How Curious Do You Think the Married Girls Are?

[eh02]

You never saw bare mattresses on the bunks in the boys' room? You need to go back and review some of the older episodes. I can clearly remember JB going in to wake the boys and all these little ones are sleeping on bare mattresses..the boys did have a throw blanket covering their bodies. IIRC, it was speculated that it was because the boys were bedwetters and this made the laundry load lighter. Plus what about putting the little ones in pack-n-plays until they were what, about 3? Those things are supposed to be used for babies who cannot yet stand- at least the one we used last Christmas was labeled as such.

I think I remember seeing Josh's kids on a bare mattress. Maybe I'm remembering wrong? Or maybe everyone in that family sleeps on a bare mattress :roll:

And how would them being bedwetters explain it, anyway? When kids wet the bed, you want SHEETS ON, with a heavy duty waterproof mattress pad. Otherwise you would have a mattress permanently soaked in pee - uhg. I do not understand how or why you would not put sheets on your kids' beds.

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

Could you please elaborate on "jinger's diary" event? I had not heard anything about that. Thanks! :)

From what I understand, it was talked about in one of the books. I haven't read any of their books so I cant varify that claim; but when it was mentioned on here a month or so ago, others said that's where they read it. Anyways, they had a friend come over (I'm not sure if it was a friend like someone they trusted or a friend like another ATI family who stopped in to fellowship), and shortly after it was discovered that Jinger's diary was missing. Later it showed up on eBay (from what I've read on here). I think she got it back.

[SassyPants]

I think I remember seeing Josh's kids on a bare mattress. Maybe I'm remembering wrong? Or maybe everyone in that family sleeps on a bare mattress :roll:

And how would them being bedwetters explain it, anyway? When kids wet the bed, you want SHEETS ON, with a heavy duty waterproof mattress pad. Otherwise you would have a mattress permanently soaked in pee - uhg. I do not understand how or why you would not put sheets on your kids' beds.

Yes, normal people would want sheets on. These are the Duggars we are talking about. When the series first started, they had 13 or 14 kids in a 1 bath home and had to rotate shower days. The things that make most of us cringe, do not seem to bother them in the least. I think when you live in what is basically a classroom environment, you have to build a big, old bridge about many things that the rest of us are judicious about. For them to talk about perfection, well maybe in Fundieland they are perfection personified, but not ITRW.

Let's not forget, they also buy USED mattresses. JC, Goodwill and Salvation Army will not even take those, at least not in my area.

[CorruptionInc.]

Yes, normal people would want sheets on. These are the Duggars we are talking about. When the series first started, they had 13 or 14 kids in a 1 bath home and had to rotate shower days. The things that make most of us cringe, do not seem to bother them in the least. I think when you live in what is basically a classroom environment, you have to build a big, old bridge about many things that the rest of us are judicious about. For them to talk about perfection, well maybe in Fundieland they are perfection personified, but not ITRW.

Let's not forget, they also buy USED mattresses. JC, Goodwill and Salvation Army will not even take those, at least not in my area.

Here in Australia we are to on sell used mattresses or give them to charity shops...

If you want to get rid of them, tips and councils wont take them - you need to call a special company to take them away.

[Nic]

This sounds weird, but there is really no incentive for Jessa etc to have mind opened up. Why would she want to discover after 22 years, "crap most of what I believe in is batshit crazy? WOW my parents are crazy whacky too! Everyone of my siblings... and the little ones are getting indoctrinated like I did..."etc etc. It's just much easier for her to view life through her crazy lens. She appears happy so why would she want to change. I see her really only opening her mind if she were to become unhappy, but to her, she's got her Prince Charming sending her love letters and all the Razorback games she wants to watch.

[Mama Mia]

I think we need to remember that we are only speculating about the boys bed wetting being a reason for no sheets on the bed. Which really makes less than 0 sense, even as speculation. Seriously, what makes the most sense is that the crew comes to film at specific times, they restate the kids being asleep as some scene set-up, and it happens to be when the sheets are being laundered. Or they were on those bottom futon mattresses, and they may not use a sheet on those, because the cover itself is washable.

[MatthewDuggar]

I seriously think they just don't use sheets. They have blankets, but I've never seem sheets on the bed in the boy's bedroom. They have never once mentioned bedding and/or towels as part of the non-stop laundry. Maybe they have to "drip dry"? :mrgreen:

[VelociRapture]

The way I look at it is the longer they have access to social media the more exposed to other views they are likely to be. Even if they don't branch out to previously forbidden websites or anything, they'll still be exposed (to a certain extent) to different views on their own social media pages. Even if all they do is read through and delete anything they don't like, they are still being exposed to people who think differently than they do.

