy but I've heard it said that for each pregnancy a woman carries to term it takes a year off her life. Again, as a nurse I don't know about that exactly but it has to take some toll, don't you think? What on earth is Dad going to do with all those children if she dies in childbirth or from a complication of it. Childbirth is a natural event it's true but it is not without risks. I don't know, I just have mixed feelings on the decision to have so many children just because you can. But again, it's their life and it's a free country.

Naturally, this is only my opinion.

Regardless of whether or not you can "afford" such a large family, I feel it's irresponsible to bring that many children into the world the way it is.

As it is, there aren't enough jobs to go around and we're rapidly using up a lot of our natural resources. Land is becoming an increasing commodity and we're slowly pushing the wildlife out of their habitat to make more housing developments, malls, shopping centers, etc... The wildlife are becoming acclimated to people and that's creating further problems. Coyotes are attacking pets in increasing numbers, bears are being seen within city limits and now we not only have to watch out for deer crossing the roads, but moose too! That can be a fatal collision because they are so huge.

So basically, though it is "their choice" to have so many, there will be a ripple effect.
Also, you cannot expect to give each child the love and attention they deserve and need.

Years ago, people had large families because they were running farms and disease often took many children before their time. It was practical back then. Not now. I still stay it is irresponsible.

God did say to be fruitful and multiply, but that was when there were only a handful of people on earth.
But God also said there is a time to embrace and a time to REFRAIN FROM EMBRACING. I think that time has come and gone for the Duggars.

I'm sorry. This family bothers me in the aspect that if they love children soooo much, have some of your own and then adopt some of the poor, unloved/unwanted kids out there. This procreating frenzy borders on twisted and the mother has been literally turned into a baby making machine....geesh dad, get a new hobby already.....

Yes, they are wonderfuly serene and calm and have oddles of money but if we all had this many kids, God help Mother Earth...borders on selfish IMO.....

I saw them one morning on the view and Jim Bob said it was Michelle who bugs him for sex!

Like I said I think she has a addiction to being pregnant.
I don't remember pregnancy & giving birth being that much fun????

Read that each pregnancy delay menopause by 9 months>that's 14 1/2 years for 19 babies! If the average age for menopause is 52 she would be 66?
opps now wait a minute she had twins twice> trying to do the math> oh forget it!!!! my head is spinning!

Ooooh wow love the above posts from Booky and momzy - sooooo well said! I agree 10000000% too. It is really pretty selfish and irresponsible in my humble opinion. Also as Jan says, and she oughtta know, this can't be healthy for mommy Duggar...just no way and no how. The indoor plumbing will just plumb up and collapse on her b4 too long! I guess the older children will help raise the children if something should happen to one of the parents.

If they are "Being fruitful and multiplying, they can't stop at 19!"

Wonder if they have thought about that??

Something has got to give!

It will either have to fall off or fall out before they will get the hint!

It's just not right for these children!

I wonder how well they REALLY know each child.

I only had 3 and I struggled with giving them what they needed.

She will just look down one day and see her uterus banging against her knees!

LOL! Evidently that is All they do! LOL!


Actually, I think it is great. What a wonderful family. It looks like they are all happy. The kids are well-adjusted, clean, and happy. They all work together and they love one another. We need more families like this. The children will make great citizens, neighbors, and friends. If you can raise children to be like these, you ought to have a dozen or two. LOL!


Perhaps these children will balance out the children that will turn out to be criminals because of their horrible families? We need strong families and tax-paying citizens, eh? LOL!

I can tell you what type of people that I do think are irresponsible for bringing children into the world....oh, well...another day....


I bet with all of those hormones running through the mother's body, she will stay young forever!

Shebee

Quite a visual...

At least the Duggars are not letting money go to their heads like Jon & Kate! They seem humble!

Of course I'm sure there is no extra money after their trips to the dentist and the delivery rooms!

I used to feel sorry for Jon NOW?
Now they are both acting like 5 yrs old!

