TONTITOWN, ARKANSAS

Where there is (still) absolutely nothing to do.

(Thanks to Siouxie)

Comments

[ArcticAl]

With luck she may actually live long enough to see the 20th child enter high school. Statistically her life span is being greatly shortened by these multiple pregnancies. And pregnant exactly nine months after giving birth!?!? I think her husband needs to give it a rest.

[Doc Rick]

Al, all you need to know is that this happened in Arkansas, an obscure religious sect was involved, and the husband is named Jim Bob. Nuff said!

[Braniff77]

Does the wife feel bad that she has the only name in the family that doesn't start with "J"?

[Cheryl Howard]

Not to get techinical, but it appears there is at least one thing to do. That said, I still ain't drinkin the water.

And nothing against children, I love them. But if I had 18 of them I can promise that I would completely drunk nuts.

[Cheryl Howard]

*takes extra i and inserts be*

Sorry, the video footage shook me up.
(Secretly snorks at "Ginger")

[Annie Where-but-here]

How revolting - a spreadsheet for "One-on-one time with Mommy."
And this is somehow better than that bimbo going for the biggest-boob record?
Where's that damn cabana boy with my beer?

[Meanie the Blue]

Based on that study info released the other day, this couple must have the worst marriage ever.

[Doc Rick]

Looks like Jim Bob had a "Quiverful" as well.

[baligurl]

I had four kids. Then we got satellite tv. Yay!

[CJrun]

A shameless attempt to increase her takings on Mother's Day.

[Annie Where-but-here]

Someone needs to take that guy here for Father's Day.

[Dad-O-Lot]

He has me beat.

When this next one is born, they will have exactly 100% more children than I.

Mom-O-Lot is expecting #9 in November.

I have only respect for the Duggar family.

[Annie Where-but-here]

Nobody ever told me we were keeping score.
Do-over!

[Siouxie]

I said it before and I'll say it again...get these people a TV!

Annie, I agree. How horrible to have to schedule one-on-one Mommy time. I wonder if Dad also has to make appointments to see the wife and if it's only to knock her up again. In the interview, the son said it all...he wasn't really surprise cuz "it's been 9 months since the last one".

I feel like slapping those two parents. GRRRRRRRR!!

[SandyEggo]

Congratulations Dad-O-Lot! I'm the youngest of 9, and I feel like I've had the best of both worlds. 1st of all being the baby, and then as they all left home, the pleasure of being an only child.

My daughter has 6 (5 girls, then the baby boy). As they purchased their second set of bunk beds, I lovingly made the suggestion that when you have to start stacking the kids, it may be time to re-think the family planning. ha

[Cheryl Howard]

I'm with Sio.

File this under TMI, but I should not get pregnant again--it would be a very bad deal for me and baby if I ever did. So I took the pill for years.

Until my husband read the package insert one day, the one with the long list of possible side effects. He freaked. And then called his doctor and scheduled a himself a visit immediately.

To me, this is a man that I know has my very best interests at heart and well ahead of his ego. (That said, I bought him a fifth of whiskey and rented the Godfather trilogy in hopes he would still feel as masculine as possible.)

My heart just sort of broke for this lady. Life as a vessel.

[CJrun]

I figure they, and the -A-Lots just make up for those of us with no kids. More power to them.

I had 'Dad appointments' as a kid and I liked them; an hour or so every day in his office at home, while he tested me on spelling and just generally talked with me.

[Merri Lee]

I'm with Sioux. If I was a honcho at Comcast, I'd say "Happy Mother's Day! Here's a free plasma TV and cable for life!" Or they should get free luxury vacations from now on - so long as they go separately.

[Afkat]

And the winner of the coveted 18th post is......MERRI LEEEEEE..

[Siouxie]

Don't get me wrong. People should have as many children as they can and want. I just think when you get to the double digits like these people the kids will suffer. What quality time do these children have with their parents? I only wanted two and had two. After that, the ex did the snip snip. My girls WERE a blessing and I can safely say that I have given them my ALL (and then some). I don't think I could have handled more than 2. Again, MY opinion only.

I'd volunteer to snip JimBob though.

[Merri Lee]

Yayyyyy!!!! I own the 18th post! (BTW - I have 16 aunts and uncles, most of whom had few or no children)

[Annie Where-but-here]

I'm with Siouxie. Two's enough for me. When my hubby became big baby #3, it was time to cull the herd. (I'm still irritated over putting kids on a spreadsheet.)
*snork8 @ bali for 'satellite tv.'
Someone get Mr. Duggar a picnic table, or a bicycle, or some British pavement, IYKWIM.

