Joseph Duggar and Kendra (Caldwell) Duggar
Jessa and Ben Seewald
Due with Baby #3 on June 3rd
Ben: "It will be fun to see these little ones interacting with a new brother or sister."
Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo
Jinger: "Watching Felicity grow this year...and seeing her little personality come out."
The Vuolos also announced yesterday that they are moving to Los Angeles. More info can be found in our March 25th blog post.
Joseph and Kendra Duggar
Kendra: "I think we would be thrilled to have baby number two. Since my mom just had a baby, I think for me it's just kind of given me a baby itch recently."
Joe: "We are planning on building a house, as well as still doing the car stuff. We'd be happy to have more kids, but all in God's timing."
Kendra: "We'll let Garrett grow up a little bit."
Josiah and Lauren Duggar
Josiah: "The first little one is with the Lord right now after a miscarriage, but looking forward to maybe expanding our family."
Joy-Anna and Austin Forsyth
Joy: "Gideon is started to walk kind of, not really by himself, but I think he'll be walking within the next month. Hopefully I'll either be pregnant or having a baby within the next year, so that will be exciting, going from one to two."
Last night's Counting On season finale episode is available on the TLC website (link below).
Counting On "A Bachelor No More"
Photo courtesy TLC
Not a word about career goals or growth.
ReplyDeleteYep, they have thwit priorities just right. Family is most important.
DeleteJoseph talked about that.
DeleteTheir career is a big family. That is a goal in life. A career is not important.
DeleteHaving babies IS a career in the Duggar family.
DeleteRight! I enjoy the show so much but I’m puzzled why careers seem so off the table. Don’t we all need nurses, doctors, lawyers, etc the list goes on. You can be faithful but also get a degree and work! I was thrilled to hear Derrick is pursuing a law degree, it will really benefit his family financially!
DeleteNot all moms need “careers” to feel satisfied with life. Some moms actually ENJOY being with their kids. (Shocking I know) Some moms HAVE to work for financial reasons but if they had the money they would love to be able to stay home with their kids. Don’t bash the Duggars for being able to do something that many other women wish they could do.
DeleteIt is possible to grow as a person without having a career. People do it everday. Some have no job and some maybe have jobs just to pay the bills but not in a career persay and some maybe retired. There is more to life than careers and more ways one can grow. If they choose to grow their family they can. Beauty of this country, we have freedoms to choose.
DeleteI was thinking the same thing.
DeleteThat's kind of rude to say that anonymous. They have a right to be stay at home moms. Career goals aren't for anybody .
Delete10:20- You make a nice passive-aggressive dig at moms with careers by insinuating they don't ENJOY being with their kids and that SAHM are somehow superior. You're doing the exact same kind of bashing you accuse the OP of doing, whose comment was only one sentece.
DeleteI wonder if everyone who mentions career actually has one.
Delete10:20- There are no Duggar women pursuing any kind of career. They all get married very young and start having kids without having experienced any kind of independence away from their parents' home. It's a solidified pattern and gives the impression that it's an expectation rather than a choice.
Delete4:38- A career is not important? It had better be if you expect to support a family. The Duggars represent a made-for-TV family that happened to have made a name for themselves because of their fertility. That's it. The average family of four cannot count on striking it rich with a TV show. Both men and women have to work at regular jobs. I have a family who I love dearly, but I also had a career before retirement that was important to me. It was a part of my identity. Don't assume everyone thinks as you do, that a job is insignificant in some way.
Delete@7:25 So true. And the comment about careers applies also to the male Duggars. Where are their plans? What are their goals? TLC will not go on for forever.
Delete7:58, if you have kids who are under school age and you don’t HAVE to work but choose to put your child in day care, that says a lot about your personality. Why even have kids?
Delete10:25- I'm not sure how one would grow a bank account if you never have a job or a career. Being a SAHM temporarilly is one thing, however a woman shouldn't expect to be dependent on a man for financial support forever. I think the Duggars and other mega TV families do not set a realistic example for people. They've make a lot of money that the average person will never see. Some viewers may think they, too, should have lots of kids, because the TV family makes it sound like it's all God's will and everything will work out if you just trust in the Lord. People who say something was God's will are really just doing what they wanted in the first place. I think God expects us to use common sense and not have kids you cannot support, whether emotionallly or financially. God isn't going to protect you from your own bad decisions.
DeleteIf they can afford for Kendra not to work outside the home, that's what's best for the children. Once you have kids, you do what's best for the kids. If you're aching to return to work, do it after they're out of the house.
Delete1:09- I went back to my full-time job after my kids were all in school. I'd have gone bonkers waiting until they'd all left home. We did fine.
DeleteThe Proverbs 31 woman worked to provide financially for her family. The Duggars seek to be Proverbs 31 women so having careers should fit into their value system.
