Kids by the Dozen

There is nothing better after a long day than watching Jon and Kate Plus Eight. Though I agree with Faithsalutes that the second oldest out of eight, Maddy, has become unbearably bratty, the other kids are still adorable.

After the show, TLC featured another big family on the mini series Kids by the Dozen. The Arndt Family hails from Missouri and includes mom, dad, thirteen sons, and one daughter.

Though not quite as funny Irish Catholic family with twelve kids and thick South Boston accents, it was nonetheless pretty remarkable to watch a large family operate. My favorite part was watching them buy $1,000+ worth of groceries at Costco and then watching all the kids systematically unpack everything at home--even the little ones stood on stools to put cans away. That mom could run a business, no problem.

It's funny how in the same way that I could not imagine having so many siblings, all the children interviewed on the show say they could not imagine being part of a small family. I guess we become accustomed to and want what we grew up with. I never thought of having more or less than two kids; two just seemed like the perfect situation growing up. Conversely, most of the parents on Kids by the Dozen say that they wanted so many kids because they grew up in big families.

This makes me wonder how my dad (one out of seven kids) and my mom (oldest out of eight kids) only ended up with just my brother and me.