Seewalds 26: Marketing her cute growing (?) family

[Four is Enough]

2 hours ago, cascarones said:

I find it hard to comment on their relative intelligence. These are women who were raising children as children themselves, the education available to them is questionable and their demeanor/ chance for further exploration is controlled by their headship. 

There's intelligence and there's education. It's pretty clear to me that Jessa is able to determine what to do and how to do it much more readily than some of the other siblings, despite her education or lack thereof.

I will say that it remains to be seen if more of the siblings will display this kind of intelligence once they get out from under JB's thumb. Could be that more of them are playing possum.

[Carm_88]

I think that Jessa is intelligent and she also is savvy. It's hard to tell through all of the preaching and God talk but I believe there's intelligence there. Although, I'm of the school that everyone is smart in their own way*. So maybe I'm just looking for the best. 

*I'm really struggling to find it in Derick right now but I'm sure there's something...somewhere...buried way down deep. 

[AprilQuilt]

@Four is Enough @Carm_88 I'm always cheered to see your two avatars together!

[SapphireSlytherin]

2 minutes ago, AprilQuilt said:

@Four is Enough @Carm_88 I'm always cheered to see your two avatars together!

Me too - It always gives me a chuckle.

[KelseyAnn]

On 10/20/2017 at 4:46 PM, Fascinated said:

We have hardwood floors and they have to be vacuumed every damned day. Don’t get dark wood.

Is there no escape from the dreaded vaccuming? 

[CrazyMumma]

I'm so happy for all of your perfect women who always had it together.. had babies that slept through the night as babies... My firstborn didn't sleep through until just before she turned 3.  Second born is 24 months... still not sleeping through.   

I was a sister mum during my teens to my younger siblings.  I had kids in my bed every night for years.  I was exhausted.  Left home at 19 to try and preserve some of my energy for my future family.  Went to uni overloaded on subjects.. crashed horrendously.  I'm 5 yrs into parenting and I'm exhausted.  The bins don't always get emptied on time.  Most of the time I leave the kitchen a mess so I can get some precious sleep. 

Yes.. I should have been able to figure this all out before.  My family don't give a damn (for the most part).  

I don't judge Jessa's mess.  Pretty sure she's had years on and off of broken sleep too.  Sharing a bed with a child during your formative years is damaging.  I hope my body will eventually recover from the broken sleep of my siblings and of my kids.

[KelseyAnn]

On 10/21/2017 at 1:41 PM, ViolaSebastian said:

I have been tired enough that I would have slept on the puke sheets. That is all. 

There have been some nights Ginger (my cat) has thrown up in the bed and I just switch sides. But then again I have a queen sized bed and the danger of rolling over into it is minimal. 

[llg1234]

Hmmm...the man in the video mentions that Jesus wasn't white or black, but a Middle Eastern Jewish man. Most Christians (especially the Midwestern and Southern ones) get very upset when you point that out to them.

[Carm_88]

@llg1234 I'm pretty sure Derick would get very upset about that. 

[Eatingintheprayercloset]

I think the Duggars surprisingly accept that Jesus was a Middle Eastern Jewish man because Jana was using Middle Eastern men to model her drawing of some Christmas piece she drew awhile back. 

[Rachel333]

I don't think it would bother any of them to hear someone point out that Jesus was Jewish; they're very aware of that fact. Because Jesus was Jewish a lot of fundies are really pro-Jewish, but in a weird, offensive, culturally appropriative way. I know several fundie families (who the Duggars know as well) who have gotten pretty into the whole faux-Jewish thing.

[calimojo]

4 hours ago, CrazyMumma said:

I'm so happy for all of your perfect women who always had it together.. had babies that slept through the night as babies... My firstborn didn't sleep through until just before she turned 3.  Second born is 24 months... still not sleeping through.   

I was a sister mum during my teens to my younger siblings.  I had kids in my bed every night for years.  I was exhausted.  Left home at 19 to try and preserve some of my energy for my future family.  Went to uni overloaded on subjects.. crashed horrendously.  I'm 5 yrs into parenting and I'm exhausted.  The bins don't always get emptied on time.  Most of the time I leave the kitchen a mess so I can get some precious sleep. 

Yes.. I should have been able to figure this all out before.  My family don't give a damn (for the most part).  

I don't judge Jessa's mess.  Pretty sure she's had years on and off of broken sleep too.  Sharing a bed with a child during your formative years is damaging.  I hope my body will eventually recover from the broken sleep of my siblings and of my kids.

You know, in truth probably many of us have times when our homes are a wreck.  I think the issue here is, however,  why is there a need to post this kind  of thing on SM?  My house has had many days when it was in sad shape.  I am not, by nature a great housekeeper.  I can cook, but I hate to clean and my laundry is always in a state of chaos.  I am exceedingly organized in other ways, but house stuff bores me to tears. I don't much care about decorating, and my needs in my home are that it be safe and warm in the winter, cool in the summer and dry in the rain.  It just isn't my domain.

But, I also don't go onto SM and show off the dirty underbelly of my home.  Jessa could have gotten her point across without including all of those pictures.  Just a couple of them, including the cute one with toys strewn over the floor would have been enough.

I think the reason why people reacted negatively is that it is easy to understand messiness with 2 kiddos underfoot, but when it tips into unhygienic that is where people are grossed out.  So she needed a new diaper pale? Ok,  that happens, but in the meantime you come up with plan B which should be anything other than stacking on a dresser for hours or days at a time. 

