[Janelle Brown: Smarter Than Your Average Brown (Maybe)]

 

14 hours ago, cereality said:

Even if they couldn't figure out a safe way to hold Christmases/Thanksgivings for 4 years, Kody couldn't see his kids 1:1? Ever? Really?  Did he even realize Garrison's hobby was photography and astronomy - couldn't be in the great outdoors with him as he took pics/showed you the stars and you showed some interest in what he was doing? Really? And if your new wife says nooooo - you wouldn't tell her to back off - you'd just agree with her and drop your dozen+ kids??

This just breaks my heart.  As a parent, you should WANT your kids to grow up and develop their own interests and personalities and live lives independent of you.  That means you've done a great job as a parent.  Kody's kids did just that!  That's why that beautifully worded bolded sentence above makes me so sad.  It would not have taken Kody that much time out of his precious schedule to do exactly that - show some interest!  So what if it's not Kody's interest?  It doesn't matter.  You're a dad.  This is your kid.  He thinks it's cool, so you participate.  

At this point, the worst tragic outcome has come to pass.  Kody ignored all of his kids and then they had to watch him take Aurora to get her ears pierced at 20 years old and hold her hand and tell the viewing audience what a wonderful father/daughter bonding moment this was.  Even if the kids have closed their hearts to Kody to self-protect, that had to have hurt, among all the other smack-talking Kody did on TV about his kids, namely Garrison and Gabe.  And it begs the question - Kody did this.  But was Robyn pushing him to do it?  Was she manipulating him to write off 13 of his children?  I know I have called Robyn a sociopath in the past and I still think this is mostly true, but between Kody and Robyn, what they have done to those 13 kids is truly, truly awful.  Did Kody ever want to be a dad?  Or just an unquestioned leader?  I wonder.

2 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

IMO, Kody wants to be revered. He can't tolerate when others have complicated feelings, so he punishes them with his absence when they have them. This forced Christine into a cycle of sunshine and rainbows and nagging wife. And Kody's behavior forced Janelle to basically shut down. Meri and Robyn turned to manipulation and that is what Robyn means when she says, "she speaks Kody". Both Robyn and Meri would stroke his ego in order to get what they want.

1,000%.  Each wife coped in the only way they knew how in order to keep their kids from suffering the absence of their dad.  I used to roll my eyes at Christine's unicorn glitter persona and Janelle sitting like a bump on a log during interviews, but now it's clear that they were just trying to exist within a family structure where their own precious children were getting the short end every single time.  They wanted from Kody what he decided he was no longer going to give them, but they kept trying, for YEARS.  I am so glad that the OG 3 are out, but man, it took a heartbreaking amount of time and the longer it took, the more damage was done to those kids.

I wish those kids peace, especially Gabe.  With or without Kody, however they need to proceed to get through this.

[Robert Garrison Brown - RIP]

I see that many in the Brown family are posting the same pictures of Garrison at the same time, either on their IG page or on IG stories.  They are clearly talking to each other and coordinating that, which I think is nice.

Madison's tribute was especially beautiful and many of her siblings re-posted it as well.

 

[Janelle Brown: Smarter Than Your Average Brown (Maybe)]

19 hours ago, surfgirl said:

Sadly I doubt he will learn any lessons from this and right the wrongs he's foisted upon his OG children. I think he will just double the hell down, because he is, after all, a narcissist and narc's cannot change who they are, can they? It's so damn sad.

Kody has two choices - he can double-down, at which point he likely loses whatever tenuous relationships he may have had with most of his kids.  Or he can take full accountability for what he's done but the kids get to rightfully decide if he's done enough damage to the entire family and cut him out of their lives.  It's not up to Kody, it's up to his kids.  Those kids are a tribe, they had to raise each other, and this will be a profound loss for them forever.

And I will always remain stunned about why Kody felt like he HAD to bail on his OG kids in favor of Robyn and her kids.  I will never understand why Kody felt he had to shun everyone not living under his roof - unless it was Robyn-driven - but even still, the Brown kids/adults are amazing, intelligent, self-motivated and interesting people.  It doesn't seem like it would've been that difficult to meet up with them, a Facetime call, have lunch, etc.  But he would not do it.  Why??  I cannot imagine having kids and not wanting to touch base with them as often as I could, even if they are out of state, just to say hello, how's everything going?  What was happening in that Mansion that caused him to turn his back on 75% of his family?  It defies logic, especially when some of those same kids were clearly hurting and longing for his attention and time.

I am still so sad about this.........