[CorruptionInc.]

The way I look at it is the longer they have access to social media the more exposed to other views they are likely to be. Even if they don't branch out to previously forbidden websites or anything, they'll still be exposed (to a certain extent) to different views on their own social media pages. Even if all they do is read through and delete anything they don't like, they are still being exposed to people who think differently than they do.

Even so, it's not likely to rapidly change their belief system. They'd probably just go to more rallies to try and defend their ideas.

[Mama Mia]

The way I look at it is the longer they have access to social media the more exposed to other views they are likely to be. Even if they don't branch out to previously forbidden websites or anything, they'll still be exposed (to a certain extent) to different views on their own social media pages. Even if all they do is read through and delete anything they don't like, they are still being exposed to people who think differently than they do.

I think the reading through the negative comments they get are likely to make them cling much more tightly to their beliefs about the outside world. Some are just fine - normal disagreement or questions. But many are overtly hostile and rude and a few are incredibly disgustingly violent. If that's their view of " liberals" ( meaning anyone who is outside their particular bubble ) -- they might be even MORE over-protective and adamant about sheltering their kids from society.

Just look how paranoid and helicopterish even " normal" parents have become since the Internet and 24 hour news made people aware of every single bad thing that could happen anywhere.

Now pretend you were kept sheltered from 90% of those news stories. AND suddenly had access to them. AND had been aware of creepy guys who really, really liked you since you hit puberty.AND you had drummed into your head that the outside world was filled with evil people who wanted to lure you into activities that would send you to hell. AND had social media commenters talk about how they wanted to kidnap you hold you as a sex slave. I'd be freaking terrified. Jessa, especially, I could see becoming incredibly entrenched in protecting her kids from ...well...everything.

[MatthewDuggar]

I think the reading through the negative comments they get are likely to make them cling much more tightly to their beliefs about the outside world. Some are just fine - normal disagreement or questions. But many are overtly hostile and rude and a few are incredibly disgustingly violent. If that's their view of " liberals" ( meaning anyone who is outside their particular bubble ) -- they might be even MORE over-protective and adamant about sheltering their kids from society.

My thoughts exactly. The majority of the non-fan comments on their social media probably qualifies for them everything they have been taught about the evil secular mainstream population. Even something as simple as "Jessa come over and we can go jeans shopping and then have apple-tinis while watching the Real Housewives", probably makes her want to run and hide.

I think the only way any of these kids will change their beliefs is if they ever are allowed to go to a normal college and be immersed in a completely non-Duggar environment.

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

My thoughts exactly. The majority of the non-fan comments on their social media probably qualifies for them everything they have been taught about the evil secular mainstream population. Even something as simple as "Jessa come over and we can go jeans shopping and then have apple-tinis while watching the Real Housewives", probably makes her want to run and hide.

I think the only way any of these kids will change their beliefs is if they ever are allowed to go to a normal college and be immersed in a completely non-Duggar environment.

I really doubt college is the "only way." There are many ways they can be gently introduced to more liberal views and open their minds. Mom groups, new churches, going to the gym, etc.

[SassyPants]

I really doubt college is the "only way." There are many ways they can be gently introduced to more liberal views and open their minds. Mom groups, new churches, going to the gym, etc.

Marrying into the Dillard family-

[Freefundies]

I was shocked to read that Jill has a TV in her home and that is mostly because of Derick. I can see them watching a ton of religious programming and maybe the news every now and again. The longer Derick is married to Jill the more the koolaid will sink into him and the tv will eventually go. As for Jill being curious over the internet she will never go onto a site such as this to see what people really think of her way of life. If she stumbled upon this site she would simply think it was the devil and you don't read the devil. She will stick with mommy type sites and never veer away from the person you see on TV now.

I do agree with a poster above about Jessa. I think she has probably used the internet password and iphone waybefore marriage to see how her family was received by the public and probably continues to do so and it will help push her to the rightwing edge. She has shown some childlike rebellion in some of her public responses on prolife issues. We will all know if she is actively watching TV because she will really start talking about those passionate issues she can not control. Ben will be pushed in this way as well as Jessa is the one rowing the boat right now.

I can't see JB still viewing Jana, JD or Jinger's iphones at this point (even if they aren't married). I wonder now that Joseph is away at college if he has the convenant technology on his phone and views what he is doing in TN.

