7 Little Johnstons - General Discussion

[readheaded]

19 hours ago, seasons said:

Just saw on their team7j Instagram that they have jumped into the MLM sales now - selling Rodan and Fields. I  stopped following the Roloffs that are always trying to see us stuff and the Busbys. No thanks. Will try to post their Instagram about it.

I saw this, too and rolled my eyes so hard they hurt afterward.

[Rescue Mama]

Is this show coming back?

[seasons]

[seasons]

6 hours ago, readheaded said:

I saw this, too and rolled my eyes so hard they hurt afterward.

Same here. Nice picture though.

This is a nice post.

[Chalby]

On 5/22/2019 at 7:46 PM, TRUSAG said:

She is definitely 1 of those ppl who put others down 2 make herself look better 2 others & I’ve heard she likes to tell STORIES, that aren’t truth since she struggles with TRUTH FROM REALITY. 

This makes sense because I felt that Elizabeth was the one they all looked to when they want or expect 'dependable' actions, etc. But after reading your post, I realize she's just as confused and lacking in self confidence as every other teenager/ young adult. Too bad the show didn't share this 'real side' you refer to. Would have boosted viewing if people could relate.

[ShortyMac]

Season 7 starts Tuesday, March 31, at 10/9c.

 

[Hero]

A lot of people on TLC's Facebook post are saying that Amber and Liz are really mean to Anna and the family treats her differently. Amber and Trent are commenting that they do not treat her differently and that the viewers only see a small part of their lives. 

[ShortyMac]

The season premiere is up early on TLC's website, and the app.

[ShortyMac]

Trent still doesn't have answers for his pain.

Elizabeth is still with Brice, though, he is going away to college, and she is in her senior year.

Emma is talking to a boy named Luca. She's not old enough to date.

That Grease redo was funny, complete with their own song! 

Anna feels like her parents are trying to get rid of her, by her going away to college. I understand that different kids have different needs, but, moms do coddle their boys. 

The way Anna is talked about on this show...it feels like her family doesn't like her at all. 

OMG, they actually said something nice, and said she's a hard-worker, and the hardest-working of all of the kids.

[VioletNevermind]

Dear God in Heaven, this Grease spoof is the corniest thing I have ever seen in my life.  If I cringe any harder, I will sprain something.  Seriously, send help. 

[Waldopepper]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That Grease routine was one of the worst things I have ever seen on TV. Amber is HUGE. How many poor cows did it take to make those leather pants? She is wider that she is tall. Whatever happened to their healthier eating episodes. Their idea of healthy eating in Forsyth GA is friggin Golden Corral or maybe Little Caesars pizza. And before you ladies beat me up for commenting on Ambers wide Loadness, Her and I are about the same size but I am not a dwarf so I have no good excuse either. Plus I live 20 miles north of Forsyth GA so I am very familiar with the Grazing habits of the middle GA rednecks and their adopted little rednecks in training.

[Waldopepper]

On 4/6/2019 at 3:40 PM, CaliCannoli said:

Lol...I felt bad for laughing but the producers replayed Alex running scared over & over with the roadrunner sound effects and the 'beep beep' and I couldn't help but laugh. Felt guilty because he looked genuinely scared but still laughed.

He may ne in a gifted class but remember that they live in middle GA. Like Hanoi Jane said 20 years ago when she was living with Ted Turner. most of middle and southern GA is worse than a 3rd World Country. So Alex is in a gifted class in a 3rd world country. Not exactly something to write home about. I loved the chainsaw scene. If your scared Get over it. REal life is scary Alex better get used to it. Hes way too soft. Hes a junk food junkie and proud to do nothing and be a lazyass. He has said it many times that he aspires to do as little as possible in life. Now theres a gifted attitude. Anna is damaged goods. Growing up for 3 years in Siberia did her in. I worked with a dude who was born and raised until 19 in Siberia Russia, the hardest, coldest, most brutal area in the world. Anna should be name Olga. Anna isnt rough enough for a Siberian Queen. somebody is going to rub her the wrong way and Anna will be in the Big House for Women just south of Atlanta for taking it to some poor woman who had no idea who she was messing with. Anna the Bruiser!!!!

[ShortyMac]

21 minutes ago, Waldopepper said:

Anna is damaged goods. Growing up for 3 years in Siberia did her in. I worked with a dude who was born and raised until 19 in Siberia Russia, the hardest, coldest, most brutal area in the world. Anna should be name Olga. Anna isnt rough enough for a Siberian Queen. somebody is going to rub her the wrong way and Anna will be in the Big House for Women just south of Atlanta for taking it to some poor woman who had no idea who she was messing with. Anna the Bruiser!!!!

