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

[madpsych78]

26 minutes ago, Jeeves said:

And Jessica Seewald, defrauding shorts and all, doesn't have two feet of scraggly fried hair sprawling down over her shoulders. Her hair is long, and also looks clean, healthy, and styled by a professional.

But then, I don't think Ben's mom goes around with a dead possum on top of her head and a long crunchy fried perm from 1989, unlike Jessa's very own MOTY and Role Model in Modesty and Gothard-Approved Hair.

Guinn was also wearing pants in her last Counting On episode.

[Whyyouneedaname]

On 7/28/2017 at 0:26 PM, Christina87 said:

Jessa reminds me of a college girl who has never cooked a meal, except she doesn't have a cafeteria. It's crazy how many friends I had in college that had absolutely no idea how to cook, lol. I would invite them over to my apartment for homemade meals, and they were the only ones they got besides when they went home on breaks. They loved me for it! I even made two of my best friends cookbooks of easy recipes as a graduation gift. 

When they graduated and got jobs, you know what happened? THEY LEARNED HOW TO COOK!!! They're constantly sending me texts about the new thing they have learned how to make. There is no excuse for Jessa! These girls WORK all day, and also don't have a husband and kids as an incentive to cook. They could easily order takeout every day, but they want to learn how to survive on their own. Why can't Jessa do this? Better yet, why couldn't she have learned during the first year of their marriage, before she had childcare duties?

i do believe Ben about the eggs, though. I feel like every time we've seen cooking in that house, it has been Ben scrambling eggs while Jessa curls her hair!

my son took a nutrition class at college and none of the girls knew how to cook. He was paired with 2 girls and another guy, their lesson for the day was biscuits, there was a bowl, pan, a pastry mixer thingy, (you'll know why I don't know what this is in a min ;) ) flour, milk & crisco. The girls had no idea where to start so he told them he would do it cause he knew how lol.  He puts the flour in a bowl, makes a little well with his hands, scoops crisco and starts mixing it up. The teacher sees him and comes over and shows him the pastry thingy and whispers "we don't use our hands" he replies "this is how my momma does it" lol, the girls in there had no idea. Didn't have a clue what ingredients were in biscuits....yes my son can make them :) there not the prettiest but never the less.

[Jellybeans]

I don't use the padtry thingie either, lol!  Good for teaching your son the right way. ;-)

[Lunera]

Jessica Seewald had a post about being a big Supernatural fan. My younger sister watches that show and it has a lot of demonic references. Gwinn also posted a picture of the younger kids with some Star Wars cosplayers, so I'm assuming the Seewalds not obsessed with everything being evil. Poor Bin, should have married a fundie lite girl who enjoys fun tv shows and music, and isn't apposed to using BC.

The T4L girl posted a picture with Office or Parks and Rec? I bet a Jessa was confused as hell.

Edited August 1, 2017 by Lunera

[Jynnan tonnix]

1 hour ago, Jellybeans said:

I don't use the padtry thingie either, lol!  Good for teaching your son the right way. ;-)

I use the pastry cutter sometimes, other times not. But I find it indispensable for chopping  up eggs for egg salad :)

[lascuba]

8 hours ago, kalamac said:

My first thought looking at the photo of Jessica in her tiny shorts was why couldn't Jessa have been absorbed more into the Seewald way of things instead of Bin being sucked into the Duggar vortex. I still can't stand their religious beliefs, but at least they dress better.

Because of the show. That's really it, and I think it applies to most of the kids except Jill. And I don't mean that any of them are worried about losing the show over stuff like how they dress. Jessa doesn't dress the way she does out of any strong conviction, she does it because she really can't deal with people questioning her about anything. She can't stand that dressing in a way that runs counter to what she's been saying is correct since she was a child will have people speculating about her current beliefs and her relationship with her parents. It probably made her seethe when people commented on her wearing board shorts at the pool. It's the same reason why--during the Flame storyline--they completely ignored the issue of how JB/M hate music. Jessa doesn't know how to just say she doesn't have the same exact views as her parents, she doesn't want to field questions about why that's changed. I doubt Jinger will ever say anything about wearing pants out of misplaced loyalty to her parents, but she has no problem posting pictures of herself wearing them because she doesn't care what the internet thinks and is comfortable ignoring questions she doesn't want to answer. 

[Marigold]

Jim Bob and Michelle look like mannequins from 1985.  

Guinn looks modest and yet acceptable for 2017. 

