Michelle and JimBob aka J'Chelle and Boob

[Jellybeans]

They're polar opposites, but just as extreme. I don't think you automatically have to agree 100% with one family just because you dislike the other.

i agree with that. I am not sure I would choose my own family. :-p

[mimionthebeach]

Very interesting to read this thing. Still... I think (but not sure lol) I would rather have the Duggar crahziness than the Kardashin craziness any day!

I don't know. If you're not greedy, it'd be easier to walk away from the Kardashian crazies. But that's BEING one. As far as watching, the Duggars, due to their more intriguing worldview, are less nauseating.

[Jellybeans]

I don't know. If you're not greedy, it'd be easier to walk away from the Kardashian crazies. But that's BEING one. As far as watching, the Duggars, due to their more intriguing worldview, are less nauseating.

Greed has its own trappings, as well as love for siblings. A hard choice...

[ariel]

Very interesting to read this thing. Still... I think (but not sure lol) I would rather have the Duggar craziness than the Kardashin craziness any day!

That  statement is used a lot when people defend the Duggars & all their craziness.  The bottom line is,  they are just as much fame whores as the Kardasins.

[Absolom]

I think they're both bad, just different types of bad.  That doesn't make either one less offensive to me than the other. 

[Literata]

 

I wonder if Michelle "the little Hottie McHot cheerleader" married dork boy Dim Bulb because of some scandal(pregnancy, slutty behavior, some other incident that became small time gossip)?

My guess is that she took her religious conversion to the "nth" degree. I've always speculated that she's the one driving the Gothard bus, and Boob goes along with all of it because he's still shocked that she likes him.

[Rhondinella]

Oh I hope so.   So someone can tell them that ALS Organization that most donations are going to uses embyronic stem cells in its research.   Their heads will explode.   You know they only did this for the attention.   To find out their fame strumpeting went to research like that will blow their minds.

 

(the Catholic Church sent out a message about this and suggested other ALS organizations to donate to that help ALS patients but do not do research with embryonic stem cells).

 

I assume they knew about that.  That's why they (specially Michelle) made clear that they were donating to some research center at the University of Kansas, I think it was, that does not use embryonic stem cells in their research.  They made a great point to say that in the video.

 

That has been something of an issue in the more conservative element of the evangelical church.  I am FB friends with a number who were making a big fuss about making sure you were donating your ALS ice bucket money to an organization that didn't use embryonic stem cells.  In fact, I saw some videos of people who were donating to completely different causes not even related to ALS because they wanted to avoid the whole issue.  So, I was surprised at all to hear that the Duggars had followed suit.

[WTFFF]

 

Does JimBob seem aware of Michelle's lack of love for their children? He obviously loves them. She.. not so much.

 

Call me a cynical bitch (you wouldn't be the first), but I don't think JimBob loves his kids that much more than Michelle does.  He likes them while they're little and trail around after him like an adoring flock of ducklings, and post-puberty, he likes the meek, timid girls who let others dictate what they do (as soon as Joy was too old to be "cute" in her tomboy stage, she fell out of his favor pretty fast - heck, he seems to be pretty over Johannah already and she's still pretty small.)  I think he likes the notion of being a father with a legion of sycophants who worship the ground he walks on and follow every word he says; I don't think he really likes his kids that much.  YMMV, but I see him as a male Michelle who's a little better at hiding it.  And sometimes I get the feeling he's suppressing some pretty intense rage when the kids go against his vision of what they should be doing (see: Josiah at the Jubilee pregnancy announcement.) 

Edited September 8, 2014 by WTFFF

[Mrsjumbo]

I agree with this completely. JB would never publicly admit M is falling apart, but could have pulled his mother aside & asked her to help out for M's sake.

Do you ever play "what if?" What if M had never had that initial miscarriage? Would they still live in that small original house with 3-4 kids, using birth control between them? What if she hadn't got pulled into the cult & those 4 kids went to public school like she did & maybe U of A? And the kids had fun at the game, the older ones enjoying a cold beer? And because they were just a normal family the film crews were never there, they never had 19 kids.

