Season 6 of 19 Kids and Counting. God help us all!

[thoughtful]

I have been wondering about too. I wonder if Steve would ask for his face to blurred out. I can see making a request like that because he knows some of hardcore fans might not like him hanging out with people like the Duggars.

He was fine being seen with them in 2009 -- put this on his site:

www.titus2.com/blog/index.php/2009/09/1 ... as-report/

Scroll down for lots of pics, and Jordyn's name misspelled.

[VVV]

The next few episode descriptions are up. I guess we are getting closer to the bottom. Is it me or have we already seen these episode plots before??

Warning..looks like 2 Smuggar filled episodes and kittens...motion sickness, Bransons, a visit from a large family! So Orginal!

1. Josh and Anna have added a new member to their family... Domino, the kitten! But caring for a new kitten becomes challenging when also caring for a baby and toddler. Plus, Anna has a big suprise for Josh as little Michael is about to take is first steps!

2.The Duggars are up to their knees in kittens! Michelle must teach the little ones how to feed, burp, and clean up after their newest additions. Meanwhile, John David is renovating a big project while also thinking about the future.

3. First Duggar Grandson Michael is turning one and Jim Bob and Michelle are pulling out the stops! Plus, Anna decides to make a 3-tiered high-concept cake for her birthday boy, but will it be too difficult for her to pull off in time for the party?

4. The Duggars put their family's history of motion sickness to the test when they head to Branson, MO to ride roller coasters! But first, their friends the Vanderhoffs are coming over for dinner. And later, see how Jill celebrates her 21st birthday!

5. Stay tuned for the nonstop fun and excitement as the Duggars watch grass grow. Will the little ones get as overexcited as they did in the popular episode, Watching Paint Dry?

[patsymae]

Maybe they can do Breaking Duggars. Jana, John-David, Josiah, Jinger and Grandma happily disregard being shunned for life and take off to New York City. There they have a variety of new experiences, such as buying and eating fresh produce, socializing with people their own age, exploring a real science museum and using the public library.

[Patsy]

The Duggars just throw the clothes down a laundry shoot. It is all jumbled up and put in one giant closet. It seems that a few kids are interchangable. Im sure a Jboy could were a polo shirt of a borther 18 months older or younger, the same with Duggar girls, switching off tops and the younger ones even dresses. I really think if the Duggars each had thier own dresser and laundry bag, the laundry would not be an issue. Michelle certainly should be able to handle doing Jenny, Jordyn and Josie laundry (how many of us do 3 kids laundry?) but the rest could have an assigned time to take thier bag down, wash and fold and put away.

She goes to her parents for their help, and they respond by forcing her to give up her most cherished item. A non-necessity like a jewelry box had to have been rare in a home where parents refused to buy a child a desperately wanted pink blanket that she didn't absolutely NEED (see "The Pink Blanket Miracle", which is also written about it in their first book). (I still have a small glass trinket box given to me at Christmas 22 years ago; we had very little money for such things, and in our home, things rarely survived if they were breakable, so I have an idea of how she must have treasured that jewelry box.)

Quoting for truth. The way some of the fundies we watch treat personal possessions just drives me up the wall. Your kids have the RIGHT to have their own space and certain personal items that are THEIRS, that they have the ability to maintain and preserve as they like. Interfering with that or not allowing it in the first place is abusive, quite frankly. Having your own little treasures is NOT a privilege, it is so, so important psychologically. If these kids are supposed to grow up to be stewards of the earth, shouldn't they get a little practice in caring for their own stuff, at least?

[mebeforee]

Okay, this is vaguely off topic, but I have been reading through Michelle Duggar's parentables (it's slow going because everything she talks about is so boring), but I stumbled across this bit that totally infuriated me.

I also keep a list of questions and how the kids respond on my cell phone. I go down those lists of questions with each of my children periodically and just keep that on my phone so that I can keep in mind their spiritual gifts and how their strengths and weaknesses are different.

I've tweaked the questions a little bit over the years, but it's what I currently use any time I'm purposely aiming for one-on-one time with my kids. I just start going down and asking those questions again.

Can we just talk about how her understanding of her children can be BOILED DOWN TO AN INTERNET MEME?! What the fuck is this about. This was from May of this year. No one can be this stupid... not just to keep track of her kids' internal lives in a survey she KEEPS ON HER PHONE, but to then admit that online!?

[Justme]

He was fine being seen with them in 2009 -- put this on his site:

http://www.titus2.com/blog/index.php/20 ... as-report/

Scroll down for lots of pics, and Jordyn's name misspelled.

Of course Stevie doesn't mind! They are pimping Chore Packs and MOTH! Ebil tteevvee is OK when pimping Maxwell "products"! :whistle: :naughty:

[luckystone]

Okay, this is vaguely off topic, but I have been reading through Michelle Duggar's parentables (it's slow going because everything she talks about is so boring), but I stumbled across this bit that totally infuriated me.

Can we just talk about how her understanding of her children can be BOILED DOWN TO AN INTERNET MEME?! What the fuck is this about. This was from May of this year. No one can be this stupid... not just to keep track of her kids' internal lives in a survey she KEEPS ON HER PHONE, but to then admit that online!?

