Seewalds 26: Marketing her cute growing (?) family

[Knight of Ni]

I have a few friends who post pictures of their children that could be potentially embarrassing later on. I would personally never post a picture of my child playing with my tampons or pads because it will embarrass the child when they are older. I would never post a photo of my child watching tv with his hand down his diaper because that would definitely be embarrassing later on. No person wants to get on Facebook and see old tagged photos of them doing those things. 

Maine parents will say that it’s ok and funny to embarrass their children but there’s a big difference between embarrassing and humiliating. Singing in the car with the windows down is embarrassing showing those photos is humiliating.

[ophelia]

4 hours ago, adidas said:

In the 80s/90s (and before that too I guess) if a parent answered you could just hang up. There was no way to tell who was calling!

Please note - I didn't do this. But I would have if I needed to

I probably did this of few times, because I panicked!

[Carm_88]

I've been scanning old pictures lately and sharing some of the ones that I found on Facebook. Although, if anyone was uncomfortable with it, I would take it down right away. That being said, sometimes I do think that some of the parents I'm friends with overshare. I feel bad for the poor kids because those things will still be there when they're older, some of them may think of it as cool; some will want to sink through the floor. I personally am glad that I grew up before the social media age.

[Screamapillar]

I hope I'm able to get this across in an articulate way, and I'm not trying to offend anyone. I have definitely seen a trend on social media from some parents who seem to like to put up pictures of their babies/kids in ways to garner sympathy for themselves. I have a relative who is really bad about this, she'll post a video of her teething baby moaning with a caption like, "Teething sucks. Mama needs coffee!" Or recently her daughter threw up all over her car seat and she posted a picture of the washed out car seat drying on the porch with a caption about how she just spent all morning cleaning yogurt vomit out of a car seat. This kind of thing really rubs me the wrong way because it's like adults are using situations that are really uncomfortable for their kids, ie teething and vomiting, and showing it to the public as if to say, "Look how much annoyance I had to deal with because of my child today!" When my daughter is upset or in pain, I feel a lot worse for her that she's going through that than I do for me that I'm the one taking care of it. I don't know, it bothers me. Kids have rights. I only put pictures of my toddler up in which she's having a good time, not looking sad and miserable.

[nst]

3 hours ago, singsingsing said:

I set a personal rule for myself, if I ever have kids, that I'll only post on Facebook what I'd be comfortable putting on my living room wall. 

 

sounds like a good plan 

 

[SassyPants]

4 hours ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

I couldn't agree more. I do wonder if Jim Bob and Michelle ever think about the situation they've gotten themselves into. They had SO many kids, didn't educate them well, put them on reality tv, and encouraged them to marry young and made birth control taboo. That really sets JB and M up for supporting completely or partially, a LOT of people. I wonder if they are self-aware enough to see that.

Personally, I think if finances really got tough, I could see JB and M telling the adult and married Duggars that it was time to leave and cleave...absolutely could see it. Those still at home would have to go back to the pre-TEVEE days of living. 

I'm still not sure how many of those Duggars will end up with huge families. The pool of available, qualified sitters in the Duggar house has shrunken to almost nonexistent. We have to remember that the true workhorses, aside from Jana, are all gone. I think even Joy will have a harder time as she never really independently carried much of the weight at home. The younger kids were catered to by their sister moms and now Jana. Plus, I'm sure that JB and M are like Disneyland parents to the 4 youngest kids- Those girls will not be of much help to any of their older sisters for a bit of time, and they likely have no interest. Those skills, responsibilities and expectations are foreign to them.

[2manyKidzzz]

I guess we will soon see if both Jessa and Jill at this point continue the flow of blessings and how that will go. 

[closetcagebaby]

3 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

Same here. I asked that our families not share photos or videos of our daughter on social media and I rarely share stuff about her on Facebook where her face is visible. I share more on Instagram, but that’s because the privacy settings are way more straightforward - my account is private, I don’t use hashtags, and only about 30 people I approve of can see what I share. 

Just so you know, for your peace of mind, even if you use hashtags, people who have not been accepted to follow you will not be able to see your posts!

[VelociRapture]

29 minutes ago, closetcagebaby said:

Just so you know, for your peace of mind, even if you use hashtags, people who have not been accepted to follow you will not be able to see your posts!

Lol! Someone else on here told me that recently. I still avoid them just on the off chance that the privacy settings ever change. I figure it’s better for my ridiculous worries to just avoid hashtags completely.  