[Janelle Brown: Smarter Than Your Average Brown (Maybe)]

When she initially posted that picture, I immediately thought of Kody and how he was missing this gathering by his own choice, and what an amazing group of young adults Janelle and Christine raised that he is willingly missing out on.

I hope for eventual peace for every single person in that photo - they are all affected in different ways.

[Robert Garrison Brown - RIP]

1 hour ago, General Days said:

This needs context to be fair, so I'm adding it. 

Mykelti didn't mention anything about social media. I don't follow her elsewhere, so I just Googled and checked her Instagram, Twitter, and the Facebook accounts, and she didn't post anything about it. She only posted to Patreon, where she has paying subscribers who were expecting her usual and previously scheduled content.

That is 100% my mistake - what I saw was a clip from her Patreon, posted to someone's TikTok.  I jumped to a wrong conclusion about her.

[Robert Garrison Brown - RIP]

14 hours ago, Auntie Freeze said:

I'm glad Gwen is stepping away from Patreon. It's a mature decision.

While Mykelti vague-posts about how she is going to be away from social media for awhile, but will be back to explain.  To each their own, but it doesn't surprise me.

 

13 hours ago, Meow Mix said:

RIP Garrison.  I hope you are cuddling lots of kitties right now.

Well, this is the sentence that broke the dam that I have been holding back since I heard the news, but that's a good thing. ❤️ Sometimes you just have to let it out.  (too bad I am at work....) 😌

 

11 hours ago, LotusFlower said:

They’ve already been filming, maybe even a season’s worth.  So it’s probably up to TLC as to whether or not it’s aired.  But I hope that’s it.  

I would love to think that Janelle and Janelle alone has the power to decide what happens next.  If she eventually decides to use this platform to bring awareness to what happened, more power to her.  I want to think that she calls the shots, period.  I doubt that's the case, though.  Kody was his father and I am certain that he is hurting but he is also the catalyst for keeping this show going and using the profits for homes, vacations, and so Robyn can live her llifestyle...at least that's what it looks like from my meaningless vantage point.  Who knows, maybe every single Brown adult always wanted this show to continue.  Given the raw pain we have seen these last few seasons, though, I wonder who gets the final say on whether or not SW stays on the air.  It's almost been too much to watch at times, but then again - we keep watching.  

 

10 hours ago, Tuxcat said:

But from a more global perspective I think we really do need to examine the reality genre and TLC's part in such things. The decision to purposefully and continually exploit family drama, estrangement, and division is on all the Brown "adults" and TLC. I don't know if that contributed to this tragedy -- but I do know that we've seen this before. TLC's formula - unique cute family stories --> need more drama to stay on the air --> train wrecks = high ratings --> tremoundous family suffering....

 

1,000%.  19 Kids and Counting.  Honey Boo Boo.  Little People, Big World,  Jon and Kate, etc., etc.  It's a pattern.  Now the Browns.  It's true - train wrecks make for more viewership, translating into more $$$, keeping the shows on the air despite what it's doing to the families involved and especially the kids who have no say and have to follow their parents.  Sadly, if SW continues, I think viewership will increase (and I think it had already increased when Christine left).  It's a really bleak look at what we consume and why.  At what expense?  It's making me think personally about what I do with my time in the guise of "entertainment."  This particular event just hit closer to home than I thought it would.

P.S.  Love this forum and the conversations we've had surrounding this singularly painful event.  

[Robert Garrison Brown - RIP]

I don't want to believe anything TMZ says about this, and it's not for them to report - but of course this is their bread and butter.  I don't want to hear the misery leading up to whatever happened.  I feel like I am a giant hypocrite because I have gleefully watched and commented on this show since the beginning, but somehow it feels extremely invasive for anyone other than his own family to lay out the private details of his final moments.  Like others have said, we didn't know him, but we've watched him grow up.  It's all very hard.

[Robert Garrison Brown - RIP]

1 hour ago, oliviabenson said:

I’m afraid this will be a season long storyline. TLC will milk this tragedy for ratings… Kody and wife R will participate.

Oh boy, I really need this family to not let this happen.  I hope there's a vote amongst the adults as to whether or not to go forward, and I hope it's Janelle, Meri and Christine with a STOP versus Kody and Robyn's GO.  Enough permanent damage has been done to all of these poor kids, Robyn's kids included.  I do not want to see Garrison posthumously discussed on TLC for ratings and more money in these people's pockets, and I especially don't want to hear one single word from Kody or Robyn.  Be done, please, if only for the sake of every Brown kid who had NO say about their young lives playing out on television.  They have all been through enough.  Ratings or not, it should be over.

