Seewalds 26: Marketing her cute growing (?) family

[calimojo]

In the most recent scenes with Izzy, he seems to have a very sweet nature.  And I thought Jill seemed more engaged with him than we have previously seen on the show. 

I think @VelociRapture made great points in that we are shown what TCL and the brand wants us to see.  Jill and Jessa have had very different circumstances in which to start their families.  Jill and Derick seem very lacking in media savvy where as that seems to come much more naturally to Jessa.  Jessa and the show filter what we see about the Seewald life.  Her kids are adorable, and it isn't obvious that she is a harsh disciplinarian.  And, I like that they are willing to show a few normal toddler tantrums, and challenges with having two very little kids.  That part seems fairly genuine, but again,  it is still how they are choosing to show their family. 

Jill seems to lack the common sense as a parent we would have expected from someone who was around little kids her whole life.  They seemed surprisingly unaware of dangers like electricity, or wrapping an older baby tightly, or supervising climbing on inappropriate items.  They just didn't seem to take as naturally to parenting but Jill, in particular, was clearly living under a great deal of stress.  Real or imagined, she had many fears and insecurities.  Even before they went to CA,  she seemed unable to be alone in that lovely mansion.  I just wonder what having the scandal blow up in their faces just as she becomes a new mom might have done to her?  And we have no idea what that asshat Derick said or did privately in response to that.  He has outed himself as narrow minded and judgmental.  And we have  seen how passive aggressive he is in his tweets.  Imagine living with that day in a day out?  Passive aggressiveness  is very damaging.  People on the receiving end of that can be truly hurt, especially when they are raised to never question male authority, or assert themselves.  Most of us would feel fine telling Derick to go F himself, but Jill likely doesn't even realize she has been burned or insulted until much later, she is just aware of feeling awkward, insufficient, etc. 

I don't excuse the instances of questionable parenting that Jill and Derick have shown.  It does seem as if Izzy is largely unscathed at this point and he seems to have a very sweet personality, and appears to be a loving little boy.  I am very glad that he is back in the US.  Jill appears more relaxed now, and he has built in playmates.  I think the cousins probably have a lot of fun playing to together.  It seems as if Meri, Izzy and Spurgeon get along famously.   I get the feeling that the dead behind the eyes, disconnected season of life for these kids happens around age 7 or so, at least for the last of the duggar brood.  Here's hoping the cousins get to retain their exuberance for life much longer. 

 

13 minutes ago, KelseyAnn said:

Wait, what?! Is Dwreck actually fatshaming his own toddler now? 

No, he wasn't fat shaming him.  It was a fine comment.  All adequately nourished toddlers have a round tummy.  Derick was just making a joke.  He is a wreck but I don't think we have to assume everything he utters is horrible.  I used to say that to my kids all the time.  They would eat a meal and then later when putting on their jammies, and I gently poke and tickle their tummies and say I can see their carrots, I can see their potato, etc. 

[Haley]

1 hour ago, calimojo said:

I get the feeling that the dead behind the eyes, disconnected season of life for these kids happens around age 7 or so, at least for the last of the duggar brood.  Here's hoping the cousins get to retain their exuberance for life much longer.

I think that's the age they "realize" that they're destined for hell and need the cult's version of Jesus to save them. I think having that kind of moment, where you believe that you're destined for something so horrible unless you live your life according to these incredibly strict, sexist and just generally life-limiting rules, could be really traumatizing to a child.

[Analytica49]

I'm convinced that all these postings of cute photos, adorable videos, etc., of the children are part of the propaganda for the Duggar way of life. The message is:

You too can have beautiful, obedient, smart little children!! Just surrender to God the decision about how many children to have, and he will reward you with endless cute tots!!

In fact, I've noticed that, against my will, I'm also being influenced. For example, I don't hate the name "Spurgeon" as much as I used to. And I'm sure it's because "Spurgeon" is associated with a gorgeous little boy with curly hair and a sweet smile.

 

[GotCaughtDancing]

While it is easy to Jessa vs Jill parenting we need to remember that this is the early stages of child rearing for both. While Jessa and Bin seem to have a grasp on it and are having fun with it who knows what 5 years and 4 more babies could bring to them. Same for Jill she may be struggling now but if given the benefit of the doubt maybe she will learn from this and later on become more hands on and relaxed. 