[snickers34]

21 hours ago, Incognito22 said:

I imagine Joise isn't going to be too happy about the poop episode and Jim Bob holding her by her legs like she was a rabbit with poop dripping out.  The poor kid.  

Or when Spurgy farted on Been. Poor kid.

[meee]

3 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

Lol! Someone else on here told me that recently. I still avoid them just on the off chance that the privacy settings ever change. I figure it’s better for my ridiculous worries to just avoid hashtags completely.  

Yeah, I have never used a hashtag in my life.  I have no idea how they work, and I didn't know until I read here that they had anything to do with privacy, so I don't think I'll ever start using them!

[JesSky03]

My sister decided not to circumcise her son when he was born (which is fine and great! I support her decision 100%) but then she became like this anti-circumcision "advocate" on facebook where she openly talks about how she did not circumcise her son and how if you really care about your son you won't either. It made me uncomfortable because it just felt like something so private about her son to be putting out there for the world to see (plus it was very judgmental of those who do choose to circumcise). Like why would you go around advertising the state of your kid's genitals? She started doing this before I found out we are having a boy but even before we found out I made my husband promise that if anyone asks if we circumcised our son or not to tell them "Unless you are his doctor or are changing his diaper, you do not need to know what my son's penis looks like". 

Strange world we live in with social media these days. I am super glad I at least got to spend the majority of my childhood without it. 

[Four is Enough]

Wow. Singing with the windows down is humiliating? My poor kids. Other things I've done:

Take Photos of Them When They've Been Absolute Brats.. Each of the Four has a two page scrapbook spread of them throwing hissy fits. It started with One, and he'd get madder and madder when I took his picture, but then he'd eventually get himself under control..

I had a layout I was especially fond of, called "Baby Pitch A Fit"... of our foster daughter doing just that. She would point at the pictures and say "Baby Pitch a fit"...

Two hated clothes. He'd run around in his underwear, cold or warm weather. So I have photos of him opening Christmas presents in his underwear.. Years later, he got a bit embarrassed, and we stuck paper clothing cutouts over his bareness..

I realize the scrapbooks are a lot more private than FB; but still people like to see them.

[TheMustardCardigan]

I think a lot of photos that a kid may find embarrassing for a while can become cool, interesting, or funny mementos later! My mom made photo albums a lot when I was younger. I moved recently and the house I'm in now has more storage space than my mom's, so I currently have a room full of stuff we're sorting through. There's a couple bins of photo albums and pictures that would have mortified 9th grade me are now really sweet or remind me of cool things I would've forgotten about. When you're fresh out of your awkward phase you view them differently and care a lot more about how you're dressed in the photo, your weight, your eyebrows, whatever. Later on you just see a cool photo of your vacation with your family and it brings back memories.

Photo albums are, of course, different from social media postings. Social media is a lot less private. And of course, things like the Josie poop debacle would mortify most at any age. But silly videos of your kids singing, dressing up in funny costumes, etc. that might be embarrassing later to a 14 year old will probably turn into something they'll post themselves for a Throwback Thursday when they're out of that life phase where you're just trying to do whatever you can to lay low and fit in.

[The limit does not exist]

One of my Facebook friends, a casual aquaintance, post an article where she was interviewed about her family planning practices. The article was captioned as about her family so I figured I'd read up more about her family since they've moved a lot with the military. Everyone can do whatever they want as far as I'm concerned with family planning but I didn't need vivid details about how you know when to abstain based upon discharge for NFP.

That was a very quick hide from my newsfeed. So much over share...

 

[BecausePrayer]

A friend of mine who is a few years younger than me is always complaining about how her mom goes on FB to complain about her behavior and how she has to deal with it. The mom defended it once by saying that she never posted names and just said "a teenager in my house". The only problem being that she only had one teenager in the house... 

It got even worse when they were visiting my family while on vacation and I saw one of the events in real life. The 16! year old stepped away from the dinner table while we were out to eat to go to the bathroom. The adults were all in the middle of a conversation so she didn't bother telling them. Her mom&dad got super upset with her when she got back and then went on a mini rant on facebook about teenagers not having any responsibility or accountability. Later that same night her dad told her off in front of us and the waiter when she politely interrupted their conversation to ask her dad if she could have a refill (they are very strict about sugary drink intake and she had a soda). That one didn't get a rant but it was kind of hypocritical.

