by: Michelle and Jim Bob DuggarAvailabe at Amazon as a Paperback or Kindle.
Also at Barnes & Noble as a Paperback or Nook.
Synopsis:
This practical, positive book reveals the many parenting strategies that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar use as they preside over America’s best-known mega-family. Each time a new baby arrives, the press from around the world clamors for interviews and information. Visitors are amazed to find seventeen (baby number eighteen is due January 1, 2009) well-groomed, well-behaved, well-schooled children in a home that focuses on family, financial responsibility, fun—and must importantly, faith.
Readers will learn about the Duggars’ marriage—how they communicate effectively, make family decisions, and find quality time alone. They’ll discover how the Duggars manage to educate all their children at home, while providing experiences that go beyond the family walls, through vacations and educational trips. And they’ll see how the Duggar family manages their finances and lives debt-free—even when they built their own 7,000-square-foot house.
Answering the oft asked question—How can I do with one or two children what you do with seventeen(soon to be eighteen)?—Jim Bob and Michelle reveal how they create a warm and welcoming home filled with what Michelle calls “serene chaos.” They show how other parents can succeed whether they’re rearing a single child or several. With spiritual insights, experience-based wisdom, practical tips, and plenty of humorous and tender anecdotes, the Duggars answer the questions that pour into the family’s Web site on a daily basis—especially after every national media interview and TV appearance—including their segments on the Discovery Health Channel’s “Meet the Duggars” series.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I respect their level of faith and how well they communicate in their marriage and with their children. It goes into Michelle and Jim Bob's childhood and how they met and were married. It's so romantic, Jim Bob was in love with Michelle for a year before he got up the nerve to ask her out. They were married in their teens.
I read a review where the writer was against the "blanket training" but from what I read it's genius. She doesn't yell at them or sit on them, she gets them excited and has a basket of special toys that are only for blanket time. They start out at 5 minutes and move up from there as the children are ready. It teaches them self control - I really wish I had thought of this with my own children.
They homeschool their children because they wanted to be with them and have control of what their children are taught and exposed to. They have also managed all this without going into debt. Jim Bob and Michelle are very patient and intelligent people. While their faith may color some of their judgement in ways we may not agree with, they take it seriously without pushing it on other people.
This is a family that actually takes Jesus' messages to heart. This book is a fast read and gives a lot of insight into this TLC reality family.
