The Duggar Family: 18 Kids & Counting

[Lauren]

If you want a large family fine, but I don't think that the other children should be responsible for raising one. I resented my parents for making me babysit my little bro and sis for a couple hours. ( I WAS A BRAT). This is like watching a freak show...... We have 2 kids because we do not want 3.
2 is kicking our asses now..

 

[Nocgirl]

My husbands did something similar to the buddy system. The older kids would have to wash the diapers of the younger ones. Yuck. Can you imagine bathtime? Mary used to put 4 or 5 kids in the bath all at once. Also I think they all shared beds too. That would suck if one was a bedwetter lol.

They lived outside of town in a small city where they had no close neighbors, so mom and dad were able to keep the kids out of trouble that way. They all used to get up early in the morning and go to work on a nearby farm and ranch...lots of fruit picking and trips to park n swap selling the fruit. No sitting around the TV all day, they were allowed one hour of TV per day. Tomas has this great pic of 8 or 9 of the kids all huddled around watching a really small TV. That was the only TV they had.

Kids these days are spoiled rotten and most do not know what its like to work hard and long hours and to budget every dollar. Everyone one of Tomas's siblings knows how tough it was for them buit they are all very hard workers because of it.

 

[laini]

I am sure the Dugger children all feel very special. :doh: Not. Just as she is holding her newborn, she is talking about having more. Mom doesn't homeschool, no she has sex, waddles around preg., and breastfeeds year after year while her older kids homeschool the younger ones. (sorry if that was offensive - but it's true). I think she is pathetic to treat her precious children as numbers. She stands there posing with her beautiful family (her kids, I mean). And all she can talk about is "more, more, more... they're not done yet!"

:silenced:
Sorry. But this couple just makes me furious whenever I see them on t.v. or hear about them. I am glad Oprah isn't showing their appearance.

Has anybody heard them say WHY they want a large number of children?

Sure, there is nothing wrong with having lots of children. And sure, they will likely be great workers in whatever they do in life. But what about her holding her newborn, and her 1 1/2 year old standing next to her, and her 2 1/2 year old next to that one, etc... and just making them feel special. It isn't the quantity of family.

 

[Nocgirl]

As long as they are properly taking care of their kids without tax payer assistance, let them have all the kids they want. They seem to be raising their kids with morals and discipline. The family seems well adjusted and the kids seem very polite. They have a very organized structure in that household.

 

[FlowerChild]

Google Quiverful or Quiver Full Families if you wish to know about the beliefs of the Duggars. They are FAR from the only family with these beliefs.

I do not agree with their religion or the beliefs, but they have the RIGHT to have 50 kids if they want to and to believe whatever they want...especially since they live 100% debt free and receive no Gov't or Church Assistance. They can try, but they cannot shelter their kids from the world forever - what will be, will be, no matter what they do or believe. People can only be controlled by others if they ALLOW it. You can bet that with 17 kids, they will not all just accept their parent's teachings forever - there's a rebel in every crowd.

My Opinion

 

[deanws]

As long as they are properly taking care of their kids without tax payer assistance, let them have all the kids they want. They seem to be raising their kids with morals and discipline. The family seems well adjusted and the kids seem very polite. They have a very organized structure in that household.

There is more to a person's mental health and well being than having discipline and acting polite!:doh:

 

[deanws]

My husbands did something similar to the buddy system. The older kids would have to wash the diapers of the younger ones. Yuck. Can you imagine bathtime? Mary used to put 4 or 5 kids in the bath all at once. Also I think they all shared beds too. That would suck if one was a bedwetter lol.

They lived outside of town in a small city where they had no close neighbors, so mom and dad were able to keep the kids out of trouble that way. They all used to get up early in the morning and go to work on a nearby farm and ranch...lots of fruit picking and trips to park n swap selling the fruit. No sitting around the TV all day, they were allowed one hour of TV per day. Tomas has this great pic of 8 or 9 of the kids all huddled around watching a really small TV. That was the only TV they had.

Kids these days are spoiled rotten and most do not know what its like to work hard and long hours and to budget every dollar. Everyone one of Tomas's siblings knows how tough it was for them buit they are all very hard workers because of it.

Oh yeah..that sounds like a "dream life" that I would want to live or my kids to have!

 

[deanws]

Google Quiverful or Quiver Full Families if you wish to know about the beliefs of the Duggars. They are FAR from the only family with these beliefs.

I do not agree with their religion or the beliefs, but they have the RIGHT to have 50 kids if they want to and to believe whatever they want...especially since they live 100% debt free and receive no Gov't or Church Assistance. They can try, but they cannot shelter their kids from the world forever - what will be, will be, no matter what they do or believe. People can only be controlled by others if they ALLOW it. You can bet that with 17 kids, they will not all just accept their parent's teachings forever - there's a rebel in every crowd.

