Jessa, Ben and Their Brood: Making a (Diaper) Mountain out of a Mold House

[Happyfatchick]

I enjoyed watching their time in Europe. It changed my opinion of Ben. He seems to have a genuine curiosity about life outside of Arkansas. I'd watch a show about them --- if they moved away and out from under Jim Bob's control. I had hoped that Derick would take Jill far away from the Duggars and show her a different live but he and his family seem very enmeshed. Ben is still growing. While I do not agree with his political views or position on abortion, I wouldn't mind watching their journey. Jessa and Ben are attractive enough to build a career outside of Jim Bob.

I believe if ONE of those kids (or one of the married couples) broke away from that disaster, it would make some entertaining TV, for at least a short series. Like if Joy suddenly went to COLLEGE. Real college. This is a kid who's been under pretty tight screws forever, and seems to be pulling at the chain. (To me, anyway). Never been to the grocery store alone, based on Dugg rules. (Is it just me, or do those rules seem ridiculous now?). Never had a date. Never had the OPTION to make a decision. Never turned down a drink, never been asked for her phone number... Never lived on her own. I'd watch it, not for the mundane, but to see her learning to live a normal life.

Sadly, I agree that watching Jill and Jess change diapers and pee on sticks would get old pretty quick.

[BitterApple]

For all my of the talk about how much work the older girls did, I really think they didn't do much. For five girls, that house and the meals should have run like clock work. I don't think they know how to CLEAN (not talking about waving a duster around) or how to cook behind heating something up.

Agreed. When they showed the kids cleaning the house after Jessa and Jill moved out I was shocked at how filthy it was. Not just disorganized, but dirty and nasty. At this point in life all the kids are old enough to clean up after themselves and take care of their belongings. During the epi when Jill and Jana were preparing the Nepalese meal, Jana was hacking at a bunch of fresh herbs like she'd never held a knife before. She had no idea how to properly chop them.

Edited May 29, 2015 by BitterApple

[asuwur]

I think take Jess, Jill and the hubbies (perhaps with JD and Jana) and send them to the big city....AKA Little Rock.....to start life anew in "Ditching Duggar".

 

Or sort of the same thing but with Jinger, Joy, Jed and Josiah going to college at Univ. of Arkansas.

 

I am claiming this publically for royalty purposes....

[Bella]

I would watch Ditching Duggar. 

 

Since this is the Benessa thread, I will say that I doubt she'd be part of it. And Bin wouldn't go far enough. So they're out. 

[asuwur]

I don't know. I think that Ben would do what Jessa says and I think that she wouldn't mind being her own person, so to speak and step into a JB/Michelle free spotlight.

[BitterApple]

I don't know. I think that Ben would do what Jessa says and I think that she wouldn't mind being her own person, so to speak and step into a JB/Michelle free spotlight.

I think Jessa likes giving off the appearance that she's her own person, but at the end of the day she's a Kool-aid drinker like the rest of them. She's never made an effort to seek higher education, she married a boy who was barely old enough to vote, she moved into a family provided house, got knocked up right away and posted dozens of anti-abortion/anti - LGBT messages on her social media. People think she's independent because she has a bitchy personality but she's firmly on the Fundie Crazy Train, maybe even more so than Jill.

Edited May 29, 2015 by BitterApple

[CofCinci]

I think Jessa likes giving off the appearance that she's her own person, but at the end of the day she's a Kool-aid drinker like the rest of them. She's never made an effort to seek higher education, she married a boy who was barely old enough to vote, she moved into a family provided house, got knocked up right away and posted dozens of anti-abortion/anti - LGBT messages on her social media. People think she's independent because she has a bitchy personality but she's firmly on the Fundie Crazy Train, maybe even more so than Jill.

She's the only one with an actual high school diploma and not a GED like her siblings. I give her credit for that

[Sew Sumi]

For all my of the talk about how much work the older girls did, I really think they didn't do much. For five girls, that house and the meals should have run like clock work. I don't think they know how to CLEAN (not talking about waving a duster around) or how to cook behind heating something up. It's just like teaching isn't about checking answers in a workbook or a computer screen.

