I've crossed paths a few times with families who for one reason or another raise their children according to their own family values as opposed to television, or popular culture. And, I applaud those families wholeheartedly.

I find it odd that families like the Duggars, and other Christian families, are met with so much hate and criticism, and often from the do-not-judge-me crowd.

I see online moms seeming so proud that their offspring are so disobedient that they won't clean their own rooms, let alone the bathroom or the kitchen. What kind of loser parent can't assign a simple chore to a pre-teen or teen and follow through enough to get it done? It seems like a lot of parents are retarded, and are voluntarily creating retarded children. Sorry, the truth hurts at times!

Then again, we have the Duggars. Oh, look, they have 13 kids and no paid help. I guess that could be classified as child abuse, having children perform family duties, etc. Or perhaps that is just what smart parents do, have their kids become able-bodied contributors, rather than helpless lazy slobs.

Let's compare the happiness quotient of the Duggars (or insert the surname of a Fundamentalist Christian family near you) to the average subject on "My Super Sweet 16". Who would seem most happy? Do we even have to talk about this?

I've already addressed how gratitude creates happy people.

So today, we went to the McKinney Farmers' Market, and we bought a few dozen eggs and some ground beef from the local farmer. He has about a dozen kids, and most of them live at home and help on the farm.

The youngest kids, according to the website, collect the eggs from the laying chickens, washing those eggs that need washing, put the eggs in the carton and then label the carton.

Looking at the pictures, all the kids look so damned happy. Yes, call me simple, but those kids with chores and responsibility look happy. And, like one of the other ladies at the farmers' market noticed, those kids have a sense of accomplishment and -gasp- know how to talk to people.

You can actually talk to these kids about normal stuff and they understand English. They are nice kids.

Don't expect that from the average school aged kids these days. But expect them to be able to talk about the cell phone they want, and expect them to be able to ask you for money and things. They can't carry a conversation, but they can request stuff.

Sickening but true.