Counting on Season 11: TLC Manufactured Drama While Waiting for Life Events

[Coconut Flan]

Continued from here:

 

[mpheels]

Ok, just watched the Duggar dash, and I’m less horrified by Joy not knowing the multiplication sign in context on the game. It sounds like she was reading a word problem with the multiplication sign embedded in the middle - unlike other mathematical operators, “x” is also a letter and I can understand how she initially registered it as such seeing it in the middle of a sentence.

They didn’t show the text of the cards, but for those who don’t watch, Joy was reading out a math problem from an index card, and it sounds like it was written out as “the number of Duggar kids with the same middle name x the number of years Joy and Austin have been married”

The Duggars are still terribly undereducated, but I don’t think this particular instance is really evidence of Joy’s literacy or numeracy.

[Bobology]

13 hours ago, mpheels said:

They didn’t show the text of the cards, but for those who don’t watch, Joy was reading out a math problem from an index card, and it sounds like it was written out as “the number of Duggar kids with the same middle name x the number of years Joy and Austin have been married”

This is what I thought, too. And if Michelle wrote them, well, she's the woman in her 50s who still uses young teen loopy writing and little hearts to dot her lower case "i"s so it was likely difficult to decipher quickly when in the middle of a very important competition. This is not a dig at those of you who have loopy handwriting; once handwriting was de-emphasized in schools it became somewhat common.

In any event, I like how the scene brought forth a big ol' math discussion here. Math is important.

[GuineaPigCourtship]

I'm so lucky I didn't have any "i" in my first name growing up.  I totally would have dotted it with a heart and looked back on my atrocious middle school poetry with even more horror.

[OrchidBlossom]

1 hour ago, GuineaPigCourtship said:

I'm so lucky I didn't have any "i" in my first name growing up.  I totally would have dotted it with a heart and looked back on my atrocious middle school poetry with even more horror.

Because I wanted to be an astronaut as a kid I dotted my “i”s with stars. 
 

also, finally bothered to catch up with the Duggar threads and info, such as it is. ? agree with everyone about Jana though, was she always this rude?

[SassyPants]

In any Catholic school that I attended, if you dared dot your i’s with any thing other than a ., you had better be prepared to redo that work. All subjects blue or black ink only, with the exception of Math where a #2 pencil was used. No scratch outs or white out either. I’m older than Michelle, so maybe it was a sign of the times.

[patsymae]

3 hours ago, GuineaPigCourtship said:

I'm so lucky I didn't have any "i" in my first name growing up.  I totally would have dotted it with a heart and looked back on my atrocious middle school poetry with even more horror.

But we all did that growing up. I insisted on being "Patti," had a friend who her and her boyfriend only wrote to each other in green ink, girls would write with hearts or flowers or stars as dots, and use fluorescent gel pens or whatever. That's what you do when you are a young kid. Not when you are a grandmother in your 50s.

 

Forgot to to add that anybody who doesn't look on their middle school poetry with (fond) horror is too stupid to live.

Edited August 2, 2020 by patsymae
typo

[medimus]

7 hours ago, SassyPants said:

In any Catholic school that I attended, if you dared dot your i’s with any thing other than a ., you had better be prepared to redo that work. All subjects blue or black ink only, with the exception of Math where a #2 pencil was used. No scratch outs or white out either. I’m older than Michelle, so maybe it was a sign of the times.

I think this might be a cultural thing because we were only allowed blue ink fountain pen and the ink eraser pens (they only work on blue fountain pen), were only allowed to write in cursive and if the writing wasn't nicely legible you had to redo it. Spelling mistakes docked you marks in every subject and even maths was done in fountain pen which I never thought was weird but apparently everyone else does it in pencil.

This wasn't that long ago, Michelle is the same age as my mother.

[VeryNikeSeamstress]

I watched the waste of time that is the Duggar Door Dash episode. This show has fully reverted back to being 19 Kids and Counting except that the kids are now adults and there are invisible elephants in the room (the disgraced adult children that they no longer mention). Boob and Jichelle were talking way too much, and seemed to be the ones leading the event which was fabricated AF. Counting On was supposed to focus on the adult children minus the Sex Pest, but now the duggar parents are far more central (after they handled the molestations so poorly). Shame on you, TLC! Boob and Jichelle don't deserve money and a platform to further their ministry BULLSHIT!

