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I do love watching the show about them!!! I wish I could be that lady!!! She is very very blessed! She really deserves her children and they are such a close family!

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Cassie - I agree with you about everything but I wouldn't want that many kids lol.

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hee heee, yeah I'd be nuts!

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I'd do it if I could afford it. I'd take as many as would come. But then, we already know I'm nuts.

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I didn't catch all of it, but they were on the Today Show & are pregnant again.

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DH does well but there is no way we could afford 17 kids. Food alone would cost way too much.

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Happy Mother's Day: Woman pregnant with 18th child - Yahoo! News

She's on to 18 now!!

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I think after six it gets kinda scary. Even six was weird(my bf when i was little was #4 of 6) but maybe that has to do with being the only child for 10 years.

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I wonder how their kids, especially the older ones, truly feel about them popping out a baby every year. The parents waited to "surprise" the kids by telling them today on the show and the kids didn't seem too excited.

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I found 3 siblings to be more than enough. I think I'd get pissed after 4 or 5. It doesn't seem like any 2 ppl could deal with the mental/emotional needs of that many kids. The older ones probably end up taking on alot of parental responsibility that they shouldn't have to just because their parents can't stretch that much. And coming from someone who has had to take on most of the "parental" responsibilities with my youngest brother, it f&%$ things up. You end up feeling totally responsible for this kid, and you shouldn't. Yes there is obvious love and care for your sibling but not, "OMG, I need to make sure he does his homework, washes his hair, and gets to karate on time, and then see about that dr.'s appt." That is the parents job. There is a difference between siblings and parents and when that line is crossed or blurred it messes up both kids. Or so the counselors have told me. I believe it. I think 2-5 is a good number(depending on how much the parents actually parent), after that it could be really bad for the kids. It borders on selfish and "I wanna be in a living circus". Jon & Kate plus 8 i understand. That was a whoopsie but they truly seem to be doing whats right for their family. Then there are ppl i think want the publicity and the hand outs they get from companies, organizations, blah blah blah. Thats wrong.

Now that i've probably insulted somebody or another i'm off to bed. Night shift sucksssssssssss.

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I'm actually seeing something similar with my sister. She is currently pg with #6, she home schools and the oldest is 10. I know that my niece does a lot for the younger kids and I personally don't see how my sister can possibly give each of those kids the attention that they need. She started home schooling because my oldest nephew wasn't getting enough attention at public school?? She is so busy running around that she can't keep things straight or take time for herself. She doesn't even remember to call me with ample notification about birthday parties and other milestone functions. Sheesh, she never even told me about my niece's recital. I can't even imagine the chaos in a home with 18 children. Now, my grandma was one of 18, but that was in the early 1900's - times have changed!

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Wow 18 kids! All those years spent being PG, lol. I think they may run out of names soon since they all begin with "J'

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Some siblings are resentful of youngers, some like to care for them. Now, I only come from three, but my little brother is 8 years younger, and my sister is 4 years older (I'm the middle), so he basically had three mothers, and I never resented it. I've seen two-sibling families that the older justg chooses to take on caring for the younger. It also happens in families where the parent/s are neglectful and the older has to. I'd think the family's station in life financially and amount of space would have something to do with how a large family gets on. Also, if children are given stability and taught respect for the parents, there is less 'active parenting' after a while...they kinda start to 'school' like fish. I only have a mild amount of personal experience with this, not 18 (!), but with my steps, they are very close together, and I always said they grew up like a 'pile of puppies'. And there were always the friends around who'd been there for years. All my responsibility, but they didn't have that ingrained respect that made things flow smoothly. I mean, I know teenagers test limits, but they went to a ridiculous level -- it can become like a mob mentality. They were missing that stability and financial security when they were younger, and frankly the rules of respecting other people so it was really tough.

I learned to feed ten grown people a square meal with dessert on less than $10 if I had to, so there are tricks. But yeah, there has to be some decent amount of money around, just for groceries and electricity!

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Resent for the siblings is the last thing i'm thinking of. It's the resentment for the parents. I HAD To take care of my little brother from the time he was born or no one else would. In some aspects they couldn't in others they wouldn't. I'll be honest. I love my lil bro more than life itself, but i never wanted to be mom. I never wanted to have to sneak around just to have a life. I didn't wanna cook, clean, and play mommy all day. I didn't wanna be housewife all summer, i wanted to go out and be with my friends but it simply wasn't an option. I'm not saying these parents are bad parents but there are some things they simply cant provide to that many. Some ppl take it upon themselves, others don't. For those who do it sucks to be 16 and have a five year old that you are pretty much the mom to. For those that don't then the younger sib is definitely going to lack alot of the emotional connection he needs to another person, or guidance for that matter. They may "school" up and all 18 may be angels but that doesn't mean everyone is provided for in the ways they need to be. Maybe these ppl are managing but it seems far fetched that they could do it. If they can then god bless them. If not then I only hope the kids can cope well, and come out of it ok.

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Yeah, I can see where you are coming from. I don't have any experience with an older child, like a teenager, being 'mom' to a really young sibling, and just wanting to live their own teenage life but being prohibited. I'm sorry you had to do that and lost some of your own childhood because of it. I guess the bottom line is, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and who knows what the magic formula is.

I've said it before though...I used to have really strong thoughts on how many children I wanted and how far apart I wanted them, what was 'right'. But being where I have gotten to in my life, age, and fertility struggles, I'd have as many as I could afford if my family was my full-time job. I actually envy these people for being as fortunate as they are. Michelle has said in an interview I saw once or a show, that they worked their butts off job-wise for the first 5 (?) years they were married in order to be debt-free and have material things in place so that when the time came they could dedicate the time and money to their family.

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And that totally makes sense. Meh. The teenage years for me were screwy but I wouldn't trade them for the world. I'm not arguing the point of it can be done Just expressing that I don't see it as very possible. I think A family should have as many children as they can devote their lives to. Whether that be 1 or 18. I just think at some point it can become harder on the kids than ppl think.

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