I think there was a lot of nail painting in the TTH for everyone.

Definitely the case in the year or so before Jill left the fold. And of course, we saw Jessa painting her nails rather than babysit Josie in a fairly recent episode before her wedding. However, down two workers now, I imagine Jana's mothering duties and Jinger's cooking duties have ramped up. I'm not quite sure what Joy does, maybe she's the one now checking the grades on the computer? I wonder who is "teaching" the kids who are still under 3rd grade level...which could be anyone up to Justin, given James' poor showing with the flash cards?

[Kcat1971]

I think take Jess, Jill and the hubbies (perhaps with JD and Jana) and send them to the big city....AKA Little Rock.....to start life anew in "Ditching Duggar".

 

Or sort of the same thing but with Jinger, Joy, Jed and Josiah going to college at Univ. of Arkansas.

 

I am claiming this publically for royalty purposes....

 

I already claimed the college idea for Josiah & Marjorie a few days ago in their thread. :)  Lots of us would like to see some of these kids go off to college and have a chance to figure out life for themselves.  Really its the only thing I'd watch and I don't need it to be a weekly show.  A couple episodes a year would be fine.  

Edited May 29, 2015 by Kcat1971

[GEML]

I think Jessa is far more religious, and becoming more so, than Jill. Jill may be more Duggarish than Jessa, in terms of being family oriented and wanting 20 children, but Jessa believes the religious messages. We just don't see that as much because that isn't highlighted on the show.

[Churchhoney]

I believe if ONE of those kids (or one of the married couples) broke away from that disaster, it would make some entertaining TV, for at least a short series. Like if Joy suddenly went to COLLEGE. Real college. This is a kid who's been under pretty tight screws forever, and seems to be pulling at the chain. (To me, anyway). Never been to the grocery store alone, based on Dugg rules. (Is it just me, or do those rules seem ridiculous now?). Never had a date. Never had the OPTION to make a decision. Never turned down a drink, never been asked for her phone number... Never lived on her own. I'd watch it, not for the mundane, but to see her learning to live a normal life.

Sadly, I agree that watching Jill and Jess change diapers and pee on sticks would get old pretty quick.

 

The escapee show probably would be interesting to watch. But as a person who escaped to college from a (non-church/cult-inspired) family situation with many similarities to the Duggar household, I have to say that it gives me the willies to think of any of those kids having their escapes videotaped.

 

For me, anyway, that was by far the most difficult, confused, messed up, messy crazed period of my life. I knew that I had to keep myself together enough to work at jobs and do well in school, but the cost of that effort was scary emotional uproar in the rest of my life, amid constant, constant revelations about just how out-of-the-ordinary -- and nuts -- my upbringing had been. Even though I'd gone to public school, I'd otherwise been pretty completely isolated from other people, and I truly had no idea how normal people behaved and lived. So the most everyday things surprised and stunned me. And it's emotionally exhausting to be stunned several times a day. I felt like a frigging alien.

 

And it took me by surprise, too. I was not an emotional basketcase-type kid at all when I was at home. I coped and basically just got on with things. I was the glue that helped hold other people together, in fact. So feeling my mind go out of control six ways to Sunday when I first navigated the outside world was another awful shock to me. And of course when you've escaped you don't really have a support system. Even the people at home who sympathize are still people that you have to support and protect, rather than expecting them to support you.

 

I don't know that this is how the Duggar kids would feel if they broke Duggar. But i think there's a pretty good chance that some would. And if they did find themselves in that situation, they wouldn't want cameras and microphones around. But how the real-world affects them would have taken them by surprise,as it did me, and then it'd be too late to call off the TLC production crew.

[Fuzzysox]

It must be killing Jessa not to be able to post her selfies.

