I had a bajillion kids and feeding them is hard!

[wayward]

Guess what fundies -- having all these children is expensive. Maybe instead of praying for more, you should focus on praying for loaves and fishes ....... :angry-banghead: Or, better yet -- the adults should get jobs and so should the older kids to help with the income needed to provide basic necessities of life, like sufficient food for all the mouths you brought into the world.

Well, technically the older kids weren't the ones who brought the mouths into the world.

[martian]

Sev and I don't drink milk, but Sevy goes through two gallons or more a month at 6. We end up shopping at Costco and winco to cut some of the costs of feeding that kid, but we would never lock away food. We save all of the "good stuff" for her, and I mostly eat the crap food or small meals to stretch things out if things get thin at the end of the month.

I shudder to think what our food bill will be like when she is older (she is tall and active, and quite social: won't stop growing and always having friends over. Sigh). More incentive to plant that damn vegetable garden I keep thinking about. We already have three types of fruit, and that works to help keep costs down during summer... and I only have that one. People who have more than one are brave.

This so hits home for me. I was chopping broccoli to steam for my kids' lunch today and suddenly realized as I was planning which meals the leftovers would be used for that I wasn't considering myself or their father in the equation at all. Broccoli is kind of expensive and things are just a bit tight right now. I don't know what I thought before we had our twins, but it's hard. I cannot believe how much even toddlers eat. We sat down for a snack before nap time and they polished off nearly half of a medium-sized watermelon between them. It was crazy! And this is not an hour after lunch, mind you, which was early because my son sat his little bottom down at the table, said "I'm hongry", and looked at me with those big, expectant eyes. So, I fed him. Because that's what you do.

How do people leave their kids hungry on purpose if they can at all help it? It's unnatural. And for so many of these families to keep bringing more kids into the situation trusting that God will provide while handicapping their own ability to do so, it's perverse. I can't help but wonder how many kids will fall away from the movement because all the unnecessary hardships made them cynical about it. As they should be, in my opinion. I just wish it could be accomplished with less suffering.

[roddma]

If that poster has trouble feeding 7 I could imagine the Duggar or Bateses. I think the reason Josh gained weight is because he no longer had to share with 20 people (plus TLC income). Commenting on how the Duggar kids are not overweight is moot considering how the food needed to be rationed before TLC. Heck I could stay thin too if I sared with that many people.

[whatsthesitch]

Josh and the older J'girls looked so thin in the earlier tv specials. Josh would remember a childhood before the TLC gravy train, one of having nothing to eat except tuna and barbeque sauce. Yuck!

[constantgardener]

Oh my god, there is actually someone on there recommending fibre pills for teenagers to make them feel full quicker. And lots of water because it is free. I just give up. :cray-cray:

[martian]

Oh my god, there is actually someone on there recommending fibre pills for teenagers to make them feel full quicker. And lots of water because it is free. I just give up. :cray-cray:

Did the Lord lay it on their hearts to raise anorexics? Sounds like someone's been picking up tips from pro-ana sites.

It's almost like they think kids being hungry is an act of willfulness rather than an indication of a biological need for nutrients. Do they really think they can neglect their kids' nutritional needs without consequence, or are most of the consequences so far down the road into their children's adulthood that they just don't think of it as their problem?

[AnnieC 305]

Oh my god, there is actually someone on there recommending fibre pills for teenagers to make them feel full quicker. And lots of water because it is free. I just give up. :cray-cray:

Link?

ETA: I just saw it, never mind. :pink-shock:

[browngrl]

My advice to the woman who did not know how to feed her children on one salary would be this: GET A JOB. Use the money from the job to buy food. Choosing to have children means choosing to do what you need to do to care for them. I have a great deal of empathy for parents in countries where there is war or famine - or third world countries where there is such grinding poverty that there is simply no food to be had. However I have little time or patience for people who have CHOSEN to put themselves in this situation.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Oh my god, there is actually someone on there recommending fibre pills for teenagers to make them feel full quicker. And lots of water because it is free. I just give up. :cray-cray:

Thats disgusting :(

Those poor children :(

[maybeizfundie]

Food costs are one reason I took a part time job (at home). $400 is about half of what we spend on groceries for the 6 of us. And we're not eating steaks and caviar. :/ Even with meals made from scratch and minimal processed food, it is just plain expensive.

I saw that thread. And I wanted to throttle the guy who said "Coupons! We feed our huge family on just $100/months!" I have not figured out how people do that. At least, how they do it ethically. I tried coupons for a while but had a hard time finding any for things we use, and often would find that people had already stolen the coupons out of the newspapers I was trying to buy. :/

[formergothardite]

Food costs are one reason I took a part time job (at home). $400 is about half of what we spend on groceries for the 6 of us. And we're not eating steaks and caviar. :/ Even with meals made from scratch and minimal processed food, it is just plain expensive.

I saw that thread. And I wanted to throttle the guy who said "Coupons! We feed our huge family on just $100/months!" I have not figured out how people do that. At least, how they do it ethically. I tried coupons for a while but had a hard time finding any for things we use, and often would find that people had already stolen the coupons out of the newspapers I was trying to buy. :/

Neither have I. Maybe different areas of the country get different types of coupons or stores do coupons differently, but I can't get coupons to work for me. Not, at least, on the level that some people say they do.