Sometimes I think some people just can't handle 1 traumatic thing in their life. PTSD, but it affects their life together. With M I think it was that initial miscarriage.

Just as an aside- my older sister was an outgoing, friendly girl. She witnessed my brother getting hit by a car. Her personality changed & she was never the same. She's 55 yrs old, lives with my parents, has no job or friends. So you see how 1 incident could affect you forever.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Mrsjumbo

[GEML]

Well, I think if it hadn't been the miscarriage it would have been something else. I think that JB wanted to define himself as radically different from his father in some religious way, and was on the lookout for ways to do that. While he's a savvy man in a business way, I don't think he thinks he's minister material (and I believe Michelle had said many times how much he squirms about speaking in public) and I think it's still likely something would have found them. Michelle, I think, was looking for something big enough to show her family that breaking off her family at such a young age was worth it. So maybe it wouldn't have been Gothard, but they fit the Gothard mold/profile better than they do,say, a communal/intentional living criteria. But it was clear from the beginning they were ambitious to themselves.

[Mrsjumbo]

Not sure where to post it, but I had the Disney movie "Tangled" on for DS tonight. And chuckled at the similar plot...evil witch keeps beautiful DD at home, away from the "scary" outside world...

Read the lyrics to the song "Mother knows best". LOL!

[floridamom]

Michelle's parents gave her permission to marry JB at 17 yrs old. Technically she was under age to marry. They agreed. Why did she have to separate herself from them just because they didn't think it was a good idea to have babies constantly. Doesn't the bible say "honor YOUR father and mother"? Michelle and Jim Bob don't do that.Refusing to socialize and interact with your own family because they aren't extremist Christians as you are isn't right either. How do they justify that?

[GEML]

Floridamom- this is exactly what I mean. JB and Michelle clearly think they are better people than their own parents, and clearly set out to show them up (at least in their own minds) from the beginning. It might not have been having 19 children, but they would have been pulled into some kind of fringe religious movement because they were so obviously looking for one.

[truthtalk2014]

This has probably been brought up before.  I haven't had a chance to read the entire thread, but does anyone wonder if J'Chelle married Boob at age 17 because she was pregnant - and they didn't tell anyone- and then she possibly had a miscarriage.  I don't remember reading or hearing why they married so young.  

[BitterApple]

This has probably been brought up before.  I haven't had a chance to read the entire thread, but does anyone wonder if J'Chelle married Boob at age 17 because she was pregnant - and they didn't tell anyone- and then she possibly had a miscarriage.  I don't remember reading or hearing why they married so young.  

Marrying young is pretty common in certain areas. My father is from rural Ontario and everyone in his family was married with at least one kid before the age of 21. I have a cousin in her 50's who got married in a non-shotgun wedding at 17, so it may not have been that unusual for previous generations. 

[floridamom]

truthtalk2014: I read somewhere that Michelle's parents were going to move to North Carolina after she graduated from high school. Instead of having her move with them then return to marry Jim Bob, they let her marry right away a month after graduation. I don't know why they would have done that as she was waaay too young to marry another kid like JB, but they gave their permission after her mother convinced her father to let her marry him before the family left Arkansas for NC.

[GEML]

After a child turns 18, it's pretty difficult to stop them from doing some things. Getting married is one of them. It's pretty clear that they both worked pretty hard at menial jobs and lived frugally, so they were supporting themselves. What I think is so fascinating is that emotionally, Michelle seems to have never moved on beyond that point.

[Libby96]

After a child turns 18, it's pretty difficult to stop them from doing some things. Getting married is one of them. It's pretty clear that they both worked pretty hard at menial jobs and lived frugally, so they were supporting themselves. What I think is so fascinating is that emotionally, Michelle seems to have never moved on beyond that point.