My Opinion

Of course they have that right. I don't think anyone has said they didn't! What I "hear" by reading the thread is that most of us think they are "nuts"... not that they didn't have the right to their religion or their beliefs. Can you imagine what her stomach looks like now? LOL. And who knows!?!?! At this rate...they might just have 50 kids when it is all said and done! LMAO!!!

 

[Kymistry35]

Google Quiverful or Quiver Full Families if you wish to know about the beliefs of the Duggars. They are FAR from the only family with these beliefs.

I do not agree with their religion or the beliefs, but they have the RIGHT to have 50 kids if they want to and to believe whatever they want...especially since they live 100% debt free and receive no Gov't or Church Assistance. They can try, but they cannot shelter their kids from the world forever - what will be, will be, no matter what they do or believe. People can only be controlled by others if they ALLOW it. You can bet that with 17 kids, they will not all just accept their parent's teachings forever - there's a rebel in every crowd.

My Opinion

But they did have assistance. Didn't I read that almost everything they own was donated to them? My mother's family lived debt free also, but the children started at age 6 in the fields from sunrise to sunset. They got two breaks for meals and a snack. THis was a 7 day work week! If they weren't in the field they did house work and tended to the smaller ones. WHat kind of life is that? Half of my uncles and aunts have really bad back and knee problems because of what they had to do.

 

[deanws]

But they did have assistance. Didn't I read that almost everything they own was donated to them?

And they parade their children on TV yet they aren't allowed to watch it??
:loser: Something doesn't add up here!:laugh:

 

[deanws]

But they did have assistance. Didn't I read that almost everything they own was donated to them? My mother's family lived debt free also, but the children started at age 6 in the fields from sunrise to sunset. They got two breaks for meals and a snack. THis was a 7 day work week! If they weren't in the field they did house work and tended to the smaller ones. WHat kind of life is that? Half of my uncles and aunts have really bad back and knee problems because of what they had to do.

That is sad teonspaleprincess. You can see what happens to children like that from first hand experience.

 

[reb]

i dunno.... but all the kids seemed incredibly well-adjusted and happy to me.
i guess they are all faking it, huh..?? in fact they seem FAR more well-adjusted, happy and well-socialized than most young kids and teens I see today... who are materialistic, self-absorbed, moody, depressed, disturbed.. every one of them seems to have ADD and all sort of other disorders... and the parents have them on drugs,, or they are doing illegal drugs on their own... etc..... religious freaks or not, i think the duggars are doing a pretty damn good job... better than most parents in america who have 1 or 2 kids. and as for expecting the kids to work and help out.. you guys need to look up the definition of 'child abuse' again! I guess sticking your kids in front of the TV all day and letting them get fat, spoiled and lazy is better than the type of 'abuse' the duggars are dishing out to their poor helpless victims, huh..? making their kids do actual WORK?? oh, horrors!! quick,, call child protective services.. get them back in front of the TV, NOW.. before they are scarred for life!!!

what the kids lose in individual love & attention from their parents i think they WELL make up for in OVERALL love & attention.... from their siblings included. just think of all the precious little single children out there whose parents dote over them and they STILL grows up to be maladjusted, sociopathic freak who thinks the world revolves around him/her. it's not how many children you have, it's how you raise them, and now that i have seen the shows & know more about the family, i still fail to see the parents doing anything wrong. (other than adding to the overpopulation problem).

and so we make fun of the guy because his name happens to be jim bob? how does that make him a 'freak'?

 

[deanws]

I guess sticking your kids in front of the TV all day and letting them get fat, spoiled and lazy is better than the type of 'abuse' the duggars are dishing out to their poor helpless victims, huh..? making their kids do actual WORK?? oh, horrors!! quick,, call child protective services.. get them back in front of the TV, NOW.. before they are scarred for life!!!

I don't sit my kids in front of the TV nor are my kids fat, lazy or spoiled. In fact, my kids are doing GREAT, as are so many other WSers kids...so I don't think your argument is holding any water with me. I guess you need to address your own kids instead of speaking for everyone elses kids. AND I didn't have to have "17 kids" to make my kids decent human beings either.

 

[reb]

Oh no,, I knew someone would take that personally... sorry you took it that way. What I meant was (as in a debate).. I was trying to show the other side of things, and how they aren't always so great either. Nobody was saying anything about Websleuthers' kids. I was making a point about the typical middle-class (or even poor class or rich class) kids today in America,, and how are they necessarily any better off than the Duggar kids? And (again-) I think these parents do far better with 17 than most parents do with 1 or 2. So sometimes I make a strong point to illustrate that. I still don't see how they are "freaks".. they are just simple living country people, but people hate the fact that the guy's name is Jim Bob, and that they live in Arkansas.. as if that automatically makes you some kind of inbred serial killer... and then the homeschooling thing.. well,,, I do have mixed feelings about that... but it depends on the quality of the teaching. They sure as well can't be doing any worse than the public school education that I was forced to endure. Now THAT I would call ABUSE.

