Duggars by the Dozen 30 - On a Mission from GOD!

[KelseyAnn]

Why the hell can't each of these kids have their own goddamn birthday party!? As someone who has had to share a birthday all her life, the concept gets really old really fast. Especially when one sister/cousin gets more attention than you. The Duggars love to say that they make time for all the children but they obviously do not if they can't even make sure everyone gets their own birthdays. 

[saywhat7]

I think they look fine. I have kids and they don't always look perfect. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.  If they looked all dolled up they would be accused of only caring about what the girls look like. If they don't get all dressed up they are accused of not taking care of their children's hygiene.  If they posed perfectly for every picture I would say they are even more stepford then they already appear.  I will end with I feel bad for these kids. I do not believe they get the attention they deserve. 

[MamaJunebug]

17 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

LOL - well THIS Southern girl (and all my friends) were.  Maybe it's regional? MidSouth here.

Edit:  The way they're standing was always referred to as standing (or walking) like a plow jockey.

South-adjacent here— I recall some random charm school advice about placing the left  heel at a right angle to the right arch (or vice versa).  It was supposed to give a graceful line and some stability. 

[Four is Enough]

3 hours ago, cascarones said:

sometimes clothes don't perfectly fit kids (hand me downs, growth spurts).  

There's snark, but there's also realizing they're kids and of the age where they're likely in charge of most of their own hygiene and personal care, which can definitely be a journey. 

Not to belabor this, but I guess I'm just thinking that because of the communal closet, none of those children actually have clothing that fits THEM, purchased for THEM. To me, they nearly always look as if the clothing is too big, because, I suppose, you can only wear something too tight if you are pregnant and want to show off that aspect of yourself.

I feel bad for them.. because you know when you look good... 

[Greendoor]

Two small additions:

We were never allowed, nor was my son to "leave this like you were dragged through a hedge backwards".

Jana did a good job - everyone but Laura was readied by her.

 

[lumpentheologie]

As someone with naturally curly hair, I just want to say that I wish we as a culture would move away from thinking hair should look 'combed' to be presentable.

My hair will never look combed.  Ever. My mother did actually comb it when I was a kid and it looked like giant sea of frizz.  It looks much better without being combed.  But it never looks neat, or 'put together' -- another phrase that I hate. 

This idea also perpetuates the assumption that white women with a certain kind of straight hair are the standard of cleanliness and respectability. 

The kids look perfectly fine to me. 

[albireo]

@lumpentheologie From another curly: hear, hear! My approach to my own hair is a bit closer to replacing "combed" with "untangled" or "defrizzed," though that's certainly way more difficult than just combing straight hair! I also remember the childhood sea of frizz/floof 

Also, I agree on the last two points. Very important point about respectability, and the kids look fine, if dressed in a very Duggary fashion.

(Please note I'm white and have 3a hair, so I don't claim to face the same pressures and social disapproval that POC, especially Black people, can face when wearing their hair in its natural state. Just making a point about the Duggars, especially because Josie looks to have some curl to her hair)

[Carm_88]

My hair is wavy and even if I straighten it, when I think about water; it starts to wave. Then add in wind and any moisture, beause who can get away from it, and I look like I never met a brush. 

[calimojo]

I would hope that Johanna, and Jenny, at least are more than able to do most of their own grooming.  And in no way is this a Jana thing.  Well, I mean Michelle may have made it a Jana thing, but there have been a number of times when the little girls look like ragamuffins and it has been commented on many many times.  They perhaps look better this time, if still sloppy looking, but I will own that is my own bias.  As soon as I see those bunched up leggings under their dresses, I get a bit ragey.  For one thing,  they are at a somewhat nice restaurant, so if the girls are wearing dresses, I daresay they should be more than able to be "Duggar modest' in their dresses without need of those darned leggings.  Of course we don't know what they did later so maybe they went to a  rock climbing place like they did with Poor Joy at around the same age.  But otherwise, I think these girls are all old enough to ditch the leggings if they are just eating out with family and friends. 