They are now hobby parents? what's up with that? > like hobby farmers? They live with the kids for 2 wks each and then take off and live wild and crazy lives in between?
They are going to have their own apartments in the city and visit their kids in the country?
Never heard of such a thing!

I refused to watch that show ever again! Now I hear Kate is going to fill in on the view! She has big dreams she told Larry King!

I heard it's going to be La Toya Jackson filling in on the View this season. Sounds like it's going to get interesting!

Suppose to be 13th-14th Sept 9I think) for Kate! I could see her fitting in good there!

i wonder how shes gonna have it thru menopause? i hate to say it but womans bodies were made to be pregnant up until meno- we just recently discovered birth control... i think she will have little problems !!!!

I agree with Sheebee that they seem like a nice family with good kids. They will all become good citizens too I am sure. They seem like really nice people. I still think that it is personally selfish to have that many children because you are not taking into consideration the global footprint. It is just globally irresponsible to have that many children (of your own) because the earth can't sustain that many people in one family nowadays. In the days of old, yes but not now. Sorry to be a downer.

So the mom is JUST pregnant even after becoming a grandmother for the 1st time, right? OK, I draw the line at ever contemplating being a mother after one of my own kids has become a parent and this mother has not shut the door on having even more or as she put it, "How ever many God blesses us with.." Just odd and the whole "celebrityship" that comes with this overgrown family makes me uncomfortable.....as has been mentioned, in the past, large families were the norm as children often didn't make it past infancy and entire families were wiped out by plagues, never a probability for this family....

I guess this hits me persoanlly as a child of a family of 8 kids and the distinct memories of parents burned out way before the youngest of us were ready to fend for ourselves...certainly, my parents were not even close to the Duggars in parental abilities, but there's a natural order of oldest taking care of the younges due to parental time restraint and things get overlooked....

And the carbon footprint issue: this family has stomped all over their home state and it comes down to being plain selfish....God gave us free will too and wants us to use it accordingly and for the unwanted children of the world, this is not very Christian behavior......

Just my 12:30 in the morning opinion!!!!

Moonlight.........I TOTALLY AGREE! WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE SO MANY BABIES? geez!

Just wanted to add here, that yes,they are a very nice family, and if this is what makes them happy, that's fine .... however, i have to agree with the woman here who mentioned being one of the younger kids in a LARGE family, and feeling that by the time they came along, that their parents were pooped and maybe didn't have to much time for them .... I know a family with 8 kids .... (I myself am only one of 2 .. my sister and myself, I am the oldest), but this family, had one baby after the other.... now, the kids all love each other, and are close ,BUT, when they all married and had their own kids, they all only had 2 or three kids, because they felt that they were "cheated", that they HAD to take care of the younger ones (which i can easily see here as well, i mean, you know they all HAVE to take care of the other kids that come along, and personally speaking, tha'ts not right.) .... yes, it's "normal" for other kids in the family to "help out", sure........BUT you KNOW this is a bit more than just "help out"....and like i said, this family that we knew, had the older ones, taking care of the younger ones ... they didnt' really have their own life, they had to stay home, and take care of their siblings. So, no, don't think that's fair at all.........for WHATEVER reason you want to give, as to why you just keep having babies! IT's not my problem, and I don't have anything against them at all, they seem very very nice, but I can't help but notice that they all seem so......PLACID...i mean, weirdly so ............ very "calm", very "smiley", ...no kids fighting (which is normal), nobody fidgiting, no NOTHING....it's not normal! I've seen a few (which is all I can stomach, thank you) of their TLC shows...ok, I'm sorry, but, they all seem like they've had a labotomy! They all act the same, smile the same, kind of talk the same, and all the girls wear skirts, and the boys wear pants......to me, and this is JUST ME......it's like a cult....now, I'm NOT SAYING IT'S A CULT.....but the FEELING is there, it's this weird, smiley, calm, placidness, that doens't really feel REAL.....maybe that's what i mean..........it seems......TO calm,,,,,TO placid, TO smiley....TO nice............I'm all for a happy, well adjusted, warm, famiy....I had that, and I loved it,...sure, there was only my sister and myself, but, we were all very close..............but someone here mentioned that she may be addicted to being pregnant! Now, see, I agree.......I do think there is an ISSUE here. If you go to their home page, and read their story, you will see that early on in their marriage, when they first started their family, they only expected to have the "normal" size family, about 3 or 4 kids......but, then, if I can rem. this correctly (go there and read it for yourself), they had a problem pregnancy, and the dr. suggested a D&C, because I THINK, she was bleeding, or loosing the baby anyway.......so, they didn't know what else to do, and that's understandable, they were young.......so they went ahead and did that.....(the preg. was still very early).....well, they found out later that they really didnt' have to do that, I think they educated themselves a bit more or whatever....and realized they didn't really do everything they could at the time to hopefully NOT miscarry........so, she said they felt so horrible, like they had KILLED their own baby! So, see, there is an issue here, as to why so many kids! To me, this is trying to make up for that......but, hey, i don't mean anything bad by this, and if they are happy, then, great!!!!!! I'm ;just saying that, I think maybe they should be more honest with themselves (and again, i don't know ....maybe they are)........as to why they are doing this,,,,,,,but, as long as they are happy, that's what counts!!!!

i found this article and it's very interesting, it points out some very obvious issues women (and couples as well) with the NEED for many babies....i hope i copied this right...................



Can Pregnancy Be Addicting? Some Dr.’s Say Yes!
• Related • Filed Under
Filed Under: pregnancy
Tags: Bonnie Eaker Weil • bumpaholic • Carole Lieberman • Keith Ablow • pregnancy
Visited 281 times, 1 so far today

While having babies isn’t addictive in the way that alcohol and narcotics can be, some believe that ‘bumpaholics’ feel compelled to procreate for many of the same reasons that substance abusers turn to booze or drugs.

Psychologists say some women may reproduce quickly after a new baby because they are insecure, crave attention, or feel abandoned by their own parents.

“Women who are obsessed with being pregnant are literally filling an emptiness inside of them, just as alcoholics and drug addicts use substances to fill a psychological void,” says Beverly Hills psychiatrist Carole Lieberman, M.D. Every one of us at some point encounters this void, adds New York family therapist Bonnie Eaker Weil, Ph.D. “You want to have a purpose in this world. You want to feel less lonely.”

For some women, babies fill that gap perfectly. Infants are dependent creatures. They can give their mothers a clear identity; they can also become handy social buffers. At a party or on the playground, a woman struggling with feelings of social anxiety or self-consciousness can hide behind the adorable infant in her arms. Any pressure to be cute or charming or funny disappears — your baby has that covered. “Bumpaholics breed to blot out their feelings of insecurity,” Weil says.

Boston psychiatrist and Fox News consultant Keith Ablow, M.D., says some women seem to view having more children as an alternative to addressing their own personal problems. “Bearing another child can sometimes provide a substitute for deciding on a career path, making a marriage work, or even wrestling with questions of self-worth,” Ablow says.

The baby fix can become a cycle. When an infant becomes a more independent toddler, “the mom may feel abandoned and act quickly to fill the void again with a new baby who will rely upon her and her partner and define their lives,” Dr. Lieberman says.

Some women love the constant attention you garner from others when you’re bursting with child. The rounder your belly gets, the more people take notice of you. In many respects, you become impossible to ignore.

Spouses and partners dote on you, gladly delivering soup at 10 a.m. or antacids at 11 p.m. “My husband constantly rubbed and coddled me, and I ate it all up,” says Liz Bustamante, a 39-year-old financial advisor from Forest Hills, N.Y., who has one child and is currently planning for the next. “And for the first time in my life, instead of feeling insecure about my body, I wanted to run around naked! I’d never felt sexier.”

Magazines follow celebrity-bumps, and nude maternity portraits are a must do for celebs and women alike.

Pregnancy lets every woman be a star in her own world, and the rest of us are all too happy to shine the spotlight.

