Duggars By the Dozen - General Discussion - Part 6

[FJismyheadship]

There is a discussion about Josh, The FRC and homosexuality.

[PennySycamore]

Isaac Goldberg, The Reflex

" A diplomat is someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip"

or

"A diplomat is a man who can tell you to go to hell and make the trip sound pleasurable.

The first quote is from state of Maine writer Caskie Stinnett and the second is from Mark Twain.

[ljohnson2006]

None of the Duggars have enough education to go to college. They graduate from the SOTDRT when Jessa gets tired of teaching them. I wonder what will happen when Jill gets married and moves away. Who will J'Chelle get to replace what she does around the house? It's sad how much J'Chelle relies on her older girls. It's really showing now that they're marrying. J'Chelle may have to be a real parent for the first time in years.

[nellautumngirl]

From their rules:

"5: Please do not discuss anything inappropriate."

Not clarifying what they mean by inappropriate is just asking for trouble. I think they imagine this whole "running a board" thing as a bit easier than it is :/

[singsingsing]

From their rules:

"5: Please do not discuss anything inappropriate."

Not clarifying what they mean by inappropriate is just asking for trouble. I think they imagine this whole "running a board" thing as a bit easier than it is :/

Inappropriate, like Jim Bob humping Michelle in public and asking her if she was turned on in front of their daughter and her boyfriend?

[ljohnson2006]

Anything J'Chelle and Boob do is inappropriate.

[Rescinded and Mended]

None of the Duggars have enough education to go to college. They graduate from the SOTDRT when Jessa gets tired of teaching them. I wonder what will happen when Jill gets married and moves away. Who will J'Chelle get to replace what she does around the house? It's sad how much J'Chelle relies on her older girls. It's really showing now that they're marrying. J'Chelle may have to be a real parent for the first time in years.

I was thinking this about the bolded, as well. Sadly, Michelle said in one of the previous new episodes that the kids were being divided into buddy teams instead of buddy pairs, now that Jessa is courting (and Jill is on her way out for sure). There were lots of ridiculous excuses about how Jessa wasn't doing her share of the chores now that she was courting, according to Jinger, so the others were having to do more.

It doesn't look like Michelle is actually doing more of anything, in terms of parenting or household responsibilities. :(

[Mama Mia]

I was thinking this about the bolded, as well. Sadly, Michelle said in one of the previous new episodes that the kids were being divided into buddy teams instead of buddy pairs, now that Jessa is courting (and Jill is on her way out for sure). There were lots of ridiculous excuses about how Jessa wasn't doing her share of the chores now that she was courting, according to Jinger, so the others were having to do more.

It doesn't look like Michelle is actually doing more of anything, in terms of parenting or household responsibilities. :(

The kids have always been divided into buddy teams. There's a listing of who's on what team somewhere on this board.

[16strong]

The lives of these girls just make me so sad. They have no opportunity. They can't go to college. They can't pursue a career. They can't even walk outside of their own home without being accompanied by someone else. All they can do is raise their siblings, cook, and do laundry for a household of 21. Jim Bob and Michelle really have a lot to answer for. They may seem like nice people, but it doesn't matter. Some of the "nicest" people do the greatest evils in the name of "the greater good."

[Guest LilaFowler]

You can tell that some of the kids are naturally bright but didn't get the education they needed. Like Jana, Jeremiah, Josiah, Johannah, etc. These children had so much potential. Jana is so good with kids that I could easily see her being a teacher. Jill a nurse. I could see Jedidiah being a nurse as well. Josiah an artist or accountant. Joseph being in the military. It goes on and on.

[Talitha Cumi]

The kids have always been divided into buddy teams. There's a listing of who's on what team somewhere on this board.

I'm looking for it, but I don't see it in the SOTDRT thread. Not sure where else to look. I'm totally curious as to who's on what team.

[donks]

Joy is about to take on a load-I mean BUDDY GROUP of her own. By the time the others were that age they were already mothers-I MEAN GROUP LEADERS!!!

[Minnesota]

I hope Jana is the next to leave but I don't see JB or Michelle letting her go anytime soon.

[Fourcard5]

I rewatched some of the old Duggar specials (the first 3) and noticed some family dynamics I had not before.

