cereality

Same thing every month. The videos show people crammed shoulder to shoulder, waiting in line to get in blah blah. Yet at the end of the day/the next day when they do their ritual - OMG we're soooooo tired but it was sooooo good to see all of our special "friends" - you look over their shoulders to a store that is still PACKED with inventory. Like it does not look all that much different than the shots they show before the sale starts. So they're overbuying inventory + their customers aren't buying much. From what we've seen in the IG videos tagging BSB, it's Bates fan girls that head to these sales to get their pics with Whit/Carlin/Kelly/Law/whoever, making them feel like they are "friends" if they attend monthly and then they probably buy 1 piece of clothing out of politeness. And agree with whoever above said - maybe some people WOULD buy more but when they arrive and it's shoulder to shoulder and they can barely see the inventory/find sizes, they leave or if they want pics with Carlin/Whit and want to be able to say hey look I bought stuff - they buy 1 thing. And out of all those people, I saw ONE lady in a mask and my first reaction - I can see Whit being like "ew why does that lady have a mask" and turning away/moving her kids. IDK why but Whit gives me that kind of bitchy vibe. And I can see Carlin/Evan helpfully telling that lady that she doesn't need a mask/covid is over/blah blah. So you know they posted the YT Q&A last week to bump their views up. Guess what they STILL didn't get over 166k - the 160s have been their max lately whether it's Z's birthday or Carlin's health or whatever with tons of weeks in between with only 115-130k. I mean they just aren't breaking 200k anymore. Cue pregnancy any second now . . . .

The one IG reference I’ve seen to school is stopping by school a few times to pick up paperwork re his union credential in case he wants to keep it active/ever get back in to electrical work. On their recent Q&A he said clearly - and proudly - that he’s never taken any kind of class re editing and when he needs to learn something he watches a YT video.

And inexplicably they’ve announced more than once in the lead up to this sale that they have purchased more inventory just for this sale. Suggesting clear as day that the stacks and stacks of inventory they have are stale/out of style/out of season and they know if they just did a sale of those, people would buy 1 item or maybe just a slice of pizza (or whatever the food offering is this time) out of politeness and BSB would generate no real money. This is a desperate attempt to drive foot traffic w new goods in hopes to sell some old junk too. This business is going to collapse on itself - under the weight of its own inventory. I do corporate bankruptcy work and I’ve seen it time and time again in retail. I’m convinced it’s creative accounting right now keeping this whole thing “profitable.” C&E should put aside any dreams they have of opening a store or franchising this - as they so eagerly brought up in the Q&A. It ain’t happening - the market for cheap clothes is more than captured by WMT, TJ Maxx, Burlington, Target etc and no business lasts where it caters to one small demographic - ie leghumpers who show up at these sales to get a pic w Law or Katie’s baby or whichever favorite Bates.

I imagine meeting her bio parents is just a hypothetical. If she was left on the hospital steps, there prob is no way to track down who left her esp 20+ yrs ago when China likely did not have the facial recognition technologies to track citizens' movement the way it does now in big cities. IDK if she was even from a big city - if she's from a rural area, then they prob don't even that that tech now unlike say Beijing. Wonder if she was thinking - but since there's no practical way to meet my parents, I have no other reason I'd want to go to China. Yet if a call came tomorrow telling her who her parents are/that they want to see her, maybe she and Law would get on the next flight.

