"Cheaper" by the Dozen
Just the title is already really ironic. When you have 12 kids, the expenses get really high. The don’t get cheaper. But, when you buy bagels or eggs, you usually get a better deal. So the title is ironic. It’s referring to the fact that you usually get better deals when buying food. But the expression is used ironically seeing as the more kids you have, the higher your expenses get.
Irony of Fashion
Usually, people suffer much discomfort to look good. They wear super high heels or tight, uncomfortable, unpractical clothes just to look good. And they spend a lot of time getting ready. They spend hours doing their makeup. And in this book, the father wants things to be very efficient. And he also doesn’t want his daughters to be following all the latest trends. But, his daughters do the latest fashions anyways. They cut there hair into bobs. And this allows them to do there hair much quicker than if it was really long. This is ironic because the father wants things to be efficient but doesn’t want his daughters following all the latest trends. But, in reality, the trend was actually more efficient than there hair before. And fashion usually takes a long time, but not in this case.
Irony of Relaxation
Whenever the parents want to relax in bed and go to sleep, there is always something that needs to be done, whether it be tending to a sick child or a crying baby. Having 12 children, there is always something that needs to be done. The mother especially has a lot to do. Everyday, she has to work. And every night she has to take care of her babies who wake up in the night and start crying or need feeding.
Irony of Efficiency
The father is an efficiency expert. He helps other people do things in the most effective, efficient way. And he experiments in his household with all his children. This is kind of ironic because he has so many children. Most people would feel overwhelmed and everything would be unorganized and chaotic. But the dad can keep order with his efficient methods.
Irony of taking care of their kids
The Gilbreth children are well taken care of and the household runs mostly smoothly. But, as the father thought, “... the best way to deal with sickness in the family is to ignore it… A sick person drags down the performance of the entire group. You children come from sound pioneer stock. You’ve been given health, and it’s your job to keep it. I don’t want any excuses. I want you to stay well.” So though they are well taken care of, they aren’t supposed to get sick.