The main one was Jinger. It was the special where they were watching their old house get demolished and moving into their new house. Each of the kids got to talk about their favorite memory of the old house and what they were most excited about in the new house. Jinger said something along the lines of "I don't want to move, we have so many memories here and it will be sad when the (old) house is gone and we won't be here anymore." She sounded a lot like J'chelle in that TH, who has repeatedly gotten upset about how things are changing or when they had to get rid of baby stuff from many kids ago.

I have a feeling that Jinger has some of the same attachment issues that J'chelle does and is very resistant to change. Jinger also displayed this emotion during this season with all the Jessa courtship stuff. Jinger has become so accustomed to having all her sisters and family under one roof and seems unhappy with accepting that things are changing (very much like J'chelle, even if for different reasons).

Looking forward, I worry that Jinger will fall into similar lifestyle (get married, have eleventy!!!!11!! children, be stuck with tons of kids and SAHDs) just to maintain the feelings of closeness and security she feels now.

I truly think these kids need legitimate professional therapy.

Of course there were the god-awful frumpers and crunchy hair, but they really did try to hide the ATI Gothard stuff.

Another thing I was surprised at was during Johanna's birth (another VBAC, but in a hospital), J'chelle was VERY religious as she birthed hannie. Saying "praise god," "thank you lord," etc, and in the more recent births they have televised, I do not recall such joy and worship during the births. (Except maybe during Anna's homebirths). I could be wrong though.

Don't get me wrong, I think it is great she is able to carry this positivity into her labor and delivery, but it seems like her religious connection to having babies was very high at that time, and has diminished into a self serving 'how many can we have' mentality more recently.

Also, found these parallel pictures. Hopefully Johannah will have a happier youth than poor Joy.

Marcus's head is the size as Hannie. :lol: love the pic

[sun_shiine64]

I'm looking for it, but I don't see it in the SOTDRT thread. Not sure where else to look. I'm totally curious as to who's on what team.

Jana, Jason and Jackson

Jill, Joy, James and Jenni

Jessa, Jer, Justin, and Jordyn

Jinger, Jed and Hannie

[Mama Mia]

Jana, Jason and Jackson

Jill, Joy, James and Jenni

Jessa, Jer, Justin, and Jordyn

Jinger, Jed and Hannie

One of the things that upsets me most about this system is that Jinger must have had been assigned to Hannie when she was all of 12! ( I'm going to hope she and Jed were broken off from another team, and she wasn't his big buddy from the age of 6 , but who knows with these people!)

Also, I believe Josie has been added to Jana's team.

[Ursula]

I was about to just post that list myself, so thanks! The one I found still listed Jordyn as incubating and obviously no Josie as she was still a twinkle in DumbBoob's eye (...ew). I guess the updated one would look something like this:

Team 1: Jill, Joy-Anna, James and Jennifer

Team 2: Jana, Jason, Jackson and Josie

Team 3: Jessa, Jeremiah, Justin and Jordyn

Team 4: Jinger, Jedidiah and Johannah

I would never defend the Duggar practice that is their version of MTV's Teen Mom but as time goes on and the children grow up, it's only going to get easier from here on out. So Joy-less will be inheriting Jill's team? So she'll only have to take care of almost 13 year old James and almost 7 year old Jennifer? Compared to what her sisters had to do starting at EIGHT YEARS OLD, well, big freaking deal. James doesn't even need to be constantly supervised by anyone as a teenager and Jenny, at 7, should be able to do most things for herself (pick out an outfit, dress herself, brush her hair and teeth, little things like that). Out of all the Duggar children it's really only Jordyn (she will most likely get dumped to Jinger's team if/when Jessa leaves) and Josie who still require the help of a buddy for every day things. Maybe that's why Jana is still around. Not that I think Jana, Jinger and Joy-less should be in charge of Jenny, Jordyn or Josie period!

Even so, looking at that list with the ages the minor Duggars are now, the team thing is pretty outdated and should be disbanded all together. Jer and Jed are 15, Jason is 14 as of today (HBD JASON!!!), James is nearly a teen, Justin is 11.5, Jackson is almost 10. The Howler Monkeys have grown up for the most part. There's still four young girls who like to climb on furniture (GOOD) but this is the easiest the Duggar family has ever had it. I don't know what their cut off age is for "younger kids" vs. "older kids" but even if it's now legal adulthood there are currently NINE adults living in that house and 12 minors. If we put "older kids" at 15+ that's 13 to 8.