The more they talk about themselves and their lives, the worse I feel for Layla. Just seeing that kid, you're always left with the feeling that she NEEDS structure, education, educational toys, adults who focus on HER 8 hrs/day, and talk about all kinds of topics OTHER THAN makeup, nails, hair. Of course church preschool is an option - I imagine that's what Carlin was alluding to, but I think Evan is being shrewd about this. From that video you can tell the homeschool pressure is from HIM (maybe his family too since they rely on his side so much IDK), whereas she is so uninterested in the kids she'd be happy to send them away for 8 hrs/day. He's looking down the road. If he agrees to FT preschool 40 hrs/wk, then his wife will next be like hey why can't the kids do Christian k-12 if it was ok for preschool. Just googling one of what I'm sure are a dozen Christian schools in Knox - preschool = $6000-7500/yr (depending on how many days a week you want - full or part time; though obv at a church would be cheaper). Elementary = $8200/yr. Middle/HS = $9200/yr. Ain't no way is he getting his wife used to something that'll cost him 15-20k per yr for 2 kids - and they aren't even done with having kids yet. What's good for the kids be damned. I mean even if they are making a killing on social media, so what, he wants to spend that killing on Teslas and the custom home he wants, not on stupid education when his dumbass wife can handle that. And he's looking at lifestyle. The man can't get himself out of bed and to work. No way he's tying himself to 12+ yrs of a life of everyone up before 7, out the door at 8 - again what's good for the kids be damned. I think he's pushing co-op + dance/soccer/whatever HARD because it's an easier life. When you're chilling at Katie's for 2 weeks for another baby watch, so what the kids just don't go. When your wife is pregnant with kid #3 and you're running dr to dr, so what you just do don't co op that semester [I don't think Alyssa's kids have done co-op this yr bc of the Golden Penis pregnancy and newborn phase]. And co-op "semesters" are very short. From what we've seen of Alyssa - it starts in late Aug and is done for the winter before Thanksgiving. Evan would put up with 3 mos of 1-2 days/wk - and they'd act like heroes just like Alyssa for getting every one out the door on time once a wk while still stopping for coffee . . . . And even then on days where you overslept or whatever, eh skip it. It's like they don't understand or care that parents have been getting kids out of the house for school and themselves to work on time since the dawn of time - it's just what adults do - and in that phase of life (i.e. k-12 and then until retirement), yes your life is tied to the school + work schedules whether your love it or not.

John's family business has employees though because they've def showed pics of holding a holiday dinner and there are 20+ guys there. John only has 3-4 brothers and only 1-2 nephews of age, so all those other people are employees. I'm not suggesting they are bringing Jackson into the business and offering him partnership and a share of the profit - of course that's for the family. But at this point Jackson would just do well to earn a decent consistent living and get the relevant training and licenses. Kelly did say something on Jackson's pic re - can't wait to see your apartment. So no matter what it is, he has rented himself a place and won't be keeping Emmy in a trailer or something. Step up from Arkansas. I tend to think this is true for him. He was the one that wanted to enlist, mommy and daddy said no and said ALERT was just as good - lol - and he NEVER came back to Knox after that. I mean ALERT got canceled due to Covid in March 2020 and he still didn't return home - he went to the Duggars. He then got himself a job doing construction with someone else [IDK who but he randomly popped up in NJ a few times and had dinner with Katie] and then back to the Duggars working with Jason (or one of them?) in construction living on their land. He is close with Z and gives me the same vibe as younger Z. Z bought into his parents' BS like a good oldest son for years - if he was a Godly man, he'd get what he wanted blah blah. Then the girl he wanted to marry dumped him and Z's attitude towards his parents changed noticeably. It was a lot more - G&K are full of $hit and haven't cracked the meaning of life and I'm gonna do what I want even though they've handicapped me with minimal education etc. That's when he went to the county commissioner's office and got an office job he held for years, went to the police academy, chatted up Whit at Sonic and dated her, kissed her etc. Ultimately Z got brought back into the fold bc Whit is SOOOO desperate to fit in with G&K. But Jackson could be harboring the same time of grudge - you talked me out of doing what I wanted to do with military and I stupidly listened, well fine but now I'm going to go make the life I want and I don't need to be close to you and have you throwing in your two cents at all times.