Asking a list of questions isn't a conversation, it's an interrogation! Yikes. That is WEIRD.

[MrsYoungie]

Just a couple of things: Jinger was the only girl to go hunting. That's was why she was the only one in full camo. The rest just had shirts and caps. Don't know if any other boys went.

Also, I wonder how long Jessa had Jana's jewel box before she broke it. I can't think of too many 4 year olds who could handle a treasure like that for long without damaging it. For Jana, that would have been the shit frosting on the turd cake of that memory.

[MamaJunebug]

Correct me if I'm wrong (Duggars /=/ my strong suit) but isn't Jana the one who was sent to re-education camp a couple of times?

And isn't she the one who the parents kept with them at the book table during some signings?

Giving some of us reason to believe that they feared she would bolt?

If so, it's pretty clear after all this why they would fear that.

Jim Bob and Michelle are not baby boomers but they are two of the most entitled-sounding people I"ve ever read about. We want to have unlmiited children, we want to raise them in this way, we want to organize our finances thusly -- and we do. Running over anyone who stands in the way of what we want? Yep, we do that, too. Whether it's our children, JimBob's parents, away we go.

Michelle's folks are beyond lucky to be a few states away and apparently financially independent.

Do the girls ever look at Grandma sleeping in the laundry room and put two and two together that "Grandma has minimal education, Grandpa couldn't provide and neither could she, and now she's living in her son's laundry room and that ain't right!!!!"????? I doubt it, but I hope for it.

[DarkAnts]

Correct me if I'm wrong (Duggars /=/ my strong suit) but isn't Jana the one who was sent to re-education camp a couple of times?

And isn't she the one who the parents kept with them at the book table during some signings?

Giving some of us reason to believe that they feared she would bolt?

If so, it's pretty clear after all this why they would fear that.

Jim Bob and Michelle are not baby boomers but they are two of the most entitled-sounding people I"ve ever read about. We want to have unlmiited children, we want to raise them in this way, we want to organize our finances thusly -- and we do. Running over anyone who stands in the way of what we want? Yep, we do that, too. Whether it's our children, JimBob's parents, away we go.

Michelle's folks are beyond lucky to be a few states away and apparently financially independent.

Do the girls ever look at Grandma sleeping in the laundry room and put two and two together that "Grandma has minimal education, Grandpa couldn't provide and neither could she, and now she's living in her son's laundry room and that ain't right!!!!"????? I doubt it, but I hope for it.

Grandma could provide for herself. She just chooses to let be the laundry slave.

[thoughtful]

Asking a list of questions isn't a conversation, it's an interrogation! Yikes. That is WEIRD.

Time to post this again (yes, my caption is an exact quote from Michelle):

[valsa]

Grandma could provide for herself. She just chooses to let be the laundry slave.

I've always wondered about that. I've heard that Grandma Duggar owned property but that it was eventually signed over to Jimboob. I wonder if she voluntarily signed it over or if that was something involving Grandpa Duggar's will (which I doubt, seeing as Grandpa Duggar didn't seem to enamored with how his son was living)

Either way, it does seem like she chose to live with JB & Michelle and be their laundry slave, rather than choosing to do her own thing in retirement.

[Queen Of Hearts]

I've always wondered if Grandma Duggar doesn't know what the rest of us have speculated on for many years now - that Michelle is emotionally unstable and unable to care for her family.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I think Grandma stays as she is worried about the kids. She probably doesnt trust Michelle and JimBob to look after the children, and thinks things would be way worse if she left. She knows that if she wasnt the laundry slave, the kids would be spending all their day doing it because they have lazy neglectful parents, and she wants them to have as much of a childhood as possible. Personally, I think she could have both her own life and the cmplete safety of her grandchildren if she reported them for neglect, but I dont know how many parents could actually go through with reporting their own child for being a bad parent.

[Witsec7]

So Grandma is tied to the laundry room day in and out, naturally it makes sense to take her to a laundry mart to do more clothes :roll:

[socalrules]

I've always wondered if Grandma Duggar doesn't know what the rest of us have speculated on for many years now - that Michelle is emotionally unstable and unable to care for her family.

I have wondered the same thing. Didn't Michelle have a breakdown when she had something like seven kids under seven. I think that is when Grandma and a neighbor started helping with the laundry. I do believe Grandma knows Michelle is unstable and lives there because of it. Grandparents tend to be protective of their grandchildren. For some reason, I can see Michelle as someone who would just go on rants for the slightest thing. I never believed that Grandma was forced to live with in the TTH and not allowed to do as she pleases. I am sure she has her own money and I do not believe she is foolish enough to turn everything over to Jim Bob. Grandma is probably the only person the kids have who loves them unconditionally and doesn't expect anything from them. All the kids seem closer to Grandma than they are to Michelle and seem to enjoy her company. They almost speak with pride when they talk about Grandma but they are just kind of matter-of-fact when discussing Michelle.