Totally uncalled for.

[LibertarianSlut]

I’ve been watching reality TV since 4 pm (on March 19th), and the Grease skit was the best thing I’ve seen so far!!

[tvisme]

59 minutes ago, LibertarianSlut said:

I’ve been watching reality TV since 4 pm (on March 19th), and the Grease skit was the best thing I’ve seen so far!!

The only thing that would make it better is if it was performed by the Duggars!

[Joan van Snark]

Quote

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That Grease routine was one of the worst things I have ever seen on TV. Amber is HUGE. How many poor cows did it take to make those leather pants? She is wider that she is tall. Whatever happened to their healthier eating episodes. Their idea of healthy eating in Forsyth GA is friggin Golden Corral or maybe Little Caesars pizza. And before you ladies beat me up for commenting on Ambers wide Loadness, Her and I are about the same size but I am not a dwarf so I have no good excuse either. Plus I live 20 miles north of Forsyth GA so I am very familiar with the Grazing habits of the middle GA rednecks and their adopted little rednecks in training.

I actually thought the skit was really well done!  I was actually impressed.  Was that them actually singing?  I think they all have a really good sense of humor.

I usually don't comments on what others say, but the post quoted above was really ridiculously mean.  I can snark with the best of them, but I think that was uncalled for.  So now Georgia is a third world country?  Wow.

[Hero]

It seems like the whole family loves to bash and put down Anna. Amber paves the way for all of this and tries to act innocent when it's brought up on Facebook or any social media. 

 

[winsomeone]

Amber still knows everything. Am sick of her air quotes marks too. Trent toned down the sex remarks..guess he finally got that people didn't like that?

[seasons]

These shows are aired so long past taping. What happened with Anna and Jonah and college?

[ShortyMac]

58 minutes ago, seasons said:

These shows are aired so long past taping. What happened with Anna and Jonah and college?

Right, this is all from last summer. Currently, Anna is finishing her freshman year, Jonah, his second year at community college, and Elizabeth will be graduating from HS. Emma and Alex will be finishing middle school. 

[seasons]

6 hours ago, ShortyMac said:

Right, this is all from last summer. Currently, Anna is finishing her freshman year, Jonah, his second year at community college, and Elizabeth will be graduating from HS. Emma and Alex will be finishing middle school. 

Thanks! Watching the new season first two episodes, I wondered if Anna went away to college or stayed home. I felt bad that she thought they just wanted her out of the house because I could see how mom and dad wanted her to live on her own away from home for growth and maturity.

[winsomeone]

Last year, Amber tried to talk Trent into quitting his job, starting his own business, and going without insurance. Hope he didn't listen to her now that he has these health problems. If I had to live with Amber and her mouth, I would have chest and stomach pain too.

[Guest]

Folks, just a reminder of the forum rules:

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* If you no longer wish to read content posted by certain members, please use the Ignore Member feature. If you have any question about how to use this function, please PM me. 

Thanks.

[woodscommaelle]

Are they MAKING Anna go away to college bc she doesn’t seem at all excited? And I don’t blame her...it’s not for everyone. They just don’t seem to like her. It’s very sad.

There was a redhead at the graduation who looked like Audrey Roloff. And then a long-haired guy Anna took a pic with who looked like Jeremy Roloff.

 

[Bridget]

On 4/4/2020 at 7:43 PM, woodscommaelle said:

Are they MAKING Anna go away to college bc she doesn’t seem at all excited? And I don’t blame her...it’s not for everyone. They just don’t seem to like her. It’s very sad.

There was a redhead at the graduation who looked like Audrey Roloff. And then a long-haired guy Anna took a pic with who looked like Jeremy Roloff.

 

The redhead is their cousin (her mom & Amber are sisters), but I’m blanking on her name right now.

Rachel? Michelle? Mallory? It will come to me at some point.

She’s been on the show a few times, interacting and spending time with her cousins. She’s most likely close in age to Liz and/or Anna.
 

I have no idea who the Jeremy Roloff looking guy is.

[ShortyMac]

Up early on the website and app.

EPISODE 2

Anna Ate My Homework

Quote

The Johnstons pamper themselves with mud masks before getting down and dirty at a princess themed mud run. Jonah gives Trent and Amber some devastating news and Trent receives the results from his gallbladder scan.