Edited August 3, 2020 by VeryNikeSeamstress

[SassyPants]

I agree the show needs to go. It’s about nothing. However, if JB is actually receiving all of the money and doles it out as he sees fit, and of course we can only speculate and talk about what some (Derick) have said about this, then I think JB and Michelle should be working on the show in some capacity. I don’t want to see any minor kids though. They need to stop exploiting minors to make ends meet. I’m sure they are familiar with the adage, ‘if you can’t feed them, don’t breed them.” People of their politically ilk love that one.

[Meggo]

On 8/1/2020 at 8:04 PM, SassyPants said:

In any Catholic school that I attended, if you dared dot your i’s with any thing other than a ., you had better be prepared to redo that work. All subjects blue or black ink only, with the exception of Math where a #2 pencil was used. No scratch outs or white out either. I’m older than Michelle, so maybe it was a sign of the times.

Ahhhh yes - Good Old Sister Rose.... 
She didn't think the dots on my i's were lined up properly in a essay so she went in and drew them ALL IN. She also didn't think my t's had the line across them enough so again - drew those all "properly" too. And they were just dots - not hearts (or stars - how sweet @OrchidBlossom!!) 

And Sr. Rose - is the reason that I do not dot i's at ALL now..... except when I'm trying to work on handwriting with my kiddo, then I force myself to put the dot in there. 
(I graduated hs in 92)

[HideousGreenShirt]

Agree that the show should end. Maybe a yearly catch up special to meet the inevitable new babies would satisfy the fans. They all have active social media accounts, YouTube channels and podcasts so it's not like their lives are a great mystery.

The next three episodes are Addison is born, Bella is born and Ben gets Lasik.

Addison and Bella are both currently around 9 months old. Is there a Duggar fan who isn't aware of these babies?

Today's episode features Jeremy talking about his "bad" past of drinking and partying in college during a skateboarding lesson. It could have been an interesting angle but TLC literally posted that entire segment on their Facebook page so now the show will be what? Jeremy skating badly and Addison being born? Fascinating. 

I can't get UpTV over here so I can't compare Counting Up to BuB*, but they seem to keep things a little more fun and current. Perhaps that is more to do with their *wAcKy* personalities and children actually having jobs. 

*I am no Bates fan, but their show seems not to be almost a whole year behind. 

[Idlewild]

Did TLC pay for Ben’s LASIK? 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

22 hours ago, Meggo said:

Ahhhh yes - Good Old Sister Rose.... 
She didn't think the dots on my i's were lined up properly in a essay so she went in and drew them ALL IN. She also didn't think my t's had the line across them enough so again - drew those all "properly" too. And they were just dots - not hearts (or stars - how sweet @OrchidBlossom!!) 

And Sr. Rose - is the reason that I do not dot i's at ALL now..... except when I'm trying to work on handwriting with my kiddo, then I force myself to put the dot in there. 
(I graduated hs in 92)

And this is why sexually frustrated old hags shouldn't be teaching children.  

[llg1234]

Counting On Season 11 Episode 5 "A Baby Girl for Joe & Kendra"

Part 1:

Spoiler

In LA, JinJer got Felicity a scooter. Jinger puts a helmet and knee pads on her and coos about how pretty she looks. Felicity loves being outside and is very adventurous. Her latest is thing is standing up on couches, so they always have to keep an eye on her. Jinger says she's like Jeremy, which he jokingly says could be worrying. Jeremy says the scooter reminds him of the skateboard he has from Brian (aka Brian Sumner - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Sumner). His friend Jay gave him one of Brian's skateboards and got them in contact with each other. Jeremy decides to give him a call for a skateboarding lesson.

