M is for Mama 15

[Ozlsn]

10 hours ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

And yet her mother raised her fundie, which helped make her who she is. For all the fundies seem spoiled, it's clear that Abbie was deprived. She wanted to go to high school, hang out at the mall, watch MTV, maybe be a cheerleader and be cool rad. It's why she likes shopping so much. It's why she does the Tik-Tok dances with Simon. She and Jill R and so many fundies missed out on their young and cool years and try to make up for it the rest of their lives.

I think even if she'd had all that Abbie would still need to be centre stage and would still be trying to show how young and hip she is. She'd possibly have more awareness of how her kids see it though. I don't think either Abbie or JRod would be less narcissistic, it would just come out in different ways. I can totally see Abbie as a travelling Insta influencer telling the rest of us about how easy it is to work remotely from Bali when you have 6 month old twins - anyone can do it!

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, Ozlsn said:

I think even if she'd had all that Abbie would still need to be centre stage and would still be trying to show how young and hip she is. She'd possibly have more awareness of how her kids see it though. I don't think either Abbie or JRod would be less narcissistic, it would just come out in different ways. I can totally see Abbie as a travelling Insta influencer telling the rest of us about how easy it is to work remotely from Bali when you have 6 month old twins - anyone can do it!

Yes, I think the isolation just makes Jill and Braggie much less self aware. I think they would still be just as narcissistic. But hide some of the more cringeworthy stuff a little better. 

[SassyPants]

6 hours ago, 0 kids n not countin said:

Anyone see her latest post, one of the twin boys passport photos got rejected, she resubmitted, but don't think the toddler has a passport yet. Let's see how this plays out, will Jesus help her???🤔

Such an easy reason for her to leave the 2 (or 5) youngest kids boys at home with her their mom.

Edited April 25, 2023 by SassyPants

[danvillebelle]

Who TF waits until the last possible minute to make sure passports are in order?  Braggie, that's who.  Because she assumes the world will just bow down before her and meet all her needs. 

If the whole trip went sideways again because of their lack of attention to detail with something as simple as passports...that's a schadenfreude bonanza right there.

[JDuggs]

My passport was expired so I just recently got a new one. It appears that post-covid, there will be a lot of international travel this summer and demand for passport processing was way up. I must have read somewhere that during covid, most of the passport workers were reassigned due to lack of demand. They needed to get employees back to doing passports.

Passports can always be expedited, but you have to pay for it. Abbie said they had an appointment to take care of it. I think she was just posting for the dramatic content. Her life is hard, but not bad.

[SassyPants]

I also hope none of their passports are set to expire within 6 months from their departure date (so between May whatever date they leave and Nov.). If so, you may not travel internationally.

It’s all the little stuff that contributes to why most people don’t have 10 kids or make the decisions that these kind of folks do that add up. Abbie doesn’t do “all the little things.” Those things are left to the people that follow behind and clean up after her; making sure necessary stuff doesn’t get missed.

Entitled with a capital E.

[SassyPants]

So they got the passport. STHU Karen. Right now, since Covid, my SIL can not get a visa to travel to the US with his US BORN BORN AND CITIZEN WIFE and daughter. They are just not being processed at this time.. She is an entitled Karen. Other people have actual constraints that they can not control, and that they do not post for clicks, $$$ and drama. 

[neuroticcat]

I've been doing a deep dive on the de la Motte family (10 kids, all classically trained, moved to NYC so they could audition for Julliard). I wonder if she and Abbie follow each other - who would win in the "mama of 10 kids" instagram show-down?

[anachronistic]

Their pastor died. But she is still sharing the photo of her family, and not the pastor? I don't know if they keep where they go to church a secret, but she can still write about him, and say what he meant to them… But it's obvious that he didn't mean anything to them, and she couldn't come up with anything to say about him, so she just wrote about a song.

Also, the nanny they are taking a long sounds like a young kid who is just as intelligent as they are, because she also had an expired passport and almost had to fly to Honolulu to get a new one. It's really a very good thing did Europe has such a secure social safety net, because when one of the kids is inevitably lost there, they will be well looked after until they can be reunited.

Oh and in my books the de la Motte Family has a much better story, but Abby does social media better. The de la Mottes are more unique, have a better story, and don't lean so far into the religious that their audience can reach beyond fundies, but Abby knows what her niche audience is and has gone after it like a dog with a bone.