 

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

Liz is starting to annoy me, she is coming across as mini-Amber. Alex is a whiny ass and too old to be carrying on like he is a toddler. Noah wants to be anywhere but here, Emma's "boyfriend" is adorable. I felt bad for Anna, thinking her parents just want her out of the house, their explanation seemed legit, they just  need better communication with her

[ShortyMac]

Episode 2:

Trent and Amber say "the rules are the same for everyone," but, I'm not seeing that.

It's a double standard and more proof that boys are coddled because Jonah got to live at home and go to community college, where he has flunked out in his first year, and pissed away $6,000 of his parents' money, and still has Amber clean his room, etc, while Anna "needs to get out of her bubble, grow up, and be an adult." What about Jonah?

Being so lenient, in comparison, with Jonah has enabled him to be lazy. They kept him in a bubble of living at home, etc. Coddling boys makes lazy and irresponsible men. From what we have seen, Jonah was not employed at this point. Guess what? Stress and time-management is part of school and balancing responsibilities. It seems he did not give a single fuck about the money and sacrifice his parents made when they paid for his tuition. It shows a total lack of respect for them. If school was his only job, he should have given it 100%. There is no excuse. He's over 18 now; Anna is irrelevant. Trent and Amber were correct that Jonah does use Anna as an excuse, which is wrong.

[nytonc]

I refuse to watch this show any more. Is Amber is as insufferable as always? I feel sorry for Anna, the family scapegoat. The other kids will start hate Amber if Anna moves out bc she’ll have to focus her criticism on them. How many tImes has Alex cried this season? 

Edited April 7, 2020 by nytonc

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

This family seems to have a lot more problems than what is shown. I think they all need some therapy. The fun run did look like it could be a blast.

[AryasMum]

I’ve watched this show sporadically, but I’ve tried to touch base with this forum. I decided to tune into this season, and I have questions for those who are better historians of the show.  
 

Why was it so horrible, in fact they had to bring it up again, that Jonah “shh”’d his mom, when Emma full on told Trent to “shut up, dad”?

Why do Anna and Emma share a room, when Emma and Elizabeth are closer in age, and obviously closer to each other than with Anna?

Is Alex’s hair an obvious tribute to Elvis?

Is Elizabeth treated as the perfect, golden girl?  I found her quite condescending when speechifying to Anna that she needed to go away to college to become more independent.  Meanwhile, Jonah flunks out, again, and is coddled, kept at home, and it’s all blamed on Anna.

How in the hell demanding is driving Anna to school, several days a week, that it’s caused Jonah to flunk out of college, because he had “to much on my plate”, and what kind of “covering” has he been doing for Anna that he now requires therapy?  Isn’t it possible that some of his anger is due to the obvious preferential treatment of the golden girl and little prince? 
 

Why is everything that goes wrong Anna’s fault?  At the mud run, Anna was the one who stayed behind helping her mother and sister, while Elizabeth raced ahead, no concern for her family, and gets trumpeted as a champion. 
 

As an only child, I find their family dynamics extremely complicated. 
 

 

[bichonblitz]

I do think it's sad that Trent and Amber had a picture of having a big family with all the children growing up to be close with each other and with them. It's not working out that way for them. Amy crying about it in her TH was heartbreaking to me. 

Having said all that, Amy has gained a ton of weight! She let her hair grow long and it's so pretty. Elizabeth inherited her hair for sure.  

I love their new house. The land is gorgeous and the style of the house is beautiful. 

 

[Hero]

I agree with @Mahamid Frauded Me (by the way, I love your username lol) this whole family does need to go to therapy. They all use Anna as a scapegoat to blame all of their problems on. I have a soft spot for Anna because she just looks so sad all the time. She always sounds very nervous when she speaks, like she is hoping she doesn't say the wrong thing. Amber and Trent basically turned the whole family against her, so any mistake she does, they never let her forget it. 

Jonah is just so immature. I can't believe he actually blamed Anna as his reason for failing math 🙄 he was really grasping at straws. He seems very spoiled; his mother still makes his bed, cleans his room and probably does his laundry for him! 

Elizabeth is just like Amber, always having to prove someone wrong. Her personality is really grating. The way she was speaking down to Anna was really disgusting. Anna is nervous to leave home, that's understandable. But, Elizabeth was making it seem like the way Anna was feeling was wrong. It's easy to tell that Elizabeth doesn't really like Anna. 

