[carang]

just saw on yahoo news that this family is now expecting#18....anyone else think these folks are a little....ummmm...eccentric?

[sunniefaith]

I find this family is little way too strange for me. Very strange. Arent they the ones that built their own house? And they declare it as a church so that they won't be taxed or something like that?

[Frenchy]

The little I know is that they have no debt as they have built nearly everything by themselves... well, the kids are not going to school, they are learning at home and by building a house/cooking/sewing/cleaning, they have projects, they seem healthy... if they don't hurt anybody, why not ?... not saying I would do the same...

[carang]

i think that it's completely up to them how they live their lives. if they are all happy and healthy that's the most important thing.

but i know most of us struggle with 1 or 2 or 3. i can't imagine trying to raise....18!

in the article it said that they plan on continuing to have children so long as god gives them....the mother is 41 now, how many more will she have do you think?

[sunniefaith]

3 or 4 more. But having said that it's their lives and do whatever they like but is it fair for the kids to take on roles of parents to help parent the younger ones? I'm not from America but I wonder if this is a normal American childhood?

[rebekah]

it is most definitely NOT a normal american childhood... but it is certainly more common among the highly religious and I think it is more common in the US than elsewhere. It's their life and if they are happy, that's fantastic, but I'm most interested in what happens when the kids grow up, start their own families, etc. How much do they want to socialize with the extended family, how does it affect their spouses, and what do they think of it, as adults raising their own children (if they have any)?

[tikkunolam]

It definitely isn't a common "American" family dynamic. That is a hasty generalisation. However, it is common in larger families that older siblings take on parental roles over younger siblings-whether they be from religious, poverty stricken, or farming families anywhere in the world. Look at Southeast Asian families- the older kids go out to work for the family in the rice fields and there usually are older kids taking care of kids in that dynamic but they are in a poverty stricken situation and that is what they do to survive. It takes all kinds of families to make up this world and the Duggars are doing a commendable job. It may be odd that they home school their kids and build their own house but 100 years ago a majority of families were living that lifestyle and areas in the world it is still occurring whether they are in industrialised or undeveloped countries. Amish still get together to raise a barn and the whole community helps including the children. Now we have crack babies and children raised on fast food who can't even identify simple garden vegetables. So are we really heading in a better direction?

The Duggars probably have a more rounded education for every day things that schools don't teach our children. Look at the credit crisis in the UK and North America (both Canada and the US). The education system is not teaching about consumer debt and basic household finance in schools. The Duggars are debt free and teach their children the value of not living beyond their own means while teaching them important life skills such as self reliance.

[Sage]

I first saw them on the Discovery Channel. I was just amazed. The mom is a superwoman. SUPERWOMAN.

To me, having 18 kids and raising them is, like, scaling all the seven highest peaks on planet Earth back to back. Three times.

They have a website here.