[sometimesy]

Jessa must be itching to get her fashion game going. Her in-laws, and now her sister, have way more opportunities to dress nice and Jessa is dressed like Jill! Gasp. Who do you think she prefers to be compared to. 

[queenanne]

1 hour ago, Lunera said:

Jessica Seewald had a post about being a big Supernatural fan. My younger sister watches that show and it has a lot of demonic references. Gwinn also posted a picture of the younger kids with some Star Wars cosplayers, so I'm assuming the Seewalds not obsessed with everything being evil. Poor Bin, should have married a fundie lite girl who enjoys fun tv shows and music, and isn't apposed to using BC.

The T4L girl posted a picture with Office or Parks and Rec? I bet a Jessa was confused as hell.

Yeah... unless that's Ben's sister's own 'non headship' wild hair, the Gothardites are ... an adjustment period for Ben.

[Temperance]

This is surprising that Seewalds are so moderate, because I always pictured them as fundie-lite and I guess that mean different things to different people. I'm less surprised they wear pants or shorts, but those short shorts are surprising. Then again I seem to recall Jessica is not that much younger than Ben and may be old enough to pick out her clothes, tv, etc.  

Ben, I think, wants to seem like a grow-up and feels more grown-up when his parents aren't around. JB and Michelle probably encourage him to see less of his parent. 

[kokapetl]

Every person that has their photo taken with Jimbob and Michelle at a strip mall wears tiny shorts. 

[lascuba]

Isn't Jessica the one who moved out and lives/d with her boyfriend?  I also remember some low key snarking over the Duggars and fundies in general.  The Seewalds are less extreme than the Duggars, but Jessica is still majorly rebelling against her family. 

[GeeGolly]

The youngest Seewald girl (11ish?) recently attended a Narnia theme birthday party.

[sometimesy]

So Bin just jumped into the cult? Weird, don't most teenagers search for freedom and independence? Jessa must be much hotter in real life. 

[kokapetl]

5 minutes ago, sometimesy said:

So Bin just jumped into the cult? Weird, don't most teenagers search for freedom and independence? Jessa must be much hotter in real life. 

His dad's preferred cult was shutting down.

[lascuba]

51 minutes ago, Kokapetl said:

His dad's preferred cult was shutting down.

And there's a personality type that falls into fundamentalism, and if they get lured when young, that's it. Ben was already in a cult, he saw a fundie family who's fame and evangelical "influence" he hoped to emulate, and they had a daughter he wanted to fuck. If he had parents who weren't also fundie they would have smacked some sense into him ("no, you dumb ass, we're not driving 4 hours to attend some creepy home church so you can meet some girl from tv.") and Ben's life would be very different. 

Watching the after show episodes now, and looking at Ben, I think his main problem is that being fundie famous wasn't what he thought it would be. Regardless of how his relationship with Jessa is going (and I go back and forth on them, because you can never really tell what's happening in a marriage), I think what really bothers him is that the show isn't the pulpit he hoped for. He seems super annoyed with how scripted everything is, with the cheesiness of the questions asked, when what he wants to do is pontificate and show everyone who a godly life is lived. 

[madpsych78]

4 hours ago, sometimesy said:

Jessa must be itching to get her fashion game going. Her in-laws, and now her sister, have way more opportunities to dress nice and Jessa is dressed like Jill! Gasp. Who do you think she prefers to be compared to. 

From your keyboarding fingers to Jessa's eyes.

[riverblue22]

1 hour ago, lascuba said:

And there's a personality type that falls into fundamentalism, and if they get lured when young, that's it. Ben was already in a cult, he saw a fundie family who's fame and evangelical "influence" he hoped to emulate, and they had a daughter he wanted to fuck. If he had parents who weren't also fundie they would have smacked some sense into him ("no, you dumb ass, we're not driving 4 hours to attend some creepy home church so you can meet some girl from tv.") and Ben's life would be very different. 

 

My nephew is heading towards a cult in his future.  He was raised in a huge "community church" and I guess he paid attention (my sister didn't, she was there to socialize).  Anyway, he posts tons of bible verses on FB, and he has now spent the summer working at a Christian summer camp like the one we saw on the Bates show.  In his last photo on FB he was evangelizing on the campus of USC.  He has a huge ego and is quite arrogant--I see a Gothard type belief system appealing to him.

[Marigold]

6 hours ago, Kokapetl said:

Every person that has their photo taken with Jimbob and Michelle at a strip mall wears tiny shorts. 

Josh is probably taking those pictures. 

[JoanArc]

13 hours ago, sometimesy said:

So Bin just jumped into the cult?