Edited April 29, 2023 by anachronistic
Voice to text is tricky

[Zebedee]

I have been spending too much time on Reddit on AITA (Am I the Asshole). Every time someone calls Braggie AH, I just think, "wow, yes, you are the AH!". 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I actually don’t think Braggie is religious and I don’t think she cares much about church. It’s an excuse to clean up her kids, take a picture, and socialize. But I’m sure she spends the sermons thinking up her next long winded Instagram post. She probably knows very little about the pastor. 

Edited April 29, 2023 by JermajestyDuggar

[Bluebirdbluebell]

5 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I actually don’t think Braggie is religious and I don’t think she cares much about church. It’s an excuse to clean up her kids, take a picture, and socialize. But I’m sure she spends the sermons thinking up her next long winded Instagram post. She probably knows very little about the pastor. 

Like many conservatives, her religion is an excuse to hate people she doesn't like (like the LGBTQ+ community). Also like many religious people, her religion was something she was raised with and participates out of a feeling of obligation. 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Bluebirdbluebell

[JermajestyDuggar]

17 minutes ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

Like many conservatives, her religion is an excuse to hate people she doesn't like (like the LGBTQ+ community). Also like many religious people, her religion was something she was raised with and participates out of a feeling of obligation. 

Which is funny because she isn’t messianic like her parents. She probably hated the stricter clothing rules her parents abide by. Braggie needs her Anthropologie. 

[SassyPants]

No college for Ezra. Does she expect him to have the same industry options and success as Shaun who has a degree? Why would she think that (if she does)?? Is this magical thinking?

I never understand why people who are educated, gainfully employed and successful, seem to want less success and opportunities for their own children? Would Shaun have the ability to provide the lifestyle he does if he had not gone to college? If everyone can be as successful as Shaun in the computer software field WITHOUT a degree or even classes, why would anyone in the industry go to college???

And many people go to college and beyond without incurring massive debt. Maybe AH’s kids could too, if she had fewer of them. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

10 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

No college for Ezra. Does she expect him to have the same industry options and success as Shaun who has a degree? Why would she think that (if she does)?? Is this magical thinking?

I never understand why people who are educated, gainfully employed and successful, seem to want less success and opportunities for their own children? Would Shaun have the ability to provide the lifestyle he does if he had not gone to college? If everyone can be as successful as Shaun in the computer software field WITHOUT a degree or even classes, why would anyone in the industry go to college???

And many people go to college and beyond without incurring massive debt. Maybe AH’s kids could too, if she had fewer of them. 

What did she say exactly? I’m honestly surprised since she brags constantly about her own college experience and kisses the ass of Jenny Flanders (whose children all go to college).

[Ozlsn]

19 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

No college for Ezra. Does she expect him to have the same industry options and success as Shaun who has a degree? Why would she think that (if she does)?? Is this magical thinking?

I'm hoping Ezra is more interested in a trade and going that route, where he could be successful without college. Or that he's looking into the armed forces. Basically something that gives him some space from his parents.

[SassyPants]

36 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

What did she say exactly? I’m honestly surprised since she brags constantly about her own college experience and kisses the ass of Jenny Flanders (whose children all go to college).

She said that many graduates, Ezra included, realize there are ways to be successful without going to college and becoming $100,000 in debt. Ezra’s plan is to become a software developer like his father and will be doing an “internship” with Shaun. This reminds me of Jill Duggar being a nurse and Jana a concert pianist. Does she think Ezra will be on par, education and skills wise with Shaun in terms of software development? Does she care? I know in the past AH would talk about Ezra taking classes at a local JC, thus decreasing the likelihood of future debt, but in recent posts/reels, she has not included the education piece. All of this was most recently shared in her “ask anything Wednesday” post.

30 minutes ago, Ozlsn said:

I'm hoping Ezra is more interested in a trade and going that route, where he could be successful without college. Or that he's looking into the armed forces. Basically something that gives him some space from his parents.

In her most recent “ask anything Wednesday” post, AH shared that Ezra is interested in software development and Shaun has offered him an internship (her word). 