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

I was shocked to read that Jill has a TV in her home and that is mostly because of Derick. I can see them watching a ton of religious programming and maybe the news every now and again. The longer Derick is married to Jill the more the koolaid will sink into him and the tv will eventually go. As for Jill being curious over the internet she will never go onto a site such as this to see what people really think of her way of life. If she stumbled upon this site she would simply think it was the devil and you don't read the devil. She will stick with mommy type sites and never veer away from the person you see on TV now.

I do agree with a poster above about Jessa. I think she has probably used the internet password and iphone waybefore marriage to see how her family was received by the public and probably continues to do so and it will help push her to the rightwing edge. She has shown some childlike rebellion in some of her public responses on prolife issues. We will all know if she is actively watching TV because she will really start talking about those passionate issues she can not control. Ben will be pushed in this way as well as Jessa is the one rowing the boat right now.

I can't see JB still viewing Jana, JD or Jinger's iphones at this point (even if they aren't married). I wonder now that Joseph is away at college if he has the convenant technology on his phone and views what he is doing in TN.

I don't think it's that odd, Josh and Anna had a big flat screen TV after Kynzie was born.

[morri]

i thi k if they saw something by chance they may look it up more closely, but even just by the way jill had her kid in the sling it shows me that they may not be top keen on proper research. i hope so but all the ati activities i doubt ir.

[eh02]

I don't think their TVs are going anywhere. Jill loves the Dillards. I've yet to see a single time she has seemed even silently, subtly disapproving of them - that includes college, Cathy's pants, when they saw a Broadway show etc. I really think they are the PERFECT family for Jill to marry into. They are still super devout but much more down to earth and rational, so she can experience new things without it looking scary and Godless.

Jill might be slower to change than the others, but I do not think she is going to be a Michelle 2.0. Cathy seems to love her to death and it must be very hard, but very eye opening, to have a "new mom" be more open and genuine than your own mother.

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

I don't think their TVs are going anywhere. Jill loves the Dillards. I've yet to see a single time she has seemed even silently, subtly disapproving of them - that includes college, Cathy's pants, when they saw a Broadway show etc. I really think they are the PERFECT family for Jill to marry into. They are still super devout but much more down to earth and rational, so she can experience new things without it looking scary and Godless.

Jill might be slower to change than the others, but I do not think she is going to be a Michelle 2.0. Cathy seems to love her to death and it must be very hard, but very eye opening, to have a "new mom" be more open and genuine than your own mother.

I agree. Plus, watching Cathy with her sons must make Jill at least wonder what it would be like to not be overrun with children. Like that whole birthday gift scene where she gives Derick the passage from her diary that his dad wrote, Jill and her siblings (with the possible exception of Josh) probably will never experience something so profoundly sentimental because their parents were probably too busy making babies and creating an army for God to think of doing anything like that.

I'm not saying I expect Jill will have any less than 5 kids, but I don't think she will have kids just to have them.

[eh02]

I agree. Plus, watching Cathy with her sons must make Jill at least wonder what it would be like to not be overrun with children. Like that whole birthday gift scene where she gives Derick the passage from her diary that his dad wrote, Jill and her siblings (with the possible exception of Josh) probably will never experience something so profoundly sentimental because their parents were probably too busy making babies and creating an army for God to think of doing anything like that.

I'm not saying I expect Jill will have any less than 5 kids, but I don't think she will have kids just to have them.

Yep, I agree. I think Jill has been SO brainwashed into believing that her mom is the perfect mother. She really seemed to believe it, 100%. And now that she is seeing how other families are...it must really be difficult to realize what she actually missed out on. She was told her mother was perfect, selfless, "mother of the year" material her whole life, all while poor teenaged Jill was raising baby after baby that her mom kept churning out but couldn't care for on her own. And Jill bought every word that came out of her mom and dad's mouths. I am really glad that Jill got out of the house, because I think she is one of the kids her parents have used and abused the most. They do not deserve Jill's help anymore. They never deserved it in the first place.

I hope Cathy and Jill stay close. I think that'd be really good for her. And I teared up during the birthday scene, like other people here. It was so touching and I agree that I think with time Jill might really realize what she is sacrificing on the quality of her family life when she is so focused on quantity. I don't think it'll happen overnight, and I still think she'll have what most people consider a large family just because she clearly loves kids so much, but I will be surprised if she goes into the double digits. Or if any of the Duggar kids go into the double digits, honestly.

