Is it just me, or is having a couple of kids so last year? And is just about every famous person now having twins?
If you watch any of the many shows on cable nowadays, it seems like many people are having 6, 10, 14 or 18 children - and getting themselves reality shows because of it!
The Duggar family currently have 18 children and have been on many television shows and have done several specials for television. Jon and Kate Plus 8 have their own reality series that is in it's 4th season and is TLC's highest rated show. They have a set of twins and a set of sextuplets.
Another show called Kids by the Dozen showcases a different large family every week and we get to peek into their daily lives, as they go about work, school, meals and other activities. It's fascinating and interesting to see how these homes work and to see how everyone comes together to make things as smooth as possible.
It's not all smooth, of course. One British family seemed very disorganized and chaotic, and it was a bit disconcerting watching Mom pile seven children into the car, none of them in car seats, and drive them all to school with the baby on her lap.
But at least on camera, the families certainly seem happy, fun loving and very, very hardworking.
On the hardworking note - the children perform household chores that would surely shame the average Susie Homemaker. One household depends on an 8 year old to make lunch for nearly twenty people every day and two tweens handle the entire laundry duties. Big stuff, for little people. Each child is 'in charge' of another younger child and provides parenting duties like feeding, bathing, diaper duties and preparation for bed.
Big families were the norm a hundred years ago. Farming communities depended on children to run the farms, till the land and help with harvest (this is the reason for the 3 month summer vacation - so that kids could be home to seed and harvest). Obviously, farm communities have shrunk and become technologically advanced so that ten kids are not needed anymore.
Up until a couple of decades ago, some cultures and communities had huge families because their religions forbade birth control, although much of that has long gone.
The average American family is still roughly 2.5 children or thereabouts (so somewhere between two children and three children is pretty standard).
Personally, I like the idea of the big family, although my idea of 'big' is more three to five children!
Tell Us-
Do you watch these reality shows with huge families? What do you think about the level of chores and childcare that the children themselves have to partake in? Do you have a big family?