 

[Robert Garrison Brown - RIP]

4 hours ago, dariafan said:

Surviving sister wives podcast is delaying new episode drop .  
I am glad as a community we can support each other      I love you guys 

So is The Sister Wives Professor, a podcast I recently discovered.  The podcasters are being very respectful by delaying their episodes and giving links to donate in Garrison's memory.  I downright cried listening to SSW's announcement this morning.  They sounded like I felt.

[Robert Garrison Brown - RIP]

My mind, sadly, went immediately to the scene of Kody chopping wood with Garrison and Gabe.  For reasons that I have never understood, Kody took out his frustration on those two boys specifically.  And I have long felt that they were two of the kids that took Kody's absence the hardest (they surely all struggled - Ysabel of course, but all of them, certainly).  And now, one is gone and the other one will have a terrible image in his head forever.  If it's not too late for Kody to wake the hell up and make amends with every single one of his kids, I hope he tries.  But the kids get to decide if they forgive him.

[Robert Garrison Brown - RIP]

I found myself going through the list of Brown kids, wondering how they're doing....Logan (surrogate dad), Aspyn (surrogate mom).  Maddie. Her little kids - how does she tell them?  Mykelti.  Savanah.  Hunter.  Paedon, Gwen, Ysabel, Leon, etc.  Most of all, Gabe.  All of them have had their own battles to fight.  Now, one of their tribe is gone.

[Robert Garrison Brown - RIP]

11 hours ago, General Days said:

My God, what a sad situation. (I keep tearing up, which seems ridiculous, but it is what it is.)

Me too.  We watched him grow up on television.

 

10 hours ago, LotusFlower said:

I was devastated reading this news, and came here first to grieve with all of you.  We love to snark on the show and ass-hat Kody, but I think we’ve all been rooting for the kids, so this is heartbreaking. 

The Brown kids are collectively amazing human beings.  It's so hard to think that what we have been watching on tv for "entertainment" is so completely at odds to the very real struggles the kids have and will go through.  We can never know.  I wish all of them eventual peace.

[Robert Garrison Brown - RIP]

When I saw a post on IG, it honestly felt like I had been gut punched.  I had to catch my breath.  I had to keep telling myself, I don't really know this family.  But so many of us have watched this show since Season One and we have literally seen these kids grow up.  My heart breaks especially for Janelle, Gabe, and every single Brown kid.

I think season 19 has already been filmed, or is filming now.  This show and this forum, and the SW podcasts I listen to, have been escape and entertainment for me for the past 14 years (I had to Google that, I can't believe it's been that long).  But if the family decides to end the show and toss season 19, I would 100% support that.  Watching it will never be the same.

RIP Garrison.

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

On 3/1/2024 at 2:26 PM, oliviabenson said:

For $1000 I’d tolerate Jill for half an hour lol

But then you'd go to Dollar General with a cart full of stuff, only to have the cashier tell you that this gift card expired in 2017.

 

On 3/1/2024 at 4:20 PM, DXD526 said:

The business model for Dollar General seems to be 'dark'. There are several within a half hour of me, and they all carry the same items, and they're all dark inside. Even the one that just opened a year ago. It's new and clean, but dark. It's got to be intentional, because they're all like that.

The Dollar General by me has some kind of blue adhesive covering over all of their giant windows, making the place look closed even when it's not.  I get a lot of stocking stuffers and small gifts there, but it's not really a pleasant experience.  So getting a $10 gift card for listening to Jill and Kaylee ramble for 90 minutes is just not that big a draw, but it's funny that Jill seems to think it is.

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

42 minutes ago, Tigregirl said:

I watched the video of them playing their instruments at a grift church.  Violins and clarinet are so out of tune

I picture the congregation doing that little smile and shuffle thing that parents do when attending their kids' 5th grade orchestra concerts...you smile at first, then it all goes south and you shift in your uncomfortable chair and pretend that the evening's event pamphlet is fascinating so you don't have to watch what's happening on the stage.

But by now, you would think the Rod kids could stay in tune with each other - it's basically been their singular job since they could hold an instrument.  And what they're doing is not easy, especially if they're all pretty much self-trained.  I would love to think that Tessie goes off-key on purpose once in awhile, but whenever I see the kids on stage, at least 75% of them look as though they'd rather be anywhere else.  Not everyone is a natural performer.

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

I would take one for the team but 9pm is past my bedtime.

But if I'm the only one to show up, I win the gift card!

Decisions............

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

OMG, what's on the next slide?!  What do we have to do to get that sweet, sweet $10 Dollar General gift card?

