But Grandma Duggar wants to do the laundry...

[KeepingitSweet]

I always picture Grandma Mary curled up behind a warm dryer, softly crying herself to sleep every night...

[DarkAnts]

I think Grandma stays there for the companionship and also to help the grandchildren. It must break her heart to see the girls work so hard and not have a child hood.

[Witsec7]

I always picture Grandma Mary curled up behind a warm dryer, softly crying herself to sleep every night...

I'm guessing those washers and dryers run 24/7 and Gmas lulled to sleep by their sounds.

[deelaem]

I think Grandma Duggar was the genesis (pardon the pun) of the family becoming fundies. Remember JB was already into it when he was 17, going soul-winning and all. He had to have gotten that from somewhere.

Grandma acts a lot like my Mormon sister, who gets off on the martyr role she's created for herself. It's sad.

[Visionoyahweh]

Maybe they can set up a clothesline, so Grandma can go outside every now and then? Think of the $$$ saved by not always running the dryer!

[Third]

They could use a clothes line. They were on P.Allen Smith's show an episode filmed in 2010 and Jim Bob told him the kids like the idea of having a garden and maybe they'd get one. Didn't happen. The big girls probably didn't want more work.

I bet Grandma Duggar does want to do laundry. She was married for over 40 years and the last years were spent doing all his home care. Then he's just gone. She had to have been so lost. She couldn't move out. All alone. So many older people sit in front of the TV and wait to die. Unlike other women her age she doesn't seem to have hobbies or outside interests. Other women - non-fundy women have a life outside of their marriage even if it's playing Bingo.

Laundry keeps her busy. The kids keep her company.

[lilwriter85]

I think Grandma Duggar was the genesis (pardon the pun) of the family becoming fundies. Remember JB was already into it when he was 17, going soul-winning and all. He had to have gotten that from somewhere.

Grandma acts a lot like my Mormon sister, who gets off on the martyr role she's created for herself. It's sad.

I remember hearing somewhere that during Boob's teen years, Mary became more religious and enrolled JB in a Christian high school. I think Mary is just a conservative Christian or maybe at most fundie lite.

[holierthanyou]

I bet Grandma Duggar does want to do laundry. She was married for over 40 years and the last years were spent doing all his home care. Then he's just gone. She had to have been so lost. She couldn't move out. All alone. So many older people sit in front of the TV and wait to die. Unlike other women her age she doesn't seem to have hobbies or outside interests. Other women - non-fundy women have a life outside of their marriage even if it's playing Bingo.

Laundry keeps her busy. The kids keep her company.

!?!?

Lots of people becomes widows without wanting to become a J'slave!

[Third]

Yes, but most normal people have outside lives.

[Sola]

Grandma is the Help. She gets board and lodging and in return she has laundry for 20 people plus babysitting duties.

[bananacat]

Grandma is not financially dependent on Jim Bob. If anything, it's the other way around. Jim Bob and Michelle are first-generation fundies. Grandma and Grandpa were always mainstream conservative Christians. Grandpa never bought into the Patriarchy stuff and never agreed with Jim Bob's lifestyle. He would not have left everything in his will to Jim Bob. But even if he did, Grandma has always been able to support herself. She invests in real estate and she even owns the house that Smuggar lives in. She's not staying there because she has to. Even if she couldn't financially support herself, she does have another child she could stay with.

My guess is that she's trying to relieve some of the burden on the older J'slaves. I have always thought it weird though that they designed it so the laundry room would have windows but the guest room wouldn't have any. It seems like it should be the other way around, but I guess in that family people spend more time in the laundry room anyway.

[freealljs]

Perhaps Grandma's room wasn't supposed to be a guest room at all, (hence no windows), but more a walk-in closet to sort and hang clothes.

I agree that Grandma doesn't seem very fond of Mullet (her face/reaction to baby #20 announcement was priceless). I also have never seen Mullet and Grandma spend time together on the show.

I'm kind of surprised that Boob and Mullet didn't make space for guest rooms. That house is huge, and there is quite a bit of wasted space (the two story living room, Boob's office). With all that land, they could have built something for guests, like studio apartments, if they didn't want guests to stay in TTH. IMO, no real guest rooms just shows how insular and isolated that they want the family to be.

[slickcat79]

According to the floorplan, the guest room is in the back corner and has windows. The large family closet is in front of the laundry room, and appears to be larger than grandma's room :? No way to know, though, if that floorplan is entirely accurate.

[DodgeWR]

Does her room have a secondary exit? I know where I live you aren't supposed to have anyone living in a space without windows or a second exit point, in case of fire. I would think this would be particularly risky if she's got the laundry room right outside her door. Its not like dryer fires never happen and they would have to run theirs constantly. Just curious.

[DarkAnts]

I'm kind of surprised that Boob and Mullet didn't make space for guest rooms. That house is huge, and there is quite a bit of wasted space (the two story living room, Boob's office). With all that land, they could have built something for guests, like studio apartments, if they didn't want guests to stay in TTH. IMO, no real guest rooms just shows how insular and isolated that they want the family to be.

Or, they could build her a little cottage. Someplace for her to call her own. She would still be very close to the family and can share meals with them and help out. The cottage would give her some more privacy and freedom.

[lilwriter85]

Perhaps Grandma's room wasn't supposed to be a guest room at all, (hence no windows), but more a walk-in closet to sort and hang clothes.

I agree that Grandma doesn't seem very fond of Mullet (her face/reaction to baby #20 announcement was priceless). I also have never seen Mullet and Grandma spend time together on the show.

I'm kind of surprised that Boob and Mullet didn't make space for guest rooms. That house is huge, and there is quite a bit of wasted space (the two story living room, Boob's office). With all that land, they could have built something for guests, like studio apartments, if they didn't want guests to stay in TTH. IMO, no real guest rooms just shows how insular and isolated that they want the family to be.

I think Boob and Mullet will do something like that in the future. In the episode with the Vanderhoffs, the boys slept in the bus while the Vanderhoffs slept in the TTH. I think Boob and Mullet will do stuff like that for awhile when having guests. I can see them building cottages to use a guest houses. I know a couple of families that have done similar things. My uncle and aunt live on 20 acres of land in a rural area similar to the Duggars. Years ago, they bought a single wide trailer and put it on their property and guests stay there during family events.