Kids by the Dozen

Cafe Society
1

The Learning Channel apparently can’t make new documentaries about the Duggar familar fast enough (and Michelle isn’t getting pregnant again soon enough), so they have a new series called Kids By The Dozen. Each episode features a family with 12+ kids. Two have aired so far: the Jeubs (13 kids) and the Arndts (14 kids). I’m getting a little worried. Here are the things that catch my attention, followed by the initial of the family that displays the noticeable characteristic (Duggar D, Jeub J, Arndt A)

Women wear homemade dresses: DJ
Family is conservative Christian: DJA
Family runs its own church services: DA
Father is self-employed: DJA
Children work in father’s business: DJA
No children have gone to college: DJA
Children are homeschooled: DJA
Parents did not go to college: DJ (A unknown)
No children have romantic involvements: DA (see note about Jeubs below)
Children all live at home: DA (see Jeub notes)
Family built its own house: DA
Parents’ lifestyle based on traumatic past experiences: DJ

Now, the Duggars’ oldest is only 17 or 18, so it’s not such a big deal that he’s living at home, working for his dad, not going to college, and hasn’t had a girlfriend.

The Arndts, on the other hand, have five children that are 19 and older. The oldest is 25. They all live at home, work for dad, eschew college, and not a single one has ever had a romantic relationship.

The Jeubs are perhaps the scariest. The two oldest are the mother’s children, whom she had out of wedlock by some other man (or men). When the oldest of these two daughters was 18, she (and I quote from the show) stopped going to church every Sunday, and got a boyfriend. Her parents told her that she couldn’t ever come home again–she could either move in with her boyfriend and be disowned, or move in with the family’s pastor and be on probation with them. She initially moved in with the pastor, then got her own apartment. Contact with her parents was spotty until she got pregnant–then they cut off communication with her entirely. They are “eagerly awaiting” the day when she “can come back”–but that day ain’t now, and the son looks nearly kindergarten aged. One assumes “that day” will come when she gets married. Hello… hypocrits much?

I don’t want this thread to disintegrate into something nasty. I have complete respect for at least the Duggars and the Arndts, if not the Jeubs. They’re doing their own thing and not hurting anyone, and the family businesses are good businesses that are useful to the community–as are the church services they run, I guess. I personally wouldn’t have so many kids because I value privacy, personal attention, space, quiet, agnosticism, public education, and expensive stuff–but those are my preferences and I don’t expect other people to agree with me about them.

I’m just wondering… can TLC find a huge family that isn’t like this?

2

I avoid these after having seen the one about the family with ~16 kids (the Dugars?). Specifically, their attitudes towards the females in the house were very disturbing – they always wore dresses, were restricted to menial housework, and had to keep their hair long. I can’t imagine telling a child, “you can’t help me fix the drywall because you’re a girl, you’re supposed to be cooking and cleaning”.

Edited to add: this family was building some sort of addition or new house, and the father had all the male children – even the little ones – out helping him.

3

I wonder if TLC would be interested in interviewing my family: my dad is one of 13 kids (7 girls and 6 boys). Then again, maybe not – the youngest of my father’s siblings is 36 or 37 now (I’m 33, just as a point of reference). Also, none of the characteristics in the list below apply, except that my grandmother did make clothes for the girls at one time, and my family is Catholic (although “conservative” is a matter of interpretation, I guess).

4

I got the impression watching the show that Mama Jeub was willing to reconcile with her oldest. Papa Jeub, on the other hand is a judgmental prick and it doesn’t look like Mom will defy him.

Wasn’t there was another family featured in this series? I caught just the end of the episode but it looked like half of the kids were bi-racial (from Mom’s first marriage?) and they had 3 or 4 sets of twins. Apparently the youngest set of twins were born premature and they were just coming home after 5 or so months in the hospital.

5

**Jeep’s Phoenix ** said: Specifically, their attitudes towards the females in the house were very disturbing – they always wore dresses, were restricted to menial housework, and had to keep their hair long. I can’t imagine telling a child, “you can’t help me fix the drywall because you’re a girl, you’re supposed to be cooking and cleaning”.

I didn’t get that impression at all and distinctly remember a young lady with her own drill helping screw up the metal studs in the interior walls. Perhaps you were taking a bathroom break during that scene?

While I can’t imagine having THAT many children full time (we did have a total of 14 foster/step/adopted/biological over a couple of years, but they came and went), I admire women who can balance the needs or their husbands, themselves and their families AND keep a decent home. I’m just not that organized, or perhaps I’m too lazy. Just keeping up with the socks for a family that large overwhelms me!

6

This is about the only episode of this I’ve seen. Yes, her first 5 (iirc) children were from her first marriage and she had 3 twins and a single with the second husband.

Mom’s family was pretty big, and she’s told me they played with a family down the road of 21… (not sure if some were adopted or not).

7

Families making money from the hokey fake stories including houses built and trips that are paid for: D Don’t know about JA

I haven’t watched the other shows, just caught a couple episodes of the Duggar family. In spite of our being polar opposites on just about everything, I think they’re a pretty nice family. They seem like nice people and so are the kids.
The show is just so staged and fake, it’s like a bad commercial from the 50’s. The matching outfits with them skipping along single file while the corny narrator cracks jokes is just so contrived and phony.

You don’t seriously think that girl was really screwing in metal studs, do you really? No, I wasn’t taking a bathroom break and I saw it. Have you ever screwed in metal studs before? I have. No way in hell that little girl was doing anything more than posing. They all had their own drills with their names on them. :rolleyes: Please, if you had 10 paid workers there they would all have their own drills. I think it could be an OK show if it wasn’t so fake.

8

Not all large familys are like that: my mom is one of 12–11 have college degrees, and five or six have advanced degrees: the two oldest daughters, in their 60s, have Ph.ds in Physics and Math. Almost all work in a technical field.

9

My great grandma had 14 kids, but for her I don’t think it was that she wanted so many kids she would have to stack them on top of one another to have any available floorspace. I think due to lack of effective birth control and lack of TV they had to have SOMETHING to do and that something often led to more children. When she got into her late 80’s she just gave up remembering names and called all the women in the family Norma and all the men Curt. It was just easier that way.

10

My first girlfriend was eventually one of seven children.
A girl who grew up on my block became the mother of eight children.
The family next door to us had nine children.
A friend in high school and college was one of eleven children.
Another friend in high school and college was one of fourteen children.

Catholics. :wink: