19 Kids and Counting - All Things Duggar Family - Part 5

[anjulibai]

All true, but I think there could end up lot of questions if it gets to the point where there are just too many adults in the house.John David will probably be the first to marry, I think.

[laura oz]

Looking odd never stopped the Arndt's :whistle: I see the situation with the adult Duggar "children" being the same for quite a loooong while, at least as long as they're doing the show & JB can squeeze a nickle out of speaking engagements/personal appearances, and it makes me sad for them. How messed up is it that the only "engagements" of any kind these older kids have is a paid gig the whole dog and pony show family ministry has to participate in? Not one on one engaging with friends or the outside world, and certainly no engaging with the opposite sex unless 49 character traits can be met & Big Daddy gives his approval. Messed up, man.

[singsingsing]

People are already starting to comment on the fact that none of the older Duggar children (other than Josh) have had courtships or gotten married. The longer this goes on, the weirder it's going to look. It think Jim Bob must know that on some level. I wonder if it's more of a 'no one's asking' issue.

[Dandruff]

The Duggars have met so many people/families over the years so there must be a reason why none of the kids (other than Josh) are married or in any courtships that we know of. Hasn't Josh been married for about 5 years already? Isn't Jim Bob looking forward to hundreds of grandchildren? Something just doesn't seem to add up.

[anjulibai]

I agree something isn't right. Given Michelle's fertility and two twin pregnancies each of her daughters is capable of double digit families. The boys are two, if they get a wife young enough and with similar fertility. If they married off their kids at the same age as Josh, they'd easily have 10 or so grandkids by now, and probably about 50 in a decade. At this rate, though, that isn't going to happen.

[tuckerphez]

I'm still convinced that as long as the TLC gravy train still exists, we're looking at the J'slaves becoming Sarah Maxwells.

[Dandruff]

If the older kids started marrying and having children the show ratings would jump.

[tuckerphez]

If the older kids started marrying and having children the show ratings would jump.

Jump up or down? Because yeah, more people would watch courtship/wedding/newborn episodes, but what happens when a married child's headship wants to move across the country or, even worse, not have their family on the show?

Granted, we've seen Josh and Anna move to D.C., which depending on how Boob and Mullet take it, could mean good or bad things for any other J'adults/children that would want to get married and move...

[galaxy]

I have to wonder if the older girls just aren't in any hurry to get married. They've spent their entire lives pretty much raising their younger brothers and sisters, and now that the kids in general are getting older, the girls are finally starting to have not as many responsibilities and are almost getting to do their own things in a sense. (Fundie-approved things like studying to become a midwife, or going on journeys to the heart or whateverthefuck they are. But still -- beats being a sister-buddy-mom at 14). Plus there might be some thinking on the girls' parts of, "the devil you know" and all that. If they get married, it's expected they would move away and start having kids right away, so it seems easier to just stay at home. And I mean, I don't like Jim Boob as much as the next person, but I REALLLLLY doubt he'd force any of his kids into marriage. I'm sure he's thrilled to have them at home.

I do think John David will be the next to get married but even that might take a few more years.

[Rescinded and Mended]

I'm not certain how much truth there is in the whole "Sin in the Camp issue surrounding Josh, or even what really happened, but I am convinced that the very rumor of it was enough to make Josh a liability for the wholesome Duggar 'brand.' Thus, the need to get him married off ASAP to preserve the image.

There was an article awhile back where Jim Bob, during a political debate, chose to have all of his children come out on stage and either sing or play the violin (tried to find source, not sure where article was featured) for three minutes rather than discuss the pros and cons of the issues being addressed. He really thinks that keeping them all together all the time is better for his image than letting them lead lives of their own.

[Coop]

I have to say that having grown up like the Duggars, it's interesting to see who gets married off and who doesn't. There are actually many adult women from my old church who have not gotten married. It seems that the population is split. Some get married super, super young and the other bunch has to wait and practice contentment and patience while God puts them through this "trial." The reason a good number of them have ended up unable to find anyone to court, let alone marry, until they are in their mid-late 30's is that no one is as "pure" (read: weird) as them. If you grow up that different from what's normally accepted in your culture, your pool of partners to choose from is VERY small. Btw, I still maintain at least one of the Duggar kids is gay.

[Mela99]

I'm not certain how much truth there is in the whole "Sin in the Camp issue surrounding Josh, or even what really happened, but I am convinced that the very rumor of it was enough to make Josh a liability for the wholesome Duggar 'brand.' Thus, the need to get him married off ASAP to preserve the image.

There was an article awhile back where Jim Bob, during a political debate, chose to have all of his children come out on stage and either sing or play the violin (tried to find source, not sure where article was featured) for three minutes rather than discuss the pros and cons of the issues being addressed. He really thinks that keeping them all together all the time is better for his image than letting them lead lives of their own.

He thinks that will win him on the only issue he cares about: abortion. Personally, listening to that would make me encourage it.