DeleteI'd bet that the Duggars were quite grateful for all those career women who worked in the NICU when Josie came, for Michelle's female OB-GYN. I'm sure Jim Bob and Michelle valued that they all of college-educated and every one of them worked outside the home. Most likely some had children in daycare/babysitting and some had children in public school.
DeleteAs for the Duggars being some sort of role model, not everyone was born into a family, with a successful family business to inherit and build on like Jim Bob. They had some help along the way financially, with some people feeling sorry for them with that many children, gifting them needed items, and others gifting them products for promotional purposes.
As for the Mommy Wars- We can't assume that every family with a SAHM is well-heeled. Some have just worked hard, cut corners, and done without a house/big vacations/dinners out/new cars/the latest fashions because both spouses wanted to stay mom to be able to be home to raise the children full time. Some families are very well off and can afford a SAHM. I vote we just be responsible with our own incomes and love our spouses and children deeply.
102pI enjoyed raising my daughter, but I also enjoyed being out among adults also. I was blessed and stayed home till my daughter was in first grade then I went back to work part time. Full time when she was in high school. Once I started working outside the house I was a better wife and mother. Also, I lost my husband to cancer when my daughtet was a senior in high school. I must have done something right my daughter and I are extremely close and she is a great mother. So don't judge mothers who work.
DeleteWe were lucky. We made it on one good salary, protected by a mountain of life and disability insurance, and retired very comfortably. It is possible to grow a bank account if you live within your means (or better yet, below them), keep an "emergency" savings fund, invest wisely, and not touch your long-term savings until you're retired.
DeleteI know one salary is not always possible these days, partly because not all employers are offering 401K matches and pension plans the way they used to. Also, some people can't live modestly on one salary because of expenses where they live for the employment. I think it's fine if a woman works. I raise an eyebrow when I see an entire family of women who could work but don't. There's more at play there than sheer economics.
a stay at mommy is a full-time thankless job. So long as they have money coming in which they obviously do, it's not an issue
DeleteI hope that your husband thanks you for being a stay at home mother.
DeleteI will be so happy to see that Josiah and Lauren will have a baby soon, I'm sure they will. I was actually thinking a new pregnancy will be announced right on this season.
ReplyDeleteThey all were talking about more babies. Kendra though was like "I'm having baby fever" and then "Hmm, we'll let Garrett grow a little". Not sure she would want to have another baby right away.
I wonder when Kendra's mom had her baby - at the end of September they were at the beach, and she was 28 weeks, so 40 weeks would be end December? I also noticed that Lauren, Kendra's sister, was carrying Garrett most of the time, not Kendra. I'm curious why.
Joy looked very happy, but Austin was saying in another interview how hard the first year of the baby was. Joy is very used to having kids around and taking care of someone, but for Austin own family might be a big adjustment, he is only one of two kids in his family. Though I'm sure they both would want another child soon, so that Gideon would have a playmate.
I always love holding my nieces and nephews when they're around, my sisters barely hold their own kids when I'm therw because I want to see them. They still do all of the care of their kids though!
DeleteI think it's just aunt love, not pawning off the kids or anything like that.
Yeah. I don't think Austin is on board with another baby, but it will happen anyway. Joy has the "itch".
DeleteI agree with Rebecca Waters! I love holding my cousins' babies :)
DeleteI agree with Rebecca too. I live far away and don't get to see my nephews or cousins' babies very often. I hold them as much as I can when I see them. My sisters-in-love and cousins have never had a problem with "Auntie Lovein'". I also like to sugar them up and then give them back... ;)
DeleteAustin came off very serious in the interview. Kind off aloof.
Delete7:29, Austin is almost always that way on the show.
DeleteWhy are Joe & Kendra going to build a house when they just fixed that one right on the Duggar property? How big of a house do they need for 2 adults and a baby?
ReplyDeleteMaybe they are building on their own property...who wants to live in mom and dads backyard forever. They seem to be a bit more private than some of the couples. Their family will grow...blessings to them and their next home.
DeleteThey will get a big family. So they need a big house soon.
DeleteThey're going to need a bigger house if Kendra keeps getting that "baby itch" every couple of years. lol
DeleteThey probably want to own their own house and eventually move out of the house his parents own. Nothing wrong with wanting to be more independent. Grandma Mary’s cabin on the Duggar property was never meant to be their house forever.
DeleteMaybe Jana will move into that house when Joe and Kendra move out. She does so much for that family, they should just give it to her.
DeleteI wonder if they're planning to move out so someone else can use that house as their honeymoon home?
DeleteNow Joy wants another baby. That's going to be a large crop of new babies. 1. Jessa 2. Anna 3. Lauren 4. Abbie 5. Kendra 6. Joy. TLC will have their hands full with that.
ReplyDelete7. Jill 8. Jinger
DeleteI wonder if they homeschool older grandkids together, they should. Like one daughter should have a day school for all of the gradndkids, so others would tend to their babies.
