M Is for Mama 13: Taking Selfies to Glorify the Lord

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, danvillebelle said:

Good gravy, any even *slightly* cursory search on what Alaska is like in the summer will mention the mosquitoes!  I've known that for decades, and I've never even been there!  Abbie's research for vacations probably consists solely of finding the most aesthetically pleasing Air BnB. 

I cannot imagine the mental hoop-jumping she does - spending thousands and thousands of dollars on vacations that the whole family seems to mildly enjoy at *best*. All to sanctify everyone.  Which can be done at home. For free. 

I often choose places that are not aesthetically pleasing to instagram. But they are pleasing to my kids. An example would be a huge indoor water park in the middle of winter. It’s ugly and full of people. But my kids love it. So I take them. But I don’t live my life for the Instagram pics. 

[Cat Damon]

She's bitching about a three hour time change (which would bother most people, but most people also just deal with it) - imagine the long, complaint-filled captions if they had gone to Europe. That would have been at least a six hour difference.

[FiveAcres]

The time change on a trip, especially near the solstice, is exacerbated by the very long days and short nights. I was there in August, when it isn't nearly as bad, and I felt as if something had killed my internal timekeeper. I had a very hard time sleeping while I was there. 

[SassyPants]

8 hours ago, danvillebelle said:

Good gravy, any even *slightly* cursory search on what Alaska is like in the summer will mention the mosquitoes!  I've known that for decades, and I've never even been there!  Abbie's research for vacations probably consists solely of finding the most aesthetically pleasing Air BnB. 

I cannot imagine the mental hoop-jumping she does - spending thousands and thousands of dollars on vacations that the whole family seems to mildly enjoy at *best*. All to sanctify everyone.  Which can be done at home. For free. 

She, like many people with lots of kids, just seems to wing everything. I doubt she did much research or had a check list of items to bring or sights that might be interesting for the entire family. And Shaun took the older boys fishing, leaving her with the remaining 8 kids? Didn’t Shaun and the older boys just get back from a 10 day camping adventure? Come on now. I think its great for the boys and Shaun to do more adult type activities, but pick 1. The girls are totally getting ripped off. All they ever seemingly get to do is accompany AH on a shopping or thrifting trip. 

[neuroticcat]

Oh my goodness, the walking alongside the river picture seriously made me bodily anxious. Those kids were so close to that edge and what exactly could have been done if someone had slipped in? Crazy!

Today is another round of questions and reminders of Best Ways for everything. She spotlights and dodges a spanking question, giving a long you-guys-have-no-idea-how-crazy-people-get-in-the-DMs-over-this answer which indicates that, yes, she thinks spanking is fine. She also thankfully admits she is not for arranged marriages (WTH serious question?) but explains that when she and her husband were engaged, he moved into her family home for the engagement period. !!!

[TuringMachine]

Also if for some reason you were unsure if she hates LGBTQIA+ people, yes she does. Especially trans people.

[danvillebelle]

10 hours ago, TuringMachine said:

Also if for some reason you were unsure if she hates LGBTQIA+ people, yes she does. Especially trans people.

Statistically, the chances that one or more of those kids are part of the community are pretty high.  I hope if they are, they can get away and find the support they need. 

[tankgirl]

Abby hating transpeople, besides her hateful religious and political beliefs it's no surprise she is going to hate people who decide to stand up, and make changes about their lives to help them live a more honest, and better fitting life for themselves, instead of suffering under a trite meaningless mottos. I mean could you imagine, if Abby followed her truth 8 or 9 kids ago? But instead, we get the Abby that would prefer everyone suffer like her LGBTQA+ or not.

Edited June 17, 2022 by tankgirl

[JermajestyDuggar]

48 minutes ago, Tankgirl36 said:

Abby hating transpeople, besides her hateful religious and political beliefs it's no surprise she is going to hate people who decide to stand up, and make changes about their lives to help them live a more honest, and better fitting life for themselves, instead of suffering under a trite meaningless mottos. I mean could you imagine, if Abby followed her truth 8 or 9 kids ago? But instead, we get the Abby that would prefer everyone suffer like her LGBTQA+ or not.

