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

[CalicoKitty]

9 minutes ago, Kellyee said:

Am I the only one who assumes that Jeremy insists on a hotel whenever he has to visit the Duggars in Arkansas? He's snobby and entitled like that.

 

 

 

 

I certainly would.  I value cleanliness and order.

[BigBingerBro]

Just now, CalicoKitty said:

I certainly would.  I value cleanliness and order.

I do too, plus it allows you to get away from whomever you are visiting to decompress and just have your own personal time and space.  I guess I am like Jermy that way.  LOL

[DangerousMinds]

6 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

I do too, plus it allows you to get away from whomever you are visiting to decompress and just have your own personal time and space.  I guess I am like Jermy that way.  LOL

So am I but I can’t always afford a hotel. Wish I could!

[GeeGolly]

26 minutes ago, Zella said:

She has left piles of diapers in her house and admits to just leaving her kids' spit up on bedding and also collected Spurgeon's boogers on her couch. That's disgusting and not at all sanitary or fine. If not wanting to sleep in that makes someone a snob, we have very different definitions of what snobbery entails. 

Also the Duggars are not country, and not everyone who lives in Arkansas is as disgusting as Jessa. 

Cocaine and heroin were once considered medications. Lobotomies were once considered treatment for mental health and behavioral issues. Folks have brought bed bugs home with them from unsanitary places. It would not shock me if those kids have had ringworm either. When we know better we do better. You don't sound like a snob at all. You sound like someone who values health and cleanliness.

Edited January 21, 2021 by GeeGolly

[Zella]

3 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

Cocaine and heroin were once considered drugs. Lobotomies were once considered treatment for mental health and behavioral issues. Folks have brought bed bugs home with them from unsanitary places. It would not shock me if those kids have had ringworm either. When we know better we do better. You don't sound like a snob at all. You sound like someone who values health and cleanliness.

Thank you! I'm not winning any housekeeping prizes, but I've got standards! 

[GeeGolly]

Just now, Zella said:

Thank you! I'm not winning any housekeeping prizes, but I've got standards! 

Me either and me too. Sometimes I get into a routine and stay with it and sometimes I clean when the dirt is visible. But I can assure you, you would not get skeeved out by my home, 97.7% of the time.

[rue721]

I’ve slept on a ton of hostel and dorm bunk beds and none were rickety like this. In fact, hostels and dorms usually have extraordinarily hardwearing furniture that’s designed for safety and durability over looks. Jessa should have bought some similar furniture for her kids.

I think ambitious building projects like this are fun. But the resulting bed is not something to have children clambering all over and sleeping on/under for years, because if a bunkbed fails then the people in it could easily be gravely injured or die. You hear about kids dying even from poorly assembled but otherwise safe bunk beds collapsing. On the one hand, this family usually muddles through somehow and hopefully this will be yet another time, but on the other, this is not a risk that I would run in my own house.

[Albanyguy]

3 hours ago, Kellyee said:

Am I the only one who assumes that Jeremy insists on a hotel whenever he has to visit the Duggars in Arkansas? He's snobby and entitled like that.

I agree that Jeremy is snobby and entitled, but I wouldn't fault him for insisting on staying in a hotel while visiting the Duggars. I would, too.

[Jeeves]

28 minutes ago, Albanyguy said:

I agree that Jeremy is snobby and entitled, but I wouldn't fault him for insisting on staying in a hotel while visiting the Duggars. I would, too.

So would I. On grounds of general cleanliness and the need for peace and quiet. He didn't grow up in a family so big that it was like being constantly in a herd, and I wouldn't be surprised if he has a low tolerance for all the noise and general activity involved with being in the TTH. I suppose the Seewalds' house would be less of a mob scene than the TTH, but (1) it's already bursting at the seams with a five member family, and if Jessa's talked about having a "guest room" or "guest bed," she's full of sh*t, and (2) Jessa's demonstrated disregard of even basic levels of cleaning/sanitation in her home. I mean, can you imagine even *sitting* on that sofa? Uurgggh. 