Someone feel free to show me PROOF that these children are being "abused", instead of just speculating, please. and maybe everyone else's arguments will hold some water!
A couple might only have one child, with no siblings, send them to school & all those 'normal' things, and your kid can still be lonely, isolated, and maladjusted,, and can also grow up in an abusive or neglectful home. All I see when I watch the films of the Duggars are smiling children, all interacting with each other and all involved in family work, and play, learning, and projects. How on earth is that 'abuse'.....???

 

[eleven]

Oh no,, I knew someone would take that personally... sorry you took it that way. What I meant was (as in a debate).. I was trying to show the other side of things, and how they aren't always so great either. Nobody was saying anything about Websleuthers' kids. I was making a point about the typical middle-class (or even poor class or rich class) kids today in America,, and how are they necessarily any better off than the Duggar kids? And (again-) I think these parents do far better with 17 than most parents do with 1 or 2. So sometimes I make a strong point to illustrate that. I still don't see how they are "freaks".. they are just simple living country people, but people hate the fact that the guy's name is Jim Bob, and that they live in Arkansas.. as if that automatically makes you some kind of inbred serial killer... and then the homeschooling thing.. well,,, I do have mixed feelings about that... but it depends on the quality of the teaching. They sure as well can't be doing any worse than the public school education that I was forced to endure. Now THAT I would call ABUSE.

Someone feel free to show me PROOF that these children are being "abused", instead of just speculating, please. and maybe everyone else's arguments will hold some water!
You might only have one child, with no siblings, send them to school, and your kid can still be lonely and isolated, and grow up in an abusive or neglectful home. All I see when I watch the films of the Duggars are smiling children, all interacting with each other and all involved in family work, and play, learning, and projects. How on earth is that 'abuse'.....???

Great, great post, reb. I'll tell you what...I watched them on TV and did have my preconceived notions about them, and they were negative. But reading your above post and the post before that....well, you made some (alot) of VERY valid points that I totally agree with. And I know you're not talking specifically about WS'ers kids--because I'm sure you don't KNOW any WS'ers kids, but more about the broad and general spectrum of the Sad State Of Childhood In 2007.

No flames please--I am speaking in general, and it's become a stark day-in, day-out reality for many children. TV, video games, not enough outdoor play ...Hell, many schools have cut back or completely eradicated recess. RECESS!!! Oh, maybe for 30 minutes every Wednesday. I could go on and on.

 

[SewingDeb]

I watched them on TV last night and I have to say it is the positive attitude from the parents that impresses me the most. It seems to filter down to all of the children. I really can't seem much wrong with that.

I wish I had the patience and organizational skills necessary to run a household like that. I think Mrs. Duggar could easily run a large corporation and have good company morale.

Having a large family has it's positives and negatives but I don't see unhappy children when I watch that show.

I knew a similar family when I was growing up. The children did attend public school but in all other ways the family was very similar, a baby a year and a houseful of happy children regardless of the fact that they had to help with the younger ones every day.

 

[Hopeful One]

Well said, Reb!! I totally agree!! I continue to admire this family, even if I don't understand them. They seem to be doing a wonderful job raising their children. How they do it, I have no idea, because my hands are full with two.

 

[Hopeful One]

But they did have assistance. Didn't I read that almost everything they own was donated to them?

Some things may have been donated from various companies or just generous, giving people. But they have never used state assistance or anything of the sort. They live completely debt-free and only buy what they can pay for in cash.

 

[luvbeaches]

Now that's a fact! JimBob wants to come off as a good ole boy when he's really a good ole sperm shooting control freak.:angel:

Yes, he is. LOL. It just amazes me that they keep having kids when it's the kids that are shouldering the bulk of the work load in the house (at least the girls). And the isolation from the rest of the world is also bothersome. They have no outside contact with anyone on a sort of a regular basis, except their own family.

It's nothing more than a cult, IMO...except this family is willing to "pimp" their kids for freebies where most completely shun the outside world (Koresh and Jim Jones comes to mind). Gotta love the hyprocracy in the fact that they take all these products from "networks."

Can you imagine TLC or the Discovery Channel doing a show like this about blacks or hispanics? Right. It won't happen, at least IMO.

 

[deanws]

Yes, he is. LOL. It just amazes me that they keep having kids when it's the kids that are shouldering the bulk of the work load in the house (at least the girls). And the isolation from the rest of the world is also bothersome. They have no outside contact with anyone on a sort of a regular basis, except their own family.

It's nothing more than a cult, IMO...except this family is willing to "pimp" their kids for freebies where most completely shun the outside world (Koresh and Jim Jones comes to mind). Gotta love the hyprocracy in the fact that they take all these products from "networks."

Can you imagine TLC or the Discovery Channel doing a show like this about blacks or hispanics? Right. It won't happen, at least IMO.

I agree with you beaches. It won't happen. And yes...I do find it funny that they "take from the networks" when they don't allow their kids to watch TV.
:bang: