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

[Triple P]

2 hours ago, lascuba said:

Not that long ago, Alyssa posted a picture of her with her kids in the car and followed it up with something like, "Before anyone starts criticizing, the car was parked so that's why they aren't in carseats" in a really bitchy tone. I don't follow her so I don't know what happened to provoke that comment, but no one's immune to the mommy wars.

The fact that a toddler with a bottle is viewed as a lightening rod for controversy is why I'm Team Jessa on this one. 

I have sympathy for Alyssa in regard to her comment. She quit Instagram for a number of months because every photo of her daughter was met not only with comments about what she was doing wrong, but also comments about something being off or wrong with Ali and a lot of speculation as to what was "wrong" with her.

[DangerousMinds]

But of course, she's back.

[madpsych78]

5 hours ago, doodlebug said:

I cannot imagine coming to Jessa's defense, but I think Jeremy took that picture and posted it originally.  Since he isn't a mom, doesn't even have kids; I presume he isn't aware of the large numbers of people who want to parent other people's children online.

Jessa, however, has been posting online for years, always to as large an audience as possible to keep the brand front and center.  She should realize by now that there is going to be criticism of anything and everything, particularly due to all the controversy surrounding her family.  She ought to have a thicker skin by now; but her penchant to snark back and to block posters (or even lurkers who visit sites she doesn't like) shows her to be a judgmental, oversensitive whiner; sort of like the rest of her family who apparently still have a hard time believing that the public at large doesn't agree with their handling of the molestation situation back in the day.

A little introspection would do her a world of good, but I don't think Jessa (or any of the kids, really), is capable of that.

Also, a better choice for Jessa may be to direct her comments at Jeremy rather than her (presumably mostly female) commentators, since he was the one who posted the picture in the first place. But that would never happen because male privilege.

[Spencer Hastings]

Why should Jessa direct her comments at Jeremy when the female commentators are the ones berating her parenting choice?  He posted a cute picture of his nephew, he didn't do anything wrong in this situation. 

[dreamingtree]

Jessa has the option to not exploit her children on social media.  Yes, I know Jeremy posted this particular picture, but if Jessa and Ben were to decide to protect their children rather than exploit them for hits on IG,  I am sure Jeremy would not have posted the picture. 

Jessa has no qualms at preaching to others what they should be doing.  Jessa has said that to show the love of Jesus, means pointing out to people when they are making wrong decisions, behaving and believing wrongly.  So, while I have to no patience for the militant mommy brigade,  I also don't have much empathy for Jessa. 

Jessa is reacting to this because she lacks the ability tolerate criticism.  She wants to have it both ways.  She wants to benefit financially from her Social Media Presence while she receives praise for how cute her little family is, but she doesn't want to acknowledge that putting her self out there will mean that some people might disagree with her. 

As long as they are praising her,  she is fine.  But the when they don't her true character shows up.  In this case,  her belligerence  is accelerated because part of her reaction is a 'mama bear' from perceiving her precious child was criticized. 

[flyingdi]

1 hour ago, Triple P said:

I have sympathy for Alyssa in regard to her comment. She quit Instagram for a number of months because every photo of her daughter was met not only with comments about what she was doing wrong, but also comments about something being off or wrong with Ali and a lot of speculation as to what was "wrong" with her.

Jessa has also received comments on something being "off" about Spurgeon because he's apparently not talking in full sentences yet.  I don't think anything was said here but she has received comments about her son being " behind" developmentally.

[ChiCricket]

30 minutes ago, flyingdi said:

Jessa has also received comments on something being "off" about Spurgeon because he's apparently not talking in full sentences yet.  I don't think anything was said here but she has received comments about her son being " behind" developmentally.

 I worried about 2 of my grandchildren, who, when they were about the same age as S, were barely talking. (I just can't type out that awful name.)

      Both times, their parents got speech therapy for them. After about a year, they caught up with their peers.

{caution, grammie brag ahead}

     Now they are in 2nd and 5th grades, and both of them are in gifted programs. 

  Basically I said that to say this: I made sure to voice my concerns to my grown kids diplomatically, and they got them the help to 'jump start' their language skills.

     I am hoping Jessa does the same thing and gets him some help, if needed.

(Not holding my breath on that.)

