RebeccatheWriter

True...and I forgot...it is the "War of Northern Aggression" to them probably.

My thought too. My guess is that Carlin will take a test because it made her think when Layla was so insistent. Voila! Surprise, I'm pregnant. I guess they need to grow their cast.

She and most of this family are the very definition of willful ignorance. The men in the family are all brawn and very little substance in terms of art and culture. Their understanding of history is limited to the Civil War. Science is tainted with "Biblical" principles. The women seem to think it is cute to be ignorant. It helps them land a man. Only Michaela seems to have any interest in learning more about anything other than skincare, cosmetics, etc. I was wrong. He couldn't pronounce arugula. Kelly was saying in a "fancy restaurant" chicken salad came with lettuce and tomato. But they just ate it on sandwiches. She then says Zach got the fancy lettuce. He commented earlier that he might like to put dill in the chicken salad. She also thought she was doing a commercial for Duke's Mayonaise. I'm southern, but I honestly don't get the whole mayo loyalty thing. Another interesting note, Gil and Kelly talked about not having a television or letting the kids watch television. However, in this video Zach notes that he bought and is using Grey Poupon because they (? - is he referencing his parents or his whole family) liked the commercials when he was younger. I just always am amused when they end up telling on themselves.

I am familiar with the subdivision where they live. I try not to say never or always, but I'm going to be surprised if they manage to get the pool they want with that yard. Those yards are known to be very rocky and sloped. I had considered buying an investment property there a few years before prices made that not such a great decision. My inspector recommended against any house there because of these yards and known drainage issues. Maybe their yard isn't impacted. Maybe their contractor isn't worried about it. I just will be surprised.

Yes, I forgot that one. There was also (bringing it around to Carlin again) the whole thing about Carlin and college. She was attending Crown College to study music. After Tori moved out, Carlin was led by the Lord (cough, cough) to study at Liberty University online so that she could work with the children on homeschooling, etc. At least Liberty is accredited, but I find it disturbing that the trend is for the children to sacrifice for Kelly Jo's (and Gil's) decisions.

Yes, it was clear on that and a previous episode that Kelly was basically a burden to her in-laws. They joked that they would need to buy a new one but it would get broken too. Papa Bill would make breakfast for everyone and Kelly was shown more than once rolling in after everyone else. A polite person would have gotten there on time or fixed their own breakfast. But she was sitting down talking about how she wanted the cheese grits and couldn't wait. During the Thanksgiving and Papa Bill's birthday episodes, she was never shown working. Mama Jane was a ball of nervous energy in the kitchen with the older girls. Gil and some of the boys were setting up tables and chairs under a tent. Younger children were decorating and carrying food out to the tables. Kelly was always shown sitting on the front porch or coming in the kitchen to chat about the next wedding or baby. I think Carlin learned from her mom. When they used to show the Stewarts visiting Evan's parents more, we saw very little of Carlin doing much to be productive at all. That wouldn't have flown in my parents' home. You had better earn your dinner. If you can't cook, that's no excuse. There are dishes to wash and tables to set.

Yes, and point blank lied to her grandmother. She was shown walking all over the table covering with her shoes on her feet. Jane commented that the shoes were dirty (and her feet). Carlin said they were brand new. The camera showed they were well used and the narrative at that time was that they primarily shopped thrift stores. At another event, Carlin and several others were on the hammock. They all admitted the hammock was frequently overloaded and broken. So it breaks again. Carlin held the frayed ropes in place and lied to Jane that it was not broken. She tried to say it was Lawson but Jane again saw through her.

For sure. She's said herself that she grew up on tv dinners and never learned to cook. She has said Michaela and Alyssa were the cooks in the family. People who know/knew them have said church ladies and Mama Jane taught both of them to cook - not Kelly. It wasn't even really a recipe. It was chicken salad. She referred to the romaine lettuce (she and Zach couldn't pronounce it) as fancy.

I get how hard it is when your parent, grandparent, etc. forgets you. I could get snarky and say that Carlin should be used to it as one of 19. We saw her grandparents about 15 years ago barely able to list everyone coming to Thanksgiving and struggling with the names of the grandchildren before dementia was an issue. But it does hurt. I feel for her there because I know it is important for her to feel seen. She has zero respect for anyone or anything unless it makes her more of an influencer. From what the show showed us, she has always been that way. Mama Jane was a nurse. She would clearly have an opinion of cleanliness and reducing the spread of germs. Carlin and her family might not see illness as a minor inconvenience, but to the elderly it can be life and death. My own mother was admitted to the hospital with a UTI and things went downhill from there. (I'm aware you don't catch a UTI like the cold, but just an example of minor to one is major to another.) This time it was the hair thing, but it makes you wonder what happened off camera. Did she change Zade's diaper on the table? I want to believe her tears and reactions are real and genuine. But I can't help but see it all as performative. We knew what we were in for with the title, "Carlin's Emotional Visit with her Grandparents." I don't care to give them the extra clicks, but I seem to remember that each visit to the grandparents recently has included Evan talking about this could be the last time, etc. I get that you have those thoughts. I had them with my mom. Unfortunately, I was right. It just feels so staged and exploitive. The breakfast was a crap show. Notice Jane was hesitant about what to eat with those four attempting to cook sort of. But even I, a viewer, know that Papa Bill loved his grits. He said the secret to them was to read the directions and follow them. Is it that hard for them to make the man some instant grits? It might have actually sparked a conversation with him to discuss them.

