Which kid will be the worst off in the end?

[gemma]

Whichever kids are gay are going to have a hard time.

[morri]

[gilora]

The one who concerns me most is Jana. I'm afraid that if she stays "on the shelf" much longer she'll wind up raising the rest of her siblings then taking care of Jim Bob and Michelle. At least Grandma had her own life before becoming the laundry slave.

[LittleOleMe]

The one who concerns me most is Jana. I'm afraid that if she stays "on the shelf" much longer she'll wind up raising the rest of her siblings then taking care of Jim Bob and Michelle. At least Grandma had her own life before becoming the laundry slave.

I'm concerned that the fundie men will not want her bc she won't be able to provide as many children bc she is older. How else are those men going to prove they have tons and tons of sex if they only have six or seven kids?? :roll:

[Freefundies]

I think the last few little kids are the ones to worry about for several reasons. First off all the older ones really got the full attention of the parents and then at young ages began to have to parent their sib buddies as well. Now many of the older ones are leaving the nest so younger buddies need to find an example somewhere but who is truly left. They will have Jana, Jinger and Joyanna for a bit but those days will come to an end in the next few years. Your next up group with be Jedidiah and Jerimiah considering that Josiah will probably be married by end of 2015, Joseph off to college and JD has an actual job (and I really don't believe that he lives there all the time, JMO). As Josie was the true problem child due to birth issues, Jordyn , Jennifer, Johannah and even Jackson youngest years were thrown to the side as Josie required a lot of parental attention. As more buddies began leaving the nest how lost will these youngest really be.

[Kantrarian]

Joy, Jinger, John David Johannah, and Jackson.

[Kantrarian]

I think the last few little kids are the ones to worry about for several reasons. First off all the older ones really got the full attention of the parents and then at young ages began to have to parent their sib buddies as well. Now many of the older ones are leaving the nest so younger buddies need to find an example somewhere but who is truly left. They will have Jana, Jinger and Joyanna for a bit but those days will come to an end in the next few years. Your next up group with be Jedidiah and Jerimiah considering that Josiah will probably be married by end of 2015, Joseph off to college and JD has an actual job (and I really don't believe that he lives there all the time, JMO). As Josie was the true problem child due to birth issues, Jordyn , Jennifer, Johannah and even Jackson youngest years were thrown to the side as Josie required a lot of parental attention. As more buddies began leaving the nest how lost will these youngest really be.

The little ones need an older one to rebel and they are golden.

[Nic]

I have a hope that all the four younger girls break free from the cult. Oh God what an insane family. JD gets a plane but he cat get his dad to fund his studies at a police academy. Instead he works in cinstruction. Jill has a hobby of helping midwives but doesnt even graduate after 3.5 years. Thats just ridicoulous.

Jill's just a slacker who was spending time waiting to find a man.

As for JD, I have a theory why JB wouldn't pay for police academy: there aren't many FT cop positions in Tontitown and the salary on their website appears to be $9/hr to start. I can't see JB forking over tuition when JD can make that amount in other jobs. And I don't think JB would want JD at this point to be tied down and not at JBs beckoning. I'm guessing JD is 2nd in command of Ben and Josiah.

Why go to all the time and expense when JD can basically walk into the job as an elected official. It's not a FT gig, and it is a stepping stone to other elected jobs which I think JD is more interested in. Remember he ran for alderman and lost. Evidently he ran unopposed to get the constable office and got re-elected. So who knows if JD is that passionate about law enforcement. I think he's into local government.

[somewhereinbetween]

This question was often brought up way back in the day on yuku, and it's worth copying and pasting this response from there:

My heart just breaks for each one of those kids.

I'm sad for Josh, married off as quickly as possible to the first thing with a vagina who would have him, because he wasn't permitted to date. (Granted, I feel sorrier for Anna, married to JOSH at age 20 and already having a baby. And for Mackynzie, whose name is ridiculous and whose grandparents don't give a !#*% about her.) I'm sad that his life is now as it will always be, except probably with more babies.

I'm sad for Jana, who's been raising her mother's kids ever since Michelle had too many boys for her liking. She's amazing with those kids - she understands them. And she is, in every way that matters, Jackson's mother.

I'm sad for John David, to be humble and hardworking in a family that values neither of those things. It's sad that the best I can hope for him is that he marries quickly so his father can stop treating him like crap.

I'm sad for Jill, who hasn't been given anything resembling life skills. I'm sad that she's taken the "keep sweet" motto so to heart that no matter what she ends up married to, she'll be quiet and take it. I'm sad that such a kindhearted, genuine girl isn't ever going to be able to do anything for the world because she'll be sequestered at home with her husband and a million kids.

I'm sad for Jessa, and worried for her, that such a breathtakingly beautiful, vivacious girl, the closest thing to a typical teenager in that house, is going to get married to the suitor with the highest dowry. I hope to god she stays sassy and never learns to keep sweet.

I'm sad for Jinger, because there's no place for a snarky, sarcastic teenager in a family where the girls are encouraged to be seen and not heard. I'm also sad for her because her parents named her Jinger. I mean, seriously.

I'm sad for Joseph, because he so clearly wants NO PART of this reality tv garbage, but he's still pushed in front of the cameras to complete the family portraits (as though anyone would notice he wasn't there without a head count.)

I'm sad for Josiah, [sNIP]. It's just depressing, because I'm getting an idea of how little these people truly care about their children.

I'm sad for Joy-Anna, because her childhood is literally ending before our eyes. Now that Josie's here, she's being culled from the middle of the pack of boys to step up and take on adult responsibilities. I'm sad that she's being trained to read and manage Josie's monitors because I fear she's going to be the tiny little thing's primary caregiver as soon as Michelle gets tired of it.