[Tikichick]

18 hours ago, madpsych78 said:

I agree that this was a great modeling experience for the kids, particularly the boys.

I'm curious as to why Ben did not participate more. Perhaps he was just busy, but it seems that in other footage (e.g., the living room camping) it seems like there is very little communication between Jessa and Ben lately. I don't see them doing finance meetings like Jill and Derick do.

Perhaps Ben is on a need to know basis and Jessa has decided he doesn't need to know?

Jana, Jill, Jinger, and Joy all seem to be not only content, but generally happy about their lives.  Perhaps Jessa is reaching the end of her ability to be able to paper over her dissatisfaction.   Watching how things are playing out for Jill in particular may be really causing Jessa to lose the courage in her own convictions and question her choices.  Derrick's education has much greater odds of opening up doors than Ben's.  Jana seems to be just fine without a man.  Jeremy's pursuit of an education and preaching brought with it a home and a lifestyle (for the moment).   

[emmawoodhouse]

I think Jessa's just fine with her parsimonious lifestyle. In fact, I bet she humblebrags about it; she's stayed the truest to Boobchelle's ideals. 

[jcbrown]

On 1/20/2021 at 6:42 PM, QuinnInND said:

As we know, the Duggars aren't big on safety. 

See: taking video of kid who fell into orchestra pit and laughing at kid who got her head stuck between the stairway spindles.

9 hours ago, Zella said:

I cannot stand Jeremy and do think he's a snobby entitled ass, but I don't blame him on that. I wouldn't want to stay at any of those houses either. I'd rather be beat with a stick than set foot in Jessa's nasty house, let alone sleep there. 

Same. One of the best decisions my husband and I ever made WRT family was when we stopped staying at my parents' house when we visited and started getting a hotel room in town.

[Tikichick]

On 1/21/2021 at 12:50 PM, Kellyee said:

Her house is fine. I slept on bunks in youth hostels in Europe that were a thousand times worse when I was younger. And if Jeremy wanted high class, he shouldn't have married a country Duggar from Arkansas. Also, Jeremy's not all that himself. 

I also saw people build their own loft beds when I was in a dorm in college. Nobody died. But I also drank water from a garden hose and was driven home from the hospital as a baby without a car seat. So clearly I live on the edge of danger.

 

 

 

From what I understand colleges and universities have rules about lofting beds in university housing because of safety concerns and liabilities.  When touring schools with our daughters, rules given for move-in and discussions with our friends with kids away at school and hearing comments from our daughters' friends about their experiences at various schools it's now mandatory to use specific kits supplied by the university if lofting a bed.  Two friends of ours had kids who worked as RAs while in uni and both mentioned being required to check in and make sure that any lofted beds used the supplied kits.

Based on that my guess is, whether widely publicized or not, there likely have been some injuries from improperly lofted beds.   On one hand I might expect that adult size bodies of college students might more easily bring down an improperly lofted bed.   On the other I can see where 3 or more rowdy toddlers routinely climbing, jumping and bouncing might very easily bring down a lofted bed that, among other issues, is simply screwed together.   If I were betting money on it I'd wager that something assembled to be subject to movement while under load would require a fastening system of something like bolts with nuts and/or washers to prevent the movement and slippage possible with a single fastener such as a screw.

[Jeeves]

@Tikichick - I appreciate your sharing that information. I don't have experience with bunk or lofted beds in my living space, but I'm a carpenter's daughter and I have worked with a lot of engineers in my career in various situations. So, nerdly as it is, I've been known to actually think about, you know, structural stability of things. (Not to mention, all those Mike Holmes and similar "fix a botched remodel" DIY shows I've watched where they just swing a hammer at a badly built deck and it falls off the house, lol.) 

