Tasya

James, Justin, Jason, Jackson and Jeremiah could be separated out and do just fine in the looks arena. Styling makes a difference. They simply don't have anyone around them with actual non-fundie business sense. Style them as a "down-home" christian male group and the cash would roll in. I'm speaking from experience with this arena from lots of christian music experience. Despite people saying that religion is on a decline, young adults and worship music is really popular right now. There was a recent Christian New Year's eve event that had 65,000 college age students in attendance. The Duggar young adult males would fit right in.

They actually aren't bad; i've mentioned this before. The Duggars seem to love to try to get in the spotlight/make money with the craziest ventures but not the obvious ones. They sound better than Lawson Bates and look where his "talent" has taken him.

It's Michelle's presence. Look at the faces of Every.Single.Person. while she's standing in the middle speaking. Even the babies look bored and disinterested. Just imagine if these women could have any type of event without her being there...I wonder how "sweet" they'd be.

I used the description and found the listing right away. I think the girls will be given the checkerboard area and the boys will get one of the rooms. Other room for the parents. They'll likely add in another bathroom on the girl's side. But that still doesn't solve the issue of a laundry room. The crazy thing is that if you look at the "other homes in this area" you can find a 3 bed 2 ba home with a side office a basement and laundry room for 150k. It just makes no sense that they decided on that piece of property with their needs.

I would say with almost a 100% certainty that Felicity will NOT be home-schooled. For 1) Jinger never has made any attempt to appear as if she was super duper in love with the idea of teaching a bunch of kids; she barely pretended with her buddy group. 2) With the sort of lifestyle they seem to be aiming for, sending your kid to a trendy preschool and later grade school is going to be very important in order to make social connections. If they plan to stay in the youngish, urban, Christian group, she'll eventually have to gain a similar minded mommy circle.

Sam is the 2nd child though, so that's why I didn't count him. I should have clarified that I meant to still be an only child.

I LOVE the book series, even when it gets cheesy. I have read most of what RCarr writes though. She has another series about a family that is raised by unconventional parents and the dad has mental issues. That one would be perfect for TV optioning. I watched the series but I don't know if I can continue. The Charmaine change is utterly ridiculous when you compare it to the book.

The reason I believe Ben likely has a terrible attitude both at home and with people in the public is that IMO he's the most impotent (not physically but functionally) in-law. Austin works for himself, Derrick is in Law school and will eventually work for himself, Jeremy, as much as his "career" is derided is also not on the JB assistance plan. Ben has NOTHING. He has no skills, presumably no desire to gain skills and is wholly dependent upon his father-in-law. I bet he has a very deep well of frustration and anger just waiting to boil over.

I'm not at all surprised. I posted before in this thread that I thought Ben was secretly the more worrisome of the non-Duggar husbands and it was largely dismissed. I think he fits the classic profile of someone that looks harmless and pleasant on the outside but could be terrorizing his family at home.

I don't think she looks any more "over it" than any other kid her age. Most kids go through a phase when they don't want to be held still for too long. It doesn't mean she's going to rebel against being filmed and/or videotaped. In fact whenever they take pictures of her on the move walking or just playing she's really happy. So it's just the still shots and that's perfectly normal. I'm more interested to see if Felicity is going to make it to 3 with no sibling. Has any Duggar child or grandchild ever done so? She's already guaranteed to make it to at least 2 1/2 ish unless Jinger is hiding a pregnancy really well.

Well Jill was the one snitching on her siblings growing up, Jessa (?) was the brat and the one Jana had to give her treasured items to in order to prove that she was godly and Joy was a lot younger. When you look at the dynamics like that, it makes sense that they aren't particularly close. Jana was/is probably closest to her twin, she likely would've been closer to Jill if she wasn't a snitch. When we see Jana looking the most authentically happy, she's either by herself, with Laura or with JD/Abbie. Jinger and Jessa have always been close with each other and again, Jill being a snitch would have meant they didn't want to spend too much time with her. Joy grew up alongside the howlers and was a big tomboy. Jill I think likely focused all of her energy on her buddy group. She probably wanted to please her parents by being their ideal daughter and that meant being the best mothersister she could be. That makes for loneliness now though, because she could probably really use one of the older sisters to talk to about things and the relationship just isn't there.

Even on a limited budget you can do better than that. Dollar Tree has actual name brand toys these days and even the little off brand toys are pretty nice. She could have gotten them all about $5 worth of items from the Dollar Tree and then gone to Five Below and got them all one much nicer gift (they have really good stuff: clothes, shoes, makeup, games, toys, speakers...the list goes on). So you're talking about $10 per child for a really nice Christmas. She just doesn't care. That baby had a plastic harmonica and a toothbrush/toothpaste set. I was JUST in dollar tree and they had the little dollies that are like rag doll type things. Smdh, Jill is reprehensible.

Lauren has a family that's big and i'm sure probably just as chaotic, so it's not the business that was an issue. I'm sure it's that in that setting she's not "special". No one is paying any more attention to her than they are to anyone else and I bet that grates. She was dressed way up compared to everyone else and had her fashionable boots and hat on for a good portion of the video. She seems so stuck up, I would just want to stay away from her. I also thought it was the most "normal" video we've ever seen of the Duggars. I also think it gave an unintentional glimpse of the disregard the older Duggar kids have for their parents. None of them were really paying attention during Michelle's spiel and one of the males was blatantly on a social media account. They may still be towing the line publicly, but I do wonder what they really think/feel. Agreed that Abbie looked miserable, but she's close to delivery time right? So all of that noise and movement around her has got to be irritating. Spurgeon seems like a very quiet kid, he joined in with the play eventually but was content to sit away with his little book. Sinner twin looks sooo much better than Jed2020. I believe he must have a real spark of rebellion for them to have not pushed him to the forefront. Jed2020 is not going to appeal as much to non-leghumpers as that one would. Ivy is adorable and seems very easygoing. One benefit to their huge family is that the kids are going to get used to being passed around and loved on by many hands. That usually leads to a much easier baby. However, no one but Si or Lauren held Bella did they? Very interesting.

