I was glued to the TV with great anticipation waiting for the first episode of the Six Little McGhees. As a mom of triplets I wanted to see how another African American couple of multiples kept from pulling their hair out and crying along with the kids.
I remember the first time I heard of the McGhee’s. I’d come across a Facebook photo of the family and thought “Oh my God! Is that six babies? What’s in the water that we are drinking!” as I begin to count all of the cute little faces in the picture. I was fascinated with anyone else that could possibly relate to my joy, fear, disbelief, anxiety and sleep deprivation. So I waited patiently, knowing that I’d see more of this amazing family.
The first episode began with Rozonno and Mia McGhee introducing us to their family of eight and the four most important people in their existence, The Helpers. The McGhee’s invite viewers into a look at their impoverished beginnings which established a great bond between the two and journey to now making history as Columbus Ohio’s first family of sextuplets. Their bond was a divine way of preparing Rozonno and Mia for their greatest challenge yet, sextuplets.
As the McGhee’s discover they are having sextuplets, their reaction was the same as any family seeing more than one dot on an ultrasound screen… “what!?!?”… “are you sure?”… “you must be mistaken!” “Oh my God, how many?”, then silence! After that the mental and emotional roller coaster begins. The first thing that comes to mind is what am I going to do with all of these babies? You think, pray then begin preparing for your babies. On June 9, 2010 Rozonno and Mia welcomed Olivia, Madison, Rozonno Jr., Josiah, Elijah and Issac to the world.
We get a look into everyday life with Rozonno, Mia and the sextuplets. We experience church on Sunday morning, bedtime and getting the family ready for the day in the morning. I was particularly amused at the scene when you see a baby hop out the bed and take off running…it’s always one! Then another scene where the babies team up and knock down the gate and everyone scatters. We see the McGhee’s shop on a $1,450.00 budget purchasing items for the month. These items include 50 fish sticks, 90 biscuits, 84 bananas, 72 eggs, 10 loaves of bread, 7 gallons of milks, and boxes upon boxes of diapers.
We get to see the McGhee’s on a doctor’s visit and the mayheim that goes on during a visit. I started to feel their anxiety about the doctor’s visit myself. This is always a gruling all day adventure. It’s totally different dealing with multiples in public than at home. At home you can somewhat control your surroundings, in public it’s a totally different ball game. You have to always be on alert. Always taking a head count and making sure you haven’t lost anybody. Trying to control the noise levels, I don’t know about anyone else’s multiples but mine are extremely loud ALL the time. Keeping kids off of furniture… And then waiting to hear what the doctor has to say about the development of your children. It’s just something you have to mentally prepare for. But God knows exactly who to bless with multiples. It absolutely requires lots of patience, diligence, dedication, strength and PRAYER!
The episode ends with the McGhee’s giving their family and friends a barbeque to show their appreciation for all of their support. We get to see Mia and Rozonno work their way through the terrible two’s. The biting, throwing, tantrums, hitting, fighting and challenges faced with running a family business to support the family. We get a closer look in the second episode, at some of the struggles parents of multiples face…frustration from the kids, finances as well as limited time to yourself. We’ll see how the help is not always so helpful. These are some of the fortunate yet unfortunate realities of families with multiples but in the end the headaches, heartache and sleepless nights will be all worth it.
That love, support, bond and faith in God, Rozonno and Mia established in their early years is ultimately what’s going to carry them through their marriage and the rearing of the sextuplets. Early in the show after the babies were put to bed, you see Rozonno and Mia hug and high five each other and say “team work”. That continued team work is going to be one of the things that’s going to make this ride a little easier. One is going to have to rely on the strength of the other and they both will have to totally depend on God. Things will get quite interesting at times, emotionally, physically and even spiritually, but all in all there will absolutely be more good days than bad which gives you hope and loads to look forward too.
I’ll definitely be tuning in next week to see the McGhee’s journey through this crazy thing called multiple parenting.
Watch Saturday nights on OWN at 9pm/8pm CST.
What would be your reaction to finding out you were having multiples? Do you watch Six Little McGhees? What do you think of the show?
I enjoyed watching the first episode. I have sisters that are identical twins and while I do love them, I would like to share that we didn’t always get along. My sisters always said to me that “they didn’t need me because they had eachother”. I felt like an outcast in my own family and for a while I didn’t have a relationship with my sisters because they weren’t open to having one with me but now that we are older we get along better. I would just say to the parents of multiples that if you have other children in the family, please encourage them to play with their other brothers and sisters so that they could have a loving relationship. Also if you see your multiples spending too much time with themselves and are secluded, make sure they learn how to interact with other children too. Friendships are important. My sisters didn’t understand the value of friendship because they only focused on eachother until the got older and realized that they needed to also have friends in their lives.