I'm sad for Jedidiah, because quiet, sensitive dreamers are just kind of %#$*@@ in that household. And I'm sad that he got his fear of heights from being raised by his acrophobic sister instead of his mother.

I'm sad for Jeremiah, because not only did he get %#$*@@ over by getting a rhyming name with his twin brother, they got the same middle name. Their own parents can't tell you anything about either boy as a separate entity. They're just "the dynamic duo." Which leads us into...

I'm sad for Jason, the "third musketeer." Another one lumped into the pile of unwanted boys. I can't get more specific than that, because I don't know anything about him either. But that's acceptable for me - I watch them half an hour a week. His PARENTS should be able to come up with something.

I'm sad for James, who begged to be allowed to raise Jennifer when she was born. When that's the only way you can get positive attention in your family, that just ain't right. I'm just glad JimBob didn't say "What are you, a faggot?" because I was waiting for it.

I'm sad for Justin, the other forgotten Duggar. He's seven and has already attempted to take on Jordyn's "buddydom" from Jessa. Keep trying, kid, but they'll never notice you. That's the downside of being born with a penis to the most insecure-in-his-manhood man ever to exist.

I'm sad for Jackson, the one they couldn't even remember to retrieve from an airport toilet. I'm sad for a little boy who ran sobbing back to his family and went right to his sister - his REAL mother - while his real parents just hung in the background and LAUGHED at him for getting so upset.

I'm sad for Johannah, maybe saddest of all for her. I've watched this amazing little person grow from a blob on an ultrasound into a real person with opinions, ideas and a wicked sense of humor. She's the rebel of the family, and so intelligent it kills me to see her live as a Duggar. At four she started teaching herself to read because, hell, nobody else was going to do it. She's the only one with the nerve to say "no" to anyone - I think we all knew she was going to be awesome when she crapped on JimBob's lap during one of the portrait sessions. And it breaks my heart that she's a Duggar, because someday she's going to be another baby factory.

I'm sad for Jennifer, who's so sensitive to change and craves stability and routine. I'm sad that her father tries to bully her into fitting the mold, and sadder still that when her father does something stupid that upsets her, she screams for Jill while he laughs at her crying. I'm sad that her birth mother talks to her like you would talk to a toddler, while she's three, and gives Michelle some awesome "+$!!$, who ARE you??" looks before running back to her real mother.

I'm sad for Jordyn, the happiest freaking baby I've ever seen. It breaks my heart to see her toddle after and reach for her mother, only to be brushed aside time and time again. It makes me sad that we only ever see her getting attention from Justin (who really should NOT be carrying a baby on the stairs at his age/size), who's equally starved for some appreciation. I don't want to watch Jordyn turn into Joy-Anna the second, going from a happy, energetic baby into a sullen, bitter girl.

And, of course, I'm sad for Josie. Josie, who's six months old and six pounds. Josie who can't eat but through a tube, Josie whose stomach and intestines are apparently just free-floating in her abdomen because the ligaments needed to hold them in place don't exist. Josie, who needs four enemas a day. Josie, whose mother wraps horrible tight headbands around her, tubes and all, while she screeches in pain, Josie whose father lifts her like a towel that needs shaking out without supporting her head, Josie whose parents insist she'll be perfectly fine once she gains some weight. Josie, whose parents dangle her in front of cameras while she moves her head trying to avoid the bright lights. Josie, whose father's idea of providing minimal stimulation for a micropreemie includes leaning on the car horn to announce her arrival, which her siblings celebrate with noisemakers. Josie, whose little brothers wipe their noses on their hands and then touch her. Josie, who looks for all the world like a tiny corpse. Josie, who's spent all but three days in the NICU because she's so sick and because her home is not a safe environment for such a fragile baby. Josie, whose own parents barely glance at her while Jana and Jill treat her like their own child (and have the sense to shield her eyes from the bright lights and hold her silently in quiet corners). Josie, who needs full-time care from her PARENTS, who is never going to get it, because her parents are self-absorbed assholes who can't or won't put their children ahead of their wants and desires, and pin all of it on Jesus.

So, yeah. I can't watch this. I can't watch what they're doing to these kids. I can't. I care so much about the kids - including Anna and Mackynzie. Yes, even Josh. But it's no fun playing point-and-laugh-at-the-freak-parents, because they've crossed the line from being people I wouldn't want to know but generally okay, to assholes, to truly terrible people. There's not a damn thing I can do about it, so...I'm just not going to watch it any more.

[ORIGINALLY POSTED at the now defunct blog: piperrhiannon.livejournal.com. Reposted by yuku user aerynoctober]

[HereticHick]

I feel the most for Josie, because I feel that she is being held back both physically & cognitively, by her parents, ON TOP OF having physical and learning delays.

She should be getting physical therapy, and perhaps speech therapy as well. She should be getting special education.

Instead she gets shoved in a stroller, handfed like a toddler--and her educational environment is, what? A crappy fundy Christian workbook and a barely-high-school educated "teacher" to grade her "homework"

[Ralar]

I worry about the youngest girls, especially Jennifer. She rarely seems happy, and may already be suffering from (clinical) depression.

I also worry about Jackson. His educational progress is far below grade-level, even by fundy standards. He can't seem to focus at all. And now, he has his new brother-in-law BinBoob to look up to. Jackson seems to admire Bin a great deal (he smells good, he's handsome, Bin's a great guy, etc), but Bin is really just an immature, unemployed, teenage father-to-be. Poor Jackson is more a "lost girl" than a "howler" but he'll be expected to become a headship and support a family. What are the chances that when Jackson, the youngest boy, marries JimBoob will have a house and job for him?