I agree. She made a choice about family size as a teenager and is too damn stubborn and proud to admit it’s no longer the right choice for her family. What a shitty thing to do. I think it takes courage to say, you know, this isn’t working anymore. We need to make new plans and new choices best for our family and health. After my best friend got married, she said she wanted 4 kids. I didn’t say anything at the time, but I thought, no way will she have 4. And you know what? She was done after two. I’m glad she didn’t stubbornly stick to a random number she thought was best before she even got pregnant. 

Edited June 17, 2022 by JermajestyDuggar

[SassyPants]

13 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I agree. She made a choice about family size as a teenager and is too damn stubborn and proud to admit it’s no longer the right choice for her family. What a shitty thing to do. I think it takes courage to say, you know, this isn’t working anymore. We need to make new plans and new choices best for our family and health. After my best friend got married, she said she wanted 4 kids. I didn’t say anything at the time, but I thought, no way will she have 4. And you know what? She was done after two. I’m glad she didn’t stubbornly stick to a random number she thought was best before she even got pregnant. 

In 1987 4 grandkids were born into my husband’s family. My husband’s younger sister was the first to give birth. She was all of 22 at the time, and declared she wanted 7 kids. She had her 2nd and last kid when she was 34. That’s how long it took she and her husband to decide on a 2nd. She was just so young, and 7 kids would have been a disaster.

Edited June 17, 2022 by SassyPants

[neuroticcat]

She is doing a last minute drop-by the bookstore, and she’ll chat and sign your book at the B&N in Anchorage. I think the response will reveal the level of her reach as an author - or at least her reach as an influencer. Most midlist authors would not get any walk-in or last minute interest - you have to schedule an appearance, get a good slot, and promote it in advance to get more than your closest friends there. Though she did say she’ll be writing there anyway which I suppose is kind of a “why not?” approach. If no one shows, it’s not a failure or waste of time/promotion energy. I wonder what she’d do if a mega fan shows and wants to have a one-on-one chat for two hours or something. Open invitation to the internet is risky. 

She also posted that she signed the last copy they had of her book there. If B&N is stocking her book, that reveals considerable reach as an author. Though I’m guessing they might have only stocked a few copies to begin with b/c that’s usually how it is unless you are a big name. It could also be that she brought a copy and asked them to stock it which stores sometimes will do.

[SuperNova]

Abbie's working on dying to herself without being a martyr and as usual she's missed the mark by a mile. She creates scenarios of false dichotomy in her head and then convinces herself that those are her only options. If she had to pee, why not ask Shaun to stop somewhere so that she could relieve herself and enjoy the river? If her arms ached from carrying a toddler, why not set him down or ask Shaun to carry him? And why doesn't this woman have a small first aid kit with ibuprofen or Tylenol in her purse? There's bound to be boo-boos with 10 kids in Alaska. 

On another note, they played on a sand bar in the middle of the river. How stupid can you be? I don't care how stable the sand bar feels. They are like quicksand. They can shift or crumble suddenly. I've had it happen and never went out on one again. Rising tides or a release of water upstream can also trap you or even submerge the sand bar. Abbie and Shaun are idiots.

Spoiler

 

[neuroticcat]

Dying to self…also known as normal familial interaction that considers/factors in the feelings of the other family members. Which is good and something parents do on a daily basis. Requiring everyone to bend into the needs of the mom is narcissistic parenting, but it need not be all or nothing - ”good” parenting does not equal bending in to everyone else’s needs either.

Abbie, you are allowed to have needs/desires. Go pee. Rest your arms. Take whomever wants to back to the car and let your husband take the others to the river. The mindset that equates having a self to being selfish is destructive and not biblical. 