Yes, look up identity foreclosure. All the Duggars do it, by design.

[sometimesy]

3 hours ago, JoanArc said:

Yes, look up identity foreclosure. All the Duggars do it, by design.

Whoa https://www.verywell.com/identity-foreclosure-3288333

To speed the process up even further, the children are not allowed adolescence in the Dugg house. They are Jackson and then bam, they are JD working on cars and flipping houses. I wonder if Bin was allowed some teen years before he hit the Dugg time warp. If he IS unhappy, it's not surprising. 

[IntoTheMystic]

I think Ben always looks stoned. His eyes just glass over while Jessa is talking. I don't even think he pays attention to half of what she says. And when she looks at him during her many spiels and he thinks he's required to speak . . . he usually just mumbles until she's appeased. It's sad to watch. I mean . . . I think he probably loves his wife and kids, but I think he's also seeing that being a dad so young and marrying into a crazy quilt of idiocy just isn't a great place to be. I think the kid is miserable. I really do. He was very "deer in headlights" when he was sitting behind Jessa for Henry's birth. He wanted to be anywhere but there. I'd feel bad for him if I could muster up a give a damn about anyone in this clan o'crazy.

[BitterApple]

It's funny, because if the Seewalds hadn't been so damned pushy about marriage, maybe Bin and Jessa would've realized they were a total mismatch and called the whole thing off. Bin was a horny teenager who wanted to get laid. That's not exactly the most solid position to base a lifelong relationship on. For all his faults, Bin at least seems like he knows how to have fun, and Jessa hasn't budged an inch in that regard. I don't see the same kind of growth in her that we've seen with Jinger.

[Jellybeans]

Well...Ben is the headship.  He could start shoving Jessa a few inches here and there and since he hasn't...I am going to assume he has her exactly where he wants her.  I mean...headship and all.  

I do not believe in this kind of crap but if they do...then Duggar it up.

[Natalie68]

On 7/29/2017 at 7:41 AM, Jeeves said:

Jessa's got no homemaker skills, but she's winning where it matters for a Duggar: in the baby-making department.

Anna and Smugs are still leading the pack in total numbers of kids. Of course, they are older and started earlier.

However, Jessa's off to a strong start. She lost out to Jill in the baby race by not getting pregnant on her honeymoon. It was a full year after her wedding that she delivered Spurgeon, while Jill had Israel a little over 9 months after her wedding day. But Jessa wasted no time getting pregnant again, and Henry was born only 15 months after Spurgeon. Jill, OTOH, didn't get pregnant until Iz was more than a year old, and there's a 26-month gap between her first and second deliveries. Unlike Jessa, who's had two vaginal home births, Jill's now had two lengthy labors followed by C-sections, and there's speculation as to her future ability to bear children.

Last year I looked up the info and figured out how many of the Duggar kids were on pace to keep up with their mother's baby output. That post, which I haven't updated, is here: http://bit.ly/2u7KeGj

Jessa's younger than Jill, and if she keeps up this pace she may not quite equal her mother's output, unless she has twins now and then, but she may eventually equal Anna's output. I fear that Jill's not going to catch up or keep up Jessa's pace. Joy's just married and only 19; she has the potential to outbreed her sisters if she and Austin get busy. Jinger's been married for nearly 9 months and there's no sign of a baby bump, and no pregnancy announcement. Slacker.

Jessa probably knows she's a crappy housekeeper, and also knows that her fan base doesn't care about that. They care about babies. And she's delivering. 

A final thought: if anyone finds it offensive that I'm blithely posting about women having babies in terms of "output" and "keeping up the pace," welcome to Duggar world. It is crass and IMO offensive, but that's who they are. They are essentially about breeding for Jesus. The rest is window dressing. Their Nineteen!!! Kids!! are JB's and MEchelle's claim to fame and their main income stream. The kids know that, and have been well-indoctrinated all their lives to follow suit although perhaps not do to it well enough to actually outdo King Jim Bob and Queen MEchelle in output. Hence, we are worried about Jill right now because she's had two difficult births, both C-sections, and that indicates not only that she hasn't been able to pop out babies like a fertility queen, but may face problems in the future either conceiving or delivering again, and again. Many people would be thrilled to have two living kids but Jill could be devastated if she won't be able to to deliver a whole lot more babies; that is so sad and scary and I'm sorry for her if it's true.

I find nothing offensive about it AT ALL!  Babies are a commodity not an expansion of family and love for these people.  More clinical descriptors seem apt.