At Joe and Kendra's house, they're reading to Garrett. Kendra is 38 weeks. They're going to clean the house and set up the nursery in their room. Some of the Duggars (Jason through Josie, plus Tyler) come over to help get everything ready. Joe says he needs help since they're going to moving a lot of furniture (to clean under everything). Kendra says she's nervous about labor, especially now that she knows what the pain is like, so she tries not to think about it too much. They start vacuuming and cleaning everything, Jackson scrubs the toilet while Tyler cleans behind it. Joe jokes that babies expect everything to be clean when they arrive and that they're very judgmental. The producers ask JB & M how they kept the house clean. Michelle says it was hard when they had all 19 at home (she's lying, Josh was out of the house before Jordyn and Josie were born). They divide the house up into jurisdictions. Jordyn finds some biscuits and the kids eat them and get crumbs on the couch. Jackson steps on the couch with his shoes on. Garrett goes down for his ~happy nappy~ and cries because he doesn't want be left out. Joe says he feels ready for the new baby, but he's not the one having it, he's just the support group. I don't think he's just talking about labor.

Ben & Jessa are getting Henry ready for a follow up with the speech therapist. Jessa started noticing he wasn't talking around 18 months and still wasn't saying much by the time he was 2. They had their first speech evaluation in April 2019. He understood words and can follow commands, but was six month delayed with speaking. The pathologist recommended keeping an eye on him. He's almost 3, so he'll be tested at that age level today. Jessa says he's been picking up around 10 words a week. She worries that she did something wrong or could have done better. The pathologist shows him pictures and asks him to point out specific things, which he does well at. JB says he had a stutter in 1st grade and had to take speech classes (NO ONE CARES). On the topic of getting issues taken care of, Joe mentions that Garrett was weaker on one side of his neck, causing his head to tilt. They wanted to make sure it was fixed (although they didn't go into what they did), so he wouldn't have issues later on. The pathologist says Henry has come very far and has caught up with kids his age. Jessa says she pretty much cut out screen time completely, which she thinks helped.

Part 2

Spoiler

Next up, JinJer are at a skate park in LA with Brian and his son Jude. Brian is from the UK and became a professional skateboarder when he was 19. Some of Jeremy's friends skated, but he never has before. Jinger hopes he doesn't break anything. Jeremy says half the battle is trusting your body. He eventually gets comfortable with being able to travel on the board. Brian moved to the US when he 15-16 and skated with Tony Hawk. He got married and then divorced. Afterwards, he 'came to know the Lord' and so did his ex-wife. They got back together and had two more kids. He started evangelizing at skate parks (see the Wikipedia article for that whole story). Jeremy said he had a similar trajectory with his life and soccer. He says God took his passion for soccer and channeled it to ministry. He was consumed with soccer and wasn't living a life that honored Christ. He was partying and drinking. When he was arrested, that was his turning point. He and Brian hit it off and will keep hanging out.

5 days before her due date, Kendra starts having contractions. It's 9:30PM, so they're packing up and Garrett will spend the night at Kendra's parents' (Mimi & Poppy) house. Joe gives him a bath before they leave. The contractions aren't very consistent, so they're not sure if she'll have the baby that night. She's thinks she's definitely in labor, but not transition (the final phase of the first stage of labor). They arrive at the Caldwell home. Christina (her mom) and Lauren (her sister) will be going to the hospital with her. He contractions have slowed down again, which frustrates her since it's so inconsistent. Joe and Kendra pray with Garrett before putting him to bed. After a few hours, the contractions pick up again and they leave for the hospital around 1AM. Kendra hopes she isn't sent home from the hospital, because she doesn't want to have to interrupt anyone's sleep unnecessarily.

She's admitted, but is only 4cm dilated. This is discouraging to her, since that's what she was measured at at her last doctor's appointment. They walk about 3-4 miles through the halls of the hospital. Her contractions become more painful, so she went back to her room. Her water breaks while she was laying down, which confused her. Her mom arrives and helps her with her breathing. The contractions keep picking up and are soon back-to-back. She becomes nauseous and throws up. She's in transition now and we basically just watch her screaming in pain. They worry about her passing out, same as with Garrett's birth. Her eyes tend to lose focus and start to roll back when the pain is really bad. 