Alex is a spoiled brat and the way everyone treats him like he is a toddler is really disturbing. He throws temper tantrums and cries when he doesn't get his way, yet they all act like it's normal. But for some reason, they all dislike Anna. 

[linthia]

How the heck can Trent and Amber let Jonah get away with blaming driving Anna to school as the reason he flunked out of college. That has to be the lamest excuse I have ever heard. Plenty of people go to school and work full time. Jonah is a spoiled brat. But Trent and Amber may be worse for letting him make that excuse at all.

[Kid]

On 4/8/2020 at 2:58 PM, linthia said:

How the heck can Trent and Amber let Jonah get away with blaming driving Anna to school as the reason he flunked out of college. That has to be the lamest excuse I have ever heard. Plenty of people go to school and work full time. Jonah is a spoiled brat. But Trent and Amber may be worse for letting him make that excuse at all.

At first, I totally agreed with you and others on this subject. As I watched his interaction with the therapist and the therapist‘s comments, I came to the conclusion that his mother should’ve never put him in the middle of that situation. Jonah is not her husband, Jonah is her son. It’s almost like alcoholic families with a non-alcoholic parent who  is using the child to deal with the drunk in the household.  

Does Amber have a job? If not, why was Jonah dragged into the situation?  Why was she texting her son  when Anna was getting in trouble in high school.    Again, I don’t believe she was working. Go to the school and deal with it why does your son have to be involved?  None if this is on Anna, it’s on the parents.

So I don’t think it’s the amount of time involved to take his sister to school.  I think it was exactly as the therapist described and I think their was a build up of resentment and a resulting I don’t give a damn attitude.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Kid

[camom]

It seems to me that Trent and Amber favor their biological children over the adopted ones. Jonah flunks out of college, doesn't have a job, and still has his mom waiting on him hand and foot.  Elizabeth gets her own bedroom, even though she is just one year older than Anna, who has to share with a middle schooler.  Anna is blamed for pretty much everything and is having to go away to college whether she wants to or not.  Emma is criticized quite a bit or is just ignored.  Alex is babied, but I think perhaps he acts that way because if he acted his age his parents would turn on him, too. 

[ShortyMac]

10 minutes ago, camom said:

It seems to me that Trent and Amber favor their biological children over the adopted ones. Jonah flunks out of college, doesn't have a job, and still has his mom waiting on him hand and foot.  Elizabeth gets her own bedroom, even though she is just one year older than Anna, who has to share with a middle schooler.  Anna is blamed for pretty much everything and is having to go away to college whether she wants to or not.  Emma is criticized quite a bit or is just ignored.  Alex is babied, but I think perhaps he acts that way because if he acted his age his parents would turn on him, too. 

Anna is older than Elizabeth; she is a grade/year above her. Anna is in her first year of college, and Elizabeth is graduating high school. 

[camom]

Quote

Anna is older than Elizabeth; she is a grade/year above her. Anna is in her first year of college, and Elizabeth is graduating high school. 

You're right, I meant to say that.  And it makes the bedroom situation even stranger.  I believe Elizabeth also has her own art studio.

 

[Joan of Argh]

Anna and Emma chose to share a bedroom together, no one forced them it was their idea.

I forget what episode it was in but it was on the show.

Apparently Anna likes having Emma with her.

[AryasMum]

15 hours ago, Joan of Argh said:

Anna and Emma chose to share a bedroom together, no one forced them it was their idea.

I forget what episode it was in but it was on the show.

Apparently Anna likes having Emma with her.

Well that’s very sweet, then. I like that. 

[camom]

Or neither of them wanted to share a room with Elizabeth.

 

[SideofSlaw]

On 4/6/2020 at 6:56 PM, nytonc said:

I refuse to watch this show any more. Is Amber is as insufferable as always? I feel sorry for Anna, the family scapegoat. The other kids will start hate Amber if Anna moves out bc she’ll have to focus her criticism on them. How many tImes has Alex cried this season? 

 

On 4/6/2020 at 3:47 PM, ShortyMac said:

Episode 2:

Trent and Amber say "the rules are the same for everyone," but, I'm not seeing that.

It's a double standard and more proof that boys are coddled because Jonah got to live at home and go to community college, where he has flunked out in his first year, and pissed away $6,000 of his parents' money, and still has Amber clean his room, etc, while Anna "needs to get out of her bubble, grow up, and be an adult." What about Jonah?

