] have just enough arms, legs and heads to go around. ;-) (I love that line--don't you?)

I do, indeed! ;-)

] (I think it's interesting how what Catherine has "learned" from novels and what she has learned at home are both so much a part of her character--she's a complex creation all right!)

This is interesting, as Catherine is usually considered the "simplest" of JA's heorines. Simple as in basic, straightforward, which would seem the opposite of complex. But then no JA character is really very simply drawn, are they?

] In short, IMO they're easily the most trusting, unconcerned parents who also cared very deeply for their children.