I feel like Jill will be in that baby boom too. But TLC will only have 5 to cover since they can’t show Jill and haven’t really shown Anna since Josh came home. But 7 babies in a 1-1.5 year span is shaping up to be a real possibility
DeleteAnon @ 3:14 Thats going to make one boring season!
Delete12:40, that depends on what you like to see. Personally I think it would make for an interesting season, and the one following would be even more so.
Delete12:40 PM - it's going to be a profile study of some birth center in Arkansas or a local hospital :). If 7 sisters (or sisters-in-law) will go there together to have their babies. They probably should create like a Duggar sponsored birth center, where they all go to give birth. It's weird, but except for Jinger, they all live in the same area.
DeleteI think Jill might wait a little, with Derick being in school, and also after 2 c-sections... But the rest 6 are total real possibility. Abbie is going to be 27 in April, she I'm sure wants to start on babies right away. Joy might feel she has to do it to be a good wife. Lauren obviously wants to
I be nice to have updates on Josh and Anna and Jill and Derrick's families not just the other married couples that they show on t.v . It is not really nice to leave them out just because they make a few mistakes no one is perfect .
ReplyDeletePlease don’t water down what Josh did to “a few mistakes”. As far as what Ellie shares, she can’t post anything unless they give her something to post, she’s not purposefully excluding anyone.
DeleteThey can only post the info that is given to them to post! Tlc may leave thos families out, but this blog has had several updates about the couples when they are given updates to share with us.
DeleteIt is their choice to live private lives. People should respect that.
DeleteDon't water down what Derick said either. Then there was that whole business about choosing to leave and not being "volunteers" on the show any more. Now Jill & Derick are doing fine in the publicity department on their own. If you want updates, they give them themselves elsewhere.
Delete8:00 PM -- What Josh did was horrible, but we're all sinners. I'm not on board with punishing Josh in perpetuity, when that's not how my God works. If Josh has truly repented and sought forgiveness, then I'm fine with him being on any show. I'd like to see him and his family featured.
Delete2:10, what Derick did is in NO WAY comparable to what Josh did. What he did was rude and immature, and personally I think he should have apologized for calling out a specific person who was still under age; however what he said wasn’t unforgivable.
DeleteAnonymous 8:01 I agree! I wonder how many people Josh could help with similar issues by talking about it and Anna could help many wives by sharing how she got through that time. Forgiveness is what the bible teaches...isn't it?
Delete@9:36 Derick's actions may not have warranted a police investigation, but they were also extremely hurtful and disgusting. It wasn't a matter of "speaking out" - it was deliberate hateful speech targeted at one group of people for a specific reason. In my town, someone recently spray painted similar words on a building and the police did get involved.
Delete@10:00 Forgiveness doesn't mean you check your common sense at the door. Trust has to be earned and when someone has been so betrayed as Anna has, it can take a very long time to be ready and willing to trust again. Hopefully, Josh knows this and will never repeat his behavior again.
Delete10:15, the problem was that he targeted a specific person, he doesn’t have to agree with the transgender lifestyle. But at the same time there wasn’t any reason for him to voice his opinion since on one asked for it.
DeleteWhat Derrick did was so wrong. He's entitled to believe what he wants. But, doesn't the Bible say Judge not lest ye be judged. Also, Jesus was about love. Plus, never bite the hand that feeds you- TLC. Have any of you that are judging watch Jazz? She comes from a loving family. Have any of you judgers ever been around gay people or talked to them? They are people with feelings too. You are entitled to believe what you want, that still doesn't give you the right to say hurtful things to people. Let ye that is free of sin cast the first stone. Cindy
Delete7:56, the Bible also says to judge with righteous judgment. And his words weren't particularly nasty, they were true. The person who is named Jazz is a boy. It's in his DNA. The number of suicides among transgenders is high, even in countries where it's more accepted. Something deep in their souls is not satisfied.
Delete@8:30 What do you think a reason might be for all those suicides? Perhaps the way they are treated by some very vocal and opinionated people who know how to use the spotlight for their personal agenda, no matter how much it might hurt someone else?
Deletetelling the truth isn't 'hate speech.'Too many of you here are part of the snowflake generation. well get over it and get tougher! The world isn't going to coddle you and give you safe spaces
Delete12:50, I think the reason is that they're trying to find their identity in something that will never truly satisfy the God-shaped hole in their souls. And that's not just true for transgenders. It's true for those who try to satisfy themselves with alcohol or drugs or more and better possessions or fame or any number of temporary things.
DeleteBabies...babies...babies...babies...babies...babies...
ReplyDeletehey at least they're anti abortion and infanticide 😁
DeleteIt's funny that Kendra has a "baby itch" when she currently has a baby.
ReplyDeleteIt's how they roll. Joy seems to have the same itch.
DeleteI was thinking the same thing. Be happy right now, enjoy the time right now.
DeleteBut her baby is bigger. There's just something about a newborn.
