mynextmistake

Ok, that makes sense. I was thinking you must be pretty dedicated to be going out to the garbage can multiple times a day in cold North Dakota (I'm in a cold Northern state too so I can relate). Nysha, We got a fantastic Arm & Hammer diaper pail at Burlington (which has a surprising number of quality baby supplies for very little money) that twists the bag shut every time you dispose of a diaper, and has a baking soda puck in the top of the lid. I can't say enough about this diaper pail... no smell, no exposed-waste related hygiene issues, and I only have to change the bag every couple days.

Radar online is claiming Jinger is pregnant because a) she posted a picture in which her stomach looked "bumpy" (it didn't), b) before she and Jeremy got married she said she liked kids and wanted a family (duh, she's a Duggar, what else would she say), and c) she posed for a picture holding Jessa's baby (well that's the smoking gun - knocked up for sure).

Wow. Individually bagging every used diaper? You must go through a lot of plastic bags. I personally would be satisfied if Jessa just used a diaper pail instead of the top of her dresser, changed her sheets when her kids puke on them, and kept her kitchen and bathrooms clean enough to meet basic hygiene requirements. The lack of dusting, disorganized rooms and unmade beds are not things I feel very judgy about.

Did y'all see the comment toward the end that claims that Josh succumbed to porn 3 days ago? That seems pretty specific for a random troll comment.

Even if they were in California, my research suggests that child actor laws do not protect children appearing on reality shows. There have actually been Law Review articles written about this loophole and possible solutions.

With what? Facts?

OT, but congrats to your son and please tell him that with all the options open to college-educated young people these days I appreciate him choosing to serve his country. ❤️ OK, back OT! I live in a state with a high proportion of private pilots licenses. I know some of the people who have these licenses, and what they had to do to earn them. It doesn't sound like it's particularly challenging or involved.

Wrong. Those laws apply to professional child actors, not children appearing on reality shows. I'm sure the Duggar kids were compensated, but as far as I can tell there's nothing to stop Michelle and JB from simply taking that money and doing whatever they want with it. None of the now-adult Duggars act like they're sitting on a substantial nest egg, so I don't think they came into huge trusts upon reaching the age of majority.

"Spiritual Encouager." Joy should have that put on business cards.

I like how he has to point out that Jake is a CHOCOLATE lab. Perhaps his readers are colorblind.

Oh, I didn't think he was repulsive at all. I was saying that any single fundie guy Jana's age would probably be in some way repulsive, because otherwise he would be married already. It seems like acceptable grooms are harder to come by than acceptable brides, probably because the groom has to be able to take on headship responsibilities and all the bride has to do is obey her headship and shoot a baby out of her hoo-ha once a year.

That was my first question... he looks about 20. Not sure that would make him a good match for almost 30-year-old Jana. Of course, it would be next to impossible to find an unhitched fundie guy Jana's age who isn't in some way repulsive, I guess. What's up with Lawson Bates? Isn't he about Jana's age and still single?

Not Doodlebug, but a nurse. We do count pregnancy from the date of the first day of the LMP, which is usually around 14 days prior to ovulation. Ovulation is usually 10 - 14 days before implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterus, and it takes a couple of days for HcG levels to rise high enough to be detected on a home pregnancy test. So by the time a woman finds out she's pregnant, she's considered about 4 weeks along. 40 weeks is used as the guideline for the ideal length of pregnancy, but anything over 37 weeks is considered full term. The average month contains around 4.25 weeks. 9 months would therefore be 38.25 weeks. So if your acquaintance delivered one week prior to her anniversary, the baby would have been at about 37 weeks and two days gestation when he or she was born. That's not at all unbelievable. So yeah, it's possible she was telling the truth about the wedding night conception.

Oh. My. God. This is horrifying. Two-year-olds lack the cognitive capacity to be evil or to sin. They're TWO. My two-year-old still doesn't understand that the dog growls when she pulls its tail because the tail is attached to the dog. She holds her sandwich out for the dog and then cries when the dog eats it. She thinks that when she pulls her hat down over her eyes, we can't see her anymore. She would probably think it was a cool idea to get out of the car when it's going down the freeway. When I asked why she always skipped five when counting from one to ten, she said it was because she doesn't like five. She is more like an adorable alien than a rational human being. Toddlers have tantrums because they lack the coping skills necessary to deal with disappointment. Telling them that they are sinners and beating them with plumbing line isn't going to make them love God, it's just going to make them hate you.

Tacos are delicious. I could eat them for every meal.

Yes, but... Derick? In College Ministry? As I've mentioned before, one of my cousins attends one of these independent fundie-light churches that sounds a lot like Cross Church. She and her husband have three kids, who are 19, 15, and 10. They grew up attending the preschool ministry, youth ministry, and teen ministry programs at their church. The oldest is now in the college ministry program. The kids are devout, attend their various youth ministries regularly, have done "mission" work in central and South America, and truly seem to believe in and love their church. And they would no sooner know what to do with Derrick Dillard than they would a kangaroo in a necktie. See, these kids are devout, but they're also modern teens/tweens. They wear fashionable, sometimes revealing clothes. They listen to Christian music but also know all the latest hits. They attend coed dances and parties. Both the girls and the boy are active in team sports. They go to public school. Their mom works. The family uses birth control and my cousin has had frank sex-ed talks with both of the oldest. The oldest dates and drives. They have social media accounts and text constantly. They may not approve of same-sex relationships (and the church sure doesn't!) but they have gay friends and classmates and their attitude is one of "live and let live," not hellfire and damnation. They are Christian, but they are in most ways completely normal kids. I've met their youth pastor. He's a cool guy. He knows how to talk to teens at their level. He's well-versed in social media, dresses like a hipster, used to work at Starbucks and talks knowledgeably about secular movies and tv shows. The college pastors are a young couple. She wears shorts and tank tops, has a nose piercing, and loves hip-hop music; he does the laundry and drinks beer occasionally. They are all very successful in outreach and retention of church members because they are modern young people. They are introducing kids to religion through the framework of a life they already know. It's only because they have that framework that they're so good at ministry. Derick? If he wanted to be successful at college ministry, he would need to have this framework too. Instead, he has an accounting degree and the personality of a guy twice his age. He doesn't listen to secular music or watch secular movies and tv, is a judgy teetotaler, and dresses like a weirdo. His Biblical tweets are depressing, not uplifting. And then there is the spouse problem. A married college minister needs a spouse who is either someone the students can relate to or who is willing to stay in the background. Derick has Jill. Jill, in her stretched-out chevron skirts and frumpy layered tops. Jill, who disapproves of dancing. Jill, who will be having blessings every other year until she hits menopause. Jill, who won't even let Derick go on a ministry trip to a town 1500 miles from home without her hanging around his neck. Just... Jill. There is just no way Derick is going to make it as a college ministry leader in a modern church, even a fundie-light one.