Niambi,
I’m glad you now have a relationship with your sisters. You’re absolutely right, it is important for multiples to forge other relationships but its hard because of the bond you have with your brother or sister. My triplets used to be that way. They wouldn’t even talk to other kids outside of themselves but eventually they began to let other people in.
Yes and that’s why i think it’s important for parents to encourage multiples to interact with their other brothers/sisters and other children so that they can form friendships. I felt helpless as a child because my mother didn’t do much to encourage my sisters to play with me (i am only 14 months older then them) so we were very close in age and because my mother was the adult, she should have taken control of the situation. I was scarred in my childhood and had to be healed from years of being lonely in my own family and feeling like an outcast. I feel it’s parent’s responsibility to ensure that ALL of their children feel loved and not just allow the multiples to always be secluded to themselves.
Just to clarify, my mother did love us all equally and she never favored any of us over the other but she didn’t do much to encourage my sisters to play with me and so I missed out on a loving sibling relationship that I could have had with my sisters from an early age.
That’s awesome that your mom didn’t show differences between you guys the most important thing she showed you all was love. Unfortunately us parents don’t get it right all the time but thankfully at some point things all come together. Thanks for sharing that point”
I enjoyed watching this show until the episode came on where the kids got sick. I was so disgusted with the fact that after the doctor told the McGhees to get rid of the feeding table because germs are being spread but yet they continued to keep the table as well as feed the kids from the same spoon and bowl. I was embarassed for them. The McGhees were well aware of what they were doing and it’s sad how the head of the household (the husband) pointed it out but then made the comment “A happy wife equals a happy life”. SMH….And don’t let me mention the disgusting part where the rib fell on the ground and was put back on the grill as if it was nothing. I’m sorry but there is no justifying their ignorant and immature actions on this show. I love to support my black people but I’ll never be a fan of laziness, ignorance and selfishness.
Felicia, I agree with you on some levels of your statement but not all. Dropping the meat on the ground and putting it back was nasty but it wasn’t the McGhee’s it was a helper. As far as the feeding table I can understand why they didn’t get rid of it (right away). You have to consider where you will then sit six 2 year olds and keep them confinded long enough to fed them and or let them feed themselves. The assumption is that the doctor wants them to be seated in their own spaces but you then have to consider they fact of purchasing six individual spaces for them to sit….it’s a lot. I’m sure they will do it at some point but I understand why it didn’t happen the day.
I agree with you Felicia. I felt that as the parents they put all of their children at risk when they continued to allow them to eat from the same spoon and share germs. As parents it is their duty to “protect” their children and they are not protecting them now. They are looking at all the kids as “one child” instead of 6 children with different needs. They were being “selfish” and only thinking about what is convenient for them because the mother said “i rather them all get sick at one time then at separate times” and that was her so called “logic” about her decision to continue to use the feeding table and disregarding the doctor’s orders. They were only thinking about what was “convenient” for them as parents but not the safety and health of their children. The doctor even said that their immune systems are still fragile and what may start out as a cold can end up turning into something much worse because although they are sextuplets, each have their own immune system and one may not be as strong as the other one. After hearing this, the mother then blatantly disregarded the doctor and made a decision to continue to keep feeding the children all with the same bowl. As parents they failed to protect the health and safety of their children.
I LOVE the 6 little McGhees! They are SO adorable! I commend ALL parents, but especially the ones who are blessed with multiples at once! NO ONE has all the answers, but with the help of love ones, friends, helpers, & each other, The McGhees will be just fine! 😉
I don’t understand why they are not allowing these kids to feed themselves, they are almost 2! They are only making it harder for themselves in the long run by not encouraging independence, not to mention 6people eating from one spoon? And you know one is sick? Both my kids started feeding themselves at about 9 months
The McGhee babies were very premature. They have some slight developmental delays. Besides, you know the mess that a child can make at the table – imagine 6! It is far easier to feed them rather them have to clean up a major mess (at least until they can manage to feed themselves better).
I do not condone feeding from one spoon and bowl. However I do understand why they are not feeding themselves.
I love the show and the loving Family unit they have.It not easy taking care og six children.The love he shows to his Mom.They are laying the foundation by raising their children in Church
Thats a blessing to have a good support system in the Church as well.Bless that Family.