A few impressions - Carlin to me seems unwell like Michelle Duggar always seemed unwell. Yeah it's clearly due to how she was raised but you're 25 now - screw mommy and daddy - if you need therapy, get therapy. If Jill Duggar can do it, why can't you? IDK that adding to your kid collection like they are model airplanes will help anything. Carlin seems READY to send Layla to school as she mentioned pre school and being on a school schedule next yr [lol - waking before 10??], and EVAN jumped in more than once - saying well homeschool with a few days of co-op per week; and later again saying how YOUR college degree will help with homeschool etc. This moron who can't even potty train a 3.25 year old over a span of 2 MONTHS is going to homeschool? I'm calling it now - Layla and all their kids will be the type who never properly learn to read/with proper comprehension - mommy/daddy will never notice or care leading them to a lifetime of just being behind. I'm convinced that's what happened to many in the Bates and Duggar clans including Carlin - and they cover it up with just the 'oh I'm just supposed to be a dumb girl who doesn't know my own Social Security # and when the dr talks he uses SUCH BIG WORDS IDK what to even ask.' Problem is they then marry men like Evan and John Webster who are no better and the man can't take any great care of them and their kids are doubly screwed. Frankly you don't even want the kids beyond just a trophy, please send them to school - they may find a really loving and nurturing teacher who makes all the difference in the world. Yeah they straight up lied and said he was doing HR at a health system and then he said more than once that he never went to college. Uh how many HR jobs were there to be had in the ~2017 era with no college degree, not even associates?? BS - they had clear as day said before that he was a receptionist for a health system. Now maybe that doesn't sound manly enough, though are working at a dress shop and making videos about your kid's potty training particularly manly ways to bring home the bacon? I can see his family being uber traditional in that - man does a manual labor type of job to bring home the bacon bc that's what Daddy did. So yeah I could see Daddy Stewart back then saying nope video editing won't support a family just like being a receptionist won't. And these homeschooled idiots have no ability to stand up to mommy and daddy. But whatever he's a 28 yr old man now who could take his own initiative and take classes - as he said multiple times very proudly he's NEVER taken a class. Thing is though I think that video editing space is getting VERY crowded. Friends/family jobs are one thing but those won't be enough to pay a mortgage, so then you're using those online work platforms to bid for jobs, which isn't a bad way to land a few regular weekly gig for some person in Iowa or Mass. or wherever, but then it's a JOB - which he's allergic to. Meaning they expect perfect work product on time, you slip up, they pick one of the million other bidders, including very low bidders from places like India.

If she’s anything like Tiffany, Lydia, the first girl Trace dated etc - she’s likely from a middle/upper middle class background without a litter of siblings. Girls raised like that aren’t going to agree to life in a trailer. I mean the only person we’ve seen coming from money and agreeing to trailer life even for a few months was Bobby but that’s when he was thinking w his dick and couldn’t dare say no to Tori. If Em’s dad or some sweet friend from church happens to be in construction, that’s where he’ll be working. If not, it’s a relative certainty he’ll land with John’s family’s HVAC co - as John likes this set of brothers and will likely convince his brothers to hire him, help him get licensed etc.

