TLC = That's Lotsa Children

I think I may be in the minority on this one, but watching television shows about people that give birth to small armies of children gives me hives. I have a four-year-old boy. If I wanted to hear more whining, I'd go work at a daycare center.

As we all know, TLC is the home for people who have never heard of birth control. "John and Kate Plus 8" . . . I'm sure they're lovely people. I've made attempts to watch the show. Never made it through a single episode. John and Kate look eternally harried. Watching them try to do something as simple as have a meal with eight children makes me start to sweat.

I do love children (particularly my own child). I always knew I wanted to be a mother. But not only do I not want to be the mother to eight young children, I don't care to watch anyone else do it either. I even change the channel when the incessant commercials for their show come on.

Then we have the Duggars. Their shows (including "17 Kids and Counting") are actually a bit more palatable to me. Perhaps it's because Michelle Duggar has some kind of superhuman quality that Kate Gosselin doesn't possess. The woman has 17 children and never looks even remotely stressed (and she home-schools them all, for goodness sake). She has built-in baby sitters with her older children, so I'm sure that takes some pressure off of her. Again, they seem like exceptionally nice people, but they still give me the creeps.

Two weeks ago, we had a new woman of questionable sanity bring forth another litter of children into the world. Nadya Suleman gave birth to octuplets in southern California, after being implanted with six embryos (and knowing the risks inherent in this). She is a TLC fan, I'd wager. The single mother already had six children under the age of seven. She also has an agent. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I'm avoiding her on my television as well.