Ah I am watching the last two episodes of the show this morning and i have been watching from the start. Some things are cringeworthy that they do but you see just how much they don’t know from their own childhoods. Some of it seems scripted though but then the rest is sad as they really lived like that.
Just a thought but if you really don’t know something because you
Didn’t have it as your own childhood experience wouldn’t you research and look up so you can give your kids diff? Especially if u have it times 6?
Sometimes when Mia talks she always throws in that she didn’t have it but I want my kids to have it when it comes to new things like the zoo and animals.
That shouldn’t be the excuse as to why you don’t try something. I
Grew up before the Internet and google so my young parents didn’t know a lot to do outside of what their parents did with them but if you have the means this
Day and age and got google or a network of friends who can help then skies the limit at what u can offer your kids right?
Mia and Rozonno, I commend you in raising Six little ones, but I have to agree with Felicia and Niambi. Feeding 2 children from the same spoon is bad enough, let alone feeding 6 toddlers. I can’t believe that 2 people can agree on something as strange as this :/ Once the parents were told it was increasing the kids chances of getting sick, that practice should have discontinued. It became very obvious at that point that they are doing this for their own convenience; and why they would prefer to see all of the kids sick at same time? Everyone has different immune systems, but Preemies are more fragile. If you want your children to develop and learn independence you allow them make mistakes. All that needed to change right away was to put a plate and spoon in front of each child. I realize that they would have to eventually get a new seating arrangement, but isn’t that inevitable? Or did they expect the kids to fit in those little holes for another year or so? When did they expect their children to start feeding themselves? I wonder did any of their Helpers see anything wrong with this? I just don’t get it. This is show a I had planned to watch, ( I set up a series recording) but I may have to rethink it.
i personally loved the show, i was trying to find there face book page but to no avail, the family is hardworking and a nice working black family but i was appalled at some of the other sites and blog comments from others i felt was very rude and disgusting . I will post some and tell me what you guys think so sad how people talk and about kids also. how sad and immature people can get i just can’t believe my eyes smh
tam
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Ugh. More kids to be exploited. Those headbands for the girls are ridiculous-always thought they were stupid. Girls just look like eggheads with them on.
Thank goodness I had a boy.
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05 April 2012 02:55 PM
tam
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So mom takes 4 hour naps huh?
ENOUGH WITH THIS MULTIPLES BULLSHIT ALREADY PEOPLE!
Fucking hell.
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05 April 2012 02:57 PM
ashridash
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Wow….that article is just….wow. So she is upset they didnt get attention and free handouts for popping out 6 kids? Another set of moronic parents. Why the hell do people that use fertility drugs and shove their uterus with as many eggs as they can think society should help them after? I have zero pity. So you chose to keep all the kids and now the only way you can provide is by shoving cameras in their faces from morning until night? These people are already abusing these kids. Who the hell makes preemie infants go through a fucking 5 hour photo shoot? The answer…these jackass future fame whores.
__________________
Ashridash
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05 April 2012 03:10 PM
tam
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Looks like Auntie Oprah’s prying open her checkbook.
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05 April 2012 03:17 PM
ozntm
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Instead of giving them a show, Oprah should’ve just given them the amount they would have earned and let them live their lives quietly. Anyway, I hear her network is doing badly, if she thinks a show about multiples will help ratings, then she’s a delusional fool. Thanks to Kate, everyone is sick of these types of shows.
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05 April 2012 03:45 PM
tam
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I think the only thing I ever watched on OWN was the Duchess of York’s show.
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05 April 2012 04:17 PM
embreeo
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Instead of giving them a show, Oprah should’ve just given them the amount they would have earned and let them live their lives quietly. Anyway, I hear her network is doing badly, if she thinks a show about multiples will help ratings, then she’s a delusional fool. Thanks to Kate, everyone is sick of these types of shows.
-ozntm
ITA! I definitely won’t be watching, but I’m curious how long this show will last. Look what happened to Raising Sextuplets (Masche) and the Jones Quintuplets – CANCELLED! The public was sending a message that there’s no interest. These people who scientifically engineer multiple births and choose not to reduce need to face the consequences on their own. The public does NOT have an obligation to help. It galls me to see networks continuing to reward these families by giving them shows … it almost translates to a get rich quick scheme. I hope OWN loses it’s ass on this one.