DeleteThere’s nothing wrong with wanting two babies close together. Garrett was like 6 months old when she said that and some of the Duggar kids are only like a year apart so it wouldn’t be too wild for them to have another kid. He’s like 9 months now so if she were to get pregnant now they’d be 1.5 years apart...which is completely normal and larger gap then most of her in laws. You didn’t say anything about Joy saying the same thing and she has a baby too, who is only 4 months older than Gideon.
DeleteI have a 3.5 month old baby and I am feeling a "baby itch".
DeleteOnly difference is Austin doesn't seem as thrilled at the idea as Joy!
DeleteI can relate to Kendra. I also would get the "baby itch" and God bless us with four children in 5 years. My first two are 11 months apart. Now they're all adults and I'm itching for grandchildren :).
DeleteI had a “baby itch” when my son was only 5 months old, people thought I was crazy but it was just how I felt. I loved motherhood so much & as both my husband & myself were only children I really wanted my son to have a sibling close in age. We did leave off trying for a while & when our son was 15 months I was very lucky to get pregnant on first trying & my daughter was born when my little boy was 25 months. I felt it was a perfect gap as they grew up together & are to this day at 23 & 21 very close.
DeleteI think she’s just immature and didn’t really articulate what she really meant.
Deletei was going to say the same thing. How can you have the "baby itch" when you still have one? Give Gideon a chance to enjoy babyhood without adding a sibling....all in good time.
ReplyDeleteA twin never goes through baby hood without having a sibling. Whatever they choose to do Garret will be fine.
DeleteMy baby is 13 months-old and I am almost 1 month pregnant, very much on purpose :) They will be 22 months apart, and though it's not much, I hope it will allow themto be close friends. And we want a third but I am feeling the pressure of the biological clock (40 years old next fall!) so we're hurrying things up a bit :D
DeleteI love big families! I hope they all get their wishes and there will be many more babies coming soon.
ReplyDeleteLauren has such a beautiful voice! Praying God gives her and Josiah the desires of their hearts.
ReplyDeleteJill and Derick should never have been forced off the show. I'm tired of Christians not being able to have a voice and stand up for what we believe in.
ReplyDeleteHe said what he wanted to say....trouble is his employer didn't like it. We all have opinions and want to express them, we must however act in a Christian manner with the delivery. How would Derick feel if someone said something judgemental and rude about his children. Let's get past this, it's old news and no matter how mamy times it comes up it won't change.
DeletePeople need to quit it with this. Derick said he CHOSE to leave.
DeleteAgreed, Savannah! It is imperative that Christians stand up for what the Word of God says. If they don't, they will be shut up and shut out. We must be bold.
DeleteSavannah H.- How have your rights as a Christian been infringed upon, exactly? You are free to worship as you please. Standing up for your beliefs does not include devaluing or disrepecting the beliefs of others. Derick made public comments that directly belittled another TLC family, as well as TLC. It was his decision to leave the show.
DeleteDerick was just stating a biological fact.
Delete6:36 PM - what judgmental can be said about Israel and Sam? Derick was not judgmental about Jazz. He was pointing out that the sky is blue even if someone wants to call it green.
DeleteAmen 11:15!!! When a Christian voices their opinion and it goes against main stream opinion; it’s automatically wrong! Whatever happen to our freedom to believe and speak as we choose? Is that only applied to liberal non- believers???
Delete@11:15 @7:23 You can't stand on a soapbox and declare your dislike and disdain for a particular group of people and their lifestyle just because a religious book told you that you should consider it wrong. That has never worked in society and never will. Doesn't your book tell you to love your neighbor? And not judge?
Delete@7:23 - "Liberal non-believers" aren't asking you to become LGBT. They are asking that you not attack those people in the name of your religion. Keep your particular message within your own church walls. Shout it to the rafters there if you want. Only don't impose it on others once you step outside. If you choose to ignore that advice, then be prepared for what will happen (job loss, possibly) and what opinion people will have of you and your actions (it won't be good). But don't cry persecution. The world is not your church. That needs to be in bold and Italic, or said again. The world is not your church...
Delete@9:09 Derick is a fine one to speak on that subject of biology. He took the mouth God gave him and completely changed it with surgery into something it wasn't at birth. Was he not comfortable with his given palette? Then he should understand how others can be uncomfortable with what they were given.
DeleteSavannah, there are ways to express your values and it's not putting other people who are different then you down.It's people like Derrick who give Christians a bad name. You don't deliberately hurt a teenage girl. Or bite the hand that feeds you.
Delete11:25, your logic is ridiculous. Changing the shape of your jaw is changing a physical feature, not the fundamentals of who you are as a person.
DeleteMaybe Derick feels like a new person now that his jaw has changed.
DeleteHaha, no, he probably does not feel like a new person.
DeleteImo we just need a Jinger and Jeremy show. They are the most interesting to watch and appear to have the more unique worldview of all the family members.