Watched a bit of it though no way can I tolerate those 2 for 45 min. Evan is happy as a clam - they both say not working is the high point of his life. Lol I’m paraphrasing. He goes on about how he LOVES doing social media and working at BSB and electrician school is just something he did bc he was looking to marry Carlin and his then HR job wasn’t going to support a family. But apparently horning in on his wife’s business and pimping out his wife/kids counts as providing for his family so he’s all good. They both hold the delusional belief that they can hold the electrician thing as a fallback should the need arise. Uh good luck with that - you have zero job experience and how much will you remember from training when your social media career washes out in 3 yrs?! Carlin OTOH seems unwell. Evan said clear as day she’s ready for baby #3, as she rudely goes - well I don’t want JUST 2 kids, if the drs can’t find what’s wrong in 6 mos or a yr, what are we supposed to do?!? Uh Carlin adults would just be thankful for the 2 they have, realize those 2 need healthy parents and move on. Evan at least mentioned talking to drs and also expressed concern that he thinks pregnancy caused this so what if another pregnancy makes it worse. Delusional Carlin goes - but another pregnancy could reverse it all. Huh?? I don’t know that neuroscience works that way but ok. Then Carlin goes on about how much she hates pregnancy/didn’t enjoy Zades, and the only high points are delivery which she LOVES (including the pain WTF?) and the next 1-2 wks and then post partum sets in. She could basically have held up a sign that said - omg birth is great bc Mama B and 85,000 other ppl are there to watch + a huge team of drs/nurses pay attention to ME + I get about 1 wk of attention from my parents/in-laws/siblings before everyone moves on - and then it sucks bc I’m stuck w this needy kid . . . . And parents of the yr complained that L still isn’t potty trained and in pull ups bc she’ll randomly go. And Carlin went on and on about how it’s soooo hard to train, soooo hard when you travel, they need to go immediately blah blah - and how it’s easier to just change diapers so she won’t train future kids, at some point they’ll just figure it out. So much for straight up lying at Katie’s house that it was all taken care of within 5 days. Do these fools really need more kids?! And I think any comparisons to Tori Roloff or any of the Duggar girls are way off the mark here. Tori has nearly 2 mil followers and Carlin has under 400k - so about 20% of what Tori has; that means the promotional opportunities they get are in entirely different leagues.

Last week's video got a whopping 106k views. LOL. No wonder they're doing a Q&A for this week as that tends to bring out the leghumpers esp bc they'll drop controversial questions in the title. Awfully quiet lately for both of them. Either they're freaking out about how to stay relevant or Evan has gotten himself a job and isn't home 24/7 (bc why did Carlin recently catch a ride to work with some girl from BSB) or most likely Carlin is pregnant and they don't want to show that yet bc if they curate it just right there will be tons of appointments, gender reveals, blah blah.

Allowance will grow but don't underestimate that this is NJ - property taxes are very significant, so it's not like every dollar of allowance can go to house + raising kids + fun purchases. There's a reason McMansions there are only built up to a certain size because beyond that size demand falls off even from rich people as they just put their foot down on paying more in taxes.

I could see them stopping at 2-3 kids, maybe 4 but that's it. I feel like it's a marriage that goes how Trav wants but not necessarily in a mean way - more that Katie is able to see how other families function by being with his family and I think she is starting to like it/notice how little her own parents did for their litter of kids. I think she likes that his parents pay attention to her and her daughter beyond just getting their pic for IG and peacing out. I think she loves living their upper middle class life for real - not like Carlin/Evan who are trying to live that life while being frantic about their YT views etc. I think she's starting to realize already and will continue to realize more realistically by the time child 3 arrives that the more kids you have, the more you aren't meeting anything but basic needs and maybe that isn't the way to do it. IDK how big their current home is, but I don't see Trav wanting to stay there beyond kid 2. He grew up in the typical NJ McMansion and you know that's how he intends to raise his family. And while yes he has $ coming in from the family business, this is also NJ not BFE Tenn. so even a pricey McMansion usually only has like 4 bedrooms. Trav isn't Chad, he is not going to want to have kids stacked in triple bunks and never take them on vacation or only take 1 kid to California bc he just has to have a litter. I am guessing he's going to want each kid in their own bedroom - which tends to cap things around 4 - and still taking them on vacations, weekends down the shore where every kid gets their own soda or ice cream or whatever, trips to NYC where all the kids get to go to the Broadway show or pick out an American girl doll or whatever. And I think Katie seeing how much she missed out will agree with him - even though she may never say it openly.

Can't remember the name of the town offhand - they're in the Orlando region - within an hr I'd say.

