From SunJournal.com (Maine):
The McWhorters
Cindy and Phil McWhorter began having children in 1971 with the birth of their daughter Shannon. Three girls - Stephanie, Rachael and Amber - followed nearly every other year until 1980, when their only son, Alex, was born. Nicole, who was a surviving twin, arrived in 1984, and Ashley was born 1988. A son in 1991 was stillborn.
During the 20-year span of their family’s growth, they lived in several states and even Italy; Phil was in the U. S. Air Force. Cindy credits their strong Mormon faith and sense of family with making each move less difficult. Their faith is also why they chose to have a large family.
“Faith first, family second, country third,” said Cindy, who originally thought she wanted 12 children.
While their size may not be commonplace, their values and family dynamics are quite traditional. Cindy raised the children on her own much of the time because Phil was deployed to various locations around the world, something that created hardships but that taught some longer-lasting lessons, like independence and responsibility.
Despite four of the children being diagnosed with dyslexia, Cindy says all of her children are intelligent and hardworking, and it just took finding the best way for all of them to excel.
Being resourceful and willing to learn helped Cindy - the third-oldest child of 11 in her own family - especially during those lengthy periods when Phil was away.
The family held weekly meetings to manage the various music lessons, activities and sports, at which they compiled a calendar that everyone followed. Cindy says that things didn’t always go smoothly, but that was where they learned to make adjustments and learn.
Money was spent on essentials and enrichment activities; clothes and material items were purchased on sale or at yard sales, and kept as long as they still had use. If one of the children wanted something that did not fit in the “need” or “enrichment categories” they had to earn the money for it themselves.
Cindy and Phil felt that providing enrichment activities to their children was their responsibility “so that they can be tools to enrich others’ lives,” said Cindy.
All seven of the McWhorter children learned to play piano, are multi-lingual and have traveled to various countries throughout the world. Each of them paid for their college educations on their own and, as adults, are either working or finishing school, and nearly all hold at least a master’s degree in some area.
“Realize that there will be rough times and that every child is different,” advised Cindy, on raising a large family.