Edited September 10, 2017 by ChiCricket
Removed totally, because

[MargeGunderson]

Of the moms so far, I think Jessa would be the one most likely to seek help for her kids if she thought they needed it. 

[dreamingtree]

Maybe.  Jessa is pretty rigid and I think she has a stubborn streak, especially if she feels criticized.  If a close friend or family member expressed a concern she might take it seriously, but strangers on the internet, even well intended,  are likely to just piss her off.

[Marigold]

jessa blocks people who visit snark sites?

She has super sleuthing skills and a lot of time to do that.  How the hell do you even do that?

I do feel bad for all moms because every damn thing is up for scrutiny.  So use common sense and avoid the highly controversial topics.  We all know what they are.  Car seats, vaccines, breast, bottle, public school, homeschool, parochial school, sunblock, water safety, TV, anything dangerous, climbing on a chair, guns, political issues, animal abuse etc.  Is this news to anyone????  

 I'm a mom of a large family who is not even close to being famous.  I post a picture of my child standing nicely holding a flower or something. I just want to share a cute picture of my child not start a whole debate.  The Duggars cannot do that because it requires COMMON SENSE. Common sense will cut down on about 80% of the comments and the other 20%?  Well, that is the price of fame, Jessa.  Or, post whatever you want (like Derick) and then have a thick skin. 

Jessa should be able to post any reasonably normal picture of her children and not get a million comments on what a crappy mother she is.  But it's 2017, everyone is a sanctimom on social media and the Duggar name invites problems.  This is reality when you are a Duggar reality TV star.  ;)  

**On a personal note, glad to see jessa has some spunk. 

Edited September 10, 2017 by Marigold

[xwordfanatik]

37 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

 I worried about 2 of my grandchildren, who, when they were about the same age as S, were barely talking. (I just can't type out that awful name.)

      Both times, their parents got speech therapy for them. After about a year, they caught up with their peers.

{caution, grammie brag ahead}

     Now they are in 2nd and 5th grades, and both of them are in gifted programs. 

  Basically I said that to say this: I made sure to voice my concerns to my grown kids diplomatically, and they got them the help to 'jump start' their language skills.

     I am hoping Jessa does the same thing and gets him some help, if needed.

(Not holding my breath on that.)

I don't use his first name, either.  I refer to him as S. Elliot.

This kind of shit makes me happy (A) I'm not a TeeVee "star" and (B) that I got to raise my daughter before all this social media crap.  

Duggardom seems to have the mindset that they're above reproach on everything.  If they post every burp & fart, they're going to get criticized.  Simple as that.

[ChiCricket]

18 minutes ago, Marigold said:

jessa blocks people who visit snark sites?

She has super sleuthing skills and a lot of time to do that.  How the hell do you even do that?

I do feel bad for all moms because every damn thing is up for scrutiny.  So use common sense and avoid the highly controversial topics.  We all know what they are.  Car seats, vaccines, breast, bottle, public school, homeschool, parochial school, sunblock, water safety, TV, anything dangerous, climbing on a chair, guns, political issues, animal abuse etc.  Is this news to anyone????  

 You forgot bicycle helmets. I got lambasted by my own daughters on Facebook when I let their kids ride on my dead-end street without them.

    Yes, I know they should all have them, but some were visiting me from New Mexico and North Carolina, and begged to bike together with their Illinois cousins.

     I didn't have enough helmets for all of them, so I let them. My mistake was posting a picture.  Busted!

 (I now have extra)

18 minutes ago, Marigold said:

[DangerousMinds]

Most people who post pictures of their kids on SM do so on private accounts, not public ones. She is choosing to exploit her kids by exposing them to complete strangers.

[GeeGolly]

There are pics of kids all over my FB feed. I don't see any Mommy Wars on there. Probably because the moms and dads posting the pics don't publicly spout judgement of others, they're not famous and their posting to family and friends.

Jessa could have got her message across differently by just saying the truth: Hey y'all parenting is hard and we all have opinions, but criticizing my parenting is hurtful. After all, we all do things a little differently. 

[ChiCricket]

7 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

After all, we all do things a little differently. 

They do things a little 'different.'

[MamaMax]

57 minutes ago, Marigold said:

I do feel bad for all moms because every damn thing is up for scrutiny.  So use common sense and avoid the highly controversial topics.  We all know what they are.  Car seats, vaccines, breast, bottle, public school, homeschool, parochial school, sunblock, water safety, TV, anything dangerous, climbing on a chair, guns, political issues, animal abuse etc.  Is this news to anyone????  