I didn't grow up with siblings, but I will say my accent is less pronounced than my cousins and other family members. I grew up in the suburbs rather than the country, had more friends who weren't from the south, and had a mother who was born elsewhere but spent the majority of her life in the south. When I spend time with family who are more rurally based and have stronger accents, mine comes out stronger. There is a video by this comedy group called It's a Southern Thing that does a skit about accents and how they come out stronger if you are angry, scared, etc. Not all southern accents are created equal. Kelly and Gil grew up in South Carolina (Kelly more mountain area and Gil more toward the coastal areas in terms of accents.) The OG 19 tend to sound more like Kelly rather than the mountains of Tennessee. Gil's family has the slower roll to speaking and drop the g on ing words. They change the sound of I and pronounce “I” as “ah,” such as saying “eye” as “ah.” Kelly on the other hand adds r to words (some of the kids picked up on this) and Gil's family can be heard dropping r's from words.

That's actually understandable when it comes to the way Josie was raised. The Bates had a community closet set up and everyone wore whatever they grabbed that fit. Josie may still feel the effects of that and is clinging to whatever she owns because nobody can take it from her now.

Like many with dementia, he does better with smaller groups and one on one. There is an extreme frustration and agitation that comes with dementia. Think about the last time you couldn't remember a word or a name of someone in a movie or show. It's apparently that times 100. Lawson and Carlin were probably the worst two to pair together on this sort of thing. They are among the loudest Bates. I don't say many nice things about any of the Bates, as I think they are horrible people in general. They do appear to love their grandparents though. I will note that the others have showcased things they are doing there more than they have shown their grandparents. Alyssa cleaned the house. Trace did yard work. Michaela has gone and stayed with one grandparent at the hospital while the other was recovering at home and vice versa. I guess they made breakfast. Others have mentioned the ill-timed commercial. I will add that Carlin will never truly change. She did Layla's hair in the kitchen while mentioning that Jane hates that. (My mother did too.) She has always shown zero respect for her grandmother's rules and standards.

Dementia can be different for a lot of people. From my experiences (too many at this point to not fear it for myself), the spouse is usually the last forgotten. That said, it is still very hard because he probably feels a lot of pressure and frustration. My mother had some dementia related to a previous treatment of cancer. She would become very agitated and angry. At the end she was throwing things at me and demanding my father leave (me too but I was stubborn). This isn't something we as watchers and followers know or can judge, but it might be time for them to consider some professional help for them. Jane's got some mobility issues. Bill is communicating less and less. All that said, I am not surprised he didn't recognize or remember Carlin and the kids. There are just so many in that family. I appreciate that Alyssa's visit was quiet. She worked to help them. She didn't bring all five kids and make more noise and confusion. I was Allie's age when my grandfather died of a brain tumor. Not dementia but he had cognitive issues after his surgery and treatment. I wish I could remember him in better days and not just automatically remember him not knowing me. Things he said and did were scary. I hope that the Bates kid-adults will shield their kids from some of that pain and help Bill not feel so angry and frustrated for not remembering.

They spent all their money on the clothing. Couldn't afford furniture.

They apparently rented (bartered for publicity?) a five? bedroom house on the beach. God forbid they have a reasonable space and spend some time alone. I wonder if they actually can have a conversation with each other that isn't on camera.

I agree. I don't consider that material to be influencing at all. I was referring more to the meal prep kits, vitamins, hair/beauty stuff, MixTiles, etc. I don't appreciate the child exploitation. That said, I have an influencer friend. She has two accounts, one of which is private for family and friends. She'll have the occasional picture of her daughter on that. However, her public and forward facing page about products is child free. If she is talking about children's clothing or items (rare), she photographs them but not with her daughter in them. She has turned down deals that require pics or video of any children. It has worked well for her though she does get creepy messages asking to see her child.

I think the influencing provides that life more than the boutique. The boutique has some pretty big red flags that it is not as well backed as it should and could be. It's not the instant bankruptcy I anticipated but it isn't keeping them in Teslas, new houses, etc. I would also say they probably have very little liquidity in the business.

