SEVENTEEN kids?!?! WTF?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/08/03/17.kids.ap/index.html

I don't know where to start. For one, I'm pretty certain that the world probably isn't in any short supply of humans. For another, wouldn't your uterus simply explode after about half that number?

I know some people like kids and all, but SEVENTEEN?!?! I don't get it.

[slodave]

Heh, I saw this earlier. I could not imagine being pregnant for 10 years (OK, not in a row) let alone 9 months! And they wouldn't mind more!

[mikester]

Well, I had a boss who was catholic with 4 kids (doesn't really compare but who does?)...they were talking about having more and had adopted a 16 year old girl already (#5).

I asked him "Why so many" and he said "My kids are smart - smart kids are the only way to counter act the stupid out there. Too many smart people are not having enough kids."

So...maybe these folks are helping to counter act the stupid.

I hope so - we don't need 17 more stupid people.

[livi]

I am working on my own family soccer team. Halfway so far..

Can´t remember the last time I had a whole day to myself. Sometimes I think perhaps I should have retired a few kids ago (not seriously of course), but seventeen is simply stupid and irresponsible.

[URY914]

I bet some of them don't know all their names.
What a burden on all of them.

[williecoyote]

[QUOTE=URY914;3410469]I bet some of them don't know all their names.

Good night Jim Bob, good night Mary Ellen, good night John Boy, good night Alfalfa.......... Practice.

[URY914]

God night the little one with red hair...

[JerDe]

Here in the heart of Ohio's Amish country, we have a married couple of the Old Order Amish (very conservative - no electric, no running water, etc. etc. ) who have had 29, I repeat, 29 children in 20 years..... You ask - how is this possible ?? The woman has had 19 childbirths in those 20 years - nine single deliveries and 10 sets of TWINS - for a total of 29.... I dont know how they managed to miss one year but this one is rather dumbfounding.

[Icemaster]

Every sperm is sacred......

I didn't think "be fruitful and multiply" meant "squeeze out a litter."

That must suck being a kid in that family. But then again, think of the amount of anonymity that you'd have, you could probably get away with a hell of a lot of shenanigans.

She must have had velcro closures sewn in.

[Chocaholic]

Originally Posted by mikester

I asked him "Why so many" and he said "My kids are smart - smart kids are the only way to counter act the stupid out there. Too many smart people are not having enough kids."

So...maybe these folks are helping to counter act the stupid.

I hope so - we don't need 17 more stupid people.

How many parents will admit they have stupid children? Or, that they are stupid themselves? Yep, everyone making litters of kids are just ******* brilliant. Especially this guy. Some logic.

Ron White said it best: You can't fix STUPID.

[Moses]

It does not appear that this family is procreating at public expense. It is none of our business how many kids they have. Do I want 17 kids? Hell no. But it appears this family is self supporting. I have no problem with it.

The human experience is different for all of us. Important contribution happen on both sides of the bell curve; Parents with one child, parents with 17 children. Everybody brings a unique perspective to society. As long as I'm not asked to pay for this couples robust fecundity it's not a problem.

[azasadny]

At least the Duggar family takes care of their offspring. What about the people who father kids and take off or who abandon their kids?

[mikester]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

How many parents will admit they have stupid children? Or, that they are stupid themselves? Yep, everyone making litters of kids are just ******* brilliant. Especially this guy. Some logic.

Ron White said it best: You can't fix STUPID.

The guy I am referring to is very intelligent, I've met his wife - also intelligent and his kids are smart as a whip. You may not agree with large families but just because someone has one doesn't mean they are stupid.

I'm guilty of it myself to some extent but out culture has come to value "things" over families. Our smartest people are smart enough to know that their ability to be materialistic will go down if they have more than one or two children. It's unfortunate because as many of you know - children are freaking awesome.

[Jim Bremner]

I'm the father and stepfather of 4 boys.

I see allot of judgmental people that ask me why we have so many.

God bless this family, that's allot of love under one roof.

I bet the children will grow up to be

1.caring of others

2.not as judgmental as most of us

3.will make great parents themselves, as well as spouses

4 I would hire them in a heartbeat

5.none of the girls will be part of the pole dancers union

Mom and Dad are not concerned about what new watch or fancy car that their gonna get

I do bet that they have a airport shuttle buss as the dd

Jim Bob is allot more of a man than I will ever be

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

I don't get it.

You don't get a lot of things...doesn't mean you should share.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Family legend has it that my maternal grandfather was one of 18 children although only 11 of them lived to adulthood. Infant mortality was a lot more common right before and after the turn of the 19th/20th century.

My own girlfriend is one of 8 children. She is the second youngest. Interestingly, all of them have a middle name except the last two. She jokes that her parents couldn't think of anymore names after the first twelve! Its probably more true than not.

I suppose if you WANT as many children as you can have AND you can afford to raise them...fine (well kinda) but seriously, no matter how well intended you were, how much time could you possibly spend one-on-one? You'd have to work your rear off to support them and when you were home, doing all the domestic stuff it would take for a family that big would keep you from EVER talking to them, much less enjoying them.

[89911]

To each his own. I've seen a couple of shows on the family. They seem to have everything together, at least on the surface. They only thing I didn't agree with is that she paired every older child up with a younger one that they were responsible for. Nothing like being a 10 year old and saddled with taking care of a newborn until you get married at 18 and them immediately start having some of your own. So much for enjoying their youth.

That has to be one worn out pu&&y.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by 89911

To each his own. I've seen a couple of shows on the family. They seem to have everything together, at least on the surface. They only thing I didn't agree with is that she paired every older child up with a younger one that they were responsible for. Nothing like being a 10 year old and saddled with taking care of a newborn until you get married at 18 and them immediately start having some of your own. So much for enjoying their youth.

I completely get where you're coming from on this but in the case of my girlfriend, she was very attended to by her older sister and as a result they are very close to this day. You could say they were sort of "paired." Her sister taught her about her then-upcoming menstrual cycle and she says it wasn't as embarassing as it would have been if she had had to hear it from her mother. She felt comfortable asking questions she says she never would have asked otherwise.

She says they had a hand written chart in the laundry porch of their house with everyone's name on it and a list of chores and eveyone did their assigned task or the next person below had to do it. The youngest kids on the top and the next older kid below. The older kids weren't going to let the younger kids make them do their chores so it worked like a charm, the house was always neat and the parents weren't overworked doing chores so they spent more time with their kids.

Having said all that? My girlfriend has one child as do another two of her siblings. Only one (the oldest) of her siblings have four kids.

[woodman]