After my son arrived, the intense love I felt made me want to have another baby. The euphoria that a new mom feels when she meets her baby is so amazing, it tricks you into doing it all over again.


The article goes on to say that the economics of having 2, 3 or 4 kids can cause these attention seeking moms to re-think their plans.

Related Articles:

* Doctors Create 22 Question Fertility Test For Every Woman Considering Pregnancy
* C-Section Not Best Option For Breech Birth
* North Carolina Program Pays Girls Not To Get Pregnant

Someone heard Jim Bob say that Michelle is the one who's always after him for sex. I say, "Who wouldn't be totally stressed out after dealing with an entire army (she homeschools too, don't forget that) all day long!! The poor woman has to have a way to release stress! Maybe they haven't figured out how it happens! hmmmmmm!!!

Jan. 2040..."UPDATE"....twins, triplet, and more!

Baby number 56 on the way!

Family moving into a school, turning classrooms into bedrooms. Hopefully this will be their last home. The old school building has 200+ rooms.


Shebee


LOL! There are exceptions to every rule and this family must be one of them.

For those who came from large families, which children should have not been born? You?


...and as for the earth not being able to sustain it's self, surely the flu will wipe out many and there will be room for their large family.

LOL! (I am only joking!...although I think that their family is too large for many reasons, I am not going to be upset about it. We need more wonderful families in this world. I can just see one of their kids "saving the world." )

What if Michelle Duggar were choosing to have abortions?Would that be ok?It is after all her body,right?Her choice?I think we should all step back here and realize this woman can have as many babies as she wants-the family takes care of themselves.The children seem well rounded and happy.You can't say that about a lot of only children.Who are we to judge what this woman does?As for the earth sustaining us,I have a lot of things I tend to be concerned about and this is not one of them.GOD-bless

Honey, I think we are all just having fun with it. At least I am! I don't judge anyone. Well................I TRY not to, but I AM human. I think!!

I'M THE OLDEST OF MY FIVE SIBLINGS, AND HAD TO HELP MY MOTHER WITH THE HOUSE CHOIRES, AND NOT ONLY THAT. I ALSO HAD TO HELP WITH THE KIDS. THAT IS WHAT IT IS HAPPENING WITH THAT FAMILY, WHYLE THE OLDEST KIDS ARE DOING CHOIRES AND ATTENDING THE KIDS THEY ARE ON BED MAKING THE NEXT ONE.


MENOSICK

Who mentioned abortions???? There's birth control and this family is out of control....nice, smiling, happy, in a restaurant-like, dorm-run household aside, this is just over the top....as I have said before, there are soooooo many kids without parents living in foster homes, why aren't the Duggars looking into saving some of them? Making babies is a natural act and ANYONE can do it...making it a national byline over nad over and over has turned it into a circus IMO ......

It seems these parents are taking their own personal "needs" to be needed and attention seeking and getting a thrill out of it...let's check back with the kids in 10-15 years and see how thrilled they were they had to assume parental responsibilities (as the Duaggars have stated) while mommy and daddy were off "blessing" each other ...again...geesshhh

And can the father lose the hyphened Walton's Mt name.....

Sorry, not making any friends with my opinion but this whole phenomenon of having more kids than is normal and then signing a TV show contract has gotten out of control......

Now jumping off my soapbox....

Wow - too bad it went in the abortion direction. There is such a thing as self control by using birth control! Also I agree that if they want to have more children then why not adopt?

You could argue that the Duggars are showing the flip side that if you have that burning desire to take parenting seriously like a career, then do it right, one child at a time (or two) and not like the multiples like Kate and Jon and the Octomom circus's that involve gobs of money and press and me me me. Parenting is a respected challenge and the Duggars seem to do it exceptionally well and kudos to them.

There are disadvantages to being in large families, but there are also big advantages (like there is always someone there when you come home), as there are plus' and minus' to being an only child. In the end, does the child feel loved?

