Excuse me while I get a cookie. Maybe Al Gore is right. We are warming up.

Have you ever watched the reality show on TV, “Jon and Kate Plus 8?” If you haven’t I wish, you would. It is on at 7 p.m. Monday evening, I think. Anyway, this couple has twin daughters, 7 or 8 years of age, and six boys and girls about 3 years old — sextuplets. It is absolutely fascinating to watch them. Cute kids. The parents want to have them experience all kinds of activities. In the last show I watched, they were taking them skiing. They packed each child’s belongings in separate bags and got them on a plane. When they reached Sun Valley, Utah, they stayed in a large lodge and after they were settled, they went skiing. They fell down. They cried. They got up and tried again. Some of them actually did it. The parents had two or three young women helping. Can you imagine such a fete? It showed them getting ready, flying, and landing at the lodge. They brushed their teeth, took them to the bathroom, fed them, and put them to bed. The father was right there — helping in everything.

How is that single mother going to manage six children under the age of 8 and eight babies all at once? Wow.

I know our forefathers had large families but it was a different time and they mostly lived on farm and needed help.

There were six children in our family. We never thought of living crowded. My parents just went along as if it was perfectly common. As far as we children, we went along with the situation. There wasn’t any trouble.

— norma hannaford