You’re handling this so nicely on your own. I’ll back out – but only because if I don’t I’ll say something (many things) that I might regret later.

Susan,
We don’t use birth control – God gave us 4 children – we love them and the timing of their births. Thankfully he gave us 2 of them before their siblings were speaking. We love it. All children need and deserve the love, care, devotion, attention, teaching and training… ALL children. I’m confident that Milehimama gives much of it to her children.

I look forward to reading the meals of a nutritional expert! Just leave your link in the comments.

While I do blog about the children, I am not paid for it nor have I sold their childhood to the highest bidder.

We ate hotdogs on Memorial Day. I admit it. Sue me. Sometimes, we even eat scrambled eggs for dinner, too. And, I’ve even bought the children a nutritionally void Happy Meal before! The horror.

If you are interested, all of my shopping for the last 21 weeks are fully listed under my “Food Stamp Challenge” tab at the top. Some weeks we buy more food than others, and I try to keep a full pantry. What I buy one week is not necessarily what we eat that week (as evidenced by this week’s menu – we cooked pork chops, which I bought on sale a couple of weeks ago.)

I find it’s easier to stay in budget by stocking up during sales. There is such a wealth of information on the net – may I recommend the links on the Frugal Hacker/Frugal blogroll button, on my sidebar?

Please be warned that there are many other large and/or homeschooling families on the list, so you may not want to click if it will get your knickers in a twist.

I did have a little chuckle though – last month at the dr’s, the children’s pediatrician chided me for giving them TOO MUCH milk!

You would have to follow the shopping list every week for a number of weeks or months before you could say that. They have a stocked pantry too, you know. Some weeks the bill is higher because they restocked the pantry; other weeks it’s lower because they’re eating what they already have.

Nobody here is hungry. If they are, the fridge is full, and it’s not locked, so they can take care of it.

Thanks, Heather. I agree, the menus are not good for children or even a pregnant woman! And I found your comments funny and insightful.

I find it interesting that you feel it is OK to comment about the Gosselins on GWOP, but you don’t want to hear comments about your family even though you are writing about them on your public site.

YOU are putting informaion about them out in public. YOU are holding yourself up as a mother and saying to people, “This is what I do as a mom…” Well, these are my comments about that. I guess you think, “Do as I say, not as I do.” It is OK for you to comment about other families, other moms, but no one can comment about you? That’s plain silly.

What clarity they offered – make sure your child is speaking before conceiving again! What a light bulb moment. Someone should really talk to God about the babies he is making everyday. And, shame on my husband and I… Susan would probably have recommended we murder our children (by abortion) that were born before their siblings were speaking. That would be 2 of our children – how foolish of us.

We actually do eat chickpeas for dinner sometimes (wow, just like millions – or even billions of other folks in the world!). And the kids really, actually do like ratatouille. You should try it – it’s good!

Also “hate mail” summed it up in as few characters as possible, a bonus for Twitter, where many people use short hand and short cuts. Twitter is about brevity, not necessarily clarity.

I’m sure there would be many criticisms, because we do many things that most of America doesn’t, and don’t do many things that most of America does.

I am more than happy to clarify anything that is confusing to you.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Susan – the menus that I post are for one meal. That’s not all we eat all day. Would you care to share your menus, so I could learn what you consider a proper menu for growing children?

If Kate Gosselin had these situations on her show, you GWOPers would simply freak out. No matter where she gets her money, at least her kids eat well and get medical attention.

I have to wonder what we’d find if reality cams went into your home and what mean messages might be posted about your way of being a wife, mom, and homemaker. I pray for you as your delivery day approaches. In addition to your new little baby, there will be another blessing–you won’t be available to carp about other women!

Susan, I agree that these menus seem wholly inadequate for growing children. I wonder if Lisa simply isn’t writing down all the side dishes, veggies, and fruits that she uses to supplement the rather meager main dishes. I surmise that her husband must not make an adequate living for the family because she feels that she has to live on a food stamp budget. It’s very sad, really because most Catholic churches have a food bank or some other similar arrangement, and I’m sure they’d be willing to assist her.

I’ll stop with that before I say something that reflects too poorly on my character. In my opinion, your kids are very well taken care of and blessed for the way you have devoted your life to taking care of them and loving them and training them in the way they should go.

And as for Kate – she’s shameful. I feel sorry for her and her husband but mostly for their kids who haven’t been trained at all. They’re obnoxious!

The food you feed your family is crap. Call TLC and request a show because you need the money to feed your children better. It is not a game to try and feed kids for the least amount of money. People need healthy food and your menu is sorely lacking.

And your comment about washing kids’ mouths out with soap?(It is posted on your profile.) Gross. I certainly hope you were joking, but I highly doubt it. No child deserves that, shame on you.

From your web site, I see that you must be jealous of the money the Gosselins have made. I hope your family finds a way to be more financially secure. I truly mean this.

By the way, posting on GWOP does not mix with the religious themes on your site. I have never read such hateful, nasty things written about a person (Kate) in my life. And that is besides the gossip and down right lies they post on GWOP. I don’t agree with everything that Kate does, but she certainly does not deserve the kind of abuse you people dish out to her. Search your soul, because GWOP is beyond anything that is good and decent.