And, again,  if you are dense enough to claim that Dresses are more modest, but you have to add in leggings to protect them from showing off their underwear with normal little kid activity, then your whole argument that dresses are more modest is pretty much shot in the foot.  Let kids dress appropriate to the situation.  Running around and playing in the back yard?  Shorts, jeans, yoga pants, etc.  Don't make kids wear a skirt when doing things where skirts would reveal too much, or get in the way.  It looks stupid  and  it probably is hot in July in Arkansas.  And why or why insist on a cami or t-shirt under a dress just to prevent clavicles.  What kind of sick mindset feels that this is somehow sexual and immodest for an 8 year old?  Oh, I know, it is the same sick mindset that let a teenaged boy with unnatural sexual interests continue to live in close proximity with his victims for a long time and likely blamed the victims for his behavior because of jesus

[nausicaa]

6 hours ago, JMO said:

I have to admit that the only things that stood out to me were that Hannie and Jennie have a ton of healing bug bites on their legs. And Mac has changed so much. I also noticed that Josie's shoes are a little too big. Other than that they look happy and perfectly dressed for a lunch out at a semi casual restaurant.  

Yeah, I got to this thread late and so read the comments before looking at the pics, and was ready to pearl clutch over their dirtiness, but they look fine even to my snobby eye? Like their hair is even styled, it's just not hairspray prom perfect. Their clothes seem fine (aside from the kinda silly modesty rules in the heat) and they all seem clean. I'd say their shoes are kinda ugly, but they look comfy and supportive, and sometimes kids gravitate towards goofy looking stuff because they're kids. 

As you said, the restaurant is casual, and at the end of the summer my legs are kinda chewed up too. It means I've been swimming and hiking and spending lots of time outside, and I hope it's the same for these girls. 

If y'all want to see kids looking like bedraggled little ragamuffins, go check out the Rodrigues threads. They look worse at formal events than these kids do at a Chili's. 

[Bad Wolf]

Mac ? was wearing flip flops. The others had more supportive sandals. Sorry can't tell the little girls apart any more.

[divadivine]

Josie actually looks like someone combed her hair and doesn’t look like she just rolled out of bed. 

Mackynzie (I’m not sure if this is the correct spelling of her name) has grown up so much. She’s changed a bit, more maybe it’s the hat on her head? 

The other girls are growing up, too. I can’t believe Hannie has grown up so much. 

[JillsFlowerHeadband]

1 hour ago, calimojo said:

I would hope that Johanna, and Jenny, at least are more than able to do most of their own grooming. 

I was actually going to say this, Hannie is 12 and Jennie is 10 so I would hope they can brush their own hair and dress themselves (especially Hannie since she’s getting to the age where she will be soon going through puberty and will have all the associated hygiene concerns to deal with when she does). 

My hair is very thick but the individual hairs themselves are fine  in texture and so it knots horribly if it so much as brushes against anything else, so I’ll add to the chorus of “messy hair woes”.

Again, the thing that irks me the greatest is the completely impersonal mass birthday party because to me it says, “you aren’t anything but a number”.  poor kids. 

[lumpentheologie]

1 hour ago, calimojo said:

As soon as I see those bunched up leggings under their dresses, I get a bit ragey.  For one thing,  they are at a somewhat nice restaurant, so if the girls are wearing dresses, I daresay they should be more than able to be "Duggar modest' in their dresses without need of those darned leggings.  Of course we don't know what they did later so maybe they went to a  rock climbing place like they did with Poor Joy at around the same age.  But otherwise, I think these girls are all old enough to ditch the leggings if they are just eating out with family and friends. 

You seem to have very strong feelings about the leggings, and I'm not sure why you find them so objectionable. I routinely wear leggings with casual skirts because I like them (not for modesty reasons) and I think them sticking out under the skirt is part of the look. I thought they looked fine on the girls and was actually hoping that this might allow them some more mobility instead of having to always sit with their legs crossed, etc. I agree that forcing kids to layer for modesty when it's hot out is a bad idea (just let them wear shorts), but beyond that I'm not seeing what the problem is. 

[VelociRapture]

I don’t know whether this was actually a party or not. From what I remember, the Duggars usually do parties at the house, right? And then they do birthday lunches with the parents as well, right? 