[LogansMama]

I don't think their TVs are going anywhere. Jill loves the Dillards. I've yet to see a single time she has seemed even silently, subtly disapproving of them - that includes college, Cathy's pants, when they saw a Broadway show etc. I really think they are the PERFECT family for Jill to marry into. They are still super devout but much more down to earth and rational, so she can experience new things without it looking scary and Godless.

Jill might be slower to change than the others, but I do not think she is going to be a Michelle 2.0. Cathy seems to love her to death and it must be very hard, but very eye opening, to have a "new mom" be more open and genuine than your own mother.

I agree with this to an extent. But I also think that Jill is having a huge influence on Derick...he seems so much fundier than when he was first introduced on the show. I had high hopes for them, but I see D as turning more fundie than Jill turning mainstream. (Does that make any sense?)

[Luisainlondon1]

I agree with this to an extent. But I also think that Jill is having a huge influence on Derick...he seems so much fundier than when he was first introduced on the show. I had high hopes for them, but I see D as turning more fundie than Jill turning mainstream. (Does that make any sense?)

I totally agree with you. I also had high hope for Derick. He is bright, he has a college degree, he doesn't have a fundie background and he has seen a bit of the world. Wasn't he the kind of guy we would wish for all of the J'slaves? But look how he has changed. He enjoys drinking the kool aid. I can't see how he's slowly introducing Jill to the mainstream. It's Jill's who's turning him into a fundie.

[LogansMama]

I totally agree with you. I also had high hope for Derick. He is bright, he has a college degree, he doesn't have a fundie background and he has seen a bit of the world. Wasn't he the kind of guy we would wish for all of the J'slaves? But look how he has changed. He enjoys drinking the kool aid. I can't see how he's slowly introducing Jill to the mainstream. It's Jill's who's turning him into a fundie.

This. You said it much better than I did. You can see it even in the TH he does..."season of life" blah blah blah

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

I agree with this to an extent. But I also think that Jill is having a huge influence on Derick...he seems so much fundier than when he was first introduced on the show. I had high hopes for them, but I see D as turning more fundie than Jill turning mainstream. (Does that make any sense?)

Honestly, I don't think we really got a good picture of Derick as a person in the early episodes. I think that he had to be that level of fundie to get JB's approval. But being fundie doesn't necessarily mean being part of the cult. Every religion has its own brand of fundies, he could just take her into a different, less abusive fundie circle.

I have fundie friends who belong to the Southern Baptist Church (which I believe Derick and Jill's church is). They're pretty hardcore and the man needs to be the main breadwinner and stuff; but the women are allowed more freedoms in their appearances and behaviors, and (at least in their circle) are allowed to have jobs of any kind, so long as the man's not made to feel insecure (aka she makes less and/or not as many hours). They're also allowed more freedoms in who they can associate with, what they're allowed to watch, etc. ATI, from what I understand, is very focused on the notion of not letting people be tempted away from the church, so they're not even supposed to have friends outside their faith, let alone enjoy any media not produced by members of their faith. And, while they're clearly against BC, they're not in support of quiverful ideas like making sure to have as many as you can by having sex as often as you can in the fertile period. In fact, a couple of them openly admit to using NFP because they feel that it's admitting you're not ready, but still allowing God to make the final decision (since you can still ovulate when you're not expecting to, or sperm might survive longer than you expected).

I think that brand of SBC fundie would be good for Jill (or any of the Duggar kids). I don't see many (maybe any) of them being the kind to embrace a lifestyle that isn't authoritarian, but I think most of them would be happy with a less restrictive, not so much "damning you to hell at every turn" fundie lifestyle.

[lookinggoodforjesus]

None of them are mature enough to handle what they might read here. Jessa is still like an immature teenager who gets angry every time her beliefs are questioned. Listening to criticism, thinking about it from the other person's view, an potentially applying it takes a lot of maturity. The Duggars just don't have it. They would be furious and defensive if they read these things. It would say to me that their faith isn't truly "a rock". They themselves have never been allowed to challenge their faith; how could they handle someone else challenging it?

[ClaraOswin]

I seriously think they just don't use sheets. They have blankets, but I've never seem sheets on the bed in the boy's bedroom. They have never once mentioned bedding and/or towels as part of the non-stop laundry. Maybe they have to "drip dry"? :mrgreen:

I was watching one of the old specials and Jessa(?) says something about doing 7 loads of laundry a day, 9 if there's bedding. I hope that isn't including ALL bedding in one day. Because that would be way more than 2 extra loads. With that many family members, I imagine you'd have to be doing 2 loads of bedding every single day to keep up.

I do think there are people who doesn't use sheets or mattress pads. It's gross to me.