I read Cheaper by the Dozen recently and enjoyed it – it wasn’t quite as funny as I had been expecting it to be (I confess, I found the father a little irritating), but all of the large family logistics were quite interesting and some of the stories are hilarious! I particularly liked this section where Mrs. Gilbreth was attempting to recruit another local mother to some church committee (hopefully this isn’t a copyright infringement):\par
“I’d be glad to if I had the time,” the woman said. “But I have three young sons and they keep me on the run. I’m sure if you have a boy of your own, you’ll understand how much trouble three can be.”\par
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“Of course,” said Mother. “That’s quite all right. And I do understand.”\par
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“Have you any children, Mrs. Gilbreth?”\par
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“Oh, yes.”\par
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“Any boys?”\par
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“Yes, indeed.”\par
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“May I ask how many?”\par
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“Certainly. I have six boys.”\par
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“Six boys!” gulped the woman. “Imagine a family of six!”\par
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“Oh, there’re more in the family than that. I have six girls, too.”\par
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“I surrender,” whispered the newcomer. “When is the next meeting of the committee? I’ll be there, Mrs. Gilbreth. I’ll be there.”
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Boy, that just makes any whining on the part of a theoretical mother of two just sound absolutely pathetic, doesn’t it?\par
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However, in all fairness, I have to point out that Mrs. Gilbreth was the wife of a wealthy man who employed a cook and a handy-man and, until they moved into too large of a house, nobody in the family even had to dust or do dishes or mow the lawn or rake leaves. This means no laundry, no meal preparation, probably little grocery shopping, and no bathroom cleaning, etc. And she didn’t homeschool, so all of the school age children were out of the house for a good portion of the day. And this was in the time after indoor plumbing and electricity. So it wasn’t as if she was raising 12 children in a 2 bedroom house on the range where one has to sew one’s own clothes and make one’s own soap, and can one’s own vegetables. Still, 12 pregnancies in 17 years and getting 12 children off to school in the morning is nothing to sneeze at!!!
Overseeing all the work that others are doing can be quite a task too!
Very true – although I hope it’s easier than getting a two-year-old to pick up legos when he doesn’t want to!!
I think the husband died shortly after the last child was born too. I like the part where they listen to foreign language records while in the bathroom. Oh and all the stuff about saving motions – I still think of this book whenever I’m in the kitchen!