Being so lenient, in comparison, with Jonah has enabled him to be lazy. They kept him in a bubble of living at home, etc. Coddling boys makes lazy and irresponsible men. From what we have seen, Jonah was not employed at this point. Guess what? Stress and time-management is part of school and balancing responsibilities. It seems he did not give a single fuck about the money and sacrifice his parents made when they paid for his tuition. It shows a total lack of respect for them. If school was his only job, he should have given it 100%. There is no excuse. He's over 18 now; Anna is irrelevant. Trent and Amber were correct that Jonah does use Anna as an excuse, which is wrong.

Could not agree more! If Anna, the hard-working one, needs to grow up on her own, certainly the immature and lazy Jonah does as well. Their disdain for a young woman who probably suffers from Reactive Attachment Disorder is really unnerving.

[ShortyMac]

S07.E03: We Came From Uranus 

Quote

The Johnstons pursue their family history with the help of a genealogist and get some unexpected results. Jonah deals with the fallout from being kicked out of college, while Trent and Amber turn to a professional for help.

Air date: 04/14/2020

Up early on the website and app.

[SunnyBeBe]

My brother had pain similar to Trent’s. It was diagnosed as gallbladder pretty quickly. Best option is surgery.

Blaming Jonah’s screw ups on him resenting Anna is ridiculous!!! Amber really needs therapy. Poor Anna. I hope she can make it ok in life with f’d up parents that she has. Their judgement is seriously disturbed. 

Edited April 14, 2020 by SunnyBeBe

[bichonblitz]

What ever made these people decide they wanted Five children? They can't handle it. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Yeah, it's sort of a sad situation.  I wonder if the family will fare any better if they get Anna out of the house.  I have a feeling things won't be any better.  I thought the counseling session with Jonah was good. I hope it continues.  To me, if a kid is doing well in all subjects except one, that would indicate that he is not sufficiently based in that topic and needs extra help.  I struggled in Statistics too.  I hope they didn't pervert the story of the real reason he failed the class, just for storyline purposes. 

Anna had the most interesting Genetics history of the entire family.  Why couldn't they have made more about that? But, no, there is a small negative remark about her being more than a little Turkey.  I know it was a joke, but, when you get the chance, making something positive is more important, imo.  

I don't normally focus on Alex, because, he's the baby in the family, but, he really does seem quite a bit more immature than you would expect for someone his age.  It's really noticeable.  I suspect that he's going to be more more reliant on the parents than the older children are.  

There are quite a few young people who are 18 years old and graduated from high school who are not ready for college life at all.  I think it does require a certain amount of maturity and necessity.  I worked full time and attended college part time for a couple of years with my parent's and employer's support. MY employer paid for my tuition, books and supplies!   THEN, I went to college full time, and worked part time.  It requires a lot of focus and motivation.  I think it's going to take a few more years for those kids.  With the virus situation, I guess all the kids are home now.  I bet that's pretty interesting!  😑

[MakingBacon]

Yes, Jonah passed the other classes but we have no idea if he barely passed or if they were high grades and just his math grade was a problem. I tend to think all the grades were middling to low and the math grade just tanked his GPA. He isn’t going to be kicked out of college for failing a math class twice but he will if he was on academic probation two semesters in a row. Anyone really thing a B+  or above student is being kicked out of college for failing a math class twice? Lots of schools will let you pass with D+ grades. It’s not like he was at MIT or Harvard. Hell, he could have decided to take the class a different semester or during the summer. 

I have only seen a couple of episodes of this show and I just do not like anyone other than maybe the two youngest. I don’t know the backstory of the family’s issues with Anna but it’s obvious she could cure cancer and they would still find fault within her. She is the family scapegoat. Jonah couldn’t do well at school because he had to drop his siblings, either Anna or the other kids (notice he only focused on taking Anna to school), a couple of times a week when he didn’t have class? Oh poor Jonah, he should be happy he was driving a car. A lot of kids are working full-time jobs, going to school and taking public transportation to get everywhere. I can’t feel bad for him. The parents just annoy me. 

[ShortyMac]

31 minutes ago, MakingBacon said:

Yes, Jonah passed the other classes but we have no idea if he barely passed or if they were high grades and just his math grade was a problem. I tend to think all the grades were middling to low and the math grade just tanked his GPA. He isn’t going to be kicked out of college for failing a math class twice but he will if he was on academic probation two semesters in a row. Anyone really thing a B+  or above student is being kicked out of college for failing a math class twice? Lots of schools will let you pass with D+ grades. It’s not like he was at MIT or Harvard. Hell, he could have decided to take the class a different semester or during the summer. 

