I rarely watch HGTV. About the only time I’m exposed to it is when I find myself killing time in a car repair waiting room. For some reason, the home and garden network is the channel of choice for those with engine problems.

One hour of HGTV and I’m ready to sell my house. Or take a sledgehammer to it.

During a discouraging spate of car troubles last year, I wrote a column about how HGTV had sent me into a sort of old house depression.

Given my viewing habits, I can’t claim to be an expert on Chip and Joanna Gaines, the married hosts of the hugely popular series, “Fixer Upper.” They’re cute. They engage in the requisite HGTV playful banter. But for some reason, they are despised by some in the media.

In 2016, for instance, BuzzFeed attacked the twosome for attending a church led by a pastor who believes homosexuality is a sin. The Huffington Post quickly piled on, noting with sneering disapproval that the couple “attend an evangelical church that preaches against the way that queer people find love.”

I hesitate to point this out, but every Catholic in the world is part of a religion that teaches homosexual activity is a sin. Why pick on poor Chip and Joanna? As far as I can tell, they never use their program to bash gays. 

It gets worse. Last week, this couple announced they were expecting a baby. Their fifth.

You might expect cheering over such happy news. But you would be wrong.

Almost immediately, the Gaineses were savaged by some on social media for - wait for it - having too many kids.

Perhaps the most obnoxious criticism came over the weekend from Kristen Pyszczyk, a Toronto-based contributor to the CBC (Canadian Broadcast Company) who penned a piece headlined, “It shouldn’t be taboo to criticize parents for having too many kids.”

Actually, it most certainly should be taboo. 

This couple’s family size is none of her damn business. Or anyone else’s. Especially when the parents are more than capable of supporting their offspring.

It’s hard to know where to begin with this ripe slice of population control propaganda that singled out a couple from Texas - apparently there are no large families in Canada - for the crime of having another child.

Let’s call it what it is: Baby shaming. 

“Shame is a powerful tool for changing behavior,” Pyszczyk argued. 

It gets worse. This all-knowing millennial went on to say that, “It's not OK to have five kids without once considering adoption.”

Yes it is. It’s perfectly OK to have five biological kids. Or 10. As long as you can feed ‘em.

This illogical rant didn’t end there, either. The “feminist” writer lamented that girls are “groomed for motherhood” and asserted that, “Women need to be presented with options for a fulfilling life that don't involve taking 20 years of their lives to care for offspring.”

Has this woman time traveled back to the 1950s? Last time I checked, American girls - and I assume Canadian ones too - are told they can do anything they like with their lives. Who pushes a daughter into motherhood these days?

Oh, and as far as taking 20 years to care for offspring? Hah. The job doesn’t end after two decades. Not even close. 

In researching this post I learned that Chip and Joanna are in their fifth and final season of “Fixer Upper.” 

I have no idea why they’re stepping out of the spotlight. Perhaps they’re disgusted by the incessant criticism of their personal lives from mean-spirited members of the media.

Who could blame them?