Edited June 18, 2022 by neuroticcat

[JermajestyDuggar]

Die to yourself without being a martyr sounds like a contradiction. Dying for your belief is the definition of a martyr. So using the over the top phrase “dying to yourself” screams “I want to be a martyr!” And yes, Braggie is the biggest mommy martyr of them all. 

[SassyPants]

5 hours ago, neuroticcat said:

Dying to self…also known as normal familial interaction that considers/factors in the feelings of the other family members. Which is good and something parents do on a daily basis. Requiring everyone to bend into the needs of the mom is narcissistic parenting, but it need not be all or nothing - ”good” parenting does not equal bending in to everyone else’s needs either.

Abbie, you are allowed to have needs/desires. Go pee. Rest your arms. Take whomever wants to back to the car and let your husband take the others to the river. The mindset that equates having a self to being selfish is destructive and not biblical. 

And is destructive to all involved.

[neuroticcat]

Gonna guess there was not a mad rush at the book store or we would’ve heard about it. Ooof. 

[danvillebelle]

2 hours ago, neuroticcat said:

Gonna guess there was not a mad rush at the book store or we would’ve heard about it. Ooof. 

She's such a raging narcissist she probably really thought a bunch of people would show up when she put out the bat signal. LOL

[danvillebelle]

Oh!  Braggie "forgot" to share a picture that shows a few people did indeed show up at the bookstore.  Imagine that.  

They are still on vacation, now in Kenai.  And as we guessed, the "girl time" outing was not fishing or exploring, it was shopping.

Her current nails on a chalkboard words that she uses constantly like "rad":  

The = THEE

Everybody = ERRRRRBODY  

And her Father's Day post painted Shaun as Mr. Super Involved Dad who was actually the one who suggested the Alaska trip.  Not buying what you're selling, missy, and it sounds to me like you're trying to convince yourself, not us.

[SuperNova]

4 hours ago, danvillebelle said:

Her current nails on a chalkboard words that she uses constantly like "rad":  

The = THEE

Everybody = ERRRRRBODY  

No one who's actually cool says errbody anymore. Plenty of people young and old still say rad in CA at least but Abbie manages to sound lame as hell when she uses it. It sounds forced and I bet her kids eyes roll all the way back when she talks like this. I sincerely hope that Abbie's cool girl words are contained to internet posts and she's not walking around in the world making people uncomfortable with to her attempts at being "with it".

[JermajestyDuggar]

As I’ve said many many times, I’m Braggie’s almost exact age. She’s less than 2 months younger than me. No one my age talks like that unless they are making a joke that everyone around them gets and can appreciate. And they especially don’t talk like that on social media. I think her being so isolated growing up makes her a bit socially unaware. I am awkward as fuck but that’s just my innate personality. It wasn’t because I was isolated. Far from it. I grew up in a very social family. I think Braggie isn’t naturally this socially inept. I think it was from growing up the way she did. Sort of like Jill Rod. 

[neuroticcat]

I’m about the same age too. The only times we use “rad” are to provoke the eyerolling teens in our house. 😂😅

[danvillebelle]

8 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I am awkward as fuck but that’s just my innate personality.

I need this on a t-shirt. LOL  SAME.

[JermajestyDuggar]

2 minutes ago, danvillebelle said:

I need this on a t-shirt. LOL  SAME.

Since I come from an extremely social and outgoing family, I basically just watched them like I was an alien who arrived from another planet and copied their behaviors in order to blend in. I can act like a normal human mostly. But the awkward alien pokes out every once in awhile. 

[zee_four]

On 6/17/2022 at 3:55 PM, neuroticcat said:

She said she signed the last copy they had of her book there. If B&N is stocking her book

She said she signed the XXX ONLY copy they had. FIFY. And honestly the kind of lie by omission so it's not a lie according to MAGABabyJesus that's Braggie's bread and butter.

[SuperNova]

What is it with Abbie telling stories about making people uncomfortable with her over enthusiasm? I'd like to hear Kristen's side of things. How glad was she to see the back end of Abbie and her crew after SIX days? That's a long ass time to have people you've never met in person stay in your home. 

Spoiler