Weird evasiveness in fundies ALWAYS means that they aren't working/aren't working FT/are just getting by with some random sources of income. Chad is very much on the Gil track - I'm gonna live MY BELIEFS, if my children suffer, oh well. I really think he and Erin don't deal with anyone outside their brand of Christian. That cuts off a lot of opportunities. He could go work for a licensed contractor, construction co, or furniture factory but OMG all the coworkers may not be Christian or may not be HIS kind of Christians. He could get in with some smaller furniture shops/designers and sell them furniture piece by piece for really handsome amounts. But gasp a lot of those kinds of furniture boutiques catering to the $$$ clienteles in NYC or Palm Beach or Naples or Nashville/Asheville/Charlotte are often owned by women and/or have women running the design teams. I mean Chad sitting down with a woman whose normal attire may be a short skirt and a blouse that could even be sleeveless or show a bit of cleavage to discuss the $5000 custom dining table that their customer needs!? NEVER. His kids can be stacked like firewood, it's fine. While I don't think their hurting for food right now, esp bc little kids don't eat a ton, I think just like Gil - Chad would even be fine with that. That's probably the one aspect where they're pleased to have only one boy. After all when all these kids get to be preteens, if there's only one extra slice of pizza, one extra piece of meatloaf left, or only one kid can get a 2nd glass of milk, sorry Brookie - Carson is a growing boy, he needs it, plus remember girls are supposed to be petite and dainty, one slice of pizza is plenty for you. I mean it isn't exactly rocket science when you look at these families where kids tell that they had to fight over a scrap of leftover steak, the first son/older sons were still pretty portly and of ok height (Zach; Josh Duggar; JD Duggar) while the brothers down the line were scrawny and short (Josiah Duggar; Trace; Jackson Bates etc). And yeah it's my sense that those kids are outside ALL THE TIME. Nothing wrong with being outdoors of course, but it seems like they sit out there for things that are more comfortably done indoors like school, drawing etc.?! What is that about -- there's just the one great room, mama needs a break, so you're basically outside 6 hrs/day? I mean they only moved in Dec/Jan so to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they just really like being outside in nice weather. But that's pretty much coming to an end now in Orlando and it'll be too gross to be coloring outdoors again until like Oct.

Awfully quiet for Carlin's 25th bday. Though I'm guessing that means they've dumped the kids in Nashville and have taken a long weekend to themselves (totally normal to start weekends on Tuesday . . . .) and are keeping it quiet bc OMG YT content for next week. Plus I'm calling it - the bloom is off the rose on that marriage. Even on Valentines day, Mr. Social Media himself didn't say anything to his wife until past midnight so technically the next day and it was not a gushing statement in anyway more of a #blessed. We all know this man wasn't busy working. And at Christmas - more than once we saw some attitude/nastiness from Evan towards Carlin; and again more recently on the way home from church mocking her bc she said she was going to sleep. So yeah while I'm sure there's a baby announcement coming soon - bc CONTENT not to mention keeping up with the siblings - yeah they live their lives for content now, not to just live.

My guess is Carlin sent the gift bc they are birthday buddies and at some point Allie or Alyssa have mentioned in front of Carlin how much she wants to do ballet. I 100% do not think John will allow her to take ballet. So that's even crueler - not that Carlin knows that or sent it to be cruel (bc in her fam, yeah I think Layla will take dance if she wants to as she/Evan go to his nieces' dance recitals and see nothing wrong with it and encourage Layla when she copies her cousins' moves). I mean here child - the whole get up for you to pretend you're a ballerina, but nope you can't actually take classes. The most I think she'll get is maybe being allowed to watch on Youtube and copy those moves in the privacy of her room - when John is at work. But otherwise I think John is ridiculously old school about things like people seeing his daughters dancing + he could care less about making his daughters happy whether it is a 1x/wk dance class or soccer for a season or whatever. He also doesn't understand or care that kids like to try things; just bc a girl says she wants to do ballet at 6 (she's been saying it for yrs) doesn't mean she won't tire of it in 9 months and start saying hmm field hockey looks fun. But he doesn't care - daughters are put on this earth to learn how to be godly wives and mothers and find a man ASAP, and that's being accomplished by having them care for their siblings, church, and going on dates with daddy, what else is there??

