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Related: About this forumKilleen couple welcomes 18th child
When entering a household with 18 children for the first time, one might expect a sea of toys scattered on the floor, or the sound of 18 voices all chattering at once.
However, when one steps into the Grab household just south Killeens city limits, the well-mannered children quietly filter into the spotless room, greeting each guest with a smile and a warm hello.
Killeen residents Linda and Joseph Grab, who have been married 24 years, welcomed their 18th child to their family March 30.
Anna Grace Grab, 21, the oldest child, said shes very happy her newest brother is healthy.
Read more: http://kdhnews.com/news/local/killeen-couple-welcomes-th-child/article_70fe9dc2-1bf9-11e7-a647-6336424e2b67.html
Warpy
(111,329 posts)I'd love to put a webcam in that house to find out what's going on.
My guess is that it starts with blanket training at birth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanket_training
MontanaMama
(23,337 posts)But it is not responsible as a steward of the child or this planet to have that many kids. Kids need love and attention and it isn't possible to give quality time and attention to 18 freaking children all the time. The older kids end up parenting the little ones. This is a big fat therapy bill for most of them or at worst, a future People magazine cover. Give me the heebee jeebees. Duggar Family...anyone????
Yikes.
3catwoman3
(24,031 posts)I don't vacuum 5 times a month.
Everyone's smiles were eerily similar in the photo at the link.
Not a huge surprise that this latest baby was a month early. After 17 other deliveries, her cervix is probably chronically dilated and effaced. Probably has not had to spend much on pads or tampons.
TheDebbieDee
(11,119 posts)in his act that he was the next to oldest of 16 kids. He joked that by the time his twelfth brother or sister came along, his mother's vagina was like a slip-n-slide and the babies just fell out thereafter...
50 Shades Of Blue
(10,036 posts)Doreen
(11,686 posts)is that they are putting children in charge of children so none of the children get to be children. Do you actually follow me?
Igel
(35,344 posts)Before that, even white kids weren't able to "be children", even if wealthy.
Immature, yes, but clearly made to understand that actions have consequences and there are proper and improper behaviors in a given situation.
Heck, I know 20-year-olds who haven't a glimmer of a notion that actions have consequences and there are behaviors that are typically judged proper or improper. And we won't mention the high-school seniors that make pre-K kids from 40 years ago look childish in many respects.
brush
(53,833 posts)TexasTowelie
(112,370 posts)I thought someone would have commented on that by now.
brush
(53,833 posts)PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,881 posts)Why isn't she off at college, or out on her own working?
It does seem as these very large families never let the children grow up and move away. That's what I find far more disturbing than the sheer number of children.
In a similar way, I'm bothered by families where none of the grown children move to another city or state. Or by parents whose kids have long since left the nest, but are unwilling to relocate themselves and be any distance away from children or grandchildren.
Maybe I'm the odd one. I do have two grown sons. One lives about 800 miles from me, the other some 1400 miles away. I do miss them a lot. I wish I saw them more often. But I would never pressure them to live near me. Maybe the fact that I don't have grandchildren matters. Maybe if I had them I'd be more insistent about living near at least one of them. But I strongly believe that each and every person should forge their own life, and if it means moving to another part of the country, or another part of the world, then so be it.
50 Shades Of Blue
(10,036 posts)Once they are old enough, they take over as substitute mothers to the kids their mother keeps cranking out with her assembly line uterus. That's all women are good for in that system - child bearing and child rearing. Arrows for the quivers needed to take over the U.S. Government and force their brand of "Christianity" down everyone's throats.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,881 posts)every so often I come across something about them, and it seemed as if the sons likewise stayed at home until they married.
Never having an independent life. How sad.
50 Shades Of Blue
(10,036 posts)daughters are much more restricted.
Bluepinky
(2,276 posts)I have a feeling these weekly dates are the reason they have 18 children. Linda and Joe, have you heard of birth control?