Diane Sawyer makes one of her annual visits to the Dilley sextuplets on "PrimeTime Live" (tonight at 9 on ABC/Ch. 4) - and leaves viewers with the same impression as always: There but for the grace of God . . .
Actually, you can't help but end up admiring and respecting Becki and Keith Dilley, who've had four years with their "six-pack" now. Not to mention feeling for them.Hey, ABC estimates that the Dilleys changed more than 30,000 diapers before - hallelujah! - the kids were potty trained during the past year.
"I'd just like to say going into this that (age) 3 was rougher than 2," Becki Dilley says. "The 2s are into everything, and they say a lot of no's, but they really don't mean it. This year when they said `no' they meant it."
"Overnight they just kind of started fighting everything we did," Keith Dilley adds. "There's days when you just can't wait for that day to end."
ABC and Sawyer aren't overstating the case when she says, "It's still awe-inspiring that Keith and Becki Dilley have raised the children without nannies, babysitters or any help at all."
(The truth is that, whenever we see a report on the Dilleys, we think about our own 6-year-old twins and marvel that Keith and Becki have done so well.)
Since last we saw the sextuplets - about a year ago - discipline has become a problem. And the Dilleys admit they had a lot of trouble figuring out what to do.
(Part of what makes these annual reports so good is that Keith and Becki are so open and honest about their lives.)
The Dilleys' ultimate solution - tickets for good behavior. "Each ticket good for one treat. And in the Dilley house, there is no greater treat than a half hour of Mommy or Daddy all to yourself."
The youngsters are talking this year, after a fashion, and Sawyer makes an attempt to interview them. And there's a perfectly darling bit on young Ian, who's obsessed with Pocahontas.
Ian wanted to be Pocahontas for Halloween, but his father talked him into Batman instead.
Ian wanted Pocahontas and a Pocahontas watch for Christmas. He wants to be Pocahontas when he grows up. Pocahontas is his best friend. He wants to marry Pocahontas. Pocahontas shorts are his favorite thing to wear. Pocahontas is the prettiest girl in the world.
Then, on a free trip to Disney World (donated by Disney), Ian actually gets to meet Pocahontas. It's priceless.
Not that this update on the Dilleys is all happy times. Even though Keith and Becki are working three jobs between them, they can't make ends meet - and they can't afford their mortgage. They're forced to sell the home that was built for them at-cost and move to a smaller house.
Even though they've economized as much as they can, they're also forced to pull the kids out of day care because they just can't afford the gas to drive them back and forth.
"PrimeTime Live" reports on more than just the Dilleys, however. There's a segment on the Haners and how they're dealing with their sextuplets - some of whom suffer permanent disabilities because of their premature birth. There's another segment on Cheryl Brown, the 50-year-old mother of infant quadruplets.
And there's a disturbing report on Mandy Allwood, the British woman who took fertility drugs for no apparent reason, conceived eight children and lost them - after being promised a large sum of money by a tabloid if she carried the babies to term.
But the news magazine returns to the Dilleys, who remain an inspiration for parents everywhere. Asked what has been the most surprising thing about raising sextuplets, Becki Dilley replies, "That it was going to be as much fun as it has been, because it really has been fun. There are days when Keith and I are laughing ourselves silly at the end of the day."
"And you really forget about the bad stuff, anyway," Keith Dilley adds. "You remember the good times a lot longer than you remember the bad times."
NEW NEWS DIRECTOR: KTVX-Ch. 4 has hired Tom Sides as its new news director. Sides, who's currently assistant news director at Detroit's WJBK, takes over on Nov. 10.
Ch. 4's acting news director, Con Psarras, will remain as executive producer.