And Michelle is still complaining about how much harder it will be to lose ONE of her grown ass woman daughter slaves? Give me a fucking break lady!

[Mama Mia]

I don't know. For me, older kids were always a lot more taxing, in many ways, than little ones. Sure with younger kids there's a lot more actual physical work, but the older ones have school work, and talk all the time, and puberty brings hormones, and teens can be a huge emotional drain. Of course these kids are incredibly sheltered, so they probably don't get in the same types of trouble. It must be really hard if 20 year old Jinger is expected to handle the mood swings of her adolescent siblings!

But I agree that at least there physical work load, and need to provide care and supervision 24/7 has greatly decreased.

[Georgiana]

I also think there is something to be said about a large age gap and having "authority" over a child since they were a baby. Both of which are more likely to set up the relationship as parent/child or authority/subordinate more naturally.

Joy does not have a super large age gap with what would be her "buddies", plus they already HAVE a relationship with Joy as a sister rather than a sister-mom. Suddenly they are supposed to go from seeing her as an equal to seeing her as their authority?

Yeah, I don't think that's going to go over well.

[karen77]

THis is from WTF celeb....thought it was funny:

"The stars of 19 Kids and Counting make between $25,000 and $40,000 per episode.

While their riches might not go as far as a Real Housewife, the money their show brings in certainly helps them keep their always-growing brood healthy and happy.

After seven seasons and more than 150 shows, there’s plenty of cash to send all their kids to college with enough left over to get Mama Duggar a much-needed flat iron"

If only they knew that college is NOT happening and neither is a flat-iron :lol:

[Vivi_music]

I was about to just post that list myself, so thanks! The one I found still listed Jordyn as incubating and obviously no Josie as she was still a twinkle in DumbBoob's eye (...ew). I guess the updated one would look something like this:

Team 1: Jill, Joy-Anna, James and Jennifer

Team 2: Jana, Jason, Jackson and Josie

Team 3: Jessa, Jeremiah, Justin and Jordyn

Team 4: Jinger, Jedidiah and Johannah

Noted something about the buddy teams: only the older girls are assigned buddies. None of the older boys (JD, Joe and Josiah). Of course, considering all their ideas on gender roles, I'm not at all surprised. It still pisses me off though. As always, it seems like the girls are doing all the works when it comes to their siblings.

[FJismyheadship]

It used to be the oldest boys had buddies. In the original special, Josh was shown helping his buddy.

[LilyRose]

It used to be the oldest boys had buddies. In the original special, Josh was shown helping his buddy.

Yes I remember Josh stepping n to comfort Jackson/Justin, can't remember which one, when they weren't allowed to go on a trip to the grocery store.

Also Michelle has mentioned that the older boys do help within their buddy groups by entertaining, or distracting the younger ones when necessary.

However I think that the role of older boys and older girl buddies will be very different. I can't see the older boy buddies ever being expected to help dress, or do hair for example of a younger buddy. I think that the older boys might help out a bit from time to time, but all the actual parenting will fall to a female buddy, while the boys help in some fun, token way of playing with a younger one while the girls do the actual work of ensuring the little ones are fed and clothed etc.

It seems that the boys role in buddy teams seems to be more "normal" big brother type stuff, whereas the girls are surrogate parents iyswim.

[FJismyheadship]

I was sure Josh was helping his buddy comb his hair...

Anyway, heres a pic DuggarTumblr did for Jason's 14th birthday.

I feel kinda bad cause he is in his awkward phase, but he cant be NOT in the spotlight. One of those pictures is really good, but its sad that he can't say "I have pimples and braces, I don't want my picture on the internet." Now, he could very well WANT his picture taken and plastered all over the internet.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is its sad that a Duggar child can't decide they don't want to be on camera, whether its for courtship reasons, or because puberty is hitting, or whatever.

[Vivi_music]

I don't remember the older boys being part of the buddy system in the earlier shows. My bad.

But yes, I'm pretty sure they are at least helping with their younger sibling. I even recall seeing Josiah with one of the little girls in a baby carrier from time to time. It still feels like the girls are the primary caregivers though and clearly not the older boys. Not that I wish the boys to be enslaved too, but I wish the girls could have the same ''normal'' sister-role.

And I hope Jason had a nice birthday. It's true, these kids never chose to be on television. But I guess for the younger ones, they don't really remember a life without cameras around. I wonder if the older kids are nostalgic of that time though?