[CarolMK]

In defense of Jessa and her sisters, if they're not very good at cleaning and cooking, I have to say that I blame Michelle for this. From what we've seen all the way back to the very first special, the older girls were the ones primarily cooking the meals and taking care of the little kids. Michelle grew up the youngest in her family and most of us  assume she was probably pretty spoiled and didn't have to do much to contribute to household chores. And over the last 10 years, there has been so much emphasis on the tv show, and allowing time for filming, things like cleaning, along with homeschooling, gets put on the back burner. I keep going back to what "Alice" posted on that thread , and she started out by saying that Michelle had not cooked a meal, cleaned her house, or bathed a child in years, that it was all left up to the older children. I really do believe that. 

[Churchhoney]

It must be killing Jessa not to be able to post her selfies.

 

They may not have been able to use any of their restaurant gift cards in the past week either, since the two things so often go together.

[CofCinci]

They may not have been able to use any of their restaurant gift cards in the past week either, since the two things so often go together.

She's probably using the downtime to select baby items for the various gift registries. Maybe a fan will buy her a Bugaboo stroller.

[HumblePi]

I don't think any spin-off show would be interesting. What would we watch? Jessa painting her nails as Jana cleans her house? Another stupid gender reveal? Been there done that. None of the Duggars are interesting as individuals nor do they have the personalities to carry a show on their own. At least with a large group the producers can rotate storylines and fill an hour time slot.

Ben is about as animated, interesting and humorous as a tin robot.

 

[Churchhoney]

Ben is about as animated, interesting and humorous as a tin robot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry. No. The robot's much funnier.

[Sew Sumi]

Lack of a sense of humor wasn't mentioned, but yes, Ben, and Jessa for that matter,  is utterly humorless. 

[RazzleberryPie]

I think Jessa likes giving off the appearance that she's her own person, but at the end of the day she's a Kool-aid drinker like the rest of them. She's never made an effort to seek higher education, she married a boy who was barely old enough to vote, she moved into a family provided house, got knocked up right away and posted dozens of anti-abortion/anti - LGBT messages on her social media. People think she's independent because she has a bitchy personality but she's firmly on the Fundie Crazy Train, maybe even more so than Jill.

Absolutely, and now that her piety is being rewarded - hot husband, freedom from the J'compound, European travel, free house, adoring fans, speaking tour $$, etc., she's far more vocal and opinionated about their true  beliefs than Jill ever was, and a lot of Jessa's beliefs are hateful. She's definitely driving the Fundie Crazy Train. I'm trying to decide which Jr. J'Slave she'll try to commandeer when she realizes she's not going to have the same time or energy to spackle on that makeup and curl four feet of hair when the babies start rolling in year after year. I think she likes Jordan too much to J'slave her, Jenny would flip her the bird, and nobody wants Josie to lick their baby to death. How many sisters does Bin have?  

 

I also think Jessa will be far more "MODEST MODEST MODEST. MODEST IS HOTTEST" than Michelle ever dreamed. Just like Michelle, as soon as that tight body is wrecked with a few pregnancies, Jessa will be far worse than Michelle in slut-shaming other women into being modest, out of her own insecurities.

 

Jill is an idiot. For someone to who is saturated in the Kool-aid, and whose every third word was 'midwifery' or something to do with birthin' babies, she has made some real dumbass decisions in her own labor and delivery, and she does seem to be detached from her baby. She also is an insufferable know it all, despite the fact that most of her knowledge is ATI horseshit or some old wives' tale.  Having a baby is supposed to be the 'be all end all' ultimate goal in their lives, but I think she's far more interested in the idea or theory of A Baby than she is interested in Israel as a child. Her child. She's totally Michelle Jr. in regards to ignoring her children as people, instead of just children. I will give it to Anna - she seems to realize her children are people with personalities and interests. I wish she'd slow her roll and stop jonesing for another baby as soon as she delivers.

