The more the merrier?
I’d like to thank the Duggar family of Arkansas for giving me something to blog about today. Mrs Duggar, who is 41, will soon be giving birth to the couple’s 18th child. You won’t miss it, they’ll be on every talk show that will have them. They have a website. There were ads on it, so that might contribute extra income to the family. I have no idea what Dad does for a living.
I am, by nature, a “judger” And I think it’s sad and exploitative to a)have that many children and b)make their lives a public spectacle.
Usually these big families are tied in to the religious beliefs of the couple. All kinds of beliefs. I bet ya if you put the husbands of several of these big families together in a room, they’d get in a fist fight over who has the true path to Paradise!
They’re the ones with long skirts and tennis shoes: In this area, I see huge families fairly often. You know those decals people put on their car? Mom, Dad, kids, pets, etc? I saw an SUV one day that had TEN of the kid decals! I can’t pin down which religious group they belong to. Not as obvious as the FLDS ladies- and what on Earth is up with that hair anyhow??? What sets the alternate lifestyle people apart in a crowd is how the women dress- skirts/dresses and never pants or capris. Even for the little girls. No makeup. And invariably long hair. Must be a fundamentalist thing. I’ve read some ultra conservative stuff on the Internet - written by men of course- denouncing women who cut their hair as “trying to be men” Oy! Why not just put the women in burkahs?
Around here there are little fundamentalist churches. Groups that meet in each others houses; like little sects. There’s at least one BIG church I know of that has a whole bunch of retro pioneer, big family people, but also the usual “2 or 3 kids in a subdivision, go to public school” families. For all I know, some of them might even be “back to the Earth” Nordic pagans. The common denominator to these clusters of people is the huge family thing.
Some of those very traditional moms with these big families- the gals don’t get out much. It’s got to be exhausting, stressful and lonely. I know of two women who ran away with other men and left the Dad to raise that big bunch of kids! No kidding!
I imagine it’s hell to be child #7 in a family of 11 or 12 . Mother is always busy. The big sisters probably have to patch a lot of skinned knees. Probably everybody pushing you to do things for yourself, hurry up and get it done, get potty trained ASAP to reduce the diaper inventory! White spongy bread every day because it’s the cheapest. Control your baby population and eat better bread! 
I don’t approve. Good thing they don’t live in the Republic of Doritaville! I’d cut off the tax deductions after four kids. Some of those people don’t pay a bit of income tax and that’s not fair. That’s us supporting their reproductive decisions.
However, I might even give gracious tax credits to people willing to take in foster kids. If people want a big family, that’s the way to do it. Help out some of the little kids already here who need a home.
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