Too many children?

I made it out of the house today! I took 3 children and went to Walmart. Dan took the other 2 and went to Mount Vernon. We all needed a break from the house, and we all enjoyed our respective trips and had a good time. As I was standing in my line at Walmart though, I saw the People Magazine cover that read "How Many Kids are Too Many?" and it referred to the Duggar family.

For anyone who is not familiar with the Duggars, they are an Arkansas family with 19 children. They have a tv show on TLC called "18 Kids and counting".... well, now I guess it is 19 kids. I like to them watch because they are an Arkansas family and because they are one of the VERY few families on television with actual values, morales, and modesty. Plus, they look so happy and have fun together. I mean, actual FUN as a family. Its a novel concept for tv and I like them.

So, seeing that screaming title on the cover of the magazine really annoyed me. It annoyed me all the way home. It annoyed me as I tried to nap this afternoon, but coughed and coughed instead. It annoyed me through dinner, and now I must sit here and complain about it. The article includes quotes from a surgeon who believes that Michelle and Jim Bob cannot provide adequate emotional and financial resources for their children. Wow. Apparently this surgeon has never met them, never watched their show, or never learned a thing about the people he is commenting on. That really, really annoys me.

In this world, so many people have one or 2 children and cannot provide emotional or financial support for them. If a mom is working 40 hours a week, how much emotional support is she providing her child or children? Honestly. If you see your kid for 30 minutes as you rush them to daycare or school, and then see them for an hour or 2 before bedtime while you try to do all the mom things you didn't do while you were at work, there is no way you are spending as much quality time with your kid. Compare that to Michelle Duggar, who stays at home and home-schools her children. I'm going to bet that she spends more time with each of her 18 (now 19) children than the working mom does with her one or 2. (And this is not an attack on the working mom, just on the argument that Michelle Duggar doesn't have enough love to go around.) She is also thrilled with each new addition, as are all of her children. Plus, she actually likes her children, and likes to be with them! Imagine that!

And financially.... I'll bet that the surgeon in the article has more debt than the Duggars. Did you know they built their house debt free? They keep out of debt and don't spend more than they earn. How can this man possibly claim that they can't financially support their children? Who is he to pass judgement on this family? How many other families (yes, especially those families with one child or no children) can claim to be debt free? We have mortgage and car debt, and that's all. We do not have credit card debt or other debt. And we manage to do it on Dan's salary alone. But to be totally debt free with 19 children? That is amazing! Beat that, you moron surgeon.

Do we have too many children? How many IS too many children? Who gets to judge? Oh wait, I guess on this blog, I get to judge! I proclaim that if your children are happy, healthy and like to be together, then you are doing just fine. If you wanted and were delighted to bear and deliver each one, then you are better than average! If your children have clean clothes to wear and food to eat, then you are doing just fine. If you are not in the looney bin, then you are doing great. If you like your children (and I mean most of the time!) then you are doing just fine. If you are debt free, or close to it, then you are not only doing just fine, but better than that.

How many kids is too many? That's a stupid question.