I'm not going to get into this too much, because I think it's a theological issue, and I sense some religious hostility. Many Christians teach our children to rote recite so that they can learn their verses. They'll understand the meaning later, but we don't see a problem with them memorizing it now. I haven't seen the video with Izzy in question, but Spurgeon and Henry never look scared or frightened. I'll leave this discussion about this particular issue alone from this point on.

That's why I said that they definitely do have to be held accountable for some things. I think for me the line is when they start publicly proclaiming really vile things. It's one thing when we just "know" that they have these beliefs because that's how they were raised, but when it becomes overt, it's too much. Like Derek going after Jazz (not an actual Duggar but that's the best example). JB and Michelle were raised by normal people, even if there were some issues, they weren't (to our knowledge) systematically indoctrinated in hate and intolerance, the way the Duggar 2nd generation has been. I just sincerely hope for the sake of the Duggar 3rd generation that things are still able to be changed. There are plenty of Christians who may not believe in homosexuality but still accept homosexual people. There are plenty of Christians that may not themselves have an abortion but still believe in others' right to choose. Maybe there is some hope left that Duggers 2.0 can still get there. I don't agree with this. Teaching your child the bible is no different than a young child that remembers "Goodbye Moon". My son knows certain bible passages by heart because we've focused on them and reread them repeatedly. He can also recite Green Eggs and Ham.

Regardless of everything else; this is one loved little girl.

I don't blame her. Her parents are abhorrent. Why should she want to be there? They allowed her to be abused by her brother and forced her to keep quiet about it for years. They raised her abusively and are responsible for how indoctrinated she is and everything that people find loathsome about her belief system can be attributed to them. I think that's why I give all of them (adult Duggars) some slack. These "adults" are victims. They have been systematically abused for their entire lives and brainwashed into believing that there is only one way to be a "good" person. I know that they have to be held accountable for some of what they say/support/believe in, but so much of it is the fault of JB and Michelle. I am still hopeful that eventually some of them will see their way to true Christianity, not the hatefulness of Christian fundamentalism.

At that salary they would just have to move to a suburb. I live 30 minutes outside of DC on the Maryland side of town and I manage just fine. They could do just what Josh and Anna did. The cost of living in DC is only really bad if you insist on living in DC or the close in VA/Montgomery County Maryland side of things. If you move further south in VA or in PG, Howard, Anne Arundel or Charles County, you'll be just fine.

I think a lot of people are projecting their wishes and hopes over reality. I work in DC within HR in an industry that pays pretty well. High 5 figures to low 6 figures to START; if Jeremy walked in as a white, Christian male with a business degree he'd get the job. Period. It's unfortunate and jaded but it's the truth. He looks the "part" and there's absolutely no doubt that he can talk the type of talk that the good ole boys that still run most businesses want to hear. If he and Jinger ever stop the TV gig, they'll be just fine, and I know that he knows that. They're dabbling with this "influencer" thing, but if/when the show has run its course, these two will be OK as long as they don't have any Josh type scandal. Think about it like this, FRC hired JOSH for a very lucrative position. He had no degree, was not attractive, not appealing in any way at all. Jeremy is reasonably attractive, has a degree, was a pro-athlete (however modest) and is attached to the ultimate christian in these people's eyes. He could come to the DC area right now and be attached to some sort of right-wing group.

That's not a hair bow though...It's clearly one of those decorative ones that you hang around your house. I have the same ones on my mantle.

It's Boomerang not Instagram. He may very well have Instagram but that isn't it. I also guess that my cousins (who are my best friends) and I would sadly disappoint many of you here. We are just as "immature" and silly when we all get together.

True, but he "just" touched them right? For some reason I've always suspected that he did more with Jana. I could be completely wrong but...It's the Duggars.

I've long suspected that Josh sexually abused Jana on a deeper level than the other girls and that's why they've stopped her from courting. I just can't shake the feeling. Plus I don't know if I can ever recall her speaking or looking at him favorably.

Just to chime in late on the Baptism thing, it is about being ready to acknowledge Jesus as your savior and commit your life to Christ. I personally do not believe that a 6 year old is able to make that choice. My son is 5 and I would not allow him to be baptized, he has no true concept of what that means. He can tell you he loves Jesus and believes in God, but would not be able to articulate without prompting, what it means to commit his life to Christ. I was born a catholic and was christened and baptized as a child, my son was dedicated as an infant (Baptist version of christening). When I was 10 I went up as a candidate for Baptism because I KNEW what it meant to make that choice. My church at the time required anyone wanting to be baptized to complete a series of classes to make sure that they were ready for the sacrament. It is not something that should be undertaken lightly and the fact that these people who hold themselves up as model Christians are willing to allow little children to essentially make a mockery of the rite is telling.

I guess I could go with that reasoning if it wasn't seemingly just Josie. Most of the other girls while layered all to perdition and back, don't do the t-shirts under strapless dress thing. It just looks so stupid. Josie already sticks out because she looks sickly. There's no need to add an extra layer of WTF.