I found out QUICK when my daughter was born (17 years ago and pre-SM) that the fastest way to lose a mom-friend was to criticize her parenting decisions or her kid.  ESPECIALLY if you were not asked for your opinion!   So many of these things are a matter of opinion, and SOOOO many things have a wide range of what's considered "normal" that I think it's rude to ever criticize other moms. And unsolicited "advice" that someone is doing things wrong IS criticism. 

Honestly, who gives a shit if some strangers kid gets bottle rot? Or needs orthodonture? NOT YOUR BUSINESS.

My son was a horrible sleeper as an infant. Finally, he started sleeping through the night but absolutely HAD to have a pacifier (along with 5 or 6 "spares" in the bed, just in case). I let him have that pacifier for looooong after the pediatrician recommended taking it away. I told her flat out, "I need him to sleep." Boom.  He gave them up eventually, and Spurgie will give up the bottle. When he does is none of our business, even if his photo is all over SM. 

I post photos of myself all over SM, and I need to lose a ton of weight. Does that mean it's fair game for people to tell me in droves that I need to go on a diet?

Edited September 10, 2017 by MamaMax

[HooHooHoo]

I don't see a lot of mommy bashing on my SM. I see the Humble Brag Mommies. You know:  #noepidural, #sleepingthethroughthenightat2weeks, #breastfedonly, #notoxins, #nochemicals, #clothdiapers, you get the idea. Back to Jessa...she is the one who chooses to put her kids on SM,  but at least it shows an attachment to her kids. Mama Bear is coming out. Would Jill do the same?

[Marigold]

I have no mommy bashing on my feed etc.   I guess I hang out with very chill people like myself who just post a picture of a smiley child. ;)  No controversial topics over here and if they don't like something, I guess they scroll down. 

[dreamingtree]

36 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

 

Jessa could have got her message across differently by just saying the truth: Hey y'all parenting is hard and we all have opinions, but criticizing my parenting is hurtful. After all, we all do things a little differently. 

She absolutely could have said something like that.  I just think it is better if she just posts her kids' pics on a private page, rather than her public page.  I don't expect her to realize this, since critical thinking is not an attribute of the Duggar Clan, but she is selling her children's lives, just as JB and M sold hers.  There were times when it was obvious that the older kids were embarrassed and didn't want to be filmed, and yet the still had to do it.  Her parents sold out private moments.  I am fairly certain my kids would be very angry if I sold videos of them puking while on an airplane, or dropping poop out of a filled diaper, or being awkwardly asked to court, or video of my parents humping on a mini-golf course.   Jessa had to have had moments where she wanted to just fade away, and not be a part of the circus, and yet here she is pushing it onto the next generation.  I wish she could use some of her smarts to grow some insight.  She doesn't strike me as stupid, but just stubbornly committed to the status quo.  She strikes me as someone who becomes more militant about something, when you try to point out logic or contradiction.  She is arrogant in her belief that she knows  the one true way to the promised land. 

 

I see some small cracks, mostly related to minor ways in which she has adopted to contemporary culture.  And maybe these little cracks will widen.  If Jessa does start to question and begin to reject the tenets of the cult she was raised in,  I hope she is fierce in that and I hope she will bring along others in her family. 

[TeaTV]

1 hour ago, HooHooHoo said:

I don't see a lot of mommy bashing on my SM. I see the Humble Brag Mommies. You know:  #noepidural, #sleepingthethroughthenightat2weeks, #breastfedonly, #notoxins, #nochemicals, #clothdiapers, you get the idea. Back to Jessa...she is the one who chooses to put her kids on SM,  but at least it shows an attachment to her kids. Mama Bear is coming out. Would Jill do the same?

The thing is, if you do/don't do anything that people might consider bragging/bashing, you literally cannot talk about it (let alone post it) without potentially upsetting people. 

Here's how it goes down:

Person 1: "I had an epidural/use pacifiers/breastfed/voted for/had a homebirth/believe in...., etc."

[Conversation pauses and the other person who has a totally different parenting/lifestyle is expected to respond and corroborate or validate Person 1's statement.]

Person 2: [Shrugs] "We all have our own parenting styles." or "Oh, that's nice. You do you. I totally respect your ways even though they differ from my own."

