I was watching 19 Kids and Counting last night and I was reminded of my childhood as a slave laborer. I kid. But the Duggars teach their kids to pull their weight in the family business, which I believe is managing rental properties (on top of their duties as reality show stars). They had the kids painting, the girls tiling floors in their skirts - all without complaints! Probably because they have 18 brothers and sisters helping them! While I was growing up, my parents owned 3 rental houses in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and we made frequent trips throughout the year to do major cleaning and house projects. My brother and I washed screens every March in the freezing cold, installed cabinets, washed and vacuumed more floors than I care to remember - all with the reminder that it was part of the family business and that it was all going to be ours someday. Lies! He sold those houses right out from under us in 2002! As luck would have it, my parents received a rebate check for a few hundred dollars from Hatteras Electric and you better believe that Jim and I screamed about getting our due payment after all those years of free labor!
Bottom line is the Duggars have got it right! Those kids march in line and don't talk back. Just compare them to the hellions on Kate + 8! I remember being a teenager and mentally counting the number of times I would have to empty the dishwasher before I had a daughter that I could boss around. For now, I will have to settle with bossing Billy around. :)