I was watching an old episode of the Duggar's TV show today (from back when they "only" had 17 kids). They were visiting the Creation Museum, and looking at exhibits that showed Adam and Eve living at the same time as the dinosaurs. Really, it makes my head hurt that people actually believe this crap and prevent their kids from learning about evolution.
The Duggars also have very strict rules covering everything from what their children can wear to exactly how they should behave. And the gender roles in that family are an affront to my bad feminist self. So why do I--an atheist, feminist, unschooling mama who believes in total freedom--like the Duggars?
They are gentle. My goodness, the patience of that woman (Michelle)! She is so kind and loving with her children. By contrast I am truly a monster mom! Even if they are spankers (which, given their other beliefs, they probably are) they are at least also gentle and kind most of the rest of the time.
They stick to their principles. They might come at it from more of a rule-based background than an unschooler would, but they are consistent at living what their family values, and I admire that, and can learn from it. I am quick to say that my family values living debt-free, but we are not entirely consistent in living up to that one.
They enjoy each other's company. I love seeing close-knit families. My family was never as close as I would have liked (though we were much closer than many other families I knew). Seeing the Duggars interact with each other is so heart-warming for me. I really feel sad when I hear parents say things like, "oh, thank god school starts tomorrow, I don't think I could take another minute of them being home all the time." And then they look at me like they want me to commiserate. Well, no! I enjoy spending time with my children, and it's nice to see that the Duggars enjoy spending time with their children, too. All 19 of them. Wow.
Anyway, I'm not being as articulate as I would like to be today. It's day 9 of not being able to eat much beyond the BRAT diet, and I also haven't been sleeping well. However, I want to keep my writing muscles working, so there you are.
In closing, a totally irrelevant picture. I realized that the only pictures of me on this blog so far are totally crappy, and I wanted to post this one from May 2008, when I was at my thinnest in years (though still overweight by about 25 lbs.). At the time I was growing my hair out for my wedding, too, so that explains that.
The Duggars also have very strict rules covering everything from what their children can wear to exactly how they should behave. And the gender roles in that family are an affront to my bad feminist self. So why do I--an atheist, feminist, unschooling mama who believes in total freedom--like the Duggars?
They are gentle. My goodness, the patience of that woman (Michelle)! She is so kind and loving with her children. By contrast I am truly a monster mom! Even if they are spankers (which, given their other beliefs, they probably are) they are at least also gentle and kind most of the rest of the time.
They stick to their principles. They might come at it from more of a rule-based background than an unschooler would, but they are consistent at living what their family values, and I admire that, and can learn from it. I am quick to say that my family values living debt-free, but we are not entirely consistent in living up to that one.
They enjoy each other's company. I love seeing close-knit families. My family was never as close as I would have liked (though we were much closer than many other families I knew). Seeing the Duggars interact with each other is so heart-warming for me. I really feel sad when I hear parents say things like, "oh, thank god school starts tomorrow, I don't think I could take another minute of them being home all the time." And then they look at me like they want me to commiserate. Well, no! I enjoy spending time with my children, and it's nice to see that the Duggars enjoy spending time with their children, too. All 19 of them. Wow.
Anyway, I'm not being as articulate as I would like to be today. It's day 9 of not being able to eat much beyond the BRAT diet, and I also haven't been sleeping well. However, I want to keep my writing muscles working, so there you are.
In closing, a totally irrelevant picture. I realized that the only pictures of me on this blog so far are totally crappy, and I wanted to post this one from May 2008, when I was at my thinnest in years (though still overweight by about 25 lbs.). At the time I was growing my hair out for my wedding, too, so that explains that.
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