To me, that comes off as condescending. If Person 2 responds that he/she didn't do that, well then it's considered full on bashing.

A question I often contemplate is:
How can/should you respond when another person makes a statement you don't agree with without coming across as a jerk?
Same goes for conversations about diet, politics, religion, even TV shows. Maybe the answer is to just know your audience and/or limit (not eliminate) your contact with people who don't agree with you to whatever degree your own personal stress level can take? Or to just keep your mouth shut if you don't agree (that's normally what I do).

I tend to have stomach issues when I'm around people who stress me out. Maybe that's one of the reasons why Jessa blocks. I mean, who doesn't steer clear of negative people in their lives? I know there are (very valid) arguments for not blocking people but criticising someone for blocking others when you don't can be considered as bragging/bashing too at least imo. 

Edited September 10, 2017 by TVwithTea
This post was not directed at anyone in particular. It's just a question I often wonder about that I thought I'd put out there in case anyone has some more insight on the topic.

[Marigold]

I like that Jessa showed some spunk but I think overall, it's not a good social media post for her. Nothing positive was accomplished.  She came off as too bitchy AND we now know that she reads comments and they annoy her. 

[ariel]

18 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

She apparently has sour breastmilk when she gets knocked up, like her mother. She's on schedule for Henry to reject her milk and take to the bottle. 

I thought Michelle claimed at that her milk turned to skim milk, whatever that means.

[ariel]

5 hours ago, Spencer Hastings said:

Why should Jessa direct her comments at Jeremy when the female commentators are the ones berating her parenting choice?  He posted a cute picture of his nephew, he didn't do anything wrong in this situation. 

 If she wants to get pissy at someone it should be Jeremy for posting the pictures in the first place.  She chose to get angry at the "female" commentators instead.  Such a thin skinned little bitch who is intimidated by women who's opinions differ from hers.  It's a good thing she doesn't have to work in the real world.

Edited September 11, 2017 by ariel

[lascuba]

5 hours ago, dreamingtree said:

Jessa has the option to not exploit her children on social media.  Yes, I know Jeremy posted this particular picture, but if Jessa and Ben were to decide to protect their children rather than exploit them for hits on IG,  I am sure Jeremy would not have posted the picture. 

Jessa has no qualms at preaching to others what they should be doing.  Jessa has said that to show the love of Jesus, means pointing out to people when they are making wrong decisions, behaving and believing wrongly.  So, while I have to no patience for the militant mommy brigade,  I also don't have much empathy for Jessa. 

Jessa is reacting to this because she lacks the ability tolerate criticism.  She wants to have it both ways.  She wants to benefit financially from her Social Media Presence while she receives praise for how cute her little family is, but she doesn't want to acknowledge that putting her self out there will mean that some people might disagree with her. 

As long as they are praising her,  she is fine.  But the when they don't her true character shows up.  In this case,  her belligerence  is accelerated because part of her reaction is a 'mama bear' from perceiving her precious child was criticized. 

This is literally everyone who makes money via some form of entertainment. Hell, Hollywood producers are now blaming Rotten Tomatoes for the box office slump instead of their own shitty movies. I'm not saying it's okay, and all your other points about Jessa are correct, but just because her beliefs are shitty doesn't mean she has to keep sweet when people are being openly shitty to her. Don't get me wrong, I'm the last person to advocate for "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything," but 1)it's 100% valid for people to respond to shitty comments with shittiness, and 2) just because she's a judgmental asshole doesn't mean all criticism of her is automatically fair and/or correct. People who criticized her because Spurgeon still drinks out of a bottle don't don't get to claim a moral highground. 

 

1 hour ago, Marigold said:

I like that Jessa showed some spunk but I think overall, it's not a good social media post for her. Nothing positive was accomplished.  She came off as too bitchy AND we now know that she reads comments and they annoy her. 

That specific post wasn't great but I do think that bitchy is a much better look for her and would work in her favor if she wielded it correctly. Instead of preemptively defending her parenting, she should have replied to the most obnoxious comments with cutting remarks (though, honestly, she probably lacks the wit for a really good comeback), or even do a general post about parenting and mommy wars. She does need to stop blocking people who don't directly comment on her posts--it really makes her look obsessive that she looks at people SM activity to figure out who to block. 

