The text does not spend much time describing the children that belong to Rip and Dame Van Winkle. Readers get an incredibly lengthy description of Rip, his habits, his house, and how the rest of the village seems to adore him and dislike his wife.
The short description of Rip's children immediately follows the description of his house. Rip's house is in poor repair. It's an odd thing, too, because I wouldn't describe Rip as completely lazy. We are told that he has no aversion to helping out his fellow townsfolk with whatever bits of manual labor they require; however, when it comes to his own house, Rip does not see the point. The property has weeds everywhere. The fence is falling apart. We are specifically told that his farm was the worst in the neighborhood. It's a wild and poorly taken care of property, and that is exactly how...
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Rip's children are described.
His children, too, were as ragged and wild as if they belonged to nobody.
Rip's children are poorly clothed. His son is described as an "urchin" which isn't exactly an endearing term. We are told that Rip's son is likely to follow in his father's footsteps and become equally averse to doing any work for his own family. At the story's conclusion, readers see that Rip's son accomplished just as little as his father accomplished in life.
What are Rip and Dame Van Winkle's children like in "Rip Van Winkle"?
Readers are given a couple of paragraphs that describe Rip Van Winkle's general aversion to doing work that benefited either himself or his family. He makes conscious decisions to not work on his farm, and that is why everything is falling apart. Readers are specifically told that the property was the "worst-conditioned farm in the neighborhood."
Immediately after that paragraph, readers are given a brief section that gives a description of Rip Van Winkle's children. His children are compared to the condition of Rip's farm and house: the children are equally ragged and shabby looking. Readers are told that they look like wild children that belong to nobody.
The text then specifically discusses Rip's son, as Rip's son is similar (in looks and character) to Rip himself. The son wears his father's old clothes despite the size being far too large. The child has to hold up his pants with one hand to ensure they don't fall off. Finally, we are told that Rip's son has already started to inherit Rip's lazy habits.