On 7/29/2017 at 9:15 AM, Nysha said:

I agree it would be a great replacement for "The Duggars and Their World: Fashion, Food, Finance, Schoolin’ and Child Rearin'". "Bland and Greasy: Duggar Food, Fashion, Finance, Schoolin', and Child Rearin'"

My sister and I call my cousins kid "Moist of Face" because she is always very sweaty in the face/head.  Of course we have manners and don't say it TO HER.  I actually haven't seen the gal in person in over 20 years but her pics show she is always Moist of Face.  So I am LOVING Bland and Greasy.  I have a feeling my sister will as well.  Its a little early for the hard stuff so mimosa's in the Prayer Closet on me!  I heard a rumor I have a basket with my own name on it for the express trip to hell.

[PikaScrewChu]

7 hours ago, BitterApple said:

It's funny, because if the Seewalds hadn't been so damned pushy about marriage, maybe Bin and Jessa would've realized they were a total mismatch and called the whole thing off. Bin was a horny teenager who wanted to get laid. That's not exactly the most solid position to base a lifelong relationship on. For all his faults, Bin at least seems like he knows how to have fun, and Jessa hasn't budged an inch in that regard. I don't see the same kind of growth in her that we've seen with Jinger.

The Seewalds were too eager to shout from the rooftops that their son had bagged the "hot" Duggar daughter. JB would have likely ended the courtship quietly otherwise. Ben ended up stuck in the situation. He could have been doing other things with his 20s rather than being responsible to impregnate his wife as often as possible to keep the Duggar money machine rolling. It looks like the Seewalds loosened up a lot. Ben's path in life could have been much different and probably more to his tastes.

I'm surprised that Benessa appear to have a semi-decent partnership. I pegged them to be as miserable and mismatched as the Dullards are.

[AUgirl]

Quote

Well...Ben is the headship.

Ben may be the headship but I have a feeling Jessa has his balls in a jar somewhere. 

[questionfear]

1 hour ago, PikaScrewChu said:

The Seewalds were too eager to shout from the rooftops that their son had bagged the "hot" Duggar daughter. JB would have likely ended the courtship quietly otherwise. Ben ended up stuck in the situation. He could have been doing other things with his 20s rather than being responsible to impregnate his wife as often as possible to keep the Duggar money machine rolling. It looks like the Seewalds loosened up a lot. Ben's path in life could have been much different and probably more to his tastes.

I'm surprised that Benessa appear to have a semi-decent partnership. I pegged them to be as miserable and mismatched as the Dullards are.

I think Jessa is one of the more intelligent Duggar kids, and honestly she's one of the ones I would peg as writing a tell-all if the money goes dry. My guess is that behind closed doors they're both looser than they present on the show, but acting devout and duggar-y is like acting for a paycheck to them. 

[Showthyme]

On 7/29/2017 at 7:32 PM, Genevrier said:

Jinger should get an award for this. Non-mother of the Year. If she makes it to her one-year anniversary I will start drawing up the certificate. 

Give her a People cover for NOT having a baby so soon! At year two, she should be invited to the White House for lunch and a private tour.

[Minivanessa]

1 minute ago, Showthyme said:

Give her a People cover for NOT having a baby so soon! At year two, she should be invited to the White House for lunch and a private tour.

Nah, I hear that place is a dump.

[truebluesmoky]

12 hours ago, AUgirl said:

Ben may be the headship but I have a feeling Jessa has his balls in a jar somewhere. 

I agree. I thought it was striking seeing all the couples together on the Q&A. Jinger looked to Jeremy as she answered things, as if for approval, and Jeremy seemed "in charge" of the couple's statements. It was the same with Joy and Austin and Kendra and Joe but the exact opposite with Jessa and Ben. Jessa was definitely running the show, and Ben looked to her. I'm not saying I have an issue with it, because I'm an anti-Duggarism feminist who finds Jessa fascinating. I think she has found a way to walk the line of presenting herself as a model of their value system while actually subverting it quite a bit. She is definitely the headship in that family.

[Marigold]

I bet Jessa is stamping around The Mold House today. She got the show back to some solid ground and then Derick happened. 

[GeeGolly]

12 hours ago, Marigold said:

I bet Jessa is stamping around The Mold House today. She got the show back to some solid ground and then Derick happened. 

Jill is on her way over to give her a jewelry box to calm her down.

[lascuba]

13 hours ago, Marigold said:

I bet Jessa is stamping around The Mold House today. She got the show back to some solid ground and then Derick happened. 

I'm picturing Jessa going off on Derick in the most explicit terms allowed in their world and I will accept no one telling me it won't happen. 