[Marigold]

31 minutes ago, ariel said:

 If she wants to get pissy at someone it should be Jeremy for posting the pictures in the first place.  She chose to get angry at the "female" commentators instead.  Such a thin skinned little bitch who is intimidated by women who's opinions differ from hers.  It's a good thing she doesn't have to work in the real world.

Didn't Jessa post a few pictures of Spurgie with the bottle previously and that's where she got the ugly comments? Then Jeremy goes and posts yet another Spurgie & Bottle picture.  Jessa anticipated a shit storm of comments, I guess. 

[Churchhoney]

47 minutes ago, ariel said:

I thought Michelle claimed at that her milk turned to skim milk, whatever that means.

Given how godly she is, maybe it's something like water turning to wine. 

[dreamingtree]

24 minutes ago, lascuba said:

This is literally everyone who makes money via some form of entertainment. Hell, Hollywood producers are now blaming Rotten Tomatoes for the box office slump instead of their own shitty movies. I'm not saying it's okay, and all your other points about Jessa are correct, but just because her beliefs are shitty doesn't mean she has to keep sweet when people are being openly shitty to her. Don't get me wrong, I'm the last person to advocate for "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything," but 1)it's 100% valid for people to respond to shitty comments with shittiness, and 2) just because she's a judgmental asshole doesn't mean all criticism of her is automatically fair and/or correct. People who criticized her because Spurgeon still drinks out of a bottle don't don't get to claim a moral highground. 

 

That specific post wasn't great but I do think that bitchy is a much better look for her and would work in her favor if she wielded it correctly. Instead of preemptively defending her parenting, she should have replied to the most obnoxious comments with cutting remarks (though, honestly, she probably lacks the wit for a really good comeback), or even do a general post about parenting and mommy wars. She does need to stop blocking people who don't directly comment on her posts--it really makes her look obsessive that she looks at people SM activity to figure out who to block. 

Jessa chooses to live some of her life in the public eye.  There are consequences to that.  Sure, she can take on all those that offer her criticism, but given how 'Christian' she is, I wonder if she has forgotten one of Christ's most important teachings; "Turn the other cheek".  She likes to portray a perfect little life and share it with the people.  Overwhelmingly she gets positive comments and tons of reinforcement for her lifestyle.  I don't have a lot of empathy for her getting upset about comments made about baby bottles.  I have seen some really disturbing comments on social media, and I would be completely supportive of Jessa cutting off something truly disturbing or nasty.  But she has been blocking people nearly from the outset when people disagree with her or question her.  This makes her seem very thin-skinned.  She can back her children out of Public Social Media,  She can simply ignore her critics, or she can go after them everytime they piss her off. 

I just wish she would use that energy and attitude for the greater good, not just to spank people on IG.  But, I will give her props because as snark goes, it was well done!
 

[Adeejay]

Every once in a great while, Princess Prickly Pear drops the pretense and show her true colors.  I believe this is the real Jessa and not the one with the forced smile and phony chuckle. 

[doodlebug]

55 minutes ago, ariel said:

I thought Michelle claimed at that her milk turned to skim milk, whatever that means.

Not that I want to agree with Michelle, but she actually isn't mistaken here.  When a woman is breastfeeding, as her baby grows, the fat content in her milk increases so as to provide more calories for her child.  If a woman conceives while breastfeeding, her breast milk will change back to the lower fat version that newborns get.  Meanwhile, babies, like the rest of us, generally enjoy the taste of fat and, an older kid, when faced with mom's breastmilk now not tasting as yummy, will often wean themselves from the breast.

[dreamingtree]

10 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

Not that I want to agree with Michelle, but she actually isn't mistaken here.  When a woman is breastfeeding, as her baby grows, the fat content in her milk increases so as to provide more calories for her child.  If a woman conceives while breastfeeding, her breast milk will change back to the lower fat version that newborns get.  Meanwhile, babies, like the rest of us, generally enjoy the taste of fat and, an older kid, when faced with mom's breastmilk now not tasting as yummy, will often wean themselves from the breast.

I think breastmilk has a high fat content for newborns as well.  Fat content in BM does change but not just related to age of the baby.  It can change even from one feeding to the next and even during the course of the feeding.  When baby first starts to nurse, it is foremilk and lower fat,  with longer feedings, the milk gets fattier. 