Messy?  I get it.  Been there, pretty much everyday.  DIrty?  Yes I get that too, but it is nothing to be exalted.  And, no,  I would never willingly sleep on or near spit up or vomit.  That area of her bed was not just a small little spot.  That was a big area which was either a full out puking episode, or was occurred over several days.  At the very least, I would get up, pull off the sheets, and throw a blanket or sheet over top and return to bed.  My motivation would have been the smell.  I can't stand the smell of baby spit up, especially as it has sat for awhile. 

If Jessa wants to show her 'realness', which is certainly her choice, then she needs to not be defensive when it draws comments from others.  Sometimes her sassiness is funny and I like that she is not meek.  But, at the same time, I have never had patience for someone who seeks attention and then complains about getting attention different from what they were expecting.   

Jessa is pretty smart though, and she will learn to share just the right amount of 'realness' to be accessible to her followers but not so much that she feels vulnerable.    It is a balancing act and too far in one direction can have a backlash.  Remember how refreshing everyone felt Jennifer Lawrence was because she was so 'real'?  But then after one too many fart stories, it got old really quick.  She took it too far, shared more than needed and had backlash.   

 

[SassyPants]

4 hours ago, KelseyAnn said:

Is there no escape from the dreaded vaccuming? 

We had dark bamboo and just had it sanded and it's now a warm honey tone- so much easier to maintain that the darker stuff. I was going out of my mind!

[calimojo]

My escape is just not to look at it.  I am remarkably able to see what I want to see when it comes to my house.  But, I don't care as much as many.  I like my kitchen clean, as I am kind of obsessive about food safety, but outside of that I have learned to just acknowledge to myself that I am not and never will be a great housekeeper.  I kept blaming it on my kids and being busy.  But now that my youngest is in college and we have the house to ourselves about 70% of the time, it is still messy.  So,  there it is.   And, I am mostly ok with that.  But you won't see me posting it on instagram humble bragging that I am being real and putting my priorities on something more important. 

[Jinder Roles]

I don't think the Duggars are the "Santa Claus was white!", only marry in your race, Christians. 

I peg them as more of the "Race shouldn't matter we are all one in Christ", believes in small government, MLK fixed racism, assimilate to our WASPY Christianity , pro-Israeli bloc, America is the best country, loves capitalism, subtly Eurocentric Christians. 

[singsingsing]

1 hour ago, llg1234 said:

Hmmm...the man in the video mentions that Jesus wasn't white or black, but a Middle Eastern Jewish man. Most Christians (especially the Midwestern and Southern ones) get very upset when you point that out to them.

Just want to take this opportunity to remind folks that most Christians are not white evangelical Southerners or Midwesterners (or even Americans for that matter). So most Christians actually don't get upset when you point that out. It's just that (very unfortunately) the label 'Christian' has come to be associated in the minds of many with white American evangelicals.

[marmalade]

On 10/20/2017 at 7:36 AM, shock928 said:

I didn't realize bin had a job outside the home. I'm behind on that- I guess I assumed he was too at home full time! But I agree then if they have agreed she would care for the kids and home- theb her main responsibility would be the kids and cleanliness. Especially sanitary hazards. If things got behind though they could all clean for an hour or two and involve the kids on a weekend though? 

Given that Ben works for JB, he has carte blanche to pretty much to take whatever time off is needed for anything, be it cleaning before guests show up, filming, doctor's appointments, scheduled exams for online school, etc. I don't buy that he's doing a full load of classes studying maybe 3 hours a night, including class lectures that I suppose he can watch at his convenience. They also seem to travel a lot, which isn't really conducive to study, especially with two small children. 

I think there are lots of holes in Jessa's narrative that would make her seem less "one of us" if we knew the truth. I don't think she's lying, just omitting. I think Ben's around a lot more than she lets on. 

[Percy]

16 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

Well, I certainly hope I didn't come across that way in my post. I said TWICE in that paragraph that I was lucky - and I knew it.

What I left out? I got a GOOD baby, but a truly shitty/awful/horrid tween/teen. It was touch-and-go there for a while, whether one or both of us would survive those years.

You did not come across that way in you post.  

I was with my mothers group though, Until daughter number 2 showed me I was just lucky with number one.

I had to eat humble pie with mothers group after her.

[HurricaneBells]

Jessa and Ben are both good about being Captain Fucking Obvious though! When Spurgy was a bub and they said we have this great thing for families to do and its a walk around the block haha. I dont give a shit how she lives but why, why, WHY in this day and age would you post that nappy shot ASKING to be judged on it by fans and critics alike? Thats the world we live in even z list celebs. I agree with the op who said she is intellegent and so that decision to include that pic is... surprising. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

5 hours ago, marmalade said:

Given that Ben works for JB, he has carte blanche to pretty much to take whatever time off is needed for anything,

We actually do NOT know whether Ben works for JB.

[Carm_88]

We do know that Spurgeon is learning the alphabet!

[nst]

and we know Ben is teaching Spurge how to read the alphabet.  

Spurge is what almost 2 - is he brilliant because this to me is shocking?

[nvmbr02]

5 minutes ago, nst said:

and we know Ben is teaching Spurge how to read the alphabet.  

Spurge is what almost 2 - is he brilliant because this to me is shocking?

I don't think it is abnormal for a kid to be learning the alphabet at that age. There is such a wide range of "normal". I had one kids that was learning the alphabet (and speaking in sentences) at that age and another that was almost non verbal (he had a major language explosion right before we had him tested for learning/speech/hearing difficulties). Both are above average students now but not genius level or anything.

[brusselsgriffon]

What a smart kid! I hope he'll be allowed to read books other than the Bible someday. #freespurgeon 

[kacarlton]

We do know that Spurgeon is learning the alphabet!

OMG. “Yay! All done.” [emoji7] That kid is adorable!