Now while I say that I don't see it changing much for Jill. Her and her super asshole husband are more about judging people and appearing more godly than the next person. Neither of them seem to be enjoying being parents, they just are parents. I do think Jill is better at it than dwerk. This in itself will be interesting to watch play out, because just how loving and caring can one parent be when they ultimately have to defer to their headship for the rules and what goes and her headship  speaks of an sweet little boy as if he wre a coniving cheese bellied leech who needs the sin beat out of him.

[Eatingintheprayercloset]

I honestly think all of the cute photos/videos Jessa posts are just that...cute pictures and videos. People have social media posts that reflect their lives'. Jessa's life revolves around her cute little boys and her husband. Yes, newlywed Jessa's social media was mainly  selfies and fire&brimstone bible verses, but she probably had a lot more time to take pictures and analyze different verses. Maybe Joshley gate made her think twice about posting fiery scripture or maybe her life is too positive to post negative things? I don't know, but I don't feel like the Duggars are cunning or connected enough to use social media as a tool for their brand. These people aren't Kris Jenner, who most likely has every mainstream magazine and gossip site on speed dial. The Duggars are at best a D-list reality show family who maybe 15% of the population cares about, and half of those are self proclaimed snarkers. They only survived a scandal because TLC has nothing else to offer and most people  don't care about them.

[SapphireSlytherin]

51 minutes ago, GotCaughtDancing said:

coniving cheese bellied leech

This made me howl... lol

[BeccaGrim]

@calimojo I am going to respectfully disagree with you on the Grilled Cheese comment.  I think that comment can be really funny and cute but I don't think that's how he said it. It was more like shaming that the shirt didn't fit. IMO.  

[AtlanticTug]

22 hours ago, Eatingintheprayercloset said:

I honestly think all of the cute photos/videos Jessa posts are just that...cute pictures and videos. 

I'll take it a step further and say that Jessa is typical of many Instagram moms - all cutesy photos of kids loving on each other, well dressed, doing cute things, she and Ben taking them for pony rides and this and that. That's like 5% of the kid's day, the rest is sleeping poorly, fighting naps, crapping in diapers, having tantrums, having to be fed, refusing to eat, wanting different food, throwing toys, you endlessly cleaning up their toys, etc, etc. Notice how last season in Counting On she admitted that Spurgeon did not sleep through the night and was a poor sleeper until 16 months (!!), anybody who has had a child like that knows it's pur torture and you feel like shit from exhaustion. Plus she was pregnant and then had a newborn, it was probably just hell. But she isn't going to put that on Instagram.

[SassyPants]

@AtlanticTug- You nailed. The real non-Instagram part of life is the reason most couples only have 1,2,3 kids. Well, and the fact that most families have to work to support themselves.

[cascarones]

On 9/26/2017 at 6:45 PM, AtlanticTug said:

is but in a drop dead gorgeous with piercing blue eyes way

eye modeling put into CDs paid a good chunk of my college education. Mum was always there, for the most part it was quite fun and if I felt self conscious about it just took the long way around the big eye store at the mall. Though to be fair the photos were old and so much makeup was used to reshape my face I doubt anyone would have recognized me either way.  

[SapphireSlytherin]

4 minutes ago, cascarones said:

eye modeling

I had no idea this was a thing. lol

[Carm_88]

Very few people post the messy, boring, bad parts of their day to social media. (Some do in bids for sympathy. Those vaguebookers have a special place in hell, in my opinion.) So what Jessa is doing, isn't out of the ordinary. No one wants to show the world that they can't handle it. You want to put your best foot forward. It would be like getting a family picture for the Christmas cards and picking the one where your kid is picking their nose, or your pet is licking their ass. You're not gonna do it. 

[karen77]

9 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

 It would be like getting a family picture for the Christmas cards and picking the one where your kid is picking their nose, or your pet is licking their ass. You're not gonna do it. 

Although, if I got an Xmas card with this type of picture, I would laugh my ass off and it would be great!