If Michelle's milk changed when she was pregnant, it is from the hormones and perhaps a reflection of competing priorities by her body.  She would need more energy and calories for the new pregnancy, and needs it for breastfeeding.  So if she wasn't getting enough for both,  the breast milk quality might change.   Breastmilk flavor changes due to hormones.  Women who get periods while nursing will often say their babies don't eat as much during that time, as they seem to not like the taste of the milk. 

I suspect however that Michelle encouraged weaning so she could get pregnant again.  One thing I liked about Jessa's posts was when she was disappointed she didn't get to BF Spurgeon for a longer time.  That is actually a sweet sentiment.  Not all women feel that was as many are happy when the kid self-weans,  but that seemed to be a genuine sentiment by her. 

Jessa is a strongwilled woman.  I hope this will serve her well someday.  I hope parenting softens her arrogance and opens her to new ideas.  And then I hope she uses her capabilities to start to move away from how she was raised. 

But, alas,  as long as these kids have the relatively easy money coming in from the show,  there just isn't much motivation for them distance themselves from the toxic beliefs. 

[Sew Sumi]

33 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

Not that I want to agree with Michelle, but she actually isn't mistaken here.  When a woman is breastfeeding, as her baby grows, the fat content in her milk increases so as to provide more calories for her child.  If a woman conceives while breastfeeding, her breast milk will change back to the lower fat version that newborns get.  Meanwhile, babies, like the rest of us, generally enjoy the taste of fat and, an older kid, when faced with mom's breastmilk now not tasting as yummy, will often wean themselves from the breast.

Hence why Spurge "weaned early" per Jessa. I imagine Henry will be weaning soon. 

[dreamingtree]

I hope Jessa doesn't get pregnant right away.  She seems to really be enjoying her sweet little ones, and if she were to add a third one right now, it will be harder and harder to enjoy those little precious moments.  If she would take a break, and wait until Henry is closer to 3,  that would give she and Ben a chance to really enjoy the babyhood phase of her kids.  She is young enough that even spacing 3 years between kids she could still have a large brood if that is what she wants. 

[cmr2014]

49 minutes ago, dreamingtree said:

I hope Jessa doesn't get pregnant right away.  She seems to really be enjoying her sweet little ones, and if she were to add a third one right now, it will be harder and harder to enjoy those little precious moments.  If she would take a break, and wait until Henry is closer to 3,  that would give she and Ben a chance to really enjoy the babyhood phase of her kids.  She is young enough that even spacing 3 years between kids she could still have a large brood if that is what she wants. 

I think you're right, and I wonder what she is thinking about this. She is enjoying being the mother of a small family, but I think that she has to realize now -- even with just two -- that it would be hard to really enjoy her children with another baby right away. There is a part of her that is competitive and wants to win the "most babies" trophy that is obviously coveted in Duggartown, but there must be a part of her that remembers how neglected she was -- and how REALLY neglected the howlers and the lost girls were -- and not want the same for her children.

[Spencer Hastings]

3 hours ago, ariel said:

 If she wants to get pissy at someone it should be Jeremy for posting the pictures in the first place.  She chose to get angry at the "female" commentators instead.  Such a thin skinned little bitch who is intimidated by women who's opinions differ from hers.  It's a good thing she doesn't have to work in the real world.

I still fail to see how Jeremy is at fault. People are going to get at her about anything related to Spurgeon, no matter who posts the photo.  Jessa is a lot of things but her frustrations aren't misdirected here.

[sometimesy]

Don't come between a mama bear and her cubs. 

[wilsie]

Michelle was never a mama bear.  Her poor little cubs were always on their own where she was concerned.  It's a low bar Michelle set but I hope Jessa continues to do better for her little ones.

[BitterApple]

11 hours ago, Adeejay said:

Every once in a great while, Princess Prickly Pear drops the pretense and show her true colors.  I believe this is the real Jessa and not the one with the forced smile and phony chuckle. 

I think so too. It's not like she wrote a nice message saying "I appreciate the concern, but we all have different parenting styles and that's okay." No, she immediately got defensive and snotty. I hate Mommy-shamers as much as the next person, but if Jessa wants to be a Social Media Stah she needs to learn that not every comment is going to tell her how beautiful, Godly and amazing she is. If anything, Jessa just showed her true nature and proved her ego is made of glass.

