Sunday, December 21, 2008

Hmm, big family? What are your thoughts?

I was reading all about the Duggars today as it is apparently a HUGE story on Yahoo's front page and how they have just welcomed their 18th child.

Here's their Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duggars

Now I did read some of the comments on the Yahoo page. They ranged from very positive to downright nasty.

Look, here's my thing. My Mom's friend Judy had 9 kids and they all turned out great. But she didn't make that her one and only claim to her self worth. Judy is an amazing woman. I wish more mothers were like her and teach their kids independence and responsibility.

But she is an individual separate from her children. That is why I respect her for keeping that ability alive. It is so easy to just lose that if you're not careful.

The mother on this show is not. She is portrayed as a baby machine and she doesn't invest time with her children, the other siblings are each other's babysitters. That's not right.

The issue I have with this is that this family seems to only have one goal in mind and that is to overpopulate their area. I'm glad they can have children, but honestly if they didn't have this TV opportunity, I don't think they would have had kept going.

The father was quoted as saying, "We will have as many as God blesses us with." That's a heated statement. I mean, how fair is that to your wife and your other children? You are free to pursue your beliefs, but there has to come a time when health and common sense have to override that.

But maybe I don't know what I am talking about. Any thoughts on this?

4 comments:

Molly said...

I know the size of the Duggar family comes as a shock to most people, but I think it's a great thing.

When he said we'll have as many as God will allow, what he is saying is that they trust in God that He knows what is best for them, He knows what they can handle. What they believe most of all is that God will help take care of them, the way He sees fit of course. They have complete trust in God, I only wish more people had that.

The family works together in the taking care of the family, and there's nothing wrong with that. The kids are responsible for eachother and some house hold chores, and they're all intelligent, kind hearted, and basically good people.

Most all of the people I know who come from large families turn out to be hardworking and more productive people in the working world.

Who's to say this mother has lost her self worth? To say that you have to stop having children because you want to do what you want to do is a selfish way of thinking, it says that you know what's better for you than God does, and that is never the case.

Keep in mind, you asked if there were any thoughts, well, these are mine.

Anonymous said...

Beautifully said Rita. Judy's children were all responsible for each other, that is what has made them such productive adults that can juggle many things at once and never lose sight of where their own children are.

Anonymous said...

One more thought from Mama. If my choices in life would have been smarter, I would have had as many children as possible. I had always dreamed of having a dozen. I loved being a 'Mama'. Judy had the same dream and she almost made it a reality, how wonderful.

Mr. Macabre said...

The Duggars are certainly an unusual family, that's for sure. I usually watch Little People, Big World and occasionally their show. As for their financial status, I can only commend them for being debt free with their children. As for so many children, it would be a possibility that she simply enjoys the process of pregnancy and childbirth. I have an acquaintence that has confessed to a "high" she experiences when she is pregnant. Maybe she enjoys the euphoria of pregnancy, the attention, the media coverage?
Being a man,though, I cannot vouch for the validity of her experiences. But I will say that God did give us a mind to think with. She will have a child every 9 months or so as long as they have marital relations and she remains healthy, that's the biology of it. Saying God will stop it when He is ready is like not fastening your seat belt when you drive because He will protect you or take you home when He's ready, you have to have to use your noggin and the common sense that He gave you to avoid pregnancy or bodily harm from an accident. It takes all kinds of people to make the world, we who are childless and happy and those like the Duggars who take up our slack with children.

What I don't understand is why are all of the kids' names starting with the letter 'J'?