[kalamac]

I have wondered if it's maybe not so much that Jill isn't interested in the baby, but more that she doesn't yet know how to be really comfortable with him, because Mechelle didn't hand the babies over to the J-Slaves until they were 6 months old.

[GEML]

Agree with above poster - if anyone has experienced or watched someone "breaking" from a harsh religious sect it stereotypically goes down one of two ways. The person goes "wild" and tries out all the "sins" they can in the shortest period of time possible. Or the person has a sort of bunker mentality that means they come out slowly, make some kind of dumb mistakes, say some really mean things, and it takes awhile and is kind of dull.

The first may make for good TV but is really hard on the person. The second makes terrible TV but often, over time, lands the person in a good place. Cameras are only going to make either scenario worse.

[GeeGolly]

Jessa: at home pissed that this being made public is messing with 'her turn' to shine and be to focus of the show and magazines? Or genuinely sad, hurt, re-traumatized, and praying for healing? Or a little of both?

[EarlGreyTea]

I'd watch a spin off if they sent Jessa to school. She could either go to culninary or beauty school. Yep, it sure would be totally awesome viewing so we could snark later.

LOL thanks for the laugh! I really needed one after days of reading and feeling sad about the whole situation.

 

Someone here had the idea a while back that Jinger and Jessa should team up and create a wedding business where Jessa did hair and makeup, and Jinger photographed it. It was a perfect idea, so of course it will never happen. Ben could handle the books or something (lol). Maybe toss in Jill as their Pinterest consultant, Jana as their makeup and accessories buyer, and JD as their pilot, taking them to various wedding locations around the country.  They'd probably make a ton of money in their fundie circle.

Edited May 30, 2015 by EarlGreyTea

[JocelynCavanaugh]

With all the reading of these threads that I've done lately, I have to say: I will never not read "TTH" as "Tater Tot House."

[BitterApple]

Jessa: at home pissed that this being made public is messing with 'her turn' to shine and be to focus of the show and magazines? Or genuinely sad, hurt, re-traumatized, and praying for healing? Or a little of both?

Probably a little of both. I feel bad that her painful, personal business was broadcast to millions of people. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Now that People has jumped on the bandwagon and started dissing the family, her only hope for paid interviews is to do some sort of survivor piece. With the future of the show in limbo, I hope Ben wises up and starts looking for a real job. He doesn't have the theological chops or the kind of telegenic personality to be successful in ministry. Nor will he be able to keep his wife in Uggs and Chi flat-irons off his toilet scrubber salary. It's quite a reality check for a 20 year-old with a kid on the way who's expected to be the sole source of support for his family.

Edited May 30, 2015 by BitterApple

[kstar821]

With all the reading of these threads that I've done lately, I have to say: I will never not read "TTH" as "Tater Tot House."

 

 

 

This.  In fact, I thought that's what is was for years until somebody back on TWoP corrected me. :)

[JocelynCavanaugh]

It kinda works either way... and it makes me want tater tots *real bad*. My local Sonic owes this forum!

[dillpickles]

In defense of Jessa and her sisters, if they're not very good at cleaning and cooking, I have to say that I blame Michelle for this. From what we've seen all the way back to the very first special, the older girls were the ones primarily cooking the meals and taking care of the little kids. Michelle grew up the youngest in her family and most of us assume she was probably pretty spoiled and didn't have to do much to contribute to household chores. And over the last 10 years, there has been so much emphasis on the tv show, and allowing time for filming, things like cleaning, along with homeschooling, gets put on the back burner. I keep going back to what "Alice" posted on that thread , and she started out by saying that Michelle had not cooked a meal, cleaned her house, or bathed a child in years, that it was all left up to the older children. I really do believe that.

And, i noticed they all have "jurisdictions". If the woman is only good for baby making and house keeping, shouldn't she be trained in all fields? (Not baby making, of course). Jessa's job was teaching and... organization? If mechelle was a smarter woman, she wouldn't let the girls just stick to one job for their whole lives. Every couple months the girls would switch jobs, so they could actually be well rounded.