[baligurl]

I'm the second to last of 10 (finally my Mom gave birth to Jesus-real name Billy, but we girls all knew), so my family of four kids semmed small.

[Siouxie]

Cheryl, I'm sure Mr. Howard is PLENTY manly, even after getting a snip in the jewels.

[baligurl]

oooh, sweet tri-mul!

[Siouxie]

wooooooooooohoooooooooo!

[Annie Where-but-here]

bali - my mom was 9th of 10. She was in the wrong class (2nd grade) for a month in a half before they figured out she should be in kindergarten. She does not sweat the small stuff.

[Siouxie]

hehe...Tontitown.

[baligurl]

Annie, me either. Almost everything makes me laugh, eventually.

[crossgirl]

my mom scheduled 30 minutes out of every weekday in which to either read to me, or play a board game. she tried to heavily influence it towards the reading. that was my "quality" time before i got old enough to start school. i think theres an awful lot of kids in this world who think the sun rises and sets on them and their wants and needs. might be good to pay a little less attention to them and more focusing on the family as a unit.

plus it's easy to shop for her, you know she'll always need maternity clothes!

[SandyEggo]

ha, Baligurl - so perhaps my daughter having her 5 girls, then "Jesus", she may be done?

[baligurl]

My Mom sure was! Of course, my brother was confused just how many Moms he had for years. (He still followes direction well.)

[SandyEggo]

hahaha - I'll be telling her that line tomorrow. Thanks!

[Merri Lee]

Hahaha crossgirl. you're right about "me first" kids. My paternal grandparents had the attitude that any child who couldn't make it out of childhood wasn't fit to live (they're immigrants, of course). My parents' motto: If you're crying you're breathing. If you're breathing nothing's wrong with you. So shut up.

Great parents. Now, they'd probably be in prison.

[Dad-O-Lot]

I don't understand the hostility some people seem to have for this family.

Mrs. Duggar doesn't seem to be suffering, on the contrary she seems to enjoy bearing and being the mother of such a large family. If her mind and body can take it, more power to them.

My mother raised 9 children. Someone once asked her, "How can you divide your love among 9 children?". She replied, "It's not divided, it's multiplied!"

I not only had the love of 2 parents, I also had the love, friendship, and support of 8 siblings.

I don't necessarily aspire to match the Duggars in number of children, but I have nothing but respect for them.

[Eleanor]

I just want to add that I don't think the number of children you have has any relationship to the 'quality' time your parents spend with you. There are parents with as few as 2 children who don't spend time with the kids beyond the minimum. And parents with lots of kids who can always find a little 'special' time.

[Cheryl Howard]

Dad-o-lot, I'm very sorry if I sounded hostile. I'm truly not. I have nothing but admiration for large families. More power to them. As I say, if you want to get something done, ask a busy person.

My empathy falls with a woman who is 41 years old having her 18th child. Roughly translated. One child, every year, for the last twenty years. The detriment that this potentially poses for her own mortality, her health, her sense of self...

She is a baby mill. Its the extreme opposite of what Eleanor describes. Women who have children and who make no time for them. Women who have so many children time spent with them is defined by spreadsheet. Its extreme.

Being a person of the parenting sort, I do know that kids don't agenda all that well. Caveat; her kids seemed pretty swell. They even bought her clothes to wear during that small period when she wasn't pregnant for Mother Day.

Me? I'm hoping for Crab Cakes and a mimosa, in bed.

[Siouxie]

El, you're absolutely right. There ARE parents with 2 kids that never spend time with them and there are those with more who do. More power to them. I was only stating my own personal opinion and only that. I've always been a very "hands on" Mom and I (personally) couldn't handle more than what God gave me.

I don't think they sell that much wine at one time for me to have 18 kids ;-P

Btw, Dad-O-Lot, there was no hostility in my comment, honestly. Congratulations on your 9th!

Just think of all the boogers in that house, huh??

[Siouxie]

Cheryl, I'm hoping for a quiet day with mine. Having one in college (who's here for the summer) and one ready to go, I will treasure that time.

[Siouxie]

And Cheryl, I will have to agree with you. I feel for that woman. She's spent 11 years of her life pregnant and that has to be a great toll on her body/person. My mom came from a family of 8 and I seriously doubt my grandmother had the time to devote to all of them equally. She had two and with the help of my aunts, did their best to raise us to be very independent women (my Dad died when I was 1 and my Mom never remarried). I don't remember much quality time with her, since we all came from Cuba when my sister and I were 8 and 10 and they were forced to work very hard to make ends meet. I've tried to be as good of a Mom as her, yet give my girls my time. In her defense, she did spend that quality time with her grandkids, which I will forever be grateful for.

[Siouxie]

And on that note, I will leave you with THIS!