[Glasgowghirl]

The earlier episodes of Jon and Kate plus 8 where Kate kept taking pictures of the kids first poop in the potty grossed me out. I get that it's a proud moment for her but no need to take pictures of it and broadcast it on TV, Jon didn't agree with it either and she went on about how the kids looked proud in the pictures and will be happy to see it when older. Cara and Mady are now 17 I bet they are embarrassed that their mother took pictures of stuff like that. I have read the book written by Janet Walton, mother of the Walton sextuplets, she said they only agreed to the odd documentary because she wanted her girls to have a semi normal life and as they got older they only did it if all six agreed to it. These girls are now in their 30s and have normal lives without the baggage of growing up on TV. I can't wait to see which reality TV kid speaks out next, my money is on Cara or Mady.

[SapphireSlytherin]

Was it this thread/topic where The Little Couple and their kids were mentioned?

Last night I on-demanded an episode (they were in Glasgow and London). It's been a couple of years since I last watched this show - it was right after they got Zoey. Anyway - I was pleased with both kids' progress in language development, but JESUS CHRIST - how about some discipline for those kids? I'm shocked at the things they get away with, including sassing store employees. Is that BEC? Because. No - just no. Don't beg your children* to do something - TELL them, and then make it happen. (I'm referring to Will not giving back a tape measure and to Zoey for lying on the floor under the sink and refusing to get up.)

*And then let it go when they don't do whatever it is...

[Carm_88]

I feel like people are trying to figure out in the social media age, what's the best balance of sharing. I know that even looking back at my facebook memories, I think "Oh damn, did I really post that?" I've just gotten more private as I've gotten older. It's funny though and will be interesting to see how people change. 

[Four is Enough]

I saw the Glasgow episode of Little Couple and was frankly disgusted at what the couple, especially Jen, let the kids get away with. They were in a museum and Zoey ran under the barricade and Will was knocking something over. Jen is shorter and slower, but Bill could have gotten them, and HE LAUGHED.. NOT funny. MY full sized kid wouldn't have gotten away with that, and your child shouldn't have, either.

 

I know they were filming, and that may be why they sort of stood around, but I for one can NOT pay attention to a tour guide when kids are misbehaving.. especially mine.. I would have told them to stop, made them stop, and left the place if they didn't stop, to administer a swat on the butt if needed. The recent episodes of LC with the bad discipline have made me lose respect for the parents.

[zygote373]

But then if they came down hard on the kids, how much criticism would they receive for being too cruel? And for all we know they were told to let the kids run around for a storyline.

This is why I think it's a bad idea to put your kids on a sustained reality show like this. I kind of thought they were done since they always seemed to be more protective than other reality families. I was surprised by the return of the show after such a long hiatus.

I know they were on TV before the kids. But they could have chosen to stop at many places along the way, and they haven't. They may be good people, but this is not a good parenting decision.

[metheglyn]

3 hours ago, Four is Enough said:

I saw the Glasgow episode of Little Couple and was frankly disgusted at what the couple, especially Jen, let the kids get away with. They were in a museum and Zoey ran under the barricade and Will was knocking something over. Jen is shorter and slower, but Bill could have gotten them, and HE LAUGHED.. NOT funny. MY full sized kid wouldn't have gotten away with that, and your child shouldn't have, either.

 

I know they were filming, and that may be why they sort of stood around, but I for one can NOT pay attention to a tour guide when kids are misbehaving.. especially mine.. I would have told them to stop, made them stop, and left the place if they didn't stop, to administer a swat on the butt if needed. The recent episodes of LC with the bad discipline have made me lose respect for the parents.

If you're referring to when they were at the castle, I will note that Jen wasn't there, since she was at her conference. Bill was though, and so were his dad and step-mom, both of whom are of average height.

The tour guide seemed pretty frustrated with them running all over, so someone really needed to stop them. If it involved the average height adults picking them up and carrying them while in a public place, fine. No, Bill can't carry his own kids anymore, but the grandparents could. They're young enough for that to still be appropriate (more or less, I think Will is 7) regardless of whether the kids are little people are not. They really needed to be taken outside if they were that rambunctious, so that they couldn't do any damage to the antiques. That seems like the kind of behavior that would normally see a parent asked to remove their child from a tour if it weren't sponsored/controlled/whatever by the filming company. The kids enjoyed the playground at the castle far more than the castle itself, and maybe should have run off some energy prior to doing a fairly staid castle tour.

[SCROW10]

Back to the Seewalds...Spurge is starting to look more like a toddler and Henry looks like he might have Blonde curls. 

[2manyKidzzz]

Those boys are so very cute!!! Adorable. 

[Carm_88]

They look so much alike. Henry's getting big so fast.