[Evilbad]

My son is 12 and he has had a growth lull, so I'm expecting another one soon. His friends are all hitting their big growth spurts so I figure this summer will see new shoes, pants, and a massive food bill. He also plays tackle football which means he eats like a horse during the season, and football camp starts next week, too.

[Evilbad]

Often the coupons are for processed crap food, though. You see those coupon shows and people have hundreds of packages of ramen oodles or whatever in their pantries. I don't feed that stuff to my kid, it's not what a growing kid needs.

[JMarie]

Oh my god, there is actually someone on there recommending fibre pills for teenagers to make them feel full quicker. And lots of water because it is free. I just give up. :cray-cray:

That, and another responder recommended mixing Nesquik with rice as a snack. Yuck and yuck.

[lizziesmom]

Well, technically the older kids weren't the ones who brought the mouths into the world.

Absolutely true. However, most big families of my acquaintance need and expect everyone to contribute to the family pot. She has teens -- let them work. Heck, if they get jobs at food establishments, they might get both money and food.

[daisyfern]

Often the coupons are for processed crap food, though. You see those coupon shows and people have hundreds of packages of ramen oodles or whatever in their pantries. I don't feed that stuff to my kid, it's not what a growing kid needs.

I have noticed the same thing. Coupons are often for "junk" type foods. It's rare to see a coupon for milk or veggies. There's no way I could feed my family balanced meals on couponing alone.

[fundiefan]

If you're trying to 'find ways' to make your kids less hungry, you've already gone over the edge. Stop creating more mouths to feed so that the ones that already exist can get enough to eat and grow and develop.

50 pounds of rice or flower isn't going to properly nourish anyone much less growing kids. Supplements aren't the answer - food is the answer.

These people really piss me right the fuck off. If you can't feed them, don't have them. It's not rocket science and I doubt your god would condemn you to hell for preventing another blessing when you can't properly care for the ones you already have. He might even find it responsible and compassionate behavior on your part.

A large reason for smaller families has to do with cost. Not because people are choosing luxuries over procreating, but because it is not cheap to eat and people want to feed their children well and consistently. Too bad that's considered shameful in fundie land.

[daisyfern]

If you can't feed them, don't have them.

:clap:

Absolutely!

[jenwales]

I'm not criticizing the rice. There's a reason potatoes or rice often accompany meals and it's because they are filling and cheap. Don't most people do the, Protein, Veggies, Starch dinner? I grew up that way and still do it today.

I have one kid and our grocery budget went down by $100 a week when he went to college.

[SadTater]

That, and another responder recommended mixing Nesquik with rice as a snack. Yuck and yuck.

Honestly that doesn't sound too bad, it can't be worse than cheap brands of instant champorado! I feel bad for the kids and their locked up food though. :(

[fundiefan]

They're creating food issues. If you grow up with your access to food restricted, you're more likely to become an adult with issues. Eating disorders, hoarding, etc.

It's not what they are eating so much as how they control the eating. When there are too many mouths to feed and you have to lock food up so no one can get to it - the issues are already there.

[GolightlyGrrl]

She could ask the Generation Starvation lady for advise.

These fundies would condemn a struggling family on food stamps, but at least their kids are being fed! And not with junk or high-end steaks and lobsters as fundies are wont to think. I notice families using their food stamps to buy veggies, fruits, dairy, lean cuts of meat, cereal, bread, and maybe some treats. And we have local farmers markets that accept food stamps.

[martian]

They're creating food issues. If you grow up with your access to food restricted, you're more likely to become an adult with issues. Eating disorders, hoarding, etc.

It's not what they are eating so much as how they control the eating. When there are too many mouths to feed and you have to lock food up so no one can get to it - the issues are already there.

This is why I feel sorry for Josh Duggar and can't snark on him getting fat. It's like his first taste of freedom was the freedom to really taste what he pleased.

He's still a self-satisfied tool, but that's what he was raised to be. Not everybody has the mental or emotional resources to throw off their childhood training quickly or even at all, and the young patriarchs have fewer incentives to do so. It's going to take years to really see how this trainwreck of a lifestyle plays out for the Quiverfull kids.

[JenniferJuniper]

Josh and the older J'girls looked so thin in the earlier tv specials. Josh would remember a childhood before the TLC gravy train, one of having nothing to eat except tuna and barbeque sauce. Yuck!

Going by memory, but didn't Michelle once say they went through a period where all three meals a day were rice? Sounds like Survivor but without the food challenge rewards. Josh must have been about 16 by the time of the first special, so he must have felt half-starved all the time. It's little wonder he lost complete control as soon as he left the house.

[ILoveJellybeans]

OMG that is terrible :( Those poor kids :( No wonder Josh has problems with eating now...I hope someone helps the others before they leave, so they dont have the same trouble. I do kinda feel sorry for him, hes an asshole, but its not his fault, he was never taught any better.