But instead, we have unevenly yoked girls running around with only half a skill set.

[RazzleberryPie]

It kinda works either way... and it makes me want tater tots *real bad*. My local Sonic owes this forum!

We love those Alexia brand sweet potato tots. 

 

And, i noticed they all have "jurisdictions". If the woman is only good for baby making and house keeping, shouldn't she be trained in all fields? (Not baby making, of course). Jessa's job was teaching and... organization? If mechelle was a smarter woman, she wouldn't let the girls just stick to one job for their whole lives. Every couple months the girls would switch jobs, so they could actually be well rounded.

But instead, we have unevenly yoked girls running around with only half a skill set.

Sadly, as much as they emphasize making those girls these Happy Christian Homemakers in training, they suck at housekeeping. Jinger is the only one who appears to be able to create an entire meal without panicking and needing a sister to help, Jana is the one who can do moderate sewing/alterations, Jill can pontificate about everything she's read or heard, but isn't practical doing anything hands on, Jessa can pack a mean suitcase and boss some kids around while checking their workbooks and online answers, but I don't think any of them are well rounded or fabulous in the kitchen. Jana and Jinger are decent church pianists.

 

I think that's the oddest (besides the whole Josh situation) thing about this bunch - if the sole goal of the girls is to be these perfect homemakers, why aren't any of them learning the things my grandmother's generation learned - how to cook from scratch, sew anything, grown and can veggies, clean and polish everything, all while taking care of the health and well-being of half a dozen kids. My grandmother's generation (high school age in the 1940s and 1950s) either learned from their own mothers or home economic classes. Now that there are no babies in diapers and most of the homeschooling is done online, what exactly are these girls - no, adult women - doing all day, if the house always looks dirty and the kids all graze from a snack fridge?

[becca3891]

They may not have been able to use any of their restaurant gift cards in the past week either, since the two things so often go together.

Did they ask for gift cards on their registry? Or do we think they're getting gift cards from restaurants in exchange for putting the photos on social media?

This.  In fact, I thought that's what is was for years until somebody back on TWoP corrected me. :)

Wait, TTH doesn't stand for tater tot house? What does it stand for, then?

 

And, i noticed they all have "jurisdictions". If the woman is only good for baby making and house keeping, shouldn't she be trained in all fields? (Not baby making, of course). Jessa's job was teaching and... organization? If mechelle was a smarter woman, she wouldn't let the girls just stick to one job for their whole lives. Every couple months the girls would switch jobs, so they could actually be well rounded.

But instead, we have unevenly yoked girls running around with only half a skill set.

I always thought this made no sense. Why in the world, since they're supposed to spend their growing up years training to be "keepers at home," as they say, would they not rotate the jobs to get everybody accustomed to everything? (Also, to be fair, the younger boys do have jurisdictions too.)

[JoanArc]

 

Or do we think they're getting gift cards from restaurants in exchange for putting the photos on social media?

CFA was caught giving out free meal cards at their events, so that's at least one place that's comping them.

[Churchhoney]

Did they ask for gift cards on their registry? Or do we think they're getting gift cards from restaurants in exchange for putting the photos on social media?

 

I'm pretty sure that they did ask for some gift cards on their registry -- that doesn't mean they necessarily got any, though.

[JocelynCavanaugh]

Wait, TTH doesn't stand for tater tot house? What does it stand for, then?

Tinker Toy House, because it was built from a kit. But there's also TTC, tater tot casserole, so sometimes we get them mixed up.

[TaxNerd]

CFA was caught giving out free meal cards at their events, so that's at least one place that's comping them.

Each CFA is a local franchise, and the owner of one specific restaurant gave those out at a book signing. I can't remember where, but it wasn't their local CFA. We have three within a few miles of our house and constantly get free cards. They do NOT honor the other location's freebies!