ReplyDeleteNothing against the other family members, it's just... We can only hear about baby fever and wedding planning so many times, haha.
I think the Vuolos' worldview is not more unique, but less unique -- more like the rest of us. :)
DeleteDo they have any personal goals? Anything outside of having a baby, expanding the family, their housing situations? Not saying there's anything wrong with hoping to have more children, I'd just be interested to know how they're growing as people. What new thing/skills are they learning or doing individually? As a couple? What new interests are they pursuing individually or as a couple?
ReplyDeleteTheir primary goal is to save souls.
DeleteI bet there is a whole lot of their lives we don't see. It looks like they only want to create souls not save them.
DeleteI would never guess their primary goal is to save souls when they rarely mention God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit on their show. The activities their filmed engaging in are for the most part self-serving, not God-serving (minus an annual mission trip)- excepting Jeremy and Jinger. It's almost exclusively baby showers, 1000+ guest weddings featuring designer dresses and stunts, flipping houses, on-camera births, parties, manicures, shopping trips (Magnolia), and cutting/promoting a "little girls'" album. How much praise is God getting and how much are the Duggars getting?
Delete11:51 I wish they would show what really goes on in this family. Air the things we read about in the news. Air the news about the churches and the institutions they are involved with. Air the news about the people who are their friends. It all reads like the curtain that the Wizard of Oz hid behind. Don't look!
DeleteThose trips and parties are nothing in comparison to what airing the truth would be like on the show. The truth is already out there. But it's being conveniently ignored while they show another wedding stunt or another glittery dress. I consider acting one way when something else is really going on to be very un-Christian.
Sometimes I wonder if Jana is intentionally holding off on marriage as a means of birth control/self preservation. She seems to have so many interests and has developed so many skills outside of child rearing, that perhaps when she looks at what marriage would be for her (and what it currently is for her sisters), in the context of her family's expectations, she'd rather do her own thing as long as possible and then marry in her 30s, have a couple kids, and be able to maintain her own hobbies as well. This hypothesis could be totally wrong, but her family and most men she comes into contact with in their religious culture don't approve of family planning/contraception or wives working outside the home, so holding off on marriage might be a useful strategy. When/if Jana decides to marry, I hope the guy is a real mench--absolutely adoring Jana and secure enough in his manhood to encourage her in whatever she wants to do.
DeleteThey said “building a house” not “building a bigger house”. They want to be homeowners rather than continue to live in one of the Duggar rentals indefinitely.
ReplyDeleteI still don’t understand why the family refuses to acknowledge the massive role the TV show has played in all of their lives. Outside of the reality TV world, two young adults with little education and no gainful employment wouldn’t be building homes, decorating them, going on vacations abroad, and endlessly planning parties. I hate how they deny that their lives are not humble, ordinary or realistic.
DeleteHonestly they don’t actually travel that much. Yes, the adult children all went abroad for their honeymoon and occasionally they go on mission trips but apart from that they don’t travel abroad very often. I don’t know about you but in my country it’s normal to travel abroad at least once every year. I have family in 3 different country and last year I flew 14 times. Going on vacation once in a while is not excessive nor is it unrealistic. Maybe you view their lifestyle as such but I certainly don’t. My lifestyle is more glamorous than theirs tbh and I’m just a regular person without a well-paid job.
Delete10:49, I’ve never heard them deny that, if anything I’ve heard Jessa say frequently “our lives sure have changed a lot through the years”.
DeleteHopefully things go as planned or mostly go as planned for all. Hows Grandma MARY DUGGAR? We don't see much about her often.
ReplyDeleteAll that talk of having babies by Kendra and Joy and "expanding" the family by Josiah puts a lot of pressure on Lauren to have a baby right away. I hope she can have a successful pregnancy soon.
ReplyDeleteoh I know. It may take time and that's ok. Pregnancy loss is devastating
DeleteThey all want to have more babies. That should make for an interesting new season on TLC.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how? Watching Jana’s garden grow is more interesting.
Delete4:37, How is a Garden more interesting than babies?
Delete9:40 Contrary to what you may think, not everyone is enamoured with other people's babies and children or wants to spend a great deal of time with them. Some prefer gardening or other activity.
Delete11:18, yes however the comment “watching a garden grow” sounded very snarky, much like “watching paint dry”.
Delete@8:54 We already had to watch paint dry on that show - hundreds of painted flamingos.
Deleteif ya don't like babies, don't watch the show
DeleteYes, if you're going to complain about a show with lots of babies, then maybe you should pick a different family to watch. :)
DeleteThey left out John-David and Abbie.
ReplyDeletePerhaps they don't want to discuss their plans just now.
DeleteI so enjoyed the whole show. Jana did such a good job on the wedding. Loved the whole kiss lol. #ilovetheduggars favorite show. Hope the next season dont take to long. Still miss seeing Jill and Josh's families
ReplyDeleteIf Jana wanted to make event planning a full or part time job, she would do well both in the field and financially.
