NausetGirl

So sorry to hear that about your nephew. Deepest condolences. At least he got to live for a while in a place he truly loved & felt so comfortable in...

It wouldn't have been $40K when Bill attended. Probably half that then - and he would probably have been eligible for scholarships, Pell Grant [esp if his home $ situation was still as dire as has been described in other comments here], NYS tuition assistance grants etc. Not to mention he probably had some serious student loans accrued when he graduated. Personally I don't know how middle class kids today manage at all. When I went to college in the late 70s, tuition at my private Catholic girls college was about $2K a year, and room/board/fees/books etc was another $2k. Now kids seem to spend $2K a year on books alone! It's shocking. But look at the schools! I retired 5 years ago from the admissions office at a major university in the NE after 30 years there & in the time I worked there, there were always new buildings going up and the place was virtually a resort. Pools, gym, tracks, field house & I don't even know how many restaurants, cafes, coffee places, sandwich shops, bistros etc were on campus. All these country club extras cost a lot of $. What happened to colleges that had classroom buildings, labs, a good library and a Union or rathskeller? Do they really need hair salons & yogurt shops on campus? Especially the schools in major cities where there are plenty of facilities & services available off-campus. Oh well - climbing down off my soapbox now. Thanks for listening.

Agree - except I find Mechelle's abdication of her parental responsibilities as a good deal more than off-putting. She's lazy and completely self-absorbed.

I don't think it's at all unusual either. Jen is not wrong to feel envious that Bill can be the stay-at-home parent. She's now a mom and naturally wants to be close to her kids. And let's remember, she has a fair amount of the competitive gene in her system. I'm sure if she could, she'd be BOTH a full-time physician and a SAHM. Also, I'm willing to bet if it was Bill saying that he was jealous of her relationship with the kids, everyone would be all "Awww..... - isn't he sweet?"

I'm not so sure they're saving any $$ with the car deal - Jill could conceivably be making 3 round trips a day. One to take Derick in, one at lunch, one to pick him up at night. Sounds kind of wasteful to me - and very poor on an environmental front too. Although that's just par for the course with the Duggars...

I don't think anyone is making excuses - or assigning blame - for a parent being "out of tune." It is, however, probably true that in most families, there's one parent who may be a little less familiar with the kids' routines, likes/dislikes etc. Usually this is because one parent - for whatever reason - spends more time involved in child care activities. Back in the day when all fathers worked and all mothers stayed at home, this was undeniably fathers in nearly every case. Now when so many families have two working-outside-the-home parents, it could be either. I've worked with many families where the fathers were every bit as "in-step" with their kids as the mothers were. I've also worked with families where I was surprised at how little one parent knew - and it was not always the fathers.

Agree. I don't think Jessa will care either - and good for her. But it's inevitable that she'll be compared to the other married Duggar females. She already has been, as was Jill. This family has set themselves up for it.

In fairness to Will, I also believe it's completely possible that he did not comprehend the word "miss" in this context and just answered "no" because he felt like it. However I also agree that he's in need of some "emotional education" - learning that your family loves you and takes care of you and will always be there when you need them. This is important for all children, especially adoptees. Jen did go down that street once on camera - when having lunch after the swim lesson - when she told Will [paraphasing] that "Mommy and Daddy will always be your friends and will always love you - and no matter where you go you will always come home to our house - this is your home..." He will certainly hear about this concept in pre-school but it should always start in the home. I'm sure Bill and Jen have pointed out in the past who's who in photos - "this is Grandpa Klein, this is Uncle Tommy..." etc. The kids seemed very at ease with extended family at their baptisms for example.

Totally agree. We see only what TLC wants to show us - and unless I'm mistaken I bet Boob has a great deal to say in what that is as well. And the kids do seem very rehearsed, always spouting the same 5-6 sentences. I'd be very surprised if all the kids are completely healthy too. Josie certainly has issues.

Sorry to say it but I think it's a complete Given that Jessa will be compared to Mechelle and questioned if she does not become pregnant within a year - probably even less. There are people speculating now.

I agree. And when will the excuses for NOT disciplining be used up? Will has been with his new family for almost TWO YEARS. The time for foregoing discipline "because Will is still adjusting and transitioning" has long-past. Many pre-schoolers go through phases of challenging their parents, which I hope is the case with Will. And some are just naturally more "feisty" or belligerent. But regardless of the reason for the behavior, Will needs to be corrected. When he is fresh or sassy to Jen, or anyone else for that matter, she needs to let him know that it's very definitely not OK. Whether cameras are rolling or not. And regardless of whether Will is tired, or hungry, or cranky, or is going to school, or a swim lesson is about to start etc. "No, Will, we do NOT talk like that to Mommy. That is not OK..." If Bill hears him, he should be speaking up as well. Both need to use stern-enough voices and facial expressions to make an impression. No laughing, no smiling, no rattling on forever. If verbal warnings don't work, stronger measures need to be taken. Time-outs, toys removed from a period of time, no dessert. If Will really is as sharp as Bill believes him to be, he will catch on very quickly. Laughing and pats on the head are great when they're appropriate but from what we see, Will receives these reactions even when he's misbehaving - which is clearly inappropriate.

Oh, I think Bill is basically correct when he states "from a comprehension perspective." Both Will and Zoey seem to understand what is being said TO them. However, while Will has definitely made good progress in his speech therapy, he still has some distance to go before he will be able to express himself clearly. Understanding what Will is trying to say right now is often difficult. My guess is that the more serious issue for Will is not his speech, but cognitive development. Which could definitely have been affected by his early malnutrition. Only time will tell if there will be permanent issues because of that.

I'm hoping she does things with Will, just not on-camera. Even during fun activities, more discipline is needed with Will, just becaue he's older than Zoey. My own theory is that Jen is more willing to be the disciplinarian in this family, but not necessarily publicly. And I really can't blame her. How many public figures discipline their kids - in public? Bill understands Will's issues but still doesn't seem willing - at this point - to forego being his best buddy. He really doesn't want Will seeing him, even briefly as it would be now, as "Mean Daddy." Jen is more realistic. She understands that parents need to establish who's in charge at the earliest possible point. I also think she now believes they may have delayed things this a little longer than they should have.

If she keeps up the smothering behavior, he very well might change it at some point. Couples that are together nearly 24/7 almost never work out. FYI - just a little bit of data from a childhood friend of mine who happens to practice family law or as she says "Hey I do divorces..."

Understand completely. All kids should be hearing "Oh you are going to have so much fun in school..." Bill's statement about Will "taking school by storm" was very surprising to me as well. I first thought - wow, he really is quite clueless about Will's situation, how he'll compare next to the average four-year old at this point in time. But then I thought maybe this statement was Bill "towing the company line" - that hopefully he and Jen have actually worked out beforehand exactly how much they are going to reveal about Will's issues and saying "Well, you know, we expected Will would have problems adjusting to his classroom, other kids etc at first..." of course would not be part of that.