Ya have 16 kids and whaddaya get?

Anyone catch TLC's 14 Children (and one on the way)? It's about the Duggar family, who now have 16 children. They've become quite the celebrities. They are Christians (very conservative - girls always wear baggy dresses and have long hair, home-schooled, no TV or internet) and just came to believe that if children are a blessing then you shouldn't mess with procreation.

I found the story somewhat discouraging (sometimes it seems we can barely handle 3 and they are handling 16) and inspiring (maybe there is hope for us handling 3 if other people can handle 16). As they work together a lot and rely on the kids to help each other, it made me rethink how much responsibility we give to our kids and wonder if it would be good for them to handle more.

Other thoughts:

They wear really modest (read old-fashioned) clothes because they want to draw attention to their countenance (faces). Yet I constantly found myself staring at their clothes and thinking, "That's just horrible." Maybe I'm shallow.

I took heart in the fact that our kids are probably eating more healthfully than theirs as they rely on a lot of processed foods.

The internet has a lot of discussion going on about this family. I find it interesting that while society talks about tolerance, it finds true difference to be disturbing (e.g. they are called cultish and it is presumed that their kids will never relate to the "real world").

Since they view God's design is best, I do wonder if they've considered breastfeeding as God's food is best, too. I doubt they could have 16 kids in 18 years if the kids were being breastfed as long as they need it (right now I'm sure someone is thinking You can ovulate while breastfeeding and while that is true - c'mon, 16 kids in 18 years if you breastfed all of them? I think not. There's mega formula going on here.)