DeleteLauren seems so fragile. I hope she recovers her strength soon.
ReplyDeleteyes she does. It'll take time to heal physically and emotionally mentally. It's a rough spot but I hope that being around her nieces and nephews will help heal her
DeleteI agree with anon 6.53. We all need doctors, nurses, lawyers & engineers, what exactly would happen if the whole world had this attitude that growing your family was the most important thing & a career was unimportant ? The world would cease to function. No electricity, gas, cars everything wound stop as no one wound be working to produce anything. I know it’s a radical analogy but my point is most people can still be deeply religious & have a career where they are helping others, everyone one way or another is serving Christ, even the street cleaners. I do find it strange that the Duggar’s have no ambition to have careers at all. It is the one thing that really concerns me, what do they think of the rest of us that actually do work, are we lesser a person or love god less ? I know I certainly don’t love god any less just because I work full time. I actually thank god every day for the skills he gave me that have enabled me to bring lives into the world safely & also have saved many lives too over my 30 year+ career.
ReplyDeleteThe Duggar daughters want to raise their children. They know that if they don’t work the world is not going to stop spinning. Do you complain on actors pages about them not having “real jobs”? I doubt it. This is the Duggars life, and they are fortunate enough to not need to work 9-5 jobs and miss out on their children’s lives.
DeleteThe lack of ambition and careers really bothers me too. I especially am sad for the women who get married so young, with little adult life experience, no higher education, no work experience, no idea how to live on their own. How can their only purpose be to have babies? Is it fear of being out in the world that makes them choose this life? My heart aches for the lost potential.
DeleteAnon 10.57. Just to let you know I didn’t miss out on my children’s lives at all. I worked full time till I had my son at 29 then went back to work part time when my children were 9 & 11 (this was due to necessity as I was left a single mum). I only worked 5 hours while my children were at school, I still took them every morning & picked them up at the end of the day (I have no parents alive to help). When my children were both 16 & 18 I only then went back to work full time. My son & daughter are my LIFE I have no other living relatives so obviously they are my world. I sat for hours with them every night helping them study for exams & the 3 of us are incredibly close. As for the comment about actors not having “real jobs” that’s ridiculous, as it’s very hard work being an actor. The Duggar’s however are not actors, they have a reality tv show, which at present seems to get shorter & shorter each season, so I’m not sure they can be making that much out of it when there are so many of them. I love the Duggar’s but I would like to see just even one of them decide to go to university or do an apprenticeship, or get any kind of job outside the family. I’m not just talking about the girls but the boys, all, one way or another do something with Jim Bob, flipping houses or cars. I’m all for stay at home mums, but I thank god now my children are away at university & im alone without any other family, that I have my job to go to every day. I feel I am being a productive member of society & giving something back by way of what I do. I feel like anon 12.42 that they are wasting their potential & in years to come when their children have gone if any of those girls are left alone for whatever sad reason, they will maybe wish they had a career to turn to.
Delete10:57- So, it's ok for men to have regular 9-5 jobs and miss out on their kids' lives? I think it's a good idea for at least one parent to be at home with the children, at least until they're in school and it's financially feasible. However, I don't understand why it automatically has to be the mom that does. If she has a career and is the higher income earner, it makes sense for her to keep working and the dad stay at home.
DeleteI don't understand their lack of foresight for their future. I began making provision for my retirement in my mid-twenties and it didn't include dependence on a man. 40 years later it's paid off and I'm enjoying my retirement even with a failed marriage along the road. The Duggars just seem to live in the present and act like "God will take care of them" without any effort on their part to provide for their old age.
Delete@10:57. Actors are very different from the Duggars. Actors study and perfect their art. They take on various roles in the theater, TV and in movies. Many spend years working for low pay. The Duggars are reality celebrities; they are not actors.
DeleteWomen with careers are ALSO raising their children. And, as the poster wrote, women doctors, women lawyer, women accountants.. contribute to society. And yes, many things we take for granted we would not have, if it was not for women's contribution to society.
Example, I am a cancer survivor. All of my doctors (and I have about 10 doctors involved in my care), except for one, are women. For my surgery, there was ONLY females in the operating room. These women saved my life.
The Duggars do not understanding that it is not the number of children you have that makes you a good mother. It is time, effort and energy you spend on the children you DO have.
My mother was a stay at home mom when my father died suddenly while at work. I was 7, my sister was 4, my mom was 29. Fortunately, my mother had both a college degree, and some work experience, and was able to keep a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and food on the table.
DeleteOur family circumstances changed completely in just one moment, and the kind of life and lifestyle my parents had planned was suddenly not possible. Things like this happen to people all the time, and though no one likes to plan for the worst case scenario, it’s just not wise for the Duggar daughters to go into adulthood without any marketable skills, regardless of their life plans. I feel that the Duggars have done a real disservice to their daughters in this respect. We don’t know what the future holds for any of us.