[Cat R]

I had four kids. Then we got satellite tv. Yay!
Posted by: baligurl | 05:54 PM on May 9, 2008

My parents' motto: If you're crying you're breathing. If you're breathing nothing's wrong with you. So shut up.
Great parents. Now, they'd probably be in prison.
Posted by: Merri Lee | 07:16 PM on May 9, 2008

SNOOOOOOORK! You people are killing me! In a good way. Happy Mother’s Day!

[Eleanor]

And they are all home schooled!!!!! No respite ever - sheesh. The woman is a saint.

[Dad-O-Lot]

Siouxie, yes our house does have greater than the normal boogers per household.

I do sometimes wonder what life would be like without diapers in the house.

But the blessings make it all worth it.

[CJrun]

In my opinion, I came from a large family, even thogh there were only 4 kids. Trust me, the house was full.

For me, my brothers and sister (Reverse Jesus) are my templates for humans. They are all so different.

I suppose no more kids helped me avoid a stutter; Gawd knows which one I'm talking to, this moment. My Dad ceratinly couldn't get my name within three tries. Either way, he knew whom I was, the other goofy one. I'm so different from my brothers and sister, I'm glad my parents had an oops, after they stopped having kids.

Or maybe they dropped me on my head, and I'm just a weirdo.

[crossgirl]

is glad the family run had an oops too.

and dad-o, congrats to you and your wife not only for the family, but for keeping it together.

[baligurl]

CJ, I always say, my fourth wasn't an oops baby. She was a YIKES baby! She still is. She's one of those 'full of truths, needs some tact' kinda kids.

I like her alot.

[Siouxie]

*Sends a truck full of Kleenex™ for the Dad-O-Lot-O-Boogers household*

CJ, that would 'splain' a lot ;-P

[CJrun]

I just got through a call from my wonderful sister; oh please, don't get me started. She is not very sharp, but she comes by it honestly from Scarlet Fever. No, it has nothing to do with numbers, my parents and the doctors all missed Scarlet Fever and thought us kids had the measles. From what I have learned, Sis was brilliant, maybe the smartest kid. I had a great conversation with my Sis and her hubby, but I am also grateful that I was spared Scarlet Fever.

I suspect my lost sister was once a brilliant person and we will never know. We now get fired up over cooking discussions, because she just thinks she cooks better than I do. She can't begin to out-cook me, dang simpleton. Yes, sometimes having extra kids is best, especially if your current sister thinks she is a better cook. She lies.

I think it's a character flaw on her part.

[shell]

I agree with the "woman as a vessel" comment. And the "woman is a saint" comment, kinda. It makes me wonder about earlier abuse. At what point do you say: "Get the hell off of me!"

[shell]

I, too, had scarlet fever(1974). I hope she smokes you on the Fourth of July! And sis must read this. Go Girl!

[eilbeback]

"Jinger?" Even *I* know that's not a real name... By Jinger! We're pregnant again!" I'd carry a big stick when Jim Bob's around...

[hmmm]

first thought: yikes, how awful. then i read the text and watched the video.

calm, well educated, financially secure, smiling parents.
calm, well behaved, well spoken, self confident, smiling siblings.

clean, organized, well appointed home.

*swoon*

they are apparently doing something right.

as they are both (obviously successful) real estate agents, (a profession which requires a good deal of independent thinking and self management) it doesn't seem likely that she is any sort of vessel, but rather that this lifestyle is her (their) choice. ..lets just hope she's around to enjoy the grands!

and home schooled kids are proving well in national testing standards as well as in social abilities.

they're teaching their children that working together and treating others as they would like to be treated makes for a successful family. wouldn't that lack of selfishness make for a more successful world? kind of reminds me of what this great country was once all about.

while this sure isn't a lifestyle that many of us would choose, i can't help but look on them with respect, awe, and maybe a little bit of wistfulness. they're amazing!

i wish Mrs. Duggar a very Happy Mother's Day!

and Happy Mother's Day to all the blog Moms!

[queensbee]

i saw a documentary on tlc about this family when they had only 15 children. they are in some kind of fundagelical sect....that's why theyre home schooled....this poor woman is just doing what her hubby and G-d want...i gots a problem with that. i put them in the same category with those kookoos in the prairie dresses at that compound in texas. i'm sure she is very happy, and very lucky, because so many super large families have at least one child with a birth defect or illness that makes for a very difficult time. I think ole jimbob needs another hobby. they sure do have the right to do whatever they want... but all my friends who were the oldest of 10 or more, they never had any kids because they spent their time raising their mother's children. i dont wish her any ill, i just hope someone out there tells her that her value is more than just popping out kids every year.