I don't think that reporting Jim Bob and Michelle to the authorities will do any good. Realistically, we may disagree with their method of parenting but I don't think that child protective services can or will do anything. The kids are fed, Arkansas has a fucked up homeschooling policy and they seem to do the minimum that is required and the kids are fairly well taken care of. CPS is more concerned with sexual or real potentially deadly neglect. As much as I hate the way they raise their children, I don't think it rises to the level of CPS needing to be involved. Besides, I would not wish foster care on any of them.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I also think Josh's biggest problem comes from expectations not meeting reality.

Childhood Lesson 1: When you grow up you can be a lawyer.

Adult Reality Check: You didn't receive an education as a child so you can't go to uni. You are stuck working for Daddy at the carlot indefinately.

Childhood Lesson 2: Adult men are the rulers of the home. They make all the decisions and everyone follows them happily.

Adult Reality Check: You are still under Daddy's authority in your private life, your tv life, your "work" life at Daddy's carlot, your "political" life as organised by Daddy, etc. There is no visible point in the future where this will end.

Childhood Lesson 3: Children are blessings from the Lord.

Adult Reality Check: Children might be wonderful but they are also hard work and expensive.

Sad really.

Lesson 1/Reality Check: Arkansas has Community Colleges. They take you even if you are fully illiterate, teach you and help you grow to grow into University classes. REALITY CHECK--Joshie is too lazy to do this at least till the show is over. Although any of these kids enrolling in real college classes would BOOST ratings!

Lesson 2: A MAN can say to Daddy "I'm done." REALITY: Joshie won't find it in himself to do this.

Lesson 3: Joshie appears to be manning up in this department and might even be headed for the actual use of reliable birth control once the show is done. He REMEMBERS sharing a bathroom with 15 other people and doesn't want to do that again. Ditto sharing the food. There's a reason he eats and eats now--he was HUNGRY all thru adolescence!

All this said Josh seems to be enjoying a second chance at being a teenager and I don't think that's too awful. He spent his teens building the house and riding herd on little brothers. He DOES seem to love his wife and kids and, let's face it, he does employ people to see cars so he can be lazy at least till the show ends! I do wish he'd lose some weight though. He's way too young to look that bad.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

One of this week's episodes:

" Meanwhile, John David is renovating a big project while also thinking about the future."

So we see & presumably hear from John David. Last week it was 'Siah.

[mebeforee]

"Thinking about the future". That coupled with the comment about him buying a house, I'm betting he's courting someone. I weirdly hope it's Erin Bates, they both seemed interested in each other in a very shy way.

[Jinderella]

Giving away your jewellerybox to your sister to make her stop teasing sounds to me like giving away your lunchmoney to the school-bully's to make them stop coming after you.

I guess with so many children and so little parental supervision, there must have been some bullying going on. Could Jana feel the jewellerybox-incident was the start of a childhood full off being tormented? Without anyone to come to her aid?

[Visionoyahweh]

Time to post this again (yes, my caption is an exact quote from Michelle):

So good it deserves reposting. You could pair a wide variety of Michelle quotes up to images of torture and come out a winner.

[Closed Womb]

Grandma could provide for herself. She just chooses to let be the laundry slave.

Does anyone think that Grandma has been convinced that she needs to be under JB's protection now that Grandpa is gone (and under his [JB's] protection even when Grandpa was here, inasmuch as he had lost his mental faculties before he passed)?

Considering the way they treat women, it seems like JB would think she needs male protection, and that would be him rather than Deanna's husband. I could see him convincing his mom of the same, or at least her going along with it.

[Libby Liberal]

From reading the Duggars books, my impression of Grandma Duggar was that she started off as a SAHM, but when Grandpa wasn't making enough to keep the family afloat she got her real estate license and was very successful. I think she helped JB and Michelle buy their first house.

Jana and the jewelry box would have coincided with the time period Michele had a breakdown and the piano teacher had to start helping with the laundry. During that same time period, Grandma would come in and clean up or make food. I'm pretty sure it was written as Grandma came in between her own real estate appointments.

Honestly, even if she enslaved in the laundry room, it can only be a positive that Grandma's in the house. She shows the girls its possible to raise children, have a career, and be Christian. It has to show them the Duggar was isn't the only way.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I've always wondered if Grandma Duggar doesn't know what the rest of us have speculated on for many years now - that Michelle is emotionally unstable and unable to care for her family.

This and she likes money. I've always felt she couldn't stand Michelle and vis-versa. Ditto Michelle and Anna.

Now whether Grandma will stay in the house after the show is another matter. Personally I hope she moves out and goes back to wearing pants and selling real estate!!

And, I agree with the other poster--Yeah, let's take grandma to the laundry mat to do MORE freaking laundry. Right. Yep. That's the way to "honor" your parent Jim-Bob.

I hope John marries Michaela/Michal/Michela And the house may just be that giant repo Jim-Bob bought....something tells me he'll either sell it at a great profit (after all he doesn't have to pay wages) or it's for Joshie boy and John will get one of the "rent" houses.

[hapamama]

I'm sure that Grandma Duggar could move in with Deanna and Amy at any point if she wanted to. I think she stays because she's worried for the kids.