I don't see why Jessa wouldn't still get a mention in People when she has the baby. She didn't do any wrong and she still has people interested. A little sidebar in a magazine is plenty for me, with a nice picture of her family. No update show needed.

[JoanArc]

 

Each CFA is a local franchise, and the owner of one specific restaurant gave those out at a book signing. I can't remember where, but it wasn't their local CFA. We have three within a few miles of our house and constantly get free cards. They do NOT honor the other location's freebies!

Interesting.We do know they filmed at CFA's Headquarters, which was never shown. Josh and other Duggars predominately showed the logo and instagrammed about eating there, leading me to believe there was some kind of hand greasing going on, or at least attempted. Kind of like Jessa's Arby's post. Some things don't happen by accident.

[Darknight]

Poor Jessa. Jill gets married first when she's been dating longer. She finally announces her pregnancy and then this happens. Girl can't catch a break. Since Ben Bob has an aa I hope hell continue for a BA. Cause Jessa ain't getting a people cover anytime soon!

[roamyn]

Poor Jessa. Jill gets married first when she's been dating longer. She finally announces her pregnancy and then this happens. Girl can't catch a break. Since Ben Bob has an aa I hope hell continue for a BA. Cause Jessa ain't getting a people cover anytime soon!

Yeah, poor Jessa. Now she can't get on SM and spout all her hate messages.

For as much as Jill says "totally", at least it doesn't come with some misused b7ble verse.

[Chicklet]

Aw poor Bin and Jessa's love is doomed! The locks they put on the bridge in Paris are all going down.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/paris-says-aux-armes-against-love-lock-plague-1432903474

 

Ok they put one lock on but I have one functional eye this week, ugh.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Chicklet

[RazzleberryPie]

Aw poor Bin and Jessa's love is doomed! The locks they put on the bridge in Paris are all going down.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/paris-says-aux-armes-against-love-lock-plague-1432903474

 

Ok they put one lock on but I have one functional eye this week, ugh.

Didn't read the article, but don't they remove those locks frequently, because the weight may compromise the bridge, and also dredge the canal frequently because all those keys pile up quickly?

[Joe Jitsu913]

Aw poor Bin and Jessa's love is doomed! The locks they put on the bridge in Paris are all going down.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/paris-says-aux-armes-against-love-lock-plague-1432903474

Ok they put one lock on but I have one functional eye this week, ugh.

Their love was doomed from the start. I give this "marriage" three to four years, tops.

[Chicklet]

No they don't remove locks, they have allowed the weight of those locks to accumulate so that it's impacting the structural integrity of the bridge. And the keys are polluting the river. The locks will all come off and they will put up plexiglass  paneling so that people won't be able to add more locks.

Yes they should have addressed this years ago but lots of municipalities ignore infrastructure issues.

[jschoolgirl]

She's the only one with an actual high school diploma and not a GED like her siblings. I give her credit for that

How did she manage to pull it off? How did her parents permit it?

[wanderwoman]

Aw poor Bin and Jessa's love is doomed! The locks they put on the bridge in Paris are all going down.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/paris-says-aux-armes-against-love-lock-plague-1432903474

Ok they put one lock on but I have one functional eye this week, ugh.

We had a long discussion, with links to the controversy, back in April. I'm glad the city decided to cut them down. It was a dangerous act of vandalism and characteristic of the way the Duggars don't experience another culture so much as they redefine it to fit their narrow views. Like I said before, if the LGBT community started a tradition of putting locks on the Duggars front gate, Jim Bob would cry "vandalism" faster than you can say "tacky tourists". Edited May 31, 2015 by wanderwoman

[CofCinci]

How did she manage to pull it off? How did her parents permit it?

I'm guessing Arkansas home school laws mandate that the children's "school" work is facilitated or signed off by someone with an HS diploma. So, that's why they let her get one.

[jschoolgirl]

I'm guessing Arkansas home school laws mandate that the children's "school" work is facilitated or signed off by someone with an HS diploma. So, that's why they let her get one.