The whole thing is very interesting. Despite marrying young and with only a high school degree, you have to admit Jim Bob and Michelle hustled those first few years and appeared to make sound financial decisions. Also ironic is that as many aspersions as they like to cast upon the birth control pills they used, those four years of being just a couple probably really helped them be able to get on more solid ground financially.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Libby96

[Micks Picks]

FOUR YEARS AS JUST A COUPLE

 

O my gosh I never even thought of that.  Actually I don't think it was quite that long because Josh must be about 26, making her all of 20 at the time.  Well well well.  Hypocritical couple aren't they?  She lived a much more normal childhood and had a more normal first few years of marriage.  Yet encourages her daughters to do the cult-thing.  JB's dad was very concerned about Michele's health with all the constant pregnancies.  They laughed at him.  Like he was a dear old dolt.

[WTFFF]

Not only did they laugh at him, they turned on him the moment he was no longer around to speak for himself.  JimBob definitely ignores the fifth Commandment at every turn. 

[GEML]

And the fact that they have such disdain for their parents and their children "love" them so much only reinforces the idea that they did everything "right."  They couldn't wait to get away from their families, while their children are so content to stay.  When psychology will show that children raised in such a communal setting that is essentially a dormitory with no privacy at all will cease to think of themselves as individuals and will start to think of themselves as a clan.  They have trouble using the word I and often use the word we.  Historically, of course, this made sense, as being on your own wasn't a very good survival tactic.  

[Jellybeans]

I am new to this series and am not going to waste hours of time catching up. I have a question tho... what "initial miscarriage" are you referring to? Thanks!

[VioletNevermind]

I am new to this series and am not going to waste hours of time catching up. I have a question tho... what "initial miscarriage" are you referring to? Thanks!

 

Michelle's first pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage that they have decided is due to the fact that they used birth control.  From Josh onward, they've "left the size of their family up to the Lord's timing."  Hence, the 19 kids (and no longer counting, because seriously, it's over, Michelle).

[Jellybeans]

I remember when the pill was born, (ok I revealed my age range) and even THEN I knew it did not cause miscarriages. Where do these people get their medical information from?

Thanks for answering my question.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Jellybeans

[ginger90]

Michelle's first pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage that they have decided is due to the fact that they used birth control.

 

Probably because to them it's up to God how many children they have. When one is lost, they don't want to see that as having anything to do with God's plan?

[JessDVD]

There's a sect of people (some of whom are not actually insane) who think that since one of the things the pill does is thin the lining of the uterus which makes it more difficult for an embryo to implant, that it's abortifacient since that particular aspect is post-conception. I can understand the gray-ness of it and why Christians who believe life begins at conception may choose to not use it.

 

Randy Alcorn is a relatively famous and non-insane Christian author who has written about this, for anyone who's interested, here's a summary of his opinion about the pill. I personally disagree with the bit about how the pill "prevents" implantation - my understand medically speaking is just that it makes it more *difficult*. Again, I can see how this is gray and why people choose not to use it. It's a pretty big leap to take "BC pill potentially abortifacient" to "No birth control at all" though.

[Jellybeans]

I am so disappointed. As a newcomer to this series I thought they were one big happy family although the lack of physical touch weirded me out. But I DO know people who do not like to be touched. I... am not one of them and if I were in that family, I'd be the virgin family whore.

[VioletNevermind]

Probably because to them it's up to God how many children they have. When one is lost, they don't want to see that as having anything to do with God's plan?

 

Exactly.  They have lots and lots of practice at picking and choosing what they want to view as God's plan, ignoring little things like science or the simple, sad fact that it's not possible for every single pregnancy to go to full-term.  I honestly fear for Michelle's sanity when the Freight Train of Truth hits her and she realizes that her baby-catchin' days are over and she still has many young children and no daughter-moms left at home to raise them. 

Edited September 12, 2014 by SuzyLee

[truthtalk2014]

  I honestly fear for Michelle's sanity when Freight Train of Truth hits her and she realizes that her baby-catchin' days are over and she still has many young children and no daughter-moms left at home to raise them. 

Preach!

[charmed1]

Exactly. They have lots and lots of practice at picking and choosing what they want to view as God's plan, ignoring little things like science or the simple, sad fact that it's not possible for every single pregnancy to go to full-term. I honestly fear for Michelle's sanity when Freight Train of Truth hits her and she realizes that her baby-catchin' days are over and she still has many young children and no daughter-moms left at home to raise them.

