I was gonna add that on top of homeschooling the kids, she also sews a lot of the girls' dresses from what I hear (this is how they all have matching outfits). I grew up on a farm where we all shared the work and chores. I was ahead of most of my peers maturity wise as at age 7 I could wash clothes, cook meals for 6 of us from scratch (only 3 kids though--my grandfather lived w/us too), and I could sew very early too (as a teen I made some of my own clothes as we were not rich), etc. We grew a huge garden every year that was the size of a field, and then another 'small' one by our house that was double the size of most home lots today. I totally feel like I am a better person today for having lived like that. I am very domesticated and I also have two college degrees and have worked for Fortune 500 companies, etc. (I am a SAHM now). I feel more successful because I learned responsibility early on. I truly wish that I could move back to the country and raise my kids the way I grew up. We were never bored, didn't get into any sort of trouble in school or with police, never did drugs or even smoked, etc., like a lot of kids do now. While we had chores to do at home, we were never denied the opportunity to be with friends or any other activities; we were a normal family, we just lived by the ethic that you worked before you played. A lot of my friends/kids I grew up with were raised the same way on a farm and they feel the same about wishing they could raise their kids the same way/go back. Living in the city or even the suburbs is very different.

Can't speak for the Duggars of course, but I'd bet that they, as a family, are closer and spend more quality time together than most families do today. I don't know how in the world the woman does all of what she does daily, but I guess if she has people coming in weekly helping and teenage kids that are disciplined enough to actually help run the house, it's probably not that bad. I know I am well organized and 4 is all I can physically handle (by this I mean actually give quality time to each child and still get all of the other necessary housework, homework, running kids to after school activities, etc. accomplished. I'm 35 and I want to drop from exhaustion with just 4.). I wanted to also add that last year Parents magazine had an article on the Duggars. The mom, Michelle, stated that (not quoting word for word) 'the way they live is normal, having so many children and all, that most everyone in Arkansas lives this way, etc.'. Um, no we don't. I think that set us back a lot as a state, ha ha. We had almost gotten over the no shoes, country bumpkin stereotype too. I actually heard a lot of people in this area talking about that comment she made in the magazine. It actually offended many here that she said that. It does not portray our area correctly at all; most here have the normal 2-4 kids.

I do love watching whenever they do a new special. I guess whatever we think about them, they are very fascinating people to be able to pull off having such a huge family this day and age. They are in the paper here often and they do also want more children. Sorry to ramble on.