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

2 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

Ellen will act nice toward Jill because her kid is marrying Timmy. She might not like Jill but I doubt she will make waves. She wouldn’t want Jill being nasty to Heidi. I wonder if Jill even likes Heidi? I vote for no.

I have a feeling that there is a whole subsection of people - various Fundies, nice church ladies, Amish folks just trying to live their lives, regular people just trying to do their laundry, etc. - who understand, with one look at Jill, that it's better to be her fake friend than her enemy.

And I think if Jill doesn't like Heidi, it's less to do with Heidi and more to do with losing Timmy from under her thumb.  Now here's Tim under the influences of Heidi and her family, who are surely feeding him actual food and showing him that women can wear pants and not spontaneously combust, which goes against everything Jill has been pouring into Tim's brain since he was a child.

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

5 minutes ago, MamaMax said:

My husband and I both have M names and EVERYONE asked us if we would give our kids M names. We said absolutely not. But I Can see Nurthan getting the same  -- Oh you have to give your kids N names!! 

Well, since it worked so well for the infamous Duggars......

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

28 minutes ago, crazy8s said:

Can't you just see Jill making a video and hear her screechsplaining. "did you know Nevaeh is heaven spelled backwards? so neat!!!"

Hmm, I would venture to say that Jill insisted Nurie give all of her kids "N" names, betting on her eventually having a girl, just so Jill could push hard for the name "Nevaeh."  I bet Jill's already got her storyboards all lined up for the upcoming "screechsplaining" (LOL love this) video, complete with the word "HEAVEN" written on a whiteboard so she can sausage-finger the letters backwards so us heathens fully understand. 

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

My favorite part of the videos was Jill's sausage finger pointing to the "tiles" that each kid had to remove to reveal BOY or GIRL while she dumbed down the explanation of how it all worked.  Like, I think this crew has the gender reveal thing down pat by now, Jill.  It's not really that exciting.

[Christine Brown Woolley: Nacho Sister Wife Anymore]

Trying to imagine a conversation where Christine and David buy a rental and she asks him if they can decorate it with pictures of the man who made her life a living hell for 25 years...but I have the feeling that Dave was probably on board because I don't think he would be so noble as to turn away money from fans of SW.

It's just gross to me because I don't think they need to tie this house to SW in order to get renters.  If you're a fan of Christine, it's enough to say you stayed in her AirBnB if that's what rocks your boat.  Who needs to stare into Kody's beady eyes while you're sitting at the counter eating your corn flakes?  It's not the flex you think it is, Christine.

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

On 2/24/2024 at 11:58 PM, Salacious Kitty said:

Jill's response to some confused friends regarding the music: 

 

If the kids were actually so sick that Jill felt it necessary to overlay real music over their performance, then why on earth are they performing at all?  There is no way that Jill would silence her ministry waifs unless they sounded so bad even she couldn't stand it.  Is it really that big a deal if the Rodlets skip one performance?  Is the congregation - all 10 of them -  going to stand up and stomp their feet, demanding for them to come on stage?

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

1 hour ago, Teriacky said:

I hope the kids enjoyed THEIR vacation away from Jill. They had time to relax, EAT, and didn’t have a camera trained on them at all times!  It was probably the best vacation they’ve had. 

I have wondered about this.  Do the Rodlets enjoy their time away from Jill for the above reasons?  Or has she made herself so firmly the center of their universe that they feel lost without her making all of their decisions for them?  Do they even understand the concept of being able to "relax?"  For their sakes I hope so, but I doubt it.  I don't think they're able to grasp the meaning of "when the cat's away, the mice will play."

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

That was a weird thing to say, even for Jill - they are "states away from their RV."  Huh?  The RV?  You mean the small shipping container on wheels where your kids are probably sleeping?  "States away from our CHILDREN" would've been so easy to say.  I think that as far as the Rodlets are concerned, for Jill they are "out of sight, out of mind," whereas most people would be shopping for little trinkets to bring home to their kids to let them know that mom and dad were thinking about them while they were away.  Heck, I buy my daughter's dog a little toy whenever we travel (which is 1/8th the amount of time that Jill and Hubby take off on vacation).

So now I guess it's safe to assume that Jill is at Nurthan's house screeching about how WONDERFUL their trip was - the delicious food, the dolphins, the beach, the bowling, oh the FOOD!!! - to the assembled Rodlets and a pregnant and probably exhausted Nurie.  And poor Nathan - hopefully he donated enough plasma to assume the cost of feeding Nurie's siblings and taking his in-laws out for dinner multiple times.

TL;DR  Jill sucks.