16 kids & counting channel 4

[Irishy]

Anyone seen this? Tonight's family, the sullivans really pinged my fundie radar with their homeschooling, isolation and twelve kids.... Oh and the boys/girls brigade stuff at the baptist church. Hmmmmmmmm...

[OkToBeTakei]

Think JFC mentioned this in another post. IF it is the same family there is a blog. The Dad in the other family was nuts, in a good way. But that house was MINGING! I did like them though. Granted my full attention was not on it.

[Irishy]

Had a little look through her website and guess who commented? Chris Jeub! Maybe this belongs in snark...

http://www.largerfamilylife.com/2012/01 ... -counting/

[OkToBeTakei]

Had a little look through her website and guess who commented? Chris Jeub! Maybe this belongs in snark...

http://www.largerfamilylife.com/2012/01 ... -counting/

OoooH deffo!

[ILoveJellybeans]

Ive been watching it.

I grew up with the oldest kids from one of the families (the one with the two unemployed parents and kids who make the Howlers look like little angels...but they all seemed to have a load of fun). Its kinda representative of my family as well, just with 5 less kids (and the kids behave a bit better in public). The small end of large families (around 4-6) are actually quite common round here nowadays, even though when growing up people had less kids and I thought it was soooo strange to have a friend with five siblings and counting.

I did wonder if the Sullivans were fundies. We dont get Christian fundies or Quiverfull people in the UK very often as most people arent very religious. They dont seem proper fundie, but they probably are by UK standards. Theyre probably more sorta fundie lite, as theyre religious homeschoolers with loads of kids, but theyre probably the most extreme youre going to get over here.

I wonder if its required on large family TV shows to have an episode where they drag all of the kids shopping. Im sure thats unrealistic, as my mom has 6 and hasnt took us all shopping since there was about 3 or 4 of us cause of the difficulty of keeping an eye on multiple children while shopping and keeping an eye out for how much junk food all of the kids are wanting to buy. It makes more sense to do online shopping, shop while the majority of the kids are at school, or have one parent at home looking after the kids while the other and maybe a few older kids to help do the shopping.

I like all of the families more than the Duggars as they are more real.

[Irishy]

I liked the radfords. It's pretty obvious that mum has pregnancy addiction possibly due to her own adoption issues. But, she seems to be managing. The older kids are not slaves and they seem to have enough money to be comfortable. I do wonder do the kids get enough individual attention though. My kids watched it with me and were all "I'd LOVE to live in that family!!!"

Chris Jeub though. Shudder.

[brokenminded]

The Sullivans are fundie-lite at least for sure. Tania claims to be catholic herself, but as a family I believe they are baptist. Last year on 15 and counting they said their reason for home schooling was sex education. Tania had her first child at 14. They present themselves as having 12 children, they have 10 as a couple and 2 she had a teen mum un-wed. I can never understand the hypocrisy with most of these people.

Also back this series are the Hann's the mormon family from Scotland with 12 kids. They also did a cbbc show about their daughters wedding and glossed over all the dodgy parts of the mormon faith.

[constantgardener]

I thought it was very interesting to compare the approaches of British and American TV on this. The Duggars' faith as the reason for their large family came up on the very first '14 and Counting' show, but the religion issue was very much skirted round with the Sullivans. I also remember there being mention of Catholicism on the previous series, but (coming from a Catholic background myself) I didn't get that vibe from them. There was no mention of attending Mass or any church social events. You would think they would have an army of altar boys at least.

As usual with isolationist types, Mrs Sullivan spouted the 'we're making sure our kids can think for themselves and not be influenced by peer pressure' etc. What she completely fails to grasp is that they will have no idea how to think for themselves or interact with other people because they've never been exposed to any different ideas. I felt really sorry for the elder girl when she said she wanted to meet up with her online school friend but she knew she wouldn't be allowed.

[Violet]

I've been watching this on 4oD! It is interesting how they all seem much more likeable than the American mega-families, maybe it's just the fact they're British? ;)

I agree the Radfords have adoption-related issues (both parents were adopted, I believe.) While they seem to be happy and giving their children everything they need, I do feel that meeting their birth mothers and conselling could have prevented the baby obsession. At least they're supporting their daughter who is a teen mother and not slut-shaming her (or themselves, as they had their eldest at 14.)

Tania creeps me out. She just screamed control freak. I love how she talked about them being different and how that would teach their children to be okay with not following society's norms - no sweetheart, it's not about that. It's about teaching your children to make the right decision for themselves, not the one that's right for you.

I have mixed views about the Salims, the fact that they're on benefits is sure to piss people off, not to mention the father would like more children. The crucial point is they're not actually having more children, that's just what he'd like. You know like how I'd love to walk straight into a job when I graduate and never have to worry about money..... I do feel that the dad is a bit immature at times but that there is a lot of love in that family, they also don't claim to be perfect or have all the answers and I really hope he does find a job. The cynical side of me makes me wonder what he did to not have a job for 7 years....