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05 April 2012 04:33 PM
merette
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Wow….that article is just….wow. So she is upset they didnt get attention and free handouts for popping out 6 kids? Another set of moronic parents. Why the hell do people that use fertility drugs and shove their uterus with as many eggs as they can think society should help them after? I have zero pity. So you chose to keep all the kids and now the only way you can provide is by shoving cameras in their faces from morning until night? These people are already abusing these kids. Who the hell makes preemie infants go through a fucking 5 hour photo shoot? The answer…these jackass future fame whores.
-ashridash
I don’t give a flying fuck in hell about this family and other deliberate high order multiple breeders for profit. You got them, NOW YOU DEAL WITH IT!
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06 April 2012 12:57 AM
tam
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I don’t give a flying fuck in hell about this family and other deliberate high order multiple breeders for profit. You got them, NOW YOU DEAL WITH IT!
-merette
Yep!
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06 April 2012 12:59 AM
merette
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ITA! I definitely won’t be watching, but I’m curious how long this show will last. Look what happened to Raising Sextuplets (Masche) and the Jones Quintuplets – CANCELLED! The public was sending a message that there’s no interest. These people who scientifically engineer multiple births and choose not to reduce need to face the consequences on their own. The public does NOT have an obligation to help. It galls me to see networks continuing to reward these families by giving them shows … it almost translates to a get rich quick scheme. I hope OWN loses it’s ass on this one.
-embreeo
You said it perfectly, em.
I have NO sympathy, NO sense of obligation, and I don’t give a damn that these people are stuck with six babies they should never have had.
It blows me away that you all are critizing the parents for making sure their kids get the proper amount of food/nutrients; so they FEED them. THATS WHAT REAL PARENTS DO!! NOT MAMIES or DEADBEAT DADS!! BUT REAL FATHERS & MOTHERS! Would it been better for them to just let them feed themselves and all of their nutrients be on the floor? Or would it have been better to just not feed them at all??? Is this all you have on such wonderful and loving parents and people?? There are parents doing all things but the right thing and you want to complain about the McGhees!! Or maybe I missed the episode where one or more of the Six Little MCGhees was hospitalized with a life threatening illness because Mia or RO spoon fed all six of them with ONE or TWO SPOONs.. I must have missed that episode!?! No I did not because it doesnt exist!! You people that critize this BEAUTIFUL HAPPILY MARRIED AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILY for being just that must be miserable & out of your mind! I love this family, the parents and the show. They make me PROUD!! I will continue to watch them grow because I know this show is a HIT!!
I am APPALLED by these ignorant and self righteous comments. They didn’t change he table THAT DAY! Something like that takes time and consideration. . I’m sure all of you who are so “disappointed” raised perfect sets of sextuplets yourselves and have a guide that you should be passing along right? Right! Smh. They are already getting it from the others but y’all petty people are sitting up here downing them for doing the best they know to do. They fixed it eventually. They have a schedule and that’s probably the only thing keeping them sane. When you have six kids of the same age, you have to introduce new things slowly or you will result in 6 simultabeous meltdowns. Chill out! Ugh. With that said, I love the Mcghees. They don’t profess to be prefect but they are doing an awesome job providing their kids with the stuff they didn’t have. And that compendable.
I watched John Kate and eight and wish the McGees would watch some of
the old shows. I think the McGees would learn something. I wish the
parents would use “please” and “thank you” as much as possible.
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The show is horrible, plain and simple. Mia is too domineering and Ro is passive. I have tried to watch this show to support the network, but I cannot justify it any longer. It is uninteresting and Mia’s whole way of being is miserable. Sorry Oprah, but this show needs to be put to rest.
And we wondered why our children these days are continually sick and have so many allergies. What they were doing is completely fine. As far as the meat.. Heat kills germs anyways. I’ve always been told if something drops on the floor, brush it off and eat it. Guess what!? I’m very rarely sick and I believe it to be that reason. It builds up your immune system. As far as sharing germs, I believe it’s great! The more you are sick when you are younger, the better your immune system. You all should be ashamed of yourselves. I blame you for all the kids out there with anaphylaxis and severe allergies. SHAME ON YOU!
These parents are not perfect. Being a parent is a learning and growing process. They are doing fine with their kids.
I think the Mcghee’s are doing a great job.What God knows about you is more important than what ANY of ud on thid blog, or any other blog think. Keep teaching your children about Gods love for us and the sacrifice he made for mankind.People will always have somethin negative to say but, unless they walk a mile in your shoes, they’ll never know. Keep up the good work.
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