And, to lift the depression by the preceding entry…a very nice story from the LA Times about a family with 16 children. I loved this detail:

"Eight years old was the magic age," said Jerome Santucci, 33. "You got a watch and a knife at your dinner setting, and you went on the list of chores. So you now had privileges and responsibilities."

The kids remember patience, feeling important to their parents and — astonishingly, to some — feeling like individuals even in a noisy house with big personalities.