If he was on academic probation, his GPA had to be 2.0 or lower.

[LibertarianSlut]

Although I think this is one of the more solid reality shows, I dislike both parents intensely.  I think Trent is worse actually.  They’re a little better this season.  Two daughters have boyfriends, and not a lecture on the moral failings that accompany having a boyfriend to be heard!  Even though one is “average height” (I can’t stand when they say “average height” when they mean “normal height.”  An American man is only “average height” if he’s 5’8”.  If he’s not 5’8”, he’s not “average height,” no matter how comfortable that expression may make some people feel—it’s erroneous).  

I never thought Jonah should have had to drive Anna around.  I always thought that was really unfair, unless he’s getting paid, or if it’s an explicit quid pro quo for free room and board, and any of the other children, including Anna, would have to do something comparable for her own room and board the day they turned 18.

I am not a fan of parents assigning parenting tasks to their elder children.  Why should a kid have more responsibilities than another kid in the same family just because they had the bad fortune to be born first?  Parents should only have enough children that they can care for, or compensate others for same.  

I think that a lot of kids want to help, and that is awesome.  But it should never be compulsory.  They’re kids, not parents.  

If Anna was old enough to drive, but couldn’t, or wouldn’t, why wasn’t she taking the bus?  Or making mutually beneficial side deals with her brother privately?  How does it fall to Jonah as a general family responsibility?  He seemed really angry about that, and I don’t blame him.  He’s not a third parent.  

I really, really like Emma, and I hope she gets out of this unscathed.  I used to like Alex, but he really needs to grow up.  His parents should perhaps focus on him more than Jonah.  That doesn’t mean they get to be mean to him though!  These parents are way too punitive.  I get the impression that they are overwhelmed and they think the best way to discipline is to crack the whip, and that’s not what works best.  

I thought the therapist was missing the point a little bit in the beginning when he asked Jonah if he couldn’t just put “Anna and mom and dad over here and focus on Jonah.”  That would be fine advice if Jonah were 30 and living alone, and he couldn’t get over his anger toward them after having cut ties for five years.  But they are coming into his life, making demands on him, so that is totally inappropriate advice.  How can Jonah ignore Anna if she’s bothering him to carry out her demands with their parents’ support?  

Was the doctor even listening to Jonah?  I know there’s editing, but he says, “tell me about your personality in five minutes” and then immediately interrupts him several time to ask about his birthing experience.  If it were me in therapy, I would be like, “doc, do you want me to tell you about my life in five minutes or are you guiding me with questions?  Because your directions were confusing, and I’m growing frustrated with the purpose of this exercise.”  

I can’t stand it when people defer to the infinite wisdom of doctors.  They are not gods, and I find they can be really bossy and flawed, and sometimes it’s fun just to call them out on their bullshit because of how much it surprises them.  My doctor had been keeping me waiting for 20 minutes or more on a regular basis at one point, and I very calmly and evenly told her that I felt like my time wasn’t being valued, and we would have to revamp something about the scheduling so that it could meet both of our needs and then I silently made eye contact with her while she made excuses.  But now that we did that, not only has the time problem been minimized, I feel much more emboldened in having a voice in my treatment.  So I wish Jonah would have said something about the therapist’s confusing instructions, even if it was just to put him on notice that he’s not going to be able to manipulate him with psychobabble.  I worked with a bunch of practicing psychologists for awhile when I was younger, and even the good ones can be enormously unprofessional and arrogant.  Sometimes a few choice words make them see that the patient is a person to be valued and respected.  

<Sorry, rant over, soap box stepped off, but I think this is a problem that needs to be addressed early and often>

And the doctor did get Trent and Amber to back off Jonah, which is a miracle in and of itself, unless they saw what jerks they had been, and were planning to change anyway.

[ShortyMac]

1 hour ago, LibertarianSlut said:

If Anna was old enough to drive, but couldn’t, or wouldn’t, why wasn’t she taking the bus?  Or making mutually beneficial side deals with her brother privately?  How does it fall to Jonah as a general family responsibility?  He seemed really angry about that, and I don’t blame him.  He’s not a third parent.  

After Anna got in trouble at the public school, she transferred to a likely private, small Christian school. Her graduating class was fourteen students, they said. They probably don't have buses.