Seriously though, Ben and Jessa did majorly tone down their doom and gloom posts when they realized it could affect their bottom line. Ben has been pissy about that ever since but I'm sure practical Jessa is itching to lay a smackdown on Derick. 

[Curly Sue]

On 8/1/2017 at 1:31 PM, Jynnan tonnix said:

I use the pastry cutter sometimes, other times not. But I find it indispensable for chopping  up eggs for egg salad :)

That's the exact same thing I use mine for! I also use a potato masher for avocados to make guacamole, since I like my avocado chunky.

[Jynnan tonnix]

7 minutes ago, Curly Sue said:

That's the exact same thing I use mine for! I also use a potato masher for avocados to make guacamole, since I like my avocado chunky.

Oooo! Good Idea! Somehow it had never occurred to me to use the potato masher for guacamole! *hits self in head* D'oh!

Edited August 4, 2017 by Jynnan tonnix
Because while it was a "good" idea, "god" might have been taking it too far!

[Lunera]

Jessa also flooding twitter with pictures of her kids after almost a month of inactivity. 

[Sew Sumi]

She also simultaneously posted the pics to Instagram, where she has about four times the audience. Don't cross her; she's lightning fast with that block feature. Ask me how I know. #blessablocked

[sometimesy]

5 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

Jill is on her way over to give her a jewelry box to calm her down.

I think you mean, Jill has summoned Jana to take a jewelry box to Jessa. 

[JoanArc]

2 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

She also simultaneously posted the pics to Instagram, where she has about four times the audience. Don't cross her; she's lightning fast with that block feature. Ask me how I know. #blessablocked

The  first shall be last, and the blocked shall be first.

[queenanne]

Is that a filter on Spurgey??  Appalling.  He's got the beauty of dewy youth on his side already!

[TeaTV]

Did anyone else see Ben's Instagram story that said "I'm going back to school #Class of 2021"

[EarlGreyTea]

31 minutes ago, TeaInTheMoment said:

Did anyone else see Ben's Instagram story that said "I'm going back to school #Class of 2021"

Great! I didn't realize Krusty's Klown Kollege was accepting applications again! Congrats!

(Fine, I'll be nice and say that's good he's showing some initiative to support his family on his own)

[madpsych78]

37 minutes ago, TeaInTheMoment said:

Did anyone else see Ben's Instagram story that said "I'm going back to school #Class of 2021"

No, it appears his most recent Instagram story was his Mother's Day message to Jessa. Where did you see this?

[Sew Sumi]

1 hour ago, TeaInTheMoment said:

Did anyone else see Ben's Instagram story that said "I'm going back to school #Class of 2021"

Missed that (I follow way too many people). If he did two years of transferrable classes at community college, he can certainly transfer the pre-req classes he took. Not to mention the semester or two he did recently at Moody. What's this #Classof2021 bullshit? He should be at least halfway done already. 

Edited August 5, 2017 by Sew Sumi

[TeaTV]

13 hours ago, madpsych78 said:

No, it appears his most recent Instagram story was his Mother's Day message to Jessa. Where did you see this?

I'm so sorry (and embarrassed). It was an imposter account! And here I thought there was a glimmer of hope for them.

Edited August 5, 2017 by TeaInTheMoment

[Fosca]

7 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

Missed that (I follow way too many people). If he did two years of transferrable classes at community college, he can certainly transfer the pre-req classes he took. Not to mention the semester or two he did recently at Moody. What's this #Classof2021 bullshit? He should be at least halfway done already. 

Unless he' going to some fundy preacher school that isn't interested in any non-fundy-religion class or that insists all classes be taken on-site to control the message 100%. Then he might need to start over.

Or else he's just not thinking and connecting the dots between then- classes and now-classes, which is at least as likely.

[Barb23]

6 hours ago, TeaInTheMoment said:

I'm so sorry (and embarrassed. I was an imposter account! And here I thought there was a glimmer of hope for them.

Well it did get our minds off Derick for a few minutes .

[Churchhoney]

On 8/2/2017 at 8:27 PM, AUgirl said:

Ben may be the headship but I have a feeling Jessa has his balls in a jar somewhere. 

I sorta thought that Jessa might have one in her jar and JB have the other in one of the jars on his shelf. 

[ariel]

20 hours ago, Lunera said:

Jessa also flooding twitter with pictures of her kids after almost a month of inactivity. 

It looks like Jess put some mascara on sleepy boy's lashes.  I wonder if Gothard would approve of that.

Edited August 5, 2017 by ariel