12:42pm - and their hearts are full of happiness and appreciation for their parents who provided them with this safe and secure life, not throwing them out into the world, to struggle in school, job search, lack of money, pressure of decision making...
DeleteWhy do you want to be "out in the world"?? To drink, do drugs, go somewhere aimlessly? They do know their purpose. Why do you want to pressure someone to go somewhere they don't want to be, or be someone they have no desire to be?
5:12 You say that even street cleaners are important, yet you act like what the Duggars do isn’t important. People need good, reliable used cars. Someone needs to fix them up and resell the them. Properties need to be taken care of. Houses need to be repaired and sold. Their jobs are just as important as anyone else’s. They are making the funds to support their families and that is what is important.
DeleteFuzzyferret, I am referring to while children are still under school age. If a mother wants to work when they are in school there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, nor is there anything wrong when a mother has to work because she is single or her husbands income is not enough to support their family. But for the Duggars that is not the case, the moms CAN afford to stay home and they WANT to. If the girls wanted to begin a career in the future, they could go to school at that time. Currently though, that is obviously not what they want or have to do. 2:49, if a wife makes a larger income than her husband and she wants to work and let him be a stay at home dad, there is no problem in that either, that’s up to each couple to decide.
DeleteGee 6:35 you make it sound as if everyone but the Duggars is drinking, doing drugs, and wandering aimlessly.
DeleteYou also are trying to make it sound as if there would be no money for school or a place to live. The Duggars could afford to educate their kids. If they'd struggle in school, it's because they didn't get a good enough education at home. "Pressure of decision making"? Adults need to learn to make their own decisions and face any pressure that might come with them. Life it not an easy ride that your parents give you by keeping you sheltered the whole time and under their control. That's not a service to any child.
@6:35-I don’t know...maybe so Duggar kids can experience reality.
DeleteI'm homeschooling and have a very bright kid. If he wants to be a plumber...great!
Delete@9:47 Tell him to hurry up - I have a kitchen faucet that's acting up!! :)
Delete@1057 I also am a cancer survivor-11 yrs breast cancer free. My surgeon was a woman. I'm sorry if I step on toes here, but all children boy or girl should be encouraged to go to college and get a degree or to a trade school. To go away to school away from their parents. Also, to work for awhile before getting married and having children.
DeleteWhy aren't they taking the time to enjoy the babies they have right now instead of constantly thinking ahead of the next baby? I really don't understand this obsession some of them seem to have with breeding. Apparently most of them only exist to have babies. Don't they have anything they would like to do except having kids? Your not just a mom or a dad, there is so many other things they could be except the one role they talk about.
ReplyDeleteWhy use the word breed, as though they are animals? I think their parents have made marriage and family life appealing enough that they are eager to undergo it themselves.
DeleteThey don’t only exist to have babies, but that is very important to them. I am glad to see a family that loves children and cares for them! If they consider family the most important role in their lives, then that is what they will focus on. Work is just work. Who gets to the end of life and says they wish they had worked more? People regret not spending time with family, so they are smart to make that a priority now.
DeleteBirthing is priority one for all the Duggar’s.
Delete@7:53- When I look back on my life I don't wish I'd worked more, but I certainly enjoyed my career and the opportunities it gave me to learn and grow as a human being. My pension is coming in mighty handy now that I'm retired. I also don't regret not spending more time with my family, as I stayed home with my kids until they started school. I feel I had the best of both worlds. Women aren't doing themselves any favors by thinking they can depend on a man to support them forever.
DeleteI love being a stay at home mom who homeschools. I don't buy into the women need to work to feel needed and successful crap. If I am a lawyer who makes good $$$ yet have a kid in prison, I would see myself as a failure. Kids are a reflection of you. That being said, women who do have careers aren't necessarilyfailures as parents but they don't have the time. Daycares raise the Kids. I know as I worked in one and sadly many of those kids as adults are not successful. They are on antidepressants and suicidal and in need of serious intervention
Delete@9:51- A few points: 1. It's not up to you to decide for how other women should feel about working outside the home, or not. 2. Being a SAHM is no guaratee that her children will never be incarcerated. 3. Your last claim that "many" daycare children are unsuccessful and suicidal is based on what? Have you followed those kids you worked with right on through adulthood? Don't make wild claims you cannot support with hard research. I can make adectodal observations as well, one of them being I worked with children whose mothers stayed home and "some" of them struggled and had emotional problems.
DeleteAnother observation - My friend has owned a daycare & preschool for over 40 years. She's owned it so long that she's gone to weddings of her former students and then had their children in her school. I don't recall her ever speaking about the kids she had in her facility being depressed or suicidal as adults. @9:51 Maybe the daycare you worked in wasn't as good as it should have been? Everyone in my friend's school has 4-year Early Childhood Education degrees (including my friend), so they're not just babysitters making minimum wage until they can find something better to do. This is their career.