So they actually let her attend classes at school, with other kids??? Or was it online in conjunction with the local school? Amazing. I wonder if she was permitted to make any friends at all.

[Churchhoney]

How did she manage to pull it off? How did her parents permit it?

 

I've read it in various places, but I'm not convinced it's really an accurate statement. I think we know that they didn't allow the kids to actually enroll in an outside school, even an online one.

 

According to the Arkansas homeschooling group, there is one way to get a diploma other than one simply devised by your family, and that's to participate in a larger homeschooling group, submit records to them, follow some of their rules and get a diploma issued by them. That still wouldn't be a diploma officially issued by the state department of education, though. I suppose it's possible that the Duggars registered Jessa's studies with one of these groups, but if they did nobody seems to have heard about it. Here's what this group, The Education Alliance, says:

 

"High School Graduation, Diplomas, and College

 

"1. If we home school through high school, how does my child graduate and obtain a high school diploma?

 

"Answer: Several home school support organizations, including The Education Alliance, offer high school diplomas and graduation ceremonies. Most home school students participate in some type of high school graduation and receive a home school high school diploma. In addition, The Education Alliance offers free transcripts to home schoolers who submit a list of the courses they have completed. Some employers and certain institutions of higher learning require students who graduate from a home school to pass a General Educational Development (GED) test."

 

https://arkansashomeschool.org/index.php/free-info/faq/

 

"The Education Alliance provides a transcript record keeping service for Arkansas home school families on our mailing list. Home school parents provide us with the necessary information regarding courses taken, grades earned, and credits given. This information is entered into our computer and printed on secure paper. It is signed by The Education Alliance Director, Jerry Cox, and it is sealed with The Education Alliance Seal.

 

"We provide multiple copies of the transcript if requested and we will mail the transcript to the school of your choice....

"Transcripts are free with a donation of any amount to the Education Alliance."

 

https://arkansashomeschool.org/index.php/services/high-school-transcript/

 

 

ETA this: 

 

And here's what the state of Arkansas says, and I think it means that, no, Jessa doesn't have a state-issued high school diploma:

 

"No diploma is provided by school districts, education service cooperatives, or the Arkansas Department of Education for students enrolled in home school."

 

http://www.arkansased.gov/public/userfiles/Learning_Services/Charter%20and%20Home%20School/Home%20School-Division%20of%20Learning%20Services/FACT_SHEET.pdf

Edited May 31, 2015 by Churchhoney

[Absolom]

I think in one episode they said that Jessa was getting "her diploma."  Many, many of these home school kids get a home printed diploma with whatever name the parents gave to their "school."  I don't think it means Jessa did any more than any of the other kids.  They simply used that word in the episode.

[TomServo]

Tinker Toy House, because it was built from a kit. But there's also TTC, tater tot casserole, so sometimes we get them mixed up.

 

TTC will never not mean "Trying To Conceive" to me based on its usage on other internet boards.  Of course, it also applies to the married Duggars at any given point in time, so...

In the [However Many] Kids and Moving special, Michelle said that Jim Bob called the house a giant Tinker Toy project, so I assume that is where the nickname came from, but I also think of it as TontiTown House.

[JocelynCavanaugh]

TTC will never not mean "Trying To Conceive" to me based on its usage on other internet boards.  Of course, it also applies to the married Duggars at any given point in time, so...

In the [However Many] Kids and Moving special, Michelle said that Jim Bob called the house a giant Tinker Toy project, so I assume that is where the nickname came from, but I also think of it as TontiTown House.

 

Those are all perfect! What a serendipitous title for that den of iniquity.

[GEML]

I do think I remember reading several years ago you could get a HS diploma in AR if you essentially paid school taxes into another district, abided by their curriculum and passed the state tests (which would count) as well as state requirements for graduation. But it wasn't cheap - several thousand dollars per year, plus some travel for the testing.

It's quite possible that it has changed.