Oh but she has son-moms. She has plenty of Rodd and Todd Flanders to raise the little girls. One of them is already raising either Jordyn or Jennifer.

[wanderwoman]

IIRC, they were held up at the car lot, not their home. By that time, they were at the Johnson Rd. house.

 

At any rate, her little bon mots tonight made me want to retch. Has she REALLY been praying for this "season of life" when all of her blessings leave her? Although, let's face it, what with plane-buying, and house-loaning, and fiancee working for Daddy, there ain't much leaving and cleaving going on. They even had to film Smuggar, whose family stays in the LEGIT guest house on their premesis.

 

One of BinBob's new jobs likely consists of helping JD build the second such structure on the Duggar Back 20. I wonder if Bin gets a real check and has to pay real taxes. He's outed now, but I bet he was payed under the table for MONTHS; these scenes were all filmed last May.

they were living in the house at the lot, I thought.

[Absolom]

Actually Michelle had the miscarriage after Josh.  They used birth control pills successfully for three or four years before Josh.  Then she had the miscarriage that sent them down the rabbit hole beginning with twins. 

[lucille66]

We only see a fraction of their lives being displayed on their tv show. The majority of their everyday family life is obviously behind the scenes. This idea that Michelle doesn't show affection for her kids is interesting. I get the same impression from the bits and pieces that we see. You'd think if that was an important part of her life then she would give us viewers a chance to see her motherly affection, love, and attention. Instead, we get talking heads of M (in her squeaky, raspy, sweet voice) giving advice and experiences on parenting. There were even a couple episodes where they highlighted M spending one-on-one time with a couple of the sons (playing chess, sling shots) as if that was such an odd thing. Instead, we see the older daughters tending to the younger kids' needs. It seems JB and M are constantly speaking at conferences, giving interviews, going to book signings, traveling, filming a tv show...does she even have time to be a mother? We never see glimpses of her cooking, cleaning, homeschooling like we used to on the show. All she does is "talk" about it. I think she has become such a celebrity by having so many kids and this attention, this spotlight seems to be the priority. IDK.

[Jellybeans]

It sounds to me that Michelle has an undiagnosed mental illness.

[Almost 3000]

We only see a fraction of their lives being displayed on their tv show. The majority of their everyday family life is obviously behind the scenes. This idea that Michelle doesn't show affection for her kids is interesting. I get the same impression from the bits and pieces that we see. You'd think if that was an important part of her life then she would give us viewers a chance to see her motherly affection, love, and attention. Instead, we get talking heads of M (in her squeaky, raspy, sweet voice) giving advice and experiences on parenting. There were even a couple episodes where they highlighted M spending one-on-one time with a couple of the sons (playing chess, sling shots) as if that was such an odd thing. Instead, we see the older daughters tending to the younger kids' needs. It seems JB and M are constantly speaking at conferences, giving interviews, going to book signings, traveling, filming a tv show...does she even have time to be a mother? We never see glimpses of her cooking, cleaning, homeschooling like we used to on the show. All she does is "talk" about it. I think she has become such a celebrity by having so many kids and this attention, this spotlight seems to be the priority. IDK.

I've said this a couple of times but I've always felt Michelle is a full time working mom. Oh, the horrors! When she said she is a scheduler it was the truest thing I've heard her say. She works as the family manager for both their personal and professional lives plus she works in tandem with JB on their misguided outreach. She hasn't been very hands on since TLC came into their lives and they moved into in TTH. She excels at and is great at employee scheduling.

And one more thing, doesn't it seem like they just where house those kids?

[CarolMK]

RE: Michelle's undiagnosed mental illness, I'll wager a guess she has narcisstic personality disorder. Also, brainwashed by the Gothard cult at a very young and impressionable age, never to recover from it. The fact that she was referring to her unborn baby as "it" in the 14 Children and Pregnant Again was very telling (she said, when the baby is born, it's MY buddy until it's 6 months old and then it goes to whoever's turn it is to have a buddy...ugh). It doesn't help the way Jim Bob is always grabbing at her, kissing her, etc, it's borderline creepy to see someone acting like that past the teenage years. 