The doctor is actually delivering at another hospital and Kendra doesn't think she can wait. Eventually they decide to deliver with the nurses. Addison Renee is born at 5:33AM, 7lb 12.5oz, 20.5 inches. She was a lot bigger than they had though. Addison means 'in God's image' and Renee means 'born again.' The family comes up to meet her. She's the 14th Duggar grandchild. Michelle says she's precious (shocker). Garrett meets his little sister and Kendra hopes he doesn't get too jealous.

Next week: Lauren gives birth to Bella. Jinger announces she's pregnant via video chat during family fun night (I'm guessing the miscarriage will also be discussed, since it happened shortly after).

TL;DR - Jeremy learns to skateboard with Brian Sumner, a pro skater turned evangelist. After some delays, Henry's speech has caught up and is on par with other kids his age. Kendra gives birth to Addison after a painful labor. 

[EmiSue]

I thought Addison just meant "son of Adam," same as all the "-son" names. Adam means "earth," as in God formed him out of the earth. These fundies?

[nst]

On 8/1/2020 at 5:04 PM, SassyPants said:

 

 

On 8/3/2020 at 7:27 AM, SassyPants said:

I agree the show needs to go. It’s about nothing. However, if JB is actually receiving all of the money and doles it out as he sees fit, and of course we can only speculate and talk about what some (Derick) have said about this, then I think JB and Michelle should be working on the show in some capacity. I don’t want to see any minor kids though. They need to stop exploiting minors to make ends meet. I’m sure they are familiar with the adage, ‘if you can’t feed them, don’t breed them.” People of their politically ilk love that one.

I agree also the show must go.

Is it weird I still have the post of when you said the show must go before the wedding of Jessa and Ben. I saved it.....

Then I was like NEVER EVER - I need to see the wedding....

Now I am like cancel the damn show.

 

[nst]

so am i the only one who watched this. 

kendra and joe praying with the kid before she leaves for the hospital, praying about sin with the baby looking confused. 

i think his name is garrett? 

[SorenaJ]

10 hours ago, EmiSue said:

I thought Addison just meant "son of Adam," same as all the "-son" names. Adam means "earth," as in God formed him out of the earth. These fundies?

It might be that because Adam was created in the image of God, they just sort of decided that Addison means image of God. 

[EmiSue]

7 hours ago, SorenaJ said:

It might be that because Adam was created in the image of God, they just sort of decided that Addison means image of God. 

I agree, it just bugs me. They say these things like it's undisputed fact but they're really just making it up because it feels good. 

[SassyPants]

Glad to see Henry’s communication skills have improved, and that Garrett had successful therapy on his neck. Recognizing and successfully addressing problems is far better than how JB and M dealt with Josh and the treatment they did not seek for the girls.

[LookieLoo]

I’m confused here, but I don’t really follow the Counting On episodes. I could have sworn I’ve already seen the birth episodes for Addison and Bella on YouTube. So does TLC release those right after the births and then also make them as part of the “official” show months later? How pointless! 

I just can’t get into watching that show. Some of the episodes are on Hulu now, and I watched a few but got incredibly bored after that. I agree the show needs to go. The Duggars have such a heavy presence on social media and frankly most of that is far more interesting to watch than the fake, scripted stuff they come up with for the show. 

[Meggo]

My husband saw a preview for some Real Housewives episode where they were all yelling at each other. He said "Why is there so much drama?? Can't there just be a show where nothing happens?" 

I thought of all of us and said "Oh there is - you want to watch it? It's as exciting as watching paint dry... possibly less so..." 

 

[Chewing Gum]

31 minutes ago, LookieLoo said:

I’m confused here, but I don’t really follow the Counting On episodes. I could have sworn I’ve already seen the birth episodes for Addison and Bella on YouTube. So does TLC release those right after the births and then also make them as part of the “official” show months later? How pointless! 

Yeah, they do repeat them in the show, just add a few extra scenes here and there. I figured this is their way of pleasing the public in showing real life events shortly after they happen. 

Edited August 5, 2020 by Chewing Gum

[SassyPants]

The showing repeats of things is a way to keep the budget low. And I thought the same thing, didn’t I already see Addison and Bella’s births, and I don’t even watch the show, so how could that be? And then I remembered YouTube...yep, those births were shown last winter. I guess TLC figures with such a low audience there’s no use in showing anything beyond reruns and mailing it in.