I like to think the All Mighty has a plan and maybe the Duggars are here to counteract the Octomoms mentality. Got to have it now and doing it because there is technology and I don't need a support system, as opposed to doing it the way nature intended and taking the right emotional steps first to build a proper foundation.

My two cents.
Angela

Maybe they just have too much fun making them!!!

Lordy mama - probably TG

Mydarling Thanks for posting about bumpaholics!!! Was wondering about something on that line!

I think Michelle will have a total nervous breakdown when menopause hits and she can no longer get pregnant!

IF and say IF she is having babies because she loves children then grandbabies will fulfill her need?

Has their granddaughter been born yet?

I heard her DIL say she wanted 3-4, good to be realist these days!

I agree,I think they are doing wonderfully(at least from what I have seen)The kids seem happy,none of them seem left out.I think the fact that they live a different lifestyle makes some people automatically judge them to be strange.I believe that as long as they are self suffecient it is their business.Did you know they are debt free??GOD-bless

OH who am I kidding!!!! It's just the media exploiting weirdos!!!!

hahahahahahahaha The media is truly getting worse and worse. After Lady Diana died, I vowed to never buy another rag mag ever again...and I haven't. I stopped watching ET too for years until only recently - I am now annoying myself with watching that stuff again. I will be more vigilent in boycotting all these shows, except for DOG - never ever Dog - he is my man. Dog is love...

I had five. Would have had more but finances and practicality won out. My husband and I were fortunate that we had no problems conceiving. Were we selfish because we had five children of our own instead of adopting a needy child? I would like to think that we weren't and that God blessed us with our 5 beautiful children. How many of you would choose adoption over having children of your own? Maybe some of you, but I'll bet not the majority.

They seem like a caring, loving, generous family and I say God bless them. They aren't bothering me.

I DO find them a little on the strange side but as I've said before, it's their life and it's a free country. I agree, where does one draw the line on an acceptable number of children? My husband is one of seven, I am one of 3 and we were blessed with 3 healthy and beautiful children. I would have loved to have more but fertility problems and 3 miscarriages sort of dragged things out to an age where it became impractical to keep trying for more. We always talked about having four or five, it just didn't work out that way. (Oh, and by the way, during the time I was trying to concieve and had such a hard time, we did look into adoption and were told the waiting period was 2 - 3 years for a child under the age of 1. We checked out overseas adoptions as well and the cost was prohibitive for us at the time.) HOWEVER, I do have to say I think 19 is excessive. WHEN do these children get one on one attention from either parent? I just don't see that happening. Also, if something happens to them financially that they can no longer support all these children, who will? I think we all know that answer to that question. Don't think for a minute that this couldn't happen, wealthier people that the Duggars have gone belly up before. There have been posts regarding the "footprint" this huge family is making and the ripple effect in years to come. Just imagine the resources these children and THEIR children will require. There are just so many aspects to this story that it makes it difficult for me to decide how I feel about it. They seem to be a very loving, happy family and the children are well disciplined, well fed, well provided for but there still just seems to be something rather odd about it all. Again, it's a free country but I think that if I had to come down on one side of the fence or the other, I'd say they should show some restraint and let their offspring do the "blessing" from now on. At some point, it's likely that Michelle Duggar will start popping out "old" eggs and then what will the result be? A child with severe special needs? Why risk it when so far they have been so blessed with so many healthy children. It seems they are tempting fate which rarely turns out well, IMHO. I wish them nothing but the best but I can't help but think it's time to knock it off.

