Posted on 05/17/2004 10:06:50 PM PDT by projectile
Michelle Duggar just won the "Young Mother of the Year Award" in Arkansas, which is sponsored by American Mothers Incorporated.
Duggar is like any mom -- multiplied several times over.
Michelle Duggar, 37, and her husband, former state Rep. Jim Bob Duggar, have 14 kids. All of their names start with the letter "J," and number 15 is due this month.
The children: Joshua, 16; Jana and John-David, 14; Jill, 12; Jessa, 11; Jinger, 10; Joseph, 9; Josiah, 7; Joy-Anna, 6; Jeremiah and Jedidiah, 5; Jason, 3; James, 2; and Justin, 1.
"I'm either expecting or nursing," Michelle Duggar says with a laugh. "We actually didn't set out to have a large number of children. I don't think that was our intention when we were first married. But I think we realized children are a gift."
The Duggars are a very religious, Southern Baptist family.
"I just kind of got used to it as they came," says Joshua, the oldest child.
Added together, Duggar has spent almost a whole decade pregnant -- and she's only 37.
She admits to having morning sickness, but mornings at the Duggar house would make anybody go bananas.
From dawn to dusk, each tiny tot has an older buddy who helps them with just about everything
"It's a lot of fun," says Jill.
The little ones have their responsibilities, too. Joseph fetches the laundry. Then, Jill and Joy-Anna take their turn washing clothes the girls have made themselves.
Josiah takes out the trash, while his brother, John, trains the dog, Jasmine.
The Duggars call the chores "jurisdictions," and, they say, it keeps them disciplined. There's an almighty checklist.
"We give them a little reward per check … about 3 cents a check," says Jim Bob.
But the Duggars check more than just chores. Michelle Duggar homeschools all 14 children. Sometimes, they study as a group or on their own. They use workbooks, computers and each other to study.
Michelle Duggar notes, "The older child gets to become a teacher. And it seems like you learn so much more when you're the teacher than when you're just the student."
From math to music, the Duggar kids don't miss a beat.
"We heard a long time ago that it if you play a violin, it helps you work on the left side of the brain," explains Michelle. "Sometimes, there are eight lessons going on at the same time. And you just kind of have to block it out."
That may be hard to do in the modest house of only 2,400 square feet.
There's almost always a line at one of the two bathrooms, but soon that will change.
Dad and the two oldest boys are building a 7,000-square-foot house. The Duggar dream house will have bathrooms galore, a commercial kitchen and one heck of a laundry room.
"We'll have four washers and eight dryers," says Jim Bob Duggar. "Yes, a laundromat."
How do they afford it? Jim Bob Duggar made some smart investments, and they're pretty frugal. The Duggars shop in bulk, basketfuls at a time.
"We spend about $1,500 a month on food," say Jim Bob.
When they do splurge, they go in style -- the family bus. But the bus has a couple of extra seats.
"I would like more," says Michelle Duggar.
Jim Bob Duggar says he has something very special planned for Mother's Day. Michelle says if that means he's cooking, she'll have quite a mess to clean up when he's done.
For a few years I would get so annoyed around Mother's Day because one of the local papers would publish a story about people who (believe it or not) actually chose to have children. One year there was a story about a midwife who had eight children. Another year the story was about how many families are choosing to have three children instead of two. The frustration wasn't with the articles, but a that a few days later some yo-yo would have a letter printed about how horrible these people are for adding to the world's population.
One of his daughters used to baby sit for us and she was cute as a speckled pup. Also a star athlete.
My Mother was one of 13 children. They grew up on a large (over 1000 acres) farm and the children were really an asset. They all worked from about age 5 on. I was always impressed at just how affectionate they were to each other despite having so many siblings. I guess it might have been from being Scottish and being clannish to some extent.
Based on the "Why would anyone want what I don't want" philosophy... Nobody needs more than seven kids. More than that and it's just a tribe. But seven's normal.
:-D
Just tell anyone who comments on you having too many children that you need to add more intelligent people in the world to counterbalance the idiots.
Wow, I agree with you for a second time in a week. Maybe I should stay sober more often. haha
LOL! You know...my brothers seemed to pick EVERY instrument that was most annoying in a beginner's hands. One plays bagpipes, another played trombone (think cow in labor) and trumpet, and several siblings play violin. It's a wonder we all survived to adulthood! ;-)
What? No Drums? We had the trombone, drums, flute (my whimpy little sister), melaphone, trumpet, piano, organ and xylophone. Nothing really went together, but we sure made a lot of noise--and there were only three of us! Where is your brother from that plays the bagpipes? It seems that the piping world is quite small and most know each other.
They're not on the dole. That's gotta count for something.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Psalm 127:4(ESV)
More power to 'em.
We never had anyone play a full drum set, though some are learning now...but they're out of the house. Also had flute, tin whistle (bagpipe brother doubles on whistles), cello, and all the usual "kid" instruments like harmonicas and xylophones and such.
My bagpiper brother plays with the Graham Highlanders from St. Johnsbury, VT. They're still fairly new as a band...but have done fairly well in competitions and such for their level.
You and me both. My wife was done at 3, though -- mentally and physically. Luckily, I still get to herd little kids around at Sunday School....
Heh...remember I'm one of eight!
But I prefer "clan" to "tribe"...
At this point I'd settle for four or five. Hope it still can happen.
Maybe they really don't enjoy it...hence, staying pregnant and uncomfortable is easier. ??
:)
Yeah, I remember. Why do you think I made that post? ;-D
Clan is better than litter, anyway, which is something I heard more than once.
You could have them all at once, maybe. Or have two and adopt more.
What was the other thing?... and yes...sobriety is great! (we seem to be in the minority here on this thread!)
We don't have any children, just one dog. I don't have the patience or the desire to have any either. I just spoil the ones already here. That gives the moms and dads a break. I don't think I'm responsible enough to raise children. Some people are made for it and I'm not one of them.
Guess what! 1 1/2 years. That's the countdown to my quitting working and homeschooling our 3 boys. I've been worried about asking my husband about my quitting work, we have health insurance through my job, and the dual income is nice, but the pull to do what I think is the right thing finally pushed me to broach the subject. We are going to get our debt down, switch to his employers insurance, and a few other things, and then I am quitting my current job and starting the one I should have been doing the whole time: fulltime wife and mommy!
I think the cincher was when I told him he deserved more than convenience food (read: pre-packaged/pre-made/frozen) for dinner, and more of my time, instead of me being tired and cranky in the evenings. And that boys deserved more than 45 minutes in the a.m. and 2 hours at night of mommy.
I am very happy, excited, nervous. Any prayers would be appreciated many times over.
Same here. Except we have TWO dogs. I have to say that nobody has ever berated me for not having children (at least to my face!).
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