16 kids and wanting more!!!

**Edwina's Secretary** · 10-14-2005, 05:19 PM

I do quibble with the "we don't pay for them." We do. Higher medical insurance premiums....they pay the same family rate as a family with one child - just for an example. "No man is an island" and we support each other...through taxes, insurance, etc in many, many ways!

That said...it is their business. I just feel sorry for the children and cannot find it admirable.

**DJFyrewolf36** · 10-14-2005, 06:09 PM

It mentioned something in the article about the father being in Real Estate so I doubt money is an issue.

I can't judge or say if the kids are happy or not. It seems like it from thier photos though.

Has any of the programs about them interviewed the older kids? I wonder what they have to say.

I wouldn't want 16 kids, but if they are all happy, well adjusted and well cared for I can't see why people need to judge them.

**lizbud** · 10-14-2005, 07:15 PM

I wonder how much money it would cost to send 16 children to college?

**DJFyrewolf36** · 10-14-2005, 07:29 PM

For the 2004/2005 academic year, the average annual cost of a four-year public college is $14,640 and the average annual cost of a four-year private college is $30,295. (Source: The College Board's Trends in College Pricing Report 2004.) The total figures include five expense items: tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses

Well, using those numbers as an average, not counting for inflation...

Public College: $234,320
Private College: $484,720

Thats quite a bit of money!

**Scooby4** · 10-14-2005, 07:47 PM

The couple with 16 kids are NOT on welfare. Although some tax dollars may have went towards them considering that the guy was a Senator Representative in his state.

He's going to run again this year after losing last years election. So is it better to have paid the guy's salary with our tax dollars to represent the people of his state instead of supporting him with the welfare dollars of the state?

Remember that 2 of them are sets of twins. One fraternal and one identical. That accounts for 4 of the children there alone. The couple also did not start having children until 4 years into their marriage!

Then they had children about every 2 years between. The usual number people suggest separating children's births.
They have been working on building their 7000 square foot home for 2 years now. The bedrooms are going to be "dormitory" style. So the bedrooms are going to be shared. None of the children are "special needs" and are all healthy. Their living conditions and education is better than what most children receive. They are learning to work together and take care of one another which is what any body could ask of their children.

I personally wouldn't want that many kids but I don't say that someone shouldn't. This isn't a case of having children for the sake of having children or getting a bigger welfare check. This is a situation where there is a loving home environment and each birth is treated like a miracle and blessing. I am almost jealous.

Besides the woman who had the most children had 53 children!!! She lives in South America and is soo dazed that she no longer recognizes most of the kids! She's had several sets of twins and triplets which accounts for the large number. I think she's only given birth 25 times in all.

So 16 isn't so bad after all!!!

**dukedogsmom** · 10-14-2005, 08:11 PM

If they were pet owners, wonder if they would be considered hoarders?

**lizbud** · 10-14-2005, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by dukedogsmom

If they were pet owners, wonder if they would be considered hoarders?

LOL

Good question Valerie.....

**Logan** · 10-14-2005, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by lizbud

I wonder how much money it would cost to send 16 children to college?

A LOT! For sure, Liz, but as many financial consultants will tell you these days, we need to put more responsibility on the child to earn their college education rather than providing it anyway.......I think there is a happy medium in there, somewhere. Just my 2 cents.

**lizbud** · 10-15-2005, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by Logan

A LOT! For sure, Liz, but as many financial consultants will tell you these days, we need to put more responsibility on the child to earn their college education rather than providing it anyway.......I think there is a happy medium in there, somewhere. Just my 2 cents.

I'm sure there is a happy medium somewhere Logan.

Maybe I'm old school,
but I've always thought parents should be thinking & saving for college when
the children are still in diapers.I've always been willing to help with at least the first year or two. Those first years are sometimes the hardest for young
people to adjust to new places, setting good study habits, etc.

**catnapper** · 10-15-2005, 01:17 PM

Wow, has this thread progressed! LOL

Ok, from the way I see things (in my own weird little way) I think that in all likelihood, thoe kids are getting as much, if not MORE attention than the average Amrican kid nowadays. From the religious folks in my area, I know of a few with 10,11, 12 kids. They all are GREAT kids. Honest, polite, helpful. The family means a lot to them, and they rely heavily on each other. Opposed to the typical American family with our 2 children, these families with 12 kids get by remarkably well. They rely on dad as the primary money maker, with mom taking in sewing, making crafts, babysitting, etc to bring in additional income. You'd be amazed at how finaincially stable they are. One family I know of through my FIL currently has 4 kids in college, 6 in private school (Mennonite day school... not some fancy private boarding school or anything!

