Anonymous wrote:she also is famous for "blanket training" - leaving the babies alone on the blanket to self-soothe and she doesn't worry about it

REALLY? I never heard of this, but I've been wondering for years how she teaches those little ones to be so independent and how she keeps her sanity. My two children never let me put them down. I was a slave to carrying them around and soothing them for their first 4 months of life. "Blanket Training" sounds kind of cruel, but maybe she's on to something! My back is killing me right now from waltzing my 2 mo. old around the house this morning. Maybe "blanket training" is the new playpen that our parents used.

Anonymous wrote:...and hitting the blanket with a wooden spoon if the baby tries to move off of it.

That shit cray.

Anonymous wrote:she also is famous for "blanket training" - leaving the babies alone on the blanket to self-soothe and she doesn't worry about it

Um, you missed the most important factor of blanket training--you get the babies to stay on the blanket by hitting them with a wooden spoon when they crawl off. Doesn't take long to "train" them to stay on the blanket.

...and hitting the blanket with a wooden spoon if the baby tries to move off of it.

she also is famous for "blanket training" - leaving the babies alone on the blanket to self-soothe and she doesn't worry about it

Op here! Thanks for letting me in on the buddy system, that makes sense. The older girls must feel so trapped! If I was them I would leave the day I turned 18, I'm sure they could find some opprtunites in life other than nanny?

Anonymous wrote:She's calm because she doesn't have to take care of any of her kids. The oldest sisters do all of the work.

+1: seems pretty easy to have a pack of kids if you have built-in live-in nannies for each child.

their buddy system between the older and younger kids and how it extends far beyond simple hand-holding. Many of the older girls are almost totally responsible for the well-being of their young buddies. The older girls also maintain a lot of responsibility for the laundry and cooking for the entire family.

THIS. Michelle does nothing except for try to get knocked up again, some more.

She isn't raising the older girls to be independent. They don't function like adults, they are still acting like teenagers, living at home and babysitting all the time. She should be embarrassed but she has no common sense.

She's calm because she doesn't have to take care of any of her kids. The oldest sisters do all of the work.

It may come across as snarky, but I've read and heard about their buddy system between the older and younger kids and how it extends far beyond simple hand-holding. Many of the older girls are almost totally responsible for the well-being of their young buddies. The older girls also maintain a lot of responsibility for the laundry and cooking for the entire family. Based on the shows, which I haven't watched in a long time, you don't often see the heart-to-hearts between the older children and their parents. It's lots of large group activity with Michelle mostly responsible for the infant.

Who knows what happens when the camera is off, but I wonder if she wasn't much more stressed back when she had only the first 3-5 kids and they were all still quite young.

I have never seen the show but the moms I know that come across as "laid back" (not really) are very sedated. Be glad you are not, and that you have a personality.

I have never seen the show but the moms I know that come across as "laid back" (not really) are very sedated. Be glad you are not, and that you have a personality.

I think after the fourth kid most moms just realize stressing out doesn't help. I love this quote from a designer on Project Runaway pregnant with her 6th child, Laura, "Five, six, seven...I'll just throw it on top of the pile with the other ones."

Took a day off to get the house together but instead I'm making brownies and watching 19 kids and counting...yes I know pathetic. Anyhow anyone wonder how Michelle is so calm 100 percent of the time? Her voice is so monatone ans soft and she never seems to get flustered. I wonder if she's drugged or the reality of having that many kids just becomes white noise after awhile. Something is off about her.