[Triple P]

17 hours ago, flyingdi said:

Jessa has also received comments on something being "off" about Spurgeon because he's apparently not talking in full sentences yet.  I don't think anything was said here but she has received comments about her son being " behind" developmentally.

I got those comments too when my twins were Spurgeon's age. The comments about Alyssa's daughter were next level though, diagnosing her with autism, Down's syndrome, etc. and calls for Alyssa to just admit that there really was something "wrong" with Ali. Yes, Alyssa's back on Instagram publicly and posts pictures of both of her daughters, but with less frequency than she did previously. I think she may have been pressured to post publicaly due to the Bates' show, as she seems to be a very private person.

Now a lot of her posts shill products, which is a different issue! I will leave it at that though since this isn't the Sweet Fellowship thread. ?

[TresGatos]

As a little kid I was very attached to my bottle and pacifier. I remember losing the pacifier at a carnival and being so upset my dad went out and bought another one which made me more upset because it was yellow, not blue, so he went back out and bought a blue pacifier and hid it in the bushes out front and then pretended to find it and then passed it off as the original one that I had lost.

Then, when I was five and about ready to enter Kindergarten, my parents decided I needed to quit the bottle and pacifier once and for all. So they burned the bottle and pacifier on the stove, showed me the melted, blackened mess, and told me they had "died." We had a funeral out in the backyard. So if Jessa is lurking and seeking parenting advice...Do not...I repeat...Do not do this!

P.S. Yes, I was a brat.

Edited September 11, 2017 by TresGatos
To acknowledge my brattiness.

[flyingdi]

I still say in regards to Jessa bitchiness and sass can pass for personality and she shows far more personality than any of her sisters. 

[queenanne]

14 minutes ago, TresGatos said:

As a little kid I was very attached to my bottle and pacifier. I remember losing the pacifier at a carnival and being so upset my dad went out and bought another one which made me more upset because it was yellow, not blue, so he went back out and bought a blue pacifier and hid it in the bushes out front and then pretended to find it and then passed it off as the original one that I had lost.

Then, when I was five and about ready to enter Kindergarten, my parents decided I needed to quit the bottle and pacifier once and for all. So they burned the bottle and pacifier on the stove, showed me the melted, blackened mess, and told me they had "died." We had a funeral out in the backyard. So if Jessa is lurking and seeking parenting advice...Do not...I repeat...Do not do this!

P.S. Yes, I was a brat.

I think this story is cute.

[lascuba]

13 hours ago, dreamingtree said:

Jessa chooses to live some of her life in the public eye.  There are consequences to that.  Sure, she can take on all those that offer her criticism, but given how 'Christian' she is, I wonder if she has forgotten one of Christ's most important teachings; "Turn the other cheek".  She likes to portray a perfect little life and share it with the people.  Overwhelmingly she gets positive comments and tons of reinforcement for her lifestyle.  I don't have a lot of empathy for her getting upset about comments made about baby bottles.  I have seen some really disturbing comments on social media, and I would be completely supportive of Jessa cutting off something truly disturbing or nasty.  But she has been blocking people nearly from the outset when people disagree with her or question her.  This makes her seem very thin-skinned.  She can back her children out of Public Social Media,  She can simply ignore her critics, or she can go after them everytime they piss her off. 

I just wish she would use that energy and attitude for the greater good, not just to spank people on IG.  But, I will give her props because as snark goes, it was well done!
 

Since that's the Christian teaching* I hate the most because of how it's abused by people in power, I'm totally cool with her breaking that one.

Yes, there are consequences to being in the public eye. There are also consequences to leaving insulting comments. Everyone on both sides of that coin need to accept that.

*A while ago I read an interpretation by someone claiming to be, I think, an historian, and they claimed that "turn the other cheek" is actually an act of defiance, not forgiveness. The way a person would slap someone "lesser" then them is by backhanding them, and turning the other cheek would force them so slap them with the palm of their hand, which was only done to equals. I'm totally cool with THAT interpretation.

[Tabbygirl521]

On 9/9/2017 at 4:20 PM, Lunera said:

Super bitchy and condescending. She should really learn how to take constructive criticism.

I don't even blame her. 

[OpieTaylor]

Jessa's probably happy to be getting all this attention over her bitchiness - "any attention is good attention!"