[JermajestyDuggar]

15 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

She said that many graduates, Ezra included, realize there are ways to be successful without going to college and becoming $100,000 in debt. Ezra’s plan is to become a software developer like his father and will be doing an “internship” with Shaun. This reminds me of Jill Duggar being a nurse and Jana a concert pianist. Does she think Ezra will be on par, education and skills wise with Shaun in terms of software development? Does she care? I know in the past AH would talk about Ezra taking classes at a local JC, thus decreasing the likelihood of future debt, but in recent posts/reels, she has not included the education piece. All of this was most recently shared in her “ask anything Wednesday” post.

In her most recent “ask anything Wednesday” post, AH shared that Ezra is interested in software development and Shaun has offered him an internship (her word). 

So basically Ezra will be working for Shaun. Will she expect all 6 of her boys to work for Shaun too? What if Ezra wants to do something else? Oh ya that doesn’t matter. I guess Braggie lives in the year 1600 where sons are expected to do the exact same job as their fathers and work for their fathers. Whether they want to or not. 

[Ozlsn]

11 hours ago, SassyPants said:

Ezra’s plan is to become a software developer like his father and will be doing an “internship” with Shaun.

Well that'll get him exposure to the latest and most innovative ideas out there! /s

I sincerely hope Shaun's going to pay him.

[Marly]

She already mentioned a couple of years ago that they won't be paying for college for their kids because they don't believe that college is necessary. (Always very rich coming from parents who are only able to live the lifestyle they are living because they themselves are college educated).
The children are allowed to go to college if they so wish (though Abby won't encourage it), but they have to find their own ways to pay for it because Abby and Shaun won't. 

I'm not surprised one bit. In addition to the cost of sending 10 kids to college (in case all of them are so inclined), the children might learn terms such as 'parentification' and 'narcissism' and might learn to think for themselves, and might then start to notice that there are other ways of living and that the way they were raised isn't the only way, and that parents who actually wanted children are generally much more involved and genuinely interested in their children's lives. The last thing Abby (and any fundamentalist religious person) wants is for her children to develop critical thinking skills. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

Steve Maxwell believed the same thing. And now two of his daughters are in college states away having fun and meeting lots of new people. I hope Braggie’s kids make it through college and cut her off.

[anachronistic]

Dear Europe. Good luck. I am so, so, so sorry.

Signed, not all Americans are like them. Really.

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

Ezra can't go to college because he's too busy being BroDad. That's not going to stop.

I can't imagine his "internship" with Shaun will be all that "educating".  I Do Not believe Shaun will pay him. Also I'm not all that convinced that Ezra wants to be a developer like dear ol' Dad.

Fearless prediction:  Braggie will actively prevent all of her children from attending college. She won't merely tell them they have to pay for themselves, she'll tell them they cannot attend college, Forbid them.

[theotherelise]

She claimed that there is some total amount that they would contribute to higher education but instead of using it for college, Ezra will ask for it as a lump sum. IDK I'll believe that when I see it. (ETA: they did say he would go do a programmer bootcamp next year then start working for shaun, but we'll see for that too)

I am young in my class and as such I was 17 when I graduated high school, but I don't make some kind of claim that I was young or ahead or whatever. Ezra turns 17 in a couple weeks, but of course she's going on about how he is graduating at 16. Like, he is a year ahead, but he's essentially graduating at 17. It's May 1, most high schoolers are still going to school through the next 3-4 weeks at least and Ezra would turn 17 during that time. She just wants to force this whole second generation of 16 year old "graduates."

This "apprenticeship" for Ezra is exactly what we all feared would happen for the past year or so. Hopefully he finds some kind of ways to experience life outside his bubble. Going to college at this time with his very limited independence or experience might be a rough. But the idea of him just continuing to live in the boys dorm and spending all his time with the family still is sad.

I think there is a good chance Simon will go into the military. I think they're going to get to Della before any child tries to deviate from the limited choices. Abbie has frequently expressed consternation at Della's personality. 

Edited May 1, 2023 by theotherelise

[Margarita]

On 4/26/2023 at 7:46 AM, JDuggs said:

My passport was expired so I just recently got a new one. It appears that post-covid, there will be a lot of international travel this summer and demand for passport processing was way up. I must have read somewhere that during covid, most of the passport workers were reassigned due to lack of demand. They needed to get employees back to doing passports.

Passports can always be expedited, but you have to pay for it. Abbie said they had an appointment to take care of it. I think she was just posting for the dramatic content. Her life is hard, but not bad.

I just renewed my USA one and I received it back in 6 weeks! I was surprised and very pleased. I hope she doesn't have the same luck hehe.