They are always so behind on buying and putting out their social media for the clothing. They did the photo shoot for easter dresses 2ish weeks before the holiday. Admittedly I don't celebrate that hospital but I did, I doubt I would order a dress online for it that close to the holiday. My mother worked in the visual merchandising business for clothing retailers. She would tell you that if you are buying summer merch now as a retailer, you're getting the left over stuff nobody else wanted. They should already know their summer inventory and have it in hand by March.

I think there is some fall out still from the boutique. When Erin began stepping back (way before it was announced publicly), you had both Whitney and Carlin buying houses with their husbands - a first time home buy for Carlin and Evan. Zade was born in the midst of this and Erin was probably paying off some massive debt with how many surgeries she had and how sick she had been. My hypothesis is: Erin chooses to leave the business for whatever reason. She is taking Chad with her who did much of the grunt work and even some technical stuff with their computers and website. It's not like a ball game where they just walk away, they probably wanted to be bought out of their investment. The business is probably not very liquid. They have too much inventory. They upsized their location to go from rent free to commercial rent. They were and are traveling for shows to "meet with designers" a/k/a buying stuff off the rack to sell. And I doubt Whitney/Zach or Carlin/Evan had any cash to put in to make a buy out happen. That would explain why it took months from Erin stopping with the modeling and posting to the announcement. My guess is that other sisters were approached but they either didn't have the cash or didn't have the interest. That's when Kelly stepped in and suddenly she is a silent partner type dealing with the plus sizes. Kelly infused money into the business on the short term (note she's not doing anything there now) and Erin gets a payday for selling her part of the business. However, with as long as it took and the negotiation going on, I think there are and were hurt feelings and mismatched expectations. The question is did Whitney and Carlin learn anything? A business isn't a hobby or activity. Just like you need to prep yourself for the end of your marriage when you are still planning your wedding (life insurance, prenup, etc.), you have to prepare for the end of your business when you lay the groundwork. I would bet they had no business contract between the three of them. It turned out to be Erin getting out before the others, but it could have played differently. Whitney could have gotten annoyed with the business being in her house and then backyard. Who wants to give up personal space like that? Who wants your sisters-in-law and random church help wandering through your house, using your bathroom, putting their lunch in your refrigerator or searching it for a snack? It would get old quickly.

In Alyssa's defense on the gift thing - Carlin and Evan were sans car. John and Evan went to set up the location in John's car and Alyssa was getting the girls ready and about to head over to finish prepping the room (how much prep?) when Carlin jumped in with forgetting the gifts. I would have told her never mind too, as Carlin's going to have to take a 30-45 minute side trip at least to pick up gifts, then cards, then gift bags. Alyssa's kids would end up late for their own party and it would have eaten into prayer time. Carlin could have summoned an Uber and taken Layla to buy gifts, but didn't. Allie is begging for attention. I hate to break it to Alyssa, but it won't always been in such a sweet and pleading way to you. Teenagers begging for attention tend to not be as pleasant. Maybe I have missed it but Alyssa seems to be posting thank you to Carlin (and Evan) for coming, but not even mentioning Erin. I have family I don't like either, but I try to be nice in passing out the thank yous.

I think they did buy pizza. There was a slice of pizza next to Carlin's photo of the agenda. But it was still pathetic looking.

I was unpacking some boxes from a not so recent move and it dawned on me. None of these fundies have many books. Sure there are tablet readers (I have mine) but I also have multiple bookcases and more books than could fit. Erin probably has the most and she turns them spine side back or confesses she buys based on color not content to decorate her children's rooms.

He had the Alyssa version of a party. He had a smash cake, photoshoot with a balloon arch and painted backdrop, and presents. John's parents and a few others came over for it. I thought it was lowkey until I saw the combined party for the girls was basically the same thing except with princess dresses instead of baseballs.

It was sad looking on that schedule. They had 15 minutes for eating? And that included praying? I hope that was a quick prayer. What happened to princess storytime or games? One ticket for a photo. One ticket for a balloon animal. Goodie bag and go home. I get that it is hard to find activities to include for a 3/4 year old to a 9 year old, but that's the reason you don't do one party for every single girl in the family. The girls were taken to shop for presents for Rhett that Alyssa specifically said she and John would fund. Did they each get a gift "from" their brother?

She was licensed as an agent and on the Bailey real estate site for a while. Before that, Mrs. Bailey (the co-owner) was featured on the show to take Kelly, Kelly's mom, and various random children househunting. Kelly greeted her like an old friend and pretended they had discussed this whole thing about Kelly's mom. However, clearly this was all new news to this woman. She was showing a woman in her late 70s early 80s and a disabled husband, homes that had no main floor bathroom and had all the bedrooms upstairs. My guess is that the show found her and the agency for a few stories.