If the two birthday girls wanted to share the birthday lunch then I don’t think that’s a problem. If they weren’t given a choice, that is a problem. Each kid deserves at least one day a year where they feel special and they get to celebrate how they want to. 

 

[JordynDarby5]

Didn't Mackynize share a birthday party with Josie? I remember something with Josie and Jordyn from the show.  Maybe I'm mixing up the girls but I thought she usually had her birthday party with Josie. I can't believe how much Mackynize, Hannie, Jenny have grown. I know its been awhile since I last watched the show. Hannie's already 12? Jenny's already 10? Time flies.

[llg1234]

2 hours ago, JordynDarby5 said:

Didn't Mackynize share a birthday party with Josie? I remember something with Josie and Jordyn from the show.  Maybe I'm mixing up the girls but I thought she usually had her birthday party with Josie. I can't believe how much Mackynize, Hannie, Jenny have grown. I know its been awhile since I last watched the show. Hannie's already 12? Jenny's already 10? Time flies.

Josie (b. Dec 10) and Jordyn (b. Dec 18) might have shared a party? Idk about her and Mackynzie though, their birthdays are somewhat far apart. Could it have been Jordyn instead? Even though it's still a 2 month difference, those two appear to be rather close.

[fluffernutter]

My husband's family is annoyingly celebratory of all birthdays, and there are a lot of them. Combining lunch or dinner out for extended family's birthdays who all fall in that month and then each family celbrating individually happens a lot. And i think the girls look fine. My daughter just went to homecoming last night covered in mosquito bites because we took her pic outside. Their sandals looks like hiking type sandals and my kids (two grown, one teen) all own them for comfort and versatility. This pic is a total non-issue in my ever so humble opinion.

[Bad Wolf]

I remember a scene where 3 girls said, "We are four years old." Josie, Jordyn and Mack, perhaps. For a few days they they were all 4 .

[JordynDarby5]

I found the episode its season 8 of 19 Kids and Counting Duggars Reunited the family is in DC for Thanksgiving they celebrate Mackynize's, Jordyn's and Josie's birthdays and make candy. 

[blackberry]

14 hours ago, calimojo said:

 I daresay they should be more than able to be "Duggar modest' in their dresses without need of those darned leggings. . . What kind of sick mindset feels that [showing clavicles] is somehow sexual and immodest for an 8 year old?  Oh, I know, it is the same sick mindset that let a teenaged boy with unnatural sexual interests continue to live in close proximity with his victims for a long time and likely blamed the victims for his behavior because of jesus

I may be mistaken, but I remember hearing at some point that the leggings were a safeguard against molestation. Not that they might accidentally show their underwear, but that it would be more physically difficult to molest someone who was wearing leggings in addition to a dress.

[SapphireSlytherin]

36 minutes ago, blackberry said:

I may be mistaken, but I remember hearing at some point that the leggings were a safeguard against molestation. Not that they might accidentally show their underwear, but that it would be more physically difficult to molest someone who was wearing leggings in addition to a dress.

Who knows... But according to the DuggarDamageControlTeam, all the "mild, inappropriate" touching was done "over" or "on top of" clothing. So I guess adding another layer would make sense. To them.

[PumaLover]

My kid is super prone to bug bites and then she has to pick at them and scratch them so her legs always look awful. You'd think she had chicken pox if you didn't know better. For some reason the mosquitoes don't seem to go after me.

Back to the whole DNA discussion-that was fascinating!! I think I'm going to try it out. I've always known that I'm mostly Italian but also have Irish and German. But no telling what else there might be in there. Last year, I did the DNA test on my dog and it came back ridiculous. I feel like they looked at the pic I sent of her and then chose some random dog breeds that kind of matched her coloring. It was a waste of $75!

[VelociRapture]

@PumaLoverJust because you mentioned Doggie DNA: 

 We considered doing it for our dog. She’s a mutt originally rescued from North Carolina and we know next to nothing about her other than guesses by shelter staff at what kind of mix she is.

[PumaLover]

[mention=24510]PumaLover[/mention]Just because you mentioned Doggie DNA: 
Omg that made me laugh so hard! That was great.