[SapphireSlytherin]

29 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

It would be like getting a family picture for the Christmas cards and picking the one where your kid is picking their nose, or your pet is licking their ass. You're not gonna do it. 

I must have weird friends, because we get cards like these quite often. lol

[season of life]

Spurgeon and Henry are adorable. But I have no doubt they are a handful, like any kid, for Mom and Dad.

[VelociRapture]

1 hour ago, karen77 said:

Although, if I got an Xmas card with this type of picture, I would laugh my ass off and it would be great!

Challenge accepted. 

And I agree with @AtlanticTug. Same goes with any married Bates with kids too - Zach, Erin, Alyssa, Kelly Jo... they or their spouses all do it as well. Same with the other Duggars, the Wallers, and a lot of the other people we follow here.

I'm not even hating on that. I do it too. Difference is, I only have about 30 people I allow to follow me on Instagram and my account is private. I take my baby's internet privacy very seriously.

@Carm_88I definitely posted photos of myself and my baby where I look like a hot mess or like I was barely holding it together. There wouldn't have been any photos of me with Velocibaby the first three or so months if I hadn't. So big props to moms (and dads) who have their shit more together than I did! 

I also have shared select photos from her NICU stay online - it was the worst and best week of my life and the photos definitely represent that very well. I only shared when the Republicans were attempting to rollback and replace the ACA (Obamacare) though. I felt it was important enough to warrant some personal stories and photos, to help people I know understand how devastating those bills would have been for families like mine. 

[karen77]

1 minute ago, VelociRapture said:

Challenge accepted. 

 

I'll get you my address

[likejana86]

maybe I'm the only one but I would like to see the girls mostly jessa with a different haircut..

remember when she has short bangs??the back was to long but she look great

[Lurky]

The thing I'm waiting to see is what happens about the 3rd Gen's schooling.  And if they do all decide to homeschool, how they do it - and how it impacts on the brand.  Of course I would hope Ben would want his children to go to school, and if there are a couple more babies/toddlers around I can see Jessa wanting to be able to spend dedicated time with them, but I don't hold out much hope.

ETA Of course I know homeschooling can be done well, but the Duggar model was objectively terrible.  I guess I could maybe see them joining a homeschool collective, but my worst-case scenario is all the 3rd Gen Duggarlings are "taught" together by their teenaged aunts in the TTH.

[CarrotCake]

Mackynzie (maybe Michael as well) should have started school by now, or not? 

Is she being homeschooled yet?

[Jenn The Heathen]

I can’t see any of the Duggars sending their kids to school, public or private, if they continue to drink the kool aid.  Even a religious private school could have students who aren’t as extreme in their views as the Duggars.  They could see someone’s knees!

[Marly]

1 hour ago, CarrotCake said:

Mackynzie (maybe Michael as well) should have started school by now, or not? 

Is she being homeschooled yet?

If I remember correctly, Anna homeschools her children.
There are articles on the Duggar family blog that seem to indicate that she homeschools, one titled "Anna Duggar's Homeschool Curriculum", and the other "Homeschooling Advice From Anna Duggar". In the latter one she says that she took a christian online course on early child education. 
I also thought it was featured in one of the 19kac episodes, that she had started homeschooling Mackynzie, but I can't recall exactly. 

[Carm_88]

I think Laura, Jana's friend, is the teacher now that Tabitha Paine has married. Or am I wrong? I'm not sure if they will all home school. I think Anna is but I don't know if she's teaching Mac herself now, or if Mac is being sent to the TTH. I guess we really don't see them enough to know. 

[SassyPants]

Duggars and school outside the house- can you imagine the # of tardies that those kids would amass? Nah, none of those parents are getting their buttocks out of bed 5 days a week to accommodate a school schedule.

"If good wanted us to see the sunrise, he'd have made it later in the day." Jessa Duggar utilizing SOTDRT logic.

[LittleOwl]

I'm late catching up with my Counting On... so it's probably been mentioned before. But, just watching the episode where they go to San Antonio and on the airplane, they blur out Jessa's knees and now I can't stop laughing. Especially as suddenly the blur stops and OMGEE KNEES. 

 

Again sorry if it's been mentioned before, it's just really tickled me haha.