yeah, I do agree, 19 children is to many! But, as most of you have said, and i agree, it's THEIR life, they are free to do it if they want to, it's just that, I know first hand, from that family of 8 we were friends with for many years (and I still keep in touch with a lot of them) that they DID resent it ..... they all love each other, they are there for each other, and so forth....and nobody runs around thinking about which one of them shouldn't have been born...BUT, they are honest, and always felt cheated, or neglected in some way .... they were raised very well, good loving parents, and the "neglect" certainly wasn't on purpose, BUT, again, how can it NOT happen? It can't.....you're going to end up neglecting someone.....hey, we do it even if we only have a FEW kids, right? sure, because we are tired, busy, whatever.......and nobody means to do it, but we are all human.....well, how much more then, will it happen with them? Look, they "appear" to be so "perfect", they appear to have all their ducks in a row, and all is in it 's place...all seems "well", and maybe so.....BUT I rem. how things looked from the outside with the family we knew too......it looked fine, it looked "happy", they were all well behaved....etc....and for the most part, they were a good loving family....but, once you really got "in" there, and lived it, you saw how things really were ... I'm not saying things were chaotic, or crazy, or angry, whatever...... i'm just saying that, in everyday life, things are going to grind on you, and how much more with SO many kids?!!!! It's only inevitable that the older kids are going to be "used" to take care of the younger kids, that is a very typical situation, and as much as you love your siblings, and want to help, you do feel as though you want your own life too .... especially as a teenager! So, to ME anyway, i think it's VERY wrong to throw all that on the other kids....to help out is one thing, that's normal.....but to sort of get the other kids to be surrogate parents, that's not right. I know someone will say, well, the kids don't "seem" to mind it, they "look" happy and smiley and so forth......but let me just say here that in reality, you don't really know waht they feel. That's how it was with this family we knew......it wasn't till they really got out on their own, that we all found out how they really felt...and again, they didnt' hate each other or their parents, they didn't resent the other siblings for being there.......but, yeah, they did feel a bit of anger towards the mom and dad, not because they weren't good parents and all, but because they were "used" to take care of the younger kids......in fact, i remember one of the older sons saying to me once, a number of years ago, that he felt his parents should have used birth control! (and the way he said it,,,,well, you could tell he was resentful), so, i mean,......I don't really care if you have 100 kids.....but, if you start using the other kids as sort of surrogate parents, which these people do......not that they don't step in and watch over the whole situation, but you can see it, and they come right out and say it.....that, the other kids definately take care of the younger ones.......they dont hide that. I guess that's really my main "beef" about it, it's not anyones business, and if they can care for them adequately, that's great.......and nobody is even suggesting abortion! But, why not use some birth control.....is it fair to just keep having babies, and making the older ones take care of them? NO. How is that fair?

Someone here brought up a good point about the fact that Michelle is getting older, as is he, and what happens then? Are they going to just keep on having sex without any birth control, and HOPE that things "work out"? The older you get, the more the chances are that they could have a baby with some kind of birth defect, and that would be horrible....the poor little thing! So, no, nobody is talking about abortion , and it's THEIR life.........but, I don't feel it 's fair to the kids to force that on them......and i do have to wonder how far they will go.....and when they will stop, and how old she will be, ..... they must have discussed that, i hope! So, it's up to God NOW......but what about when they are older? Will they just leave it up to chance then too? I think there are other issues here, i definately do, and i think it's obvious. Their oldest son is recently married too, and expecting their first child in Oct....no Snowy, the baby isn't due till Oct......but they have also stated, they wanted to do the same thing ...lol ... oh man, here we go. Well, if that's their thing...then that's their thing.
They are good people, and they mean well,,,,,I just don't think it's fair to the older kids ....

Coming from a family of 8 kids, me being on the youngest end, I totally agree and maybe that's where my perspective comes from...sorry, parents, even really, really good ones, do burn out and the older kids are forced to take the reins and that's not fair to anyone....

I remember my mother telling someone in my presence when I was probably 10 or so that she wanted a dozen but she miscarried 3 or 4 and I said to her "Yeah, 4 more in the nuthouse " I have no idea what prompted me to say that, just that my mother was not pleased....seems as a young kid in a large family, I was feeling the pinch...

So Duggars can continue going forth and blessing themselves every 1 or 2 years if they so feel it; it is a free country. And I will continue to concurr it's odd and selfish and more importantly, very unhealthy emotionally for each consecutive kid.... seems this "big families are great" chant has really stirred my pot