more of a litter than a family

have you seen or heard about the duggar family? they have sixteen children. yes, sixteen. they're pretty much famous for having a giant brood; they even have their own special on tlc about the house they built to fit them all.

i come from a long line of huge families. on my pop's side, until his generation there wasn't a family with less than eight kids. i have a ridiculous amount of cousins. mom's family was pretty big until they moved to the states, so i don't have quite as many cousins on that side of things. i am not anti-big-family, but the duggars make me uneasy.

it's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes me feel weird about them and at the same time compelled to watch their specials on tv, but the first thing that comes to mind when i think of them is that it's more of a litter than a family. mom seems to be just a breeding machine. a strangely perky, placid, brainwashed machine. having kids and being a mom is a totally worthwhile endeavor, but it seems like they've taken it to a seriously crazy extreme. mom is practically a baby-making-factory, and i can't imagine one set of parents being able to give all those kids any serious amount of attention. at the same time i think about how school teachers usually deal with more than sixteen, and they do it all day. of course, eight hours isn't exactly twenty-four.

their roles in the family also seem to be pretty rigidly gender-based. the girls help with cleaning, cooking, and other typically feminine stuff. the boys do garbage, yard work, that sort of thing. it makes me wonder what kind of chaos might break out if one of the many, many girls said, "hey, i'd rather mow the lawn today than babysit my younger brothers or sisters." and how come none of the girls get to wear a pair of pants? i mean, i'm fairly sure pants don't make you a man. the older children also have quite a lot of work to do, there seems to be very little time for them to hang out. when are they going to get to be angsty teenagers? or write bad poetry, discover morrissey and learn about the world outside their house? instead they have to be stand-in moms and dads. there isn't a whole lot of privacy built into the house either, with everyone sleeping in giant rooms all together. i would have been one seriously dark kid if i grew up in that house. oh wait, my parents are reasonable! i didn't have to! with their new compound all built, there isn't much chance of them getting to interact with the outside world, which is probably the point. education in that house must also be a bit of a joke, when on earth is there time to study? they don't even get to leave the house for school. the only meaningful interaction they have is with their own family and other families like them. will the duggar children know what they might be able to be outside of moms or dads? how could they pay for college? will they even be encouraged to attend college? or just grow up, get out of the house, and start their own mega-families?

i just think is this one example of where bigger might not be better. although i do kind of want to try their tater-tot casserole recipe.