Michelle spends her time traveling (speaking engagements and book signings), taping a reality TV show, writing, and working out.

She outsources the homeschooling, child care, menu planning, shopping, cooking, and cleaning to her five eldest daughters (ages 15-23).

Their education is at home, via various computer and on-line programs. Once they earn their GEDs at the age of 16, their education is over. They have received some coaching for CLEP testing via a program called "CollegePlus!", but none are pursuing actual degrees.

All potential suitors must be vetted through Daddy. When the eldest (Joshua) was courting, he and his future wife were never allowed to be alone. Their dates had to be chaperoned; their phone calls were monitored; the only physical contact they had before marriage was holding hands.

Of the 19 offspring, let's look at the stats of the eldest six:

JOSH:

age: 25
education: homeschooled; GED at the age of 16
marital status: was married at the age of 20
residence: lives with pregnant wife and two children in a home owned by Daddy
occupation: runs Daddy's used-car business

JOHN DAVID:

age: 23
education: homeschooled; GED at the age of 16
marital status: single; has never dated or had a girlfriend
residence: lives with parents/siblings
occupation: runs Daddy's towing company

JANA:

age: 23
education: homeschooled; GED at the age of 16
marital status: single; has never dated or had a boyfriend
residence: lives with parents/siblings
occupation: unpaid nanny/cook/housekeeper/teacher

JILL:

age: 21
education: homeschooled; GED at the age of 16
marital status: single; has never dated or had a boyfriend
residence: lives with parents/siblings
occupation: unpaid nanny/cook/housekeeper/teacher

JESSA:

age: 20
education: homeschooled; GED at the age of 16
marital status: single; has never dated or had a boyfriend
residence: lives with parents/siblings
occupation: unpaid nanny/cook/housekeeper/teacher

JINGER:

age: 19
education: homeschooled; GED at the age of 16
marital status: single; has never dated or had a boyfriend
residence: lives with parents/siblings
occupation: unpaid nanny/cook/housekeeper/teacher

Anonymous wrote:Seriously I don't know how she holds her pee in..maybe she doesn't...I only have three and if I even try to do more than five jumping jacks I'm letting pee out.

Omg I know!!! The boot camp class I go to has jumping jack warm ups and I literally can do 4 or 5 before I have to stop. I can't imagine what bodily issues she has!

Seriously I don't know how she holds her pee in..maybe she doesn't...I only have three and if I even try to do more than five jumping jacks I'm letting pee out.

how come her insides didn't collapse?????????

i'm a disabled person after having only 3 children.

*sigh*

The baby voice is related to lack of intelligence, in combination with having been thoroughly brainwashed by IBLP/the Gothard cult for more than two decades.

http://jezebel.com/5897270/michelle-duggar-sees-nothing-wasteful-whatsoever-about-having-19-kids

"...overpopulation is a non issue because if you took everyone in the world and stood them next to each other shoulder to shoulder, we could all fit in the city of Jacksonville."

None of there kids are going to college despite several of them being adults now.

Anonymous wrote:

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

Sounds like a Guantanamo intel-gathering tactic. And no, that's not a kiddie pool- it's the weatherboarding station!

*waterboarding

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

Sounds like a Guantanamo intel-gathering tactic. And no, that's not a kiddie pool- it's the weatherboarding station!

It's because of their strong faith in God.

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

Or a plumbing line, per Michael Pearl's teachings. The Duggars are Pearl followers (but scrubbed their blog of those references after their show got popular, gotta keep ratings - and appearances/image - up):

http://www.salon.com/2006/05/25/the_pearls/

This blog piece pretty much sums up my take on the Duggars:

galatiansfour.blogspot.com/2012/08/strange-duggar-statements-and-will.html

Anonymous wrote: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?

I think they're essentially brainwashed. A couple of them might be training to be midwives or something, but they have very little exposure to the outside world. In interviews when they talk about the future, they say that they cannot imagine leaving home because they love their families too much. They are trapped, but it is unclear whether or not they're aware of it. It's not like any alternative ways of life have been presented to them so they haven't anything to compare to the status quo. I will be curious when they get married- I think they will have to wait to be courted by a man from the homeschool conferences (how the eldest son met his wife) or from one of their friend families, and then they will become SAHM with no BC and many children.

Anonymous wrote:She has perfected the art of the baby-voice and deference/submission to her husband, consistent with the requirements of the Bill Gothard Institute of Basic Life Principles (a cult IMO) whose teachings she follows:

http://iblp.org/questions/how-can-wife-help-preserve-her-marriage

Also, her oldest daughters do all the cooking and childcare, and her MIL does all the laundry. No wonder Michelle is calm - she does very little parenting or household work.

Almost lost my lunch while reading that. So repulsive.

Anonymous wrote: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.

This! Michelle is usually off doing some project or a speaking event or whatever and the older girls run the household.

She has perfected the art of the baby-voice and deference/submission to her husband, consistent with the requirements of the Bill Gothard Institute of Basic Life Principles (a cult IMO) whose teachings she follows:

http://iblp.org/questions/how-can-wife-help-preserve-her-marriage

Also, her oldest daughters do all the cooking and childcare, and her MIL does all the laundry. No wonder Michelle is calm - she does very little parenting or household work.

13:01 -

+1,000!

I will never look at huge families the same way again.