The Duggars: 20 and Counting!: Raising One of America's Largest Families—How They Do It by Michelle DuggarMy review
rating: 2 of 5 starsHere's my revised review:
I have to correct some of the things I wrote after my initial read of this book. I confess I found myself falling far short of the cheerful and organized family I was reading about in the book and I was a tinge jealous of their huge house and amazing children. I wrote: "Tiresome! I like to read books by and about large families...trying to get some ideas for a book I'd like to write someday. What I definitely want to avoid is the 'holier than thou' preaching I found throughout this book. I also want to try to avoid the 'I know everything because I'm a mom of (fill in the blank with however many kids Michelle Duggar has at the moment).'"
Okay, so maybe that was a bit harsh and judgmental...
After some examination of conscience, I felt I needed to apologize for that untrue remark. Michelle Duggar is not "holier than thou." Her only fault might be in her unadulterated cheerfulness at being one of the most unabashedly fecund mothers currently living on the planet.
I did take exception to a few of her comments, specifically the sidebar that quotes her saying that breastfeeding doesn't prevent you from getting pregnant. I believe she misunderstands the concept of breastfeeding on demand and breastfeeding for comfort as well as for food. This was the only way I found breastfeeding to accompany infertility. Since there are photos of her newborn with a pacifier in her mouth, Michelle Duggar obviously isn't breastfeeding her newborns for comfort, thus she isn't using breastfeeding to space her babies.
Michelle has certainly taken her share of criticism for her large brood and I don't want to add to that. She also has some good ideas for feeding many mouths. But I don't see the need for "industrial" sized everything. Most of us "normal" families with more than 2.1 kids don't have the money or the space for an industrial sized kitchen or laundry room and we have to make do with the normal sized kitchens and laundry rooms we have. Most of us don't have the 10,000 square foot home the Duggars have either. And most of us don't live in rural Arkansas, where we could afford to buy the land to build our 10,000 sq. ft dream home either! I love the Duggars, but I just wish they were a bit more like my family so I could relate to them better.
Still, I think I can learn a thing or two from Michelle Duggar, that is once I get over the fact that her husband is named "Jim Bob" and each of their 18 children has a name that also begins with "J"!
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1 comment:
The Duggars have not always lived in a 7,000 ft. house. For most of their lives they have lived in a house about 2200 ft. so maybe they are more like you than you think except for the recent few years. I think they have an industrialized size kitchen to use when they hold group meetings in their homes. I know they do financial freedom seminars in their home and perhaps they hold church in their home as well. They use their "pretty kitchen" for their everyday needs.
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