[Jellybeans]

RE: Michelle's undiagnosed mental illness, I'll wager a guess she has narcisstic personality disorder. Also, brainwashed by the Gothard cult at a very young and impressionable age, never to recover from it. The fact that she was referring to her unborn baby as "it" in the 14 Children and Pregnant Again was very telling (she said, when the baby is born, it's MY buddy until it's 6 months old and then it goes to whoever's turn it is to have a buddy...ugh). It doesn't help the way Jim Bob is always grabbing at her, kissing her, etc, it's borderline creepy to see someone acting like that past the teenage years.

A very difficult mental illness, and if I am not mistaken...untreatable.

[mimionthebeach]

A very difficult mental illness, and if I am not mistaken...untreatable.

 

Pray the NPD Away?

[Ljohnson1987]

I read somewhere that J'Chelle wants to be pregnant along with Jill. Why does she always have to be the center of attention?

[Libby96]

Maybe Michelle thinks it would be a sweet time, a precious special blessing to be pregnant along with your daughter. She could purpose to be a real encouragement to Jill, and invest in her life.

Jill would say that posing for belly shots with her mom is totally neat and awesome ;)

[Ljohnson1987]

They already did that with Anna. Also, do we need a weekly Dill baby update? Are Derrick and Jill selling their souls to Us Magazine?

[truthtalk2014]

I read somewhere that J'Chelle wants to be pregnant along with Jill. Why does she always have to be the center of attention?

Because she is a psycho jealous bitch. That's my professional diagnosis.  That will be 350 Duggar dollars please.  

[GEML]

That will be 350 Duggar dollars please.

Or the equivalent of a very expensive juicer from the wedding gift registry! ;)

[Jellybeans]

Pray the NPD Away?

If she has a mental illness, it is not under her control.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Jellybeans

[andromeda331]

Because she is a psycho jealous bitch.

 

 

Yep, she wants to be the only one to be pregnant and get all of the attention. Even though I know it'll never happen I keep hoping someone will finally say something to her either one of her kids or a qualified doctor. 

[BradandJanet]

Yep, she wants to be the only one to be pregnant and get all of the attention. Even though I know it'll never happen I keep hoping someone will finally say something to her either one of her kids or a qualified doctor. 

 

Convincing a person he or she is mentally ill is nearly impossible. In this case, whatever Michelle's issues might be, her behavior is supported by her religion too. That woman will have to be hauled away in a big net. 

Edited September 12, 2014 by BradandJanet

[GEML]

There is a lot of discussion in psychiatric circles about whether things like narcissistic and borderline personality disorder are truly mental illnesses, or if they are simply types of personalities. If you cannot treat them, for instance, what does that mean?

But either way, I do think that Michelle is locked into a world where she stopped growing as a person at the age of 17. And that isn't only an intensely self centered on, but also extremly judgmental one.

[BitterApple]

I can't believe Michelle won't give up the ghost. What is she now, 47? 48? She's STILL talking about getting pregnant?

 

She must be green with envy over Jill's pregnancy. Even in the recent episodes you can tell she can't stand not being the center of attention. She has as much enthusiasm for wedding preparations as someone about to go to the electric chair. 

 

In past years it's always been all about Michelle. The pregnancies, the Miracle Baby, the awards, the lectures, the Today Show appearances, the fawning adulation from fans at book signings, people telling her how amazing she is... Now it's the J'Slaves who are finally getting some shine and she's acting like the bitchy cheerleader who's been dethroned by the hot new girl in school.

[truthtalk2014]

I just recently read that MEchelle's sister is a lesbian.  Does anyone know if they have anything to do with her?  Does she get invited to the weddings?  Where does she live?

[Temperance]

I recommend the Wikipedia page on the Duggars. It's very informative. 

According to Wikipedia, Michelle is 48 (happy birthday), and she has six siblings.