Seewalds 42: Trying to Stay Relevant

[Timetostoplurking]

1 hour ago, raspberrymint said:

Old Town Road is the biggest song of the summer.  It would be in a Shrek movie if DreamWorks were still making Shrek movies.  That's why kids love it.  

Regarding reading, thoughts on reading to your fetus?  I'm six weeks.

I’m sure hearing voices is good for all fetuses.   I bet your baby will hear your voice all day long whether you’re reading from a book or just talking.  Maybe have your SO read to you, so their voice gets imprinted too.  Just a thought.  What a great habit to get into.

 Also,   Congratulations!   Such an exciting time for you.   

Edited August 17, 2019 by Timetostoplurking

[AtlanticTug]

I knew I had achieved peak parenthood when I was driving the kids to daycare and my 4-year-old said "I don't want to listen to Baby Shark, I want to listen to Bruce Singsteen." (yes, that's how he says it lol)

[raspberrymint]

Thank you!

My partner and I talk to the tiny sweet pea all the time, sending love.  That's the size, a sweet pea!

[Iamtheway]

30 minutes ago, AtlanticTug said:

I knew I had achieved peak parenthood when I was driving the kids to daycare and my 4-year-old said "I don't want to listen to Baby Shark, I want to listen to Bruce Singsteen." (yes, that's how he says it lol)

One of my peaks was last week at the shops when Miniway asked if we could buy a book. I said: Not today. You have so many books. (He does! And it looked like a crap one.) He turned to me and said with intensity: Mum! You can NEVER have too many books!

?

[Melissa1977]

Do you think Jessa is envy of some of her sisters? She was the bossy one, probably the brighter of the 5 older girls, very pretty etc. Now Jill's husband seems to be seriously involved in the law career and they have bought a nice house and Jinger is enjoying her fashionable life in LA. But Jessa lives in a tacky house and her husband is not professionally succeeding. I'm sure she's happy with the kids but I wonder if she would like an improvement. 

[Perrierwithlemon]

6 minutes ago, Melissa1977 said:

I wonder if she would like an improvement. 

I'd imagine that she would. It seems very probable. It would also explain why she hasn't been very active on Instagram (her last post was like 5 weeks ago). 

[SassyPants]

I figured the Seewalds would end up in the brick home where GMM previously lived, or maybe the log cabin when Joe and Kendra move to their new home.

[Mama Mia]

20 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

Do you think Jessa is envy of some of her sisters? She was the bossy one, probably the brighter of the 5 older girls, very pretty etc. Now Jill's husband seems to be seriously involved in the law career and they have bought a nice house and Jinger is enjoying her fashionable life in LA. But Jessa lives in a tacky house and her husband is not professionally succeeding. I'm sure she's happy with the kids but I wonder if she would like an improvement. 

No, like anything, we only know what she chooses to present, but she seems genuinely happy. A husband who makes a lot of money isn’t important to every woman. Many would rather have a guy who is free to be around the house with them and the kids, especially when SHE seems quite capable of bringing home the bacon through a pretty Cush gig. And they seem smart enough to keep their lifestyle simple enough that they’ll get by regardless. 

As for her “tacky” house, she has 3 very little children, including a new baby, she seems to co-sleep and breastfeed, why does she need a bigger house right now? 

[BernRul]

I imagine it's hard because they are still so dependent on Jim Bob. She and Ben might have a happy marriage and healthy kids but they are missing out on the one thing that all people truly need: freedom.

They're in a house that was gifted to them, and while it was decent space for a couple or small family, it must be tight for a family of 5. They can't make the decision to move until they are financially independent, so they have to rely on Boob's whims for now. That must be hard to deal with mentally. 

[Mama Mia]

18 minutes ago, BernRul said:

I imagine it's hard because they are still so dependent on Jim Bob. She and Ben might have a happy marriage and healthy kids but they are missing out on the one thing that all people truly need: freedom.

They're in a house that was gifted to them, and while it was decent space for a couple or small family, it must be tight for a family of 5. They can't make the decision to move until they are financially independent, so they have to rely on Boob's whims for now. That must be hard to deal with mentally. 

I’m genuinely curious as to why you think they are dependent on Jim Bob? They are on a reasonably successful reality show- and have been for years- she goes to evens to give talks, I’m sure some of her social media presence is sponsored.....

as far as the house - I don’t know, I can see needing/wanting a larger home when they have more kids or the kids are older- but two or three little kids in a room seems perfectly normal, especially when the baby is likely in with them. 