DeleteI have a friend who has retired now, but she worked in a daycare. She has a 4 yr degree in library science. She was a teacher prior to working in daycare. She also worked out of her home babysitting 3 kids and in the summer when she watched my daughter 4 children, when her two children were younger. All of these children turned out great. Half of these kids are college graduates. And, my friends son is a teacher and her daughter and her husband own their own business Also, when you state that children are a reflection of their parents what about what Josh did? Wasn't that against the law? I'm also pretty sure the owner of the daycare wouldn't like knowing that you are running down her business. If you want to stay at home that's your business but, don't put down working mothers.
DeleteDear Duggars, I enjoyed John and Abbie's wedding. Jessa and Ben's special announcement. I can't wait until the gender reveal and June 6th birth. Hopefully they'll be getting a bigger house with more bedrooms. I can't wait to see what's in store for season 10 and the couples. Hopefully a new season will start by the end of summer. Possibly more episodes and less re-runs of stuff we've seen. Would love to see Joy, Anna, Jill and the families. Natasha B.
ReplyDeleteOK, so next in the new is Abbie's pregnancy announcement with the baby due by November and named Finn (after Finland, place of their honeymoon).
ReplyDeleteNext close to it is Lauren's pregnancy announcement, and it's twins!
Jessa has her baby at the end of May, Jinger visits, gets "baby itch", and on felicity's birthday they find out Jinger is expecting again.
Joy and Kendra make a pregnancy pact to give their husbands new babies for their birthdays (Austin;s is in December and Joseph's in January).
Anna has her next baby in the Fall, which would be 2 years + after her last one.
Jill takes her kids to a real pre-school and starts the same law school where Derick goes now.
Jill already said she’s homeschooling.
DeleteJill would never be able to get into law school. You need a bachelors degree and she doesn’t have hardly any education.
DeleteI love the sarcasm....thanks for the laugh.
DeleteAnon 4.02. What you said about your all female surgical team that saved your life was a very inspiring thing to hear. From someone who has spent 30+ years working in the UK medical system it is a wonderful thing to hear about all those empowering women who were there for you & something I see in my work more & more. I could not agree more with what you said that it’s not the number of children you have that makes you a good mother but the time & effort you put in, your so right, I gave up my social life completely when I was left alone with my young children so I could be there for them every night, help with homework & support & love them any way I could. Good luck with your continuing good health & your recovery, it is a wonderful thing what science & skill can do today.
ReplyDeleteFuzzyferet and Anon 4.02--yes, yes, and yes! I realized as I was lying in the OR during my c-section to have my daughter three years ago, that all seven people in the room (besides my husband) were women. My OBGYN, the anesthesiologist, the nurses...and it made me tear up that my daughter was being brought into the world by these wonderful female professionals. What a difference 100 years makes! These women had studied and worked so hard to achieve their goals for themselves and to help others. If the Duggar women's aspiration is motherhood, more power to them; if it's not, then I'd hope their belief in God-given gifts/callings would give them the confidence to support their daughters in whatever they choose to pursue.
DeleteIt's endlessly ironic that the Duggars depend on working people, including working women, to film and produce their show about how women should be SAHM's.
ReplyDeleteIt's also ironic that they depend on professional women to do some or all of their health care. They go see those women, then come home and film about how a woman's calling and greatest role in life is to stay home and have lots of babies. Isn't that a backhanded put-down of the professional women whose services they just used?
DeleteYes, it's taking advantage of a system that they fundamentally don't agree with on many points.
Deleteif every woman was a SAHM there would be no midwifes to help them give birth.
Deletewell... taking away a job a man would have done 😂 you all are s ooo funny...
Delete9:52- Who's taking away jobs from men?
DeleteNever really gave it too much thought, but all my drs are female. Just think it's sad that the best the Duggars and some other people think is the best they can do is be housewives and sahm. Nothing wrong with choosing that, but please realize that there are other choices out there, and that at some point all your children grow up, and if you did your job right move on to lives of their own. Also, husbands may pass away young, mine did, or divorce.
DeleteToo bad there's so much intolerance for the Duggars' decisions about their own families. The Duggars are not forcing their beliefs on anyone. Besides, how do any of you criticizing the Duggars know that any of the women they work with have young children at home? Perhaps their children are in college? Lots of assumptions here. Go criticize someone of another monotheistic religion and see how far you get. You might get a fatwa issued against you or the ADL on your case. Christians are easy targets nowadays.
DeleteI love the Duggars but i think it would be wise to get some degree. If something happens with a husband, how is a young woman without a good education able to take care financially of her children? I think a good education is important for everybody. I wish them all the best..... And i enjoy seeing the children
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of cultures around the world that like women to be dependent. The Duggars have made it very clear they are such people.
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