[Dandruff]

Jump up or down? Because yeah, more people would watch courtship/wedding/newborn episodes, but what happens when a married child's headship wants to move across the country or, even worse, not have their family on the show?

Granted, we've seen Josh and Anna move to D.C., which depending on how Boob and Mullet take it, could mean good or bad things for any other J'adults/children that would want to get married and move...

I believe the ratings would jump up and they could get many more episodes out of it. Who wants to see more dental visits, photo shoots, or contrived day trips? The problem, as I see it, is finding (for the daughters) men who are sufficiently fundie royalty but who are also willing to cooperate, somewhat, with Jim Bob and TLC. I just don't think they can keep relying on Josh & Anna to help distract from the tedium.

[anjulibai]

I believe the ratings would jump up and they could get many more episodes out of it. Who wants to see more dental visits, photo shoots, or contrived day trips? The problem, as I see it, is finding (for the daughters) men who are sufficiently fundie royalty but who are also willing to cooperate, somewhat, with Jim Bob and TLC. I just don't think they can keep relying on Josh & Anna to help distract from the tedium.

What about the Wallers? David seems interested in the show enough, does he have a brother or two that he could convince to amenable? Not that the Wallers are that great, but if there are some like them, there's probably more.

[Patsy]

He thinks that will win him on the only issue he cares about: abortion. Personally, listening to that would make me encourage it.

Actually, he cares about two issues: abortion, and tax cuts/business incentives/weird little tweaks of legislature that just so happen to benefit people in his particular fields. All he ever did as a polly was to whine about abortion and try to get every single perk that would specifically benefit him (landlord, car-seller, etc) through.

[lizziesmom]

All he ever did as a polly was to whine about abortion and try to get every single perk that would specifically benefit him (landlord, car-seller, etc) through.

This just underscores their hypocrisy. Perks are part of the ebil government benefits fundies constantly rail against.

[tuckerphez]

I kind of hope John-David doesn't get married while the show is still on though. He seems to not like being the center of attention and I doubt he would be up for having himself, his wife, and his kids followed around by cameras a la Josh and Anna.

[littlehouse]

Oh man....I have to step back from the Duggars. After reading all of parts 3, 4 and 5 plus watching all of this season that I had PVRd I had a wicked Duggar dream. Apparently DQ and Boob had decided I had to marry John-David, seeing as I am all worldly to show the masses that the Duggars really aren't that bad. Messed up stuff.

[gustava]

While I have no evidence, I'm guessing that John David has definitely committed sin in the camp...or somewhere.

[albanuadh_1]

Off topic but has the size of font changed. It seems much smaller to me.

[Ralar]

If the older kids started marrying and having children the show ratings would jump.

If JB follows his original plan and truly develops a compound (i.e., homes for his adult children and their families) the show would become much more interesting. There could be oodles of kids, a private school, a central laundry, central kitchen and dining hall (eachfamily would also have a "pretty kitchen" that never gers used, gardens, ball fields/courts, etc. It would be like a single-family, fundy kibbutz in Arkansas. Think Hutterite compound, but all Duggars. That would be much more interesting than what we see these days.

[anjulibai]

If JB follows his original plan and truly develops a compound (i.e., homes for his adult children and their families) the show would become much more interesting. There could be oodles of kids, a private school, a central laundry, central kitchen and dining hall (eachfamily would also have a "pretty kitchen" that never gers used, gardens, ball fields/courts, etc. It would be like a single-family, fundy kibbutz in Arkansas. Think Hutterite compound, but all Duggars. That would be much more interesting than what we see these days.

I'm surprised they didn't build something for Josh while he was still in Arkansas. I'm guessing, though, Josh wasn't interested.

I doubt JB's plan will come to fruition, because that would require all of his sons to want to live next door. Josh obviously doesn't, I doubt JD or Josiah will, and who knows about the Howlers at this point, they are too young. The only one I can see doing it is Joseph. The girls will be moving to their husbands' hometowns (assuming they are ever allowed to marry), so no need there.

I agree, it would be a more interesting show, but it would really require a more Maxwellian level of control, which I don't think JB and Michelle have, as much as they do control their children.

[myoung790]

Do the older Duggars have cell phones? I know that Josh does and I assume JD, but how about the girls? I would have to think that if they did they must get online at times. I still think they are very aware the outside world, but play a lot to the TV show. No reason to rock the boat while the show is still on.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Do the older Duggars have cell phones? I know that Josh does and I assume JD, but how about the girls? I would have to think that if they did they must get online at times. I still think they are very aware the outside world, but play a lot to the TV show. No reason to rock the boat while the show is still on.

The girls play on their phones a lot. I seem to recall them saying that they all disable the Internet but that it's not really disabled because they can just turn it back on at any time. They probably have accountability partners. Still, I suspect they go on the Internet.

[FJismyheadship]

They do. They all have iPhones and Jessa and Jinger had Instagram for all of two weeks.