I get what people aware saying about Jeremy and his obvious self-aggrandizement, but I think the plane post is kind of cute. I have an almost identical picture of me, Mr. Mynextmistake and Mini mynextmistake all snoozing on the way out to visit my in-laws. I *am* holding a book, Mr is holding Mini, and we are all dead-to-the-world asleep. No idea who took this pic (maybe they had someone traveling with them?), and it absolutely could be staged, but I find it inoffensive. And the dinner pic? Of them in an actual restaurant, eating a normal meal with Jeremy's normal-looking family? Jinger with mirrored aviators and a blouse that isn't buttoned all the way to the top, Jeremy's mom in a shirt exposing her clavicle, everyone smiling and looking happy? No "buy one, get one free" coupon or drippy sundae in sight? What's wrong with that? ETA: Look at Jinger's left eye in the plane pic. Is that a sty, the beginning/end of a shiner, or just bad lighting? If she had something wrong with her eye, that could explain choosing the "adoring wife" pic to post the other day, as it obscures her left eye from the camera.

I think he almost has to be mocking her with the omelet post. Like, who cooks an omelet for their husband and sends it with him to work in a Ziploc? My husband makes his own breakfast, because we have one of those "liberal" marriages where we both recognize that a Y-chromosome does not render one incapable of performing domestic tasks, but if I were making something for him to take to work it wouldn't be an omelet. If he wasn't mocking her, I feel like he would have just posted "mmm, tasty omelet, thanks honey" instead of "look, instagram, my wifey made me an "omelet" which she then carefully packaged with toothpicks in a ziploc so I could take it to work. Yes, an omelet. In a Ziploc. My wife has the intellect of a ground squirrel with a TBI, and refuses to show her collarbones in public. I hate my life." The sad part is that I feel like Jill is probably trying to make him happy, but she keeps running into his wall of passive aggression and has no idea what to do about it. She's not very bright, even by Duggar standards, and has really, really drunk the Gothard koolaid. She probably has no idea what she did wrong. How depressing.

Yes I agree. That is far too much of a "wife gazing adoringly at headship" picture. If you gave her a crunchy perm and saggy boobs from having 19 kids and never wearing a properly supportive bra, Jinger could be Michelle. That said, she looks good. Hair is clean, hands are manicured, blouse fits properly and is a good color for her. And more importantly, she looks happy. She probably loves Jeremy as much as Jeremy loves Jeremy. If he loves her anywhere near that much, I think they'll be happy together. And I know Jeremy is a knucklehead in many ways, and I sure don't agree with his political or religious views, but I do have to give him some props for how he treats Jinger. He knew going into the marriage that she lacked self-confidence. I feel like a lot of fundie husbands would have exploited that to keep their wives more subservient. Jeremy actually seems to be helping her to build her self-confidence by encouraging her to express her individuality and by acknowledging the things she is good at (for instance, praising her photographs on Instagram). I guess what it boils down to is that I don't like Jeremy, but I like Jeremy for Jinger. Does that make any sense?

To be fair, it's pretty clear Jeremy is using Instagram as a marketing tool. He presumably doesn't post about every book he reads. While I doubt he is secretly a comparative religion scholar, I don't think he reads exclusively fundie books. He's probably a closet James Patterson fanatic or something. Maybe he loved "50 Shades of Gray." Who knows?

It was an unfortunate phase. I think pub tables were worse, though, because all kinds of people bought them without considering whether they would work for their families. My cousin had one for about a year, and I couldn't keep track of the number of times her four and seven year olds got hurt trying to climb up into those high chairs.

I think the hem of the skirt is just flipped up, showing the lighter denim underneath.

Also, why is the first thing Jill mentions that Derick loves Jesus? Was he eating with them? It looks like one of those granite tabletops that were popular for a while, after the pub table craze but before the farmhouse table fad. They're pieced together from random pieces of granite so they look kind of like a granite crazy quilt. They were sold at all the department stores like Wal-Mart, Target, etc.

Oh my God. How can anyone encourage their daughter to marry a sex offender? How fucked up would your belief system have to be to say "yeah, honey, he did rape that girl up the ass but that was then and he's found Jesus now, so you just go pick out a pretty dress and your mom and I will make sure there's plenty of snack mix for the reception?" I mean, I have a 2-year-old daughter. I can't even imagine. These people are all such useless parents and human beings. Every last one of them. Michelle, Jim Bob, the Kellers, Gil and Kelly Bates, Josh, Jill, Jessa, Joy... their kids are all doomed. What a horrible world they live in. What a horrible thing to do to their kids.

Wait, what?