) and they pay CASH for everything. No student loans for the kids at all. Dad owns a small store, mom stays at home and makes jellies to sell at craft shows and such.

Thee religious families with a dozen kids are also are odd... in that they SPEND TIME TOGETHER! No cell phones, no computer games, head buried under a Walkman, no ten hour tv marathons. Mom and dad are there when you need them - instead of half listening instead of dividing their attention between cooking dinner, the scintilating soap opera, and the laundry. Mom has HELP folding the laundry, HELP peeling the carrots for dinner. OMG.... ask any of my kids or their friend to make dinner, you might get them to open a can of corn. Its a completely diffrent mind set and lifestyle. Their priorities are a bit different than you or I. Family is top priority. Everything else is non-existant to them.

Sometimes I think we could all take a lesson from them -- in how they relate to each other and separate the outside "noise" from their lives. We all list things as what we "need" - new computer, an ipod, a new couch. They list NECESSITIES... shoes, pants, coat, food. They get the couch when it falls apart and there's a NEED for it. Until then, they happily exist thanking God they even HAVE whatever it is they have.

All that said, I myself can't see having 16 children. My three are plenty, thank you

**finn's mom** · 10-15-2005, 09:08 PM

Originally Posted by catnapper

Ok, from the way I see things (in my own weird little way) I think that in all likelihood, thoe kids are getting as much, if not MORE attention than the average Amrican kid nowadays.

That's what I was thinking, too. Every large family I've ever known has spent more time together as an entire family than the families with two kids. The kids help with everything, and, do it willingly. They help with the younger kids, they help with the chores, all of it. And, what you were saying about not having their faces buried in walkmans or tvs or computers, too...I was thinking that, too. My friend's brother's family is like that, they don't even have a television. They make most of their toys. Brian's brother makes almost all of their clothes, the mother makes all their food food from scratch, everything they eat is something they've grown. She makes their bread from grain from their own property. I mean, it's tremendous what they do for eachother, and, how well behaved and polite these kids are. He probably spends more quality time with his kids than most dads I know with one or two kids. I've always been amazed at large families, but, I definitely see how it can be a much better situation sometimes than the way a lot of smaller families operate. There was a family of many biological and adopted kids that I knew in Germany...I think there were eleven kids total, and, last I heard they were all either in college or already graduated. And, I know the several I went to school with were some of the nicest, most compassionate people I'd ever met.

**Rachel** · 10-16-2005, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by catnapper

Ok, from the way I see things (in my own weird little way) I think that in all likelihood, thoe kids are getting as much, if not MORE attention than the average Amrican kid nowadays. From the religious folks in my area, I know of a few with 10,11, 12 kids. They all are GREAT kids. Honest, polite, helpful. The family means a lot to them, and they rely heavily on each other. Opposed to the typical American family with our 2 children, these families with 12 kids get by remarkably well. They rely on dad as the primary money maker, with mom taking in sewing, making crafts, babysitting, etc to bring in additional income. You'd be amazed at how finaincially stable they are. One family I know of through my FIL currently has 4 kids in college, 6 in private school (Mennonite day school... not some fancy private boarding school or anything!

) and they pay CASH for everything. No student loans for the kids at all. Dad owns a small store, mom stays at home and makes jellies to sell at craft shows and such.

Thee religious families with a dozen kids are also are odd... in that they SPEND TIME TOGETHER! No cell phones, no computer games, head buried under a Walkman, no ten hour tv marathons. Mom and dad are there when you need them - instead of half listening instead of dividing their attention between cooking dinner, the scintilating soap opera, and the laundry. Mom has HELP folding the laundry, HELP peeling the carrots for dinner. OMG.... ask any of my kids or their friend to make dinner, you might get them to open a can of corn. Its a completely diffrent mind set and lifestyle. Their priorities are a bit different than you or I. Family is top priority. Everything else is non-existant to them.

Sometimes I think we could all take a lesson from them -- in how they relate to each other and separate the outside "noise" from their lives. We all list things as what we "need" - new computer, an ipod, a new couch. They list NECESSITIES... shoes, pants, coat, food. They get the couch when it falls apart and there's a NEED for it. Until then, they happily exist thanking God they even HAVE whatever it is they have.

Having seen the program on TLC about this family, what you have said describes them exactly. Many of us could learn something from watching how this family functions. They definitely are self supporting financially.
The one concern I had was that with the home schooling and church activities being within a real limited group (their church meets in their home and consists of their family and one or two others) the kids are in some respects being sheltered from the *real world*, and I wonder how prepared they will be in dealing with the outside world.