[BernRul]

1 minute ago, Mama Mia said:

I’m genuinely curious as to why you think they are dependent on Jim Bob? They are on a reasonably successful reality show- and have been for years- she goes to evens to give talks, I’m sure some of her social media presence is sponsored.....

as far as the house - I don’t know, I can see needing/wanting a larger home when they have more kids or the kids are older- but two or three little kids in a room seems perfectly normal, especially when the baby is likely in with them. 

Mostly the rumors that the individuals on 19 Kids/Counting On don't get paid, but that all the money goes to JB adn he doles it out. Even if that isn't true (or isn't any more) doesn't Ben work for JB? Or did? He was married at 19 and from what I know is still in school. So they need to rely on their families for some modicum of support, especially with 3 kids. Her talks/social media might help, but I don't know if that's enough to support a family of 5.

I know it's normal to have kids share a room, but even so, they are in a tighter space now that the boys are getting bigger and have more possessions with the new baby. I'm putting that as one possible reason for the previous speculation that they might not be happy/why Jess isn't online as much. Another could be that having a newborn is an adjustment, especially because their is more of a gap between ages/needs with the her and the boys. 

[doubleT]

Weird how Jessa just disappeared from Instagram.  Its been 5 weeks since she posted a pic.  

[justmy2cents]

I think she got tired of the mom shaming. If there wasn’t a comment about her giving Ivy a pacifier there was a comment about the head bows. In a since deleted reply, someone told her to stop putting those head wraps on Ivy and she snapped ‘if you say so’. She hasn’t posted anything since.  She’ll probably come back when it’s time to promote the next season.

[Mama Mia]

48 minutes ago, BernRul said:

Mostly the rumors that the individuals on 19 Kids/Counting On don't get paid, but that all the money goes to JB adn he doles it out. Even if that isn't true (or isn't any more) doesn't Ben work for JB? Or did? He was married at 19 and from what I know is still in school. So they need to rely on their families for some modicum of support, especially with 3 kids. Her talks/social media might help, but I don't know if that's enough to support a family of 5.

I know it's normal to have kids share a room, but even so, they are in a tighter space now that the boys are getting bigger and have more possessions with the new baby. I'm putting that as one possible reason for the previous speculation that they might not be happy/why Jess isn't online as much. Another could be that having a newborn is an adjustment, especially because their is more of a gap between ages/needs with the her and the boys. 

I suppose that’s all possible. I know I was shocked to see how much money people can make off just being themselves though. I looked into one only semi well known YouTuber my grandkids like - the kid makes an estimated  3 MILLION a year playing video games and playing pranks with other early 20 something YouTubers !  I know Jess’s doesn’t do YouTube, but even marginal “influencers” and speakers can pull in a few grand a month. That with a show, seems more than adequate. 

As far as not being on Instagram much right now - 3 little ones, including a newborn, can be a little distracting. I thought she might also be avoiding posting lots of cute baby girl pics right now because of Joy. 

[AtlanticTug]

1 hour ago, BernRul said:

I imagine it's hard because they are still so dependent on Jim Bob. She and Ben might have a happy marriage and healthy kids but they are missing out on the one thing that all people truly need: freedom.

 

For financial freedom they would need JOBS and to stop popping out children that they have no means of supporting. It's Jim Bob's and Michelle's fault for not preparing them for the real world but they are adults now and it's their fault for being lazy and dependent.

Keep in mind that these are the same people who repeatedly vote for, and support, right wing ideologues who ramble on about pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and not living off the public purse. You know, if you're black. Lazy Christian Duggars don't count.

[Knight of Ni]

I really hate the YouTube prank videos. Some of them can be funny but they get old really soon and they have to do something bigger to get a laugh. One guy went so far as to soak his girlfriend’s tampon in hot sauce. To me that’s not a prank, that’s assault. 

Another family “pranked” their 6 year old daughter by telling her they had to get rid of her puppy and she had to pick the family they puppy would go to. The poor little girl is sitting on the couch hugging her puppy and crying and her mother is sitting next to her visibly trying not to laugh. It made me ill thinking about them doing that to the poor child just for views.

