Re: OT: births, was Re: Quick Announcement

Yoon Ha Lee wrote:
>> And I thought seven was a lot.
My 5gr-grandfather produced 13, all of whom lived-- quite amazing in the
late 1700s.  (It seems he may have been Welsh, his wife certainly was)
>
><wince>  Heck, parents today think their single kid Johnny (etc.) is too
>much of a handful.  How *did* they do it?
My grandfather was the last of 9 children; his mother died a year or two
after his birth, and he was tended to mostly by his older sister, who was
around 12.

>(Teaching isn't the same as parenting, but one wonders--with some
>trepidation--how one manages to keep a room of 20 kids from killing each
>other without being punitive.)
I wonder too.  Looking back on schooldays in the 1940s (there were at least
30 in my grade), I think we kids behaved remarkably well.  Of course, our
teachers (all women-- I didn't encounter a male teacher until high school)
were often genuine battle-axes and greatly to be feared.  Ah me, autre
temps, autres moeurs......

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