I’ve been watching “19 Kids and Counting” since it was “18 Kids and Counting”, “17 Kids and Counting” and possibly even “16 Kids and Counting”. That family just seems to keep growing and growing. At first I tuned in because I wanted to see the hectic lifestyle that comes with all those kids. However, I kept tuning in because of the peace, serenity and happiness of the family.

Of course with these many kids they do have trials. They probably spend more on dental work than most people spend on their mortgage payments. However, they always seem to get through it with a smile. I’ve always wondered what it would be like if they were actually faced with a real trial. However, with the birth of their premature baby Josie this really seems to have finally happened. They’ve been so blessed to have all of those kids come out healthy before this. I was wondering what would happen to their Pollyanna attitude.

I’ve cried at almost create every single episode since the baby was born. The family has really pulled together. The older kids always had a lot of responsibility because they have to help with the younger kids. This has really been magnified. They moved houses and have much less efficient house to raise all of those kids in. Plus, their parents are usually at the hospital a lot.

Michelle has really shown a lot of perseverance and faith. It’s really touching to see her pray whenever her daughter has to undergo a medical procedure. I don’t believe in all of their beliefs. I think that it’s perfectly okay to dance and wear pants. However, it has been very inspiring to see how they handle their trials.

I have really enjoyed watching “The Ultimate Cake Off” on TLC. What can I say? I’m always a sucker for watching people build cakes really really fast. Then they have to move them, so there’s always the chance that it might fall down. That’s just plain cool.

This is a little bit different from food network competitions. They have what is called a skills test. Whoever wins the skills test gets to choose another team to sit out of the competition for half an hour. This happens twice. It always amazes me that the competitors haven’t caught on, even though this is the second season. The old Southern ladies always seemed to trash talk and then they are so surprised when they get chosen to sit out. You need to be as warm and friendly as a heated blanket in this situation. If your competitors have the means to possibly hurt you why aren’t you at least nice to them?

I first learned about the hoarding phenomenon on Oprah a few years ago. I thought that it was just a very interesting idea that was worth about one episode and then we’d never hear about it again. I just couldn’t imagine that there were so many people who were living in their homes with such drastic conditions. This was difficult for me to undersand because I’d rather have a few really beautiful, functional items in my house like Franke sinks.

Of course, I knew there were plenty of messy people out there but this is just beyond being cluttered. It really focuses on a mental disorder that requires you to keep items that have no value or use. Some of these items could actually be useful, but they just overtake these peoples home so much that it incapacitates them basically. Then, A&E started a hoarding show. I really didn’t think they’d be able to keep it going every week let alone for several seasons. I just thought that we had already seen all the hoarders after a few episodes.

Now TLC is coming out with a very similar show. These shows always quote that there are hundreds of thousands or even millions of hoarders and I’m starting to really believe them. Now whenever someone seems to try to keep people out of their house I wonder if this is what is going on.