[BernRul]

1 hour ago, Mama Mia said:

I suppose that’s all possible. I know I was shocked to see how much money people can make off just being themselves though. I looked into one only semi well known YouTuber my grandkids like - the kid makes an estimated  3 MILLION a year playing video games and playing pranks with other early 20 something YouTubers !  I know Jess’s doesn’t do YouTube, but even marginal “influencers” and speakers can pull in a few grand a month. That with a show, seems more than adequate. 

As far as not being on Instagram much right now - 3 little ones, including a newborn, can be a little distracting. I thought she might also be avoiding posting lots of cute baby girl pics right now because of Joy. 

Even with the family's fame, I seriously doubt that Jessa is able to make that much money from social media alone. Most people on YouTube have to actually take years to build their channel before ever getting to that point, and correct me if I'm wrong, but has Jessa really been that much of an influencer? I feel like I mostly see her just post pics of her kids, but I could be off. 

[Mama Mia]

1 hour ago, BernRul said:

Even with the family's fame, I seriously doubt that Jessa is able to make that much money from social media alone. Most people on YouTube have to actually take years to build their channel before ever getting to that point, and correct me if I'm wrong, but has Jessa really been that much of an influencer? I feel like I mostly see her just post pics of her kids, but I could be off. 

That’s why My idle speculation is that she brings in probably 50-60 k a year between all her sources of revenue- the show, workshops and conferences, social media, etc... given they don’t have to pay for housing, and their family owns car lots, and she has siblings who do decorations and repairs, they don’t need to pay for childcare......that sounds pretty comfortable! 

I got curious about this as one of my kids friends from high school does Instagram influencing ( is that a verb? A noun?) as a career. Hers is around food, but she lives very well. A couple of extended family members also seem to heavily supplement their lifestyles promoting items- don’t know how much is cash and how much is feeebies, but it’s definitely a help.

Holy Moly, apparently there are lots of “influencers” and they can make shocking amounts of $$$$. ??

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/11/28/18116875/influencer-marketing-social-media-engagement-instagram-youtube

 

Edited August 19, 2019 by Mama Mia

[Mama Mia]

2 hours ago, Knight of Ni said:

I really hate the YouTube prank videos. Some of them can be funny but they get old really soon and they have to do something bigger to get a laugh. One guy went so far as to soak his girlfriend’s tampon in hot sauce. To me that’s not a prank, that’s assault. 

Another family “pranked” their 6 year old daughter by telling her they had to get rid of her puppy and she had to pick the family they puppy would go to. The poor little girl is sitting on the couch hugging her puppy and crying and her mother is sitting next to her visibly trying not to laugh. It made me ill thinking about them doing that to the poor child just for views.

Oh yea, definitely some of them are horrible. The ones my grandkids watch, are very wholesome,  I can see why it appeals to them. They are like big overgrown kids doing silly things like taping hundreds of copies of selfies in a friend’s house. The one guy also builds huge forts, and has giant LEGO contests, and basically runs amok in his Mc Mansion when he’s not doing Minecraft how to videos ??‍♀️

Edited August 19, 2019 by Mama Mia

[SportsgalAnnie]

On 8/17/2019 at 1:01 PM, AtlanticTug said:

I knew I had achieved peak parenthood when I was driving the kids to daycare and my 4-year-old said "I don't want to listen to Baby Shark, I want to listen to Bruce Singsteen." (yes, that's how he says it lol)

That was me as a kid, Garth Brooks and Jimmy Buffett.

ALSO Can Old town road finally die please? I got stuck in my seat at cmafest and had to listen to it  The amount of millenials singing along was yucky, then no one knew Eric Church or Little Big Town.... AGH 

[Sullie06]

On 8/16/2019 at 11:19 AM, MargaretElliott said:

A kid no more than 6 walked through my work the other day (I'm a receptionist) belting "Old Town Road" at the top of his lungs and I died.

Kids are basically tiny drunk people.

Was it my son? 

[Glasgowghirl]

I think Jessa is just taking a break from social media with her having two toddler's and a newborn. Plus in the space of a month she had another dramatic birth, her grandmother passed away suddenly and then baby Annabell was stillborn, she may just need a bit of space as well. 

Jessa and Ben are secretive about his job and to be honest I don't blame them for that, sometimes people online can be horrible. If he is still working for Jim Bob then I don't have an issue with that either as he is still working. 

[Whatthefundie]

She just posted again. A couple of pictures of the kids. 

[Glasgowghirl]

She has posted again, can the person on here that is secretly Jessa reveal themselves.

[Snarkasarus Rex]

Wow, Ivy looks like Felicity in that second pic.