I saw that on the Today Show this morning, Steph. I hope all goes well for all of them.

Shirley

Gadgets and I were posting at the same time, so this thread wasn't there when I posted mine. Sorry! I'm not trying to steal your thunder Steph!

At least they seem to be law-abiding, moral people. Thank goodness for that!!

You're not stealing any thunder, jasdip! I figured there would probably be double posts about this. No big deal.

I wish them well. They seem like a sweet couple. Just curious, did she finish college?

These people could populate their own city...maybe that's their goal.

Do you realize that if their 18 kids each have 18 kids, there will be 324 kids in one generation. And if those 324 kids each have 18 kids there will be 5,832 by the next generation and so on. It really would be a small city. And are their genes really that special?
Clare

Of course they're having a baby... it was just a matter of time...

I'm sure they are all wonderful, law-abiding people. What is sad about this family is that they keep bringing a ton of children into a family and the older ones are in charge of the younger ones. That is not to be admired. These children are already being born with the task of eventually being in charge of the next child. When a mother has to 'make' time to have quality time with each child, well, something's wrong. I'm not impressed with their ways but do agree they are nice people.

This does not look like it would be good for the marriage to be having children so soon, especially when they got married hardly even knowing each other. They should be using this time to develop and strengthen emotional bonds, and to get themselves financially secure before starting a family.

Michelle and Jim Duggar practiced birth control for years, so that they could feel confident, emotionaly and financially, when they finally decided to start a family. And they knew each other fairly well before marrying too.

Even if Josh thinks he can easily "just start a tax free church" in his home as a tax shelter like his dad did, and petition for donations from food manufacturers to feed an ever growing family, they are still going to have a tough time of it. The novelty of a large family has waned and no one is going to be all that interested in helping to fund the endeavor. He'll never get his own show. Who would watch a boring show about a used car salesman with a bunch of babies and a SAHM to support. But then again.....who knows?

I think the recent news stories about Octomom has made people rethink this whole idea of accolades for huge families in this day and age, and all the hoopala rallying around to gather huge dontations of goods and money for them.

I do hope she has a healthy baby. But besides God giving humans the capabilities of reproducing, He also gave us the ability to think and reason. yes these are law abiding people, even religious and moral, but like Aptosca said, if each one of this clan reproduced like the mother & dad, well, this world is all ready over populated and the natural resources are getting depleted. Sorry, no admiration here. Dottie

Are these people of the LDS faith? All the families I've seen this big are LDS. I'm not sure why they want so many children, but if they can do it without asking anyone else to support, more power to them! :)

I think that they seem like great well grounded kids with a true love of their God, It is my wish that they live their lives as they see fit and not as I (or anyone else deems right) for them. I suspect that there are many parents that wish their sons and daughters were as equally loving, caring, law abiding and God worshiping as these two. I raised a teenager girl and there were times when I felt like chaining her to a fence post....and maybe even beating her or at least smacking her around a little bit.

Ruthie your post cracked me up.I agree 100% raising a teenager is not the easy thing.Greg saids me and Ashley acts like sisters instead of mother and daughter because let me tell you we do fuss.Getting back to the topic,it saddens me to see so many kids taking care of the younger ones.Some of these shows I can not bare to watch esp the one with Kate and Jon I think is the show.I can not stand kate.She makes me want to throw up.To me she is heartless.The way she treats her SIL,and Friends.To me she is so so stuck on herself.

Of course this was going to happen, one way or another. They have to catch up to octogreed. While certain families are certainly worse, I do have trouble with the "Stepford" system of raising the kids that they incorporate. Perhaps this group will be better, but who knows, and frankly I don't really care. Obviously there's a lot of interest out there about these egotists though and I'm sure they'll play on it for as much as they can. I joked years ago about starting my own church. Guess I should have.

That reminds me, I have to add tater tots to my grocery list.

I would never want that many children myself but I have great respect for this family. The children are taught responsibility and family love and that is what is missing in so many homes today. I see nothing wrong with the older ones taking care of the younger ones. Both of my parents came from large families and this technique was used. The siblings grew up close and I have never heard of any resentment expressed by any of my aunts or uncles. In fact, the memories they told intriqued me and made me realize that they had their priorties in order. They did not need or have the frills of today but what they did have, they appreciated and respected. Older children taking care of younger siblings---isn't that how it used to be done years ago and somewhere along the line, families started giving children less and less responsibility. And today, many people do not know how to take care of themselves much less anyone else. I don't think the mother is very often given the credit that she deserves. She homeschools those kids so her time is not just sitting around on her butt while the older children babysit. It also said on one of the programs that the mother exclusively takes care of the baby for several months while baby is still breast feeding. And, it also mentioned that Jennifer, the next to the baby, was just moved from the parents bedroom to the girls room. I just think that the parents are not always given a fair shake and NO, I do not want that many children but this family is not relying on the system to take care of these children so more power to them. The Duggars have income other than the reality show and to me, I have no problem with them earning extra money with the show. I find the values and beliefs they express is a wonderful example when so many families today are dysfunctional.

lol at Cynic, your post is hilarious. Thanks for the giggle.
I am ok with this family. This one is much happier than others I see on TV. They seem normal and well adjusted.
As long as they can handle the kids, and add them as productive members of society, my hat is off to them.

Trin

Joy, I agree with you 100%. This young couple seem like a really sweet couple who know what they are doing. Their mom & dad are able to raise their kids without help from the government or any other organization.

Dugger?????