Yeah I thought I saw Michael in Everly too. Agreed this is 100% about Carson's sexuality. You know they're already worried about it because they were only able to give him 4 sisters and they feel guilty about that and pray for another boy non stop. But to have him have a sister or 2 in his room so they aren't raised as prisoners - the horror - what if that actually makes him gay? It's ok, the sisters can suffer while Carson gets his own room + trips to Cali and whatever else bc as Alyssa clarified "that's how boys are treated." And while the room design is utterly stupid, Chad is clearly talented. Why on earth do these idiots not work for other people and make money before they get too old?? I mean he's only 36 but the oldest 36 yr old in the world, which I have to imagine in large part is due to the financial stress of having a 7 person family raised on freaking odd jobs. Doesn't seem like he's reprised the contractor business in Fla which isn't shocking given that he probably needs to be licensed etc before getting jobs in a state which has a lot of hurricane and water concerns. And IDK how big their church is, but they don't know and love him yet. Not to mention as people are spending more and more money on food, utilities and everything else I'm thinking they're much more inclined to live with their kitchen or flooring even if they don't love it. So I don't imagine there are a lot of jobs from sweet friends. I know it's all the fundie BS of working for yourself so you can invest in your kids blah blah, but clearly that ain't working out for you as you stack kids like firewood into rental homes that are far too small. He could go work for a construction company/any kind of contractor, all of whom are having a huge problem finding the next gen of tradesmen and they'd even pay for him to get licensed etc, pay him nearly 100k and oh yeah bc he's a white guy who speaks English, who do you think would be made manager in like a yr? Do we know what actually precipitated the move to Fla specifically? Bc don't her grandparents live in NC (or SC?) He's talented with making furniture, that part of the country is furniture country - where they also have massive issues hiring bc the current US furniture makers are on average in their 50-60s and as they retire, the next gen isn't really going into the industry. Frankly I hope he's making furniture piece by piece and selling it to furniture companies or small shops. I don't think he is but that's the type of thing where there is $ as you get NYC elites who want the perfect whatever and are willing to pay those small furniture shops. I think he tried to have that biz at one point in his marriage - like maybe early on when he worked at the metals shop - and every time he made something whether a dining table or a china cabinet or whatever, his stupid wife would demand one for herself . . . as if that takes no time or $ away from the business. He ultimately abandoned that business.

They're raising kids as if they are prisoners or Army recruits. Yet Erin seems to think it is necessary to decorate the room for the bunch of menopausal grandmas. I'm sorry but what little kids need portraits of THEMSELVES on the wall or shelves full of rosy wallpaper, fake plants, earth color vases, scented candles, and vintage bicycles. Sorry but what happened to kids having TOYS - you know colorful ones, educational ones etc. Love how she goes on about OMG BOOKS I want books everywhere bc that encourages kids to read while simultaneously going - that book is too yellow?! Uh?? I mean all of the bunks are claustrophic and it was perhaps the stupidest thing to built a murphy bed closed off by 2 bookshelves. They're like ok this kid will be able to sleep in it for 2 yrs. Uh then what? If your husband doesn't actually take on work for people who pay, do you think you're moving in just 2 yrs? They could have just not built the stupid shelves or built one set of shelves and then a twin sized bed. But oh nooo then things wouldn't be symmetric. I mean I love how Erin went on about how all the beds need to be on 1 wall (bc stupid shelves and decor). Uh no - you could have had one regular bunk where the triple is and one across from it. Or you could have one bed as you walk in through the door, another where the shelves are across from the bunk, and then a bunk. Sure it'll look like a prison cell but that's how you're raising these kids. I mean it's clear all this move and this house accomplished was having more living space so a family of 7 isn't squished onto 2 little couches + give Prince Carson his own room so he and his dick can have some privacy. I mean they had always said Carson couldn't share a room beyond age 8-9 and he turns 8 in weeks . . . so it works out for him. Who does Everly look like? That child is beautiful.

Did they say it's a brand new Denali - or can you tell? Because you can get fancy cars even 1 or 2 yrs old and suddenly the price you pay drops from 100k to 40-70k; and unless someone is a real car enthusiast they cannot look at a Denali and tell you it's a 2021 rather than a 2023. I know plenty of people desperate for a luxury life who totally bought used just to be able to afford one. I'm not saying unemployed morons should be buying a 40-70k car but as every already has said they spend exactly nothing on their kids and act like kids should be grateful for just having food + shelter + church. I mean for the rest of you in the working world - think about how much $ you would have spent to send that litter of kids to daycare or if you were a SAHM/SAHD you'd probably send them to preschool for a few yrs because you wouldn't want your kid to show up in kindergarten having zero social skills, zero ability to deal with teachers and a structured school environment. These idiots don't waste their time or $ on such things. Carlin/Evan must be EXPLODING with jealousy and frantically pricing luxury cars as we speak. I mean Trav's Tesla is one thing - he gets a generous monthly salary from his parents' school, no normal person expects those kind of investment/royalty checks. But Z&W - I mean they're in the SAME biz as C/E, Z is technically also not employed so if they can afford it then C/E are probably like dammit we can afford it too. I have a feeling Z is taking on more police shifts than they're letting on . . . which C/E either don't know about and/or are downplaying like eh whatever he takes 1 shift/mo, their $$$ is from BSB and Insta just like us. And Z&W aren't against credit. They took a mortgage on their first house + for the current home they took cameras to the closing and signed mortgage papers. So I doubt they're against car payments.

Studio time in NYC and even NJ is gonna be VERY expensive on an hourly basis because you know actual music professionals/close to turning professional artists record there and ain’t no one giving you a discount bc you’re belting it out for Jesus. I don’t think that it’s coincidental that these fundie singers always record in nothing studios in the deep south - where I’m sure a friend of a friend’s cousin’s fiancé is a member of their church. Now granted I don’t think a studio is Asheville is going to be as cheap as one in nowhere Texas, nor is Asheville a super cheap destination anymore re hotels, restaurants, coffees. But the Clark’s have money so they can shell out for a 3 day getaway that they combine with a recording trip.

Actually they're all in Asheville NC where Trav and his family band are laying down new vocals or something in studio. I assume Trav's mom just came down because the rest of her family was coming. And well Kelly - anything to avoid going home; at least Callie gets a little break and a little hotel time rather than being sent home with Gil ASAP as she usually is to cook/clean/look after the half dozen grown men in that house. Usually it's Addie/Ellie who get that time away managing just one sister's baby/household, not Callie. And look at Kelly hogging the baby and looking all doting grandma as Katie's MIL is there so of course she wants to look good. Plus there is no work to be done as they are staying in a hotel, hitting up the outlets etc. as the band does its thing. I mean inlaws or not if this was at Katie's house with any work to be done, Kelly would be parked in a chair with her phone.

That they're ill bred? Were born in a barn? I mean it's telling that the ones who were raised by other people know that for church in the south - esp with grandparents involved - you put on pants that aren't jeans and some kind of button down shirt.