[Tabbygirl521]

On 9/10/2017 at 9:26 AM, lascuba said:

As a non-parent I've always found the online backseat mommying tedious and annoying, so I'm totally fine with Jessa's response. Yes, yes, stay off the internet if you can't take it, but "taking it" doesn't mean not responding. That's like saying respecting freedom of speech means not criticizing what people say. Sure, Spurgeon still drinks milk out of a bottle...I know few toddlers that age who are completely bottle free, at least IRL. 

Maybe she doesn't want to fight the bottle battle with Spurgeon while he is adjusting to a new baby. If so, good for her!

[queenanne]

36 minutes ago, Tabbygirl521 said:

Maybe she doesn't want to fight the bottle battle with Spurgeon while he is adjusting to a new baby. If so, good for her!

I still don't want the kid to hold bottles with his teeth, and am actually thinking of the kid when I say this.  I have experience treating my own teeth poorly with concomitant rafts of cavities that have dogged me for ever (nonstop respiratory illness in high school led to me lazily falling asleep while a cough drop was tucked between my teeth and gums), and/but at least that was me, my mother would have been appalled had she but known.  I don't want to see Spurgey trip and rip his teeth out.

[Marigold]

I still maintain that Jessa and all the Duggars should use more common sense when posting pictures.  The pictures are snarkalicious because they are so stupid!!!!  The problem is that the Duggs are so cut off from society they are unaware of what's normal and what's not.  Posting Josie with a gun nearby was an epic social media fail.  Licking a fan? A kid screaming?  A baby crawling up the stairs in the background?  Steaks while asking for donations?  Duh.  What did you think would happen?  They could prevent 80% of the comments if they carefully screened their pictures. They don't because they can't because they don't have critical thinking skills. 

I really don't care that much about other people though and their parenting decisions like Spurgie and the bottle. I have my own fish to fry.  ;) 

[Lunera]

23 hours ago, Marigold said:

jessa blocks people who visit snark sites?

She has super sleuthing skills and a lot of time to do that.  How the hell do you even do that?

Yes, it happened to me and apparently several people from what I've read on different blogs and snark pages. I used to follow a page on IG called FreeJinger and she blocked everyone who followed the page and several other pages, even people who didn't follow her. The page got deleted a couple of times because Jessa leghumpers kept reporting it. I think she must just search through the Duggars tag looking for those pages. I wish she visited this site one day.

Edited September 11, 2017 by Lunera

[OpieTaylor]

TLC has posted a video preview of the new season: https://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/counting-on/videos/not-so-friendly-skies .  Jessa, Bin and their boys are on an airplane and Spurg is fussy.

What are your opinions on the plane they're on - is it a Duggar plane that they are pretending is a commercial airline? Or is it a commercial airline? Or could it be a small charter?  A few things:  They are filming the show on the plane, so that would take some doing on a commercial flight.  And at first it seems that the 4 of the Seewalds are sitting together, but then later Jessa is in a single seat with lots of leg room so that Spurg can play on the floor. They're able to spread out a blanket for him on the floor - when's the last time you saw that kind of leg room on a plane?  If it is a commercial plane, they must be in first class to have that kind of room, and TLC probably paid for all the seats around them.

In Jessa's voice-over, she talks about the other passengers on the plane and we even see a couple of people's legs, but they could be show crew.  It's also funny that they blur out Jessa's knees at one point and then a moment later show them in all their sexy glory. At the end of the clip, they are walking in an airport but there's hardly another person to be seen.

I vote it's a Duggar plane and TLC staged it to imply it was just a regular commercial flight.

EDIT: I just watched it again and saw a big jet engine on the plane, so I don't know what to think. Maybe TLC bought a section of seats so they could film.

Edited September 11, 2017 by OpieTaylor

[Marigold]

33 minutes ago, Lunera said:

Yes, it happened to me and apparently several people from what I've read on different blogs and snark pages. I used to follow a page on IG called FreeJinger and she blocked everyone who followed the page and several other pages, even people who didn't follow her. The page got deleted a couple of times because Jessa leghumpers kept reporting it. I think she must just search through the Duggars tag looking for those pages. I wish she visited this site one day.

Oh, I get it.  So on Free Jinger Instagram you used the name "Marcia Brady" and then she blocked everyone from the Free Jinger page with that name?

A lot of work and can't people just open a new IG account with the name of "jan Brady" and snark again? 

Some of this goes over my head. I'm pretty quiet and low key with social media.