There is sometimes disagreement between Frank Sr. and the children's mother, Lillian, which points out some of the differences between them. For example, Lillian wants to save a spot on the "progress and weight charts" for recording the children's daily prayers, but Frank Sr., ever the practical man of action rather than contemplation, insists there is no room for that. .

             Many of the funniest episodes in the book derive from these types of conflicts (always rather gentle ones) between the parents, especially since their mother, Lillian, is more relaxed in terms of her personality, and sees everything more individually and perhaps, at times, more clearly as well (although Lillian never directly insists on this to Frank Sr., but just lets things happen until the truth becomes apparent on its own). Although both Lillian and Frank Sr. are brilliant engineers, Lillian seems to have more personal insight into her children as individuals. And, despite Frank Sr.'s considerable "efficiency", Lillian often has more common sense. This is perhaps reflected in the way Frank Sr. and his philosophies of "efficiency" are joked about, much more in the book, than Lillian or her actions or beliefs are joked about. .

             Lillian was an early career woman, and one of the other themes of this book is how she handled, so well, especially for those times, a high-powered career and raising twelve children. Lillian Gilbreth herself, although not the main focus of this book, is very inspiring in that way. .

             The main reason, overall, that I liked this book is because the humor within it is good natured, and the high-powered Gilbreth family, even though it is so large and chaotic, and has its own share of challenges and setbacks, is not "dysfunctional" in any way, like so many, even smaller, families today. That, in and of itself, is amazing. Whatever is happening, inside or outside the family, there is always love, solidarity, and teamwork within the family itself.