[brokenminded]

I saw the most recent one today, with the Sullivan and Lewis families. Tania came across as even more controlling. She even admitted they don't watch TV, left 13 year old Caitlyn and her 19 year old brother in charge while she had her latest baby and announced they plan to move to farm so they don't need outside contact. When they interviewed Caitlyn it was so sad to hear her say she would miss her friends but seeing them for an afternoon every few months would be more than enough time with them. As essentially the eldest, since Tania's two older kids don't live at home, I was left worrying about her.

[miffy]

I liked the Lewis family. Mrs Lewis doesn't try to hide the fact that she is addicted to having babies and they are all 100% normal. Although they do seem a bit spoilt.

I've seen other shows about the radfords. They seem fine. I think they are catholic.

Not so keen on the Sullivans. I wonder how long it will take for them to join ATI? Ripe for the picking!

[Violet]

I liked the Lewis family. Mrs Lewis doesn't try to hide the fact that she is addicted to having babies and they are all 100% normal. Although they do seem a bit spoilt.

I've seen other shows about the radfords. They seem fine. I think they are catholic.

Not so keen on the Sullivans. I wonder how long it will take for them to join ATI? Ripe for the picking!

Pretty sure the Radfords aren't catholic, just addicted to having kids (which stems from them both being adopted and becoming parents so young I think - they were 14 and 15/16 when they had the first son.) While I think the Radfords have issues and could do with some serious conselling, they really seem to love and care for their children. While the older daughters occasionally babysit they are not sister-mums.

Haven't seen the latest one, will watch it later and report back!

[Irishy]

I also noticed that the Sullivan girl Caitlin was wearing a few varieties of long modest skirts. Mum was not though.

I worry too about Caitlin. The older two kids have a different father so I wonder is that their escape route from this odd family. Mum and dad do not come accross as warm or friendly. I also noticed tania rocking a big old cross around her neck and crosses on the walls of the bedrooms. I think she's hiding the religious aspect to their lives.

[Violet]

I also noticed that the Sullivan girl Caitlin was wearing a few varieties of long modest skirts. Mum was not though.

I worry too about Caitlin. The older two kids have a different father so I wonder is that their escape route from this odd family. Mum and dad do not come accross as warm or friendly. I also noticed tania rocking a big old cross around her neck and crosses on the walls of the bedrooms. I think she's hiding the religious aspect to their lives.

Yeah, she seems so bright and full of life and Tania is taking that away from her. They did say they were religious (I want to say catholic but I'm not sure) in the special about them last year and that she homeschooled because of wanting to give them a more Christian-centred education.

I like the Lewis family. Those children are spoilt but they are clearly loved and cared for. Also unlike Mullet, Tracy accepted that she would not have anymore children but was really looking forward to being a grandmother.

[ILoveJellybeans]

One of the families on this week kinda confused me. One minute they were talking about how they are careful with money so they can afford a big family......but they also buy new socks for their 11 kids every day instead of washing them, which seems like a major waste of money.

[brokenminded]

My mum and I were trying to work out what a washing costs V's cheapo primark socks. I think we worked out washing them might be cheaper, but given electricity prices it was a close race.

[Violet]

Yeah I didn't really get the Allan family's money thing. I think her arguments were more to do with saving her time rather than money. If they can afford to then fair enough, but I do wonder what all the eating out is doing to their health because it's mostly pub grub and takeaways...

[Irishy]

The Mormon family seemed very nice but really, the kid Enos (what a name!) spitting in his dad's face and kicking him made my toes curl. I empathised with the mum. I had to move out of my house for a couple of nights to get one of mine to quit the nighttime milk bar shenanigans.

As for the Geordie family... They were pleased and excited that their daughter was engaged at 17 and pregnant at 18. Very aspirational family obviously. If they have the money to eat out so much and throw socks in the bin, more power to them.

[Violet]

The Mormon family seemed very nice but really, the kid Enos (what a name!) spitting in his dad's face and kicking him made my toes curl. I empathised with the mum. I had to move out of my house for a couple of nights to get one of mine to quit the nighttime milk bar shenanigans.

As for the Geordie family... They were pleased and excited that their daughter was engaged at 17 and pregnant at 18. Very aspirational family obviously. If they have the money to eat out so much and throw socks in the bin, more power to them.

Yeah it did make me cringe a bit to see the boy kicking and spitting at his dad. However I would rather see a child doing that (which is hopefully a phase and can be corrected with discipline) than them be so well behaved because they've had the fear of God beaten into them with a paddle/spoon/plumbing line/belt/hand/all of the above.

With the Allans, it was a bit of a shame that getting married and having children so young was something asiprational but I'd rather see that than the daughter being shunned *coughChrisJeubcough* for following in her mother's footsteps.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Ewww yeah, I was disgusted by the kid spitting in his dads face

[brokenminded]

I bring sad news regarding Sue and Noel Radford. While filming for another special or series (not sure which) they lost baby 17. Very sad for them as they really seem to love and know each of their kids as individuals and not numbers.