I think it's just about fitting in. If you know you're headed to a church where jeans/short are all good, great; or if John knew he was headed to a funeral where the family had requested casual, fine. But reality is John and Trace KNOW that this is a family where most will wear button down shirts and slacks, some will wear ties, Gil will wear an ill fitting suit. So really what makes them think jeans are all good? Clearly John goes out of his way to show his inlaws he doesn't give a $hit about their side. Controlling as Alyssa is, I'm shocked she allows it - though I feel like she plays her cards on not cooking/feeding the girls cheese and crackers and not what her parents/family expect of her husband. Because this is the same dude who goes to church every weekend with HIS family in a full suit and tie coordinated to his wife's outfit. And takes his 4-5 year old daughters on daddy daughters dates to McDonalds and then plays hide and seek or whatever in a full suit and tie and dress shoes, looking like an utter jackass. And he's done this before - at one of the recent weddings - so this isn't some case of OMG airline lost my luggage and I'm 7 ft tall, I can't find a suit here in small town SC (and they likely drove anyway). I get it's just what younger people do now and it does seem like Trace was using his time to reconnect with all his siblings but really you're there for a funeral - do you need to make it seem like you're there for a happy party!? I mean Erin posted a pic with the widow as I was like - uh please let that be an old pic instead of forcing the widow to say CHEESE!? I get it these people "rejoice" because the person is in heaven but my god still . . . . Looks like the Carlin/Trace relations are thawing. No pics with Carlin but Trace posted a pic holding Zade and also one with a group of brothers/BILs that included Evan. Not surprising as Trace is one that has always been cool with all of his sisters - actually seems like the Bates boys tend not to have friction with their siblings generally. Yet after dragging them on their housekeeping for the rental house he and his wife took over + quoting such a high price on C&E's new floors or whatever that they'd go with someone else - seems like Trace was trying to distance himself from C&E. Though sometimes things like funerals have a way of reminding people that annoying people are still your family.

Whose funeral? They flew into Greenville SC and looks like a family gathering bc Trace is holding H making some comment about practicing for dad life. And Tiff posted a pic with Maci so unless she and Law are separately on a trip to Fla, looks like maybe a family gathering?

What's Carlin's health update from that video? I refuse to watch. And what does every effing thing have to be made for YT. Maybe this kid doesn't like cake - some kids don't LOVE sweets; maybe he likes cake just fine but doesn't want it painted on his face. Either way is fine, let the child do what he wants for a second without worrying about how it'll play out on video. So apparently the giant teddy bear at the party was a gift from their "friends" at UPTv - per Reddit; someone asked on Carlin's IG where they got the bear and that's what she said. Hmm . . . . wonder if they're trying to sell a spin off to UP just like Counting On came out after the Josh Duggar stuff went down. Or maybe it's just a producer or cameraman or 2 that's remained friends with them and just sent a gift which Carlin is now saying is from UP. Though IDK re spin off bc if the reason they got dropped is bc of the George Floyd/Jan 6 type of stuff, well that WAS Carlin, Lawson, Trace etc. - so there's no way to carve out those attention whores and still have a show; I mean are they gonna make a show about Tori and Michaela who seem content to live a private life? It was "easier" with the Duggars in that they could just carve out Josh/Anna and Jim Bob/Michelle and by extension the younger kids and just make a show about the married kids and/or younger kids if they came around to visit the married kids. And leave it to Kelly to show up with 8 sandwiches to an event with say 15 guests!? These other southern ladies who are her inlaws must thing she and Gil are just ill bred idiots who raised ill bred idiot daughters. I mean you're showing up to an event where you know your kid's inlaws will be there; either bring something suitable for all or simply don't bring anything. This isn't the same as when you stop by just to see your kid and are like oh yeah we had some chicken salad leftover so I brought you a box; you know this is food that'll be served to guests and it's a reflection on you if there isn't enough of said food (in which case you can also quietly say to your kid - hmm don't put those sandwiches out, I just made a few bc we had a bit of chicken salad but this is a bigger party than I thought and there isn't enough). I mean this is in contrast to Evan's mother who for Christmas JUST with their family - no guests - sent Evan to pick up at least a few hundred dollars worth of baked goods. She must wonder about her son/DIL and their manners - serving 8 cookies and sandwiches and a few dozen chicken nuggets to a dozen guests and calling it a party.