What you say makes total sense to me. I truly hope Jessa's DIY build holds up to use. Or if it fails, it doesn't hurt anyone. 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Jeeves

[Zella]

2 hours ago, Tikichick said:

From what I understand colleges and universities have rules about lofting beds in university housing because of safety concerns and liabilities.  When touring schools with our daughters, rules given for move-in and discussions with our friends with kids away at school and hearing comments from our daughters' friends about their experiences at various schools it's now mandatory to use specific kits supplied by the university if lofting a bed.  Two friends of ours had kids who worked as RAs while in uni and both mentioned being required to check in and make sure that any lofted beds used the supplied kits.

Based on that my guess is, whether widely publicized or not, there likely have been some injuries from improperly lofted beds.   On one hand I might expect that adult size bodies of college students might more easily bring down an improperly lofted bed.   On the other I can see where 3 or more rowdy toddlers routinely climbing, jumping and bouncing might very easily bring down a lofted bed that, among other issues, is simply screwed together.   If I were betting money on it I'd wager that something assembled to be subject to movement while under load would require a fastening system of something like bolts with nuts and/or washers to prevent the movement and slippage possible with a single fastener such as a screw.

Yeah, where I went to college--which wasn't exactly a great place of enlightenment concerning safety regulations--there were only a handful of approved ways to loft beds, and the RAs did period checks for things like that. My roommate and I lofted our beds for the first semester in an approved way and ended up finding it a big enough pain in the ass that we decided to unloft for the remaining semesters, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were some lofting horror stories that led to the rules. 

[emma675]

From what we've seen of the Duggars and their half assed-skills, I think it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. I only hope this bed doesn't collapse onto one of Jessa's kids. I appreciate the thought behind her creating and putting the bed together (and I think it's good that Spurgeon was involved and watched Jessa handle it), but she doesn't know carpentry and it's just asking for trouble. 

[Tikichick]

On 1/22/2021 at 4:45 PM, Jeeves said:

@Tikichick - I appreciate your sharing that information. I don't have experience with bunk or lofted beds in my living space, but I'm a carpenter's daughter and I have worked with a lot of engineers in my career in various situations. So, nerdly as it is, I've been known to actually think about, you know, structural stability of things. (Not to mention, all those Mike Holmes and similar "fix a botched remodel" DIY shows I've watched where they just swing a hammer at a badly built deck and it falls off the house, lol.) 

What you say makes total sense to me. I truly hope Jessa's DIY build holds up to use. Or if it fails, it doesn't hurt anyone. 

I'm also a carpenter's daughter, and I worked for many years for an engineering company.   It's probably that along with lots of This Old House and HGTV at least giving me a heads up when it's time to leave some things to professionals.

[QuinnInND]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKrlCXDDWu3/?igshid=1nrxykx6h499g

This is the same little 2 bedroom place that sex pest and Anna started in, right? All 5 of them in that tiny house? Yeesh. And all those plants will be dead within a month. Or destroyed. 

Edited January 30, 2021 by QuinnInND

[madpsych78]

1 hour ago, QuinnInND said:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKrlCXDDWu3/?igshid=1nrxykx6h499g

This is the same little 2 bedroom place that sex pest and Anna started in, right? All 5 of them in that tiny house? Yeesh. And all those plants will be dead within a month. Or destroyed. 

Precisely.

[BitterApple]

Henry carefully vacuuming the rug was cute, but why does it seem like Ivy sleeps non-stop? I swear that kid is always either napping or just waking up in all of Jessa's videos.

I can appreciate Jessa wanting to brighten her space with the plants, but yeah, they'll all be dead before spring. 

The portraits over the couch would've been cute if the main focal point wasn't Jessa and Bin kissing. Is she even aware of how awkward that is for guests to be hit with that visual the moment they step in the house? Makes me wonder if she's over-compensating.

Edited January 30, 2021 by BitterApple

[DangerousMinds]

3 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Henry carefully vacuuming the rug was cute, but why does it seem like Ivy sleeps non-stop? I swear that kid is always either napping or just waking up in all of Jessa's videos.

I can appreciate Jessa wanting to brighten her space with the plants, but yeah, they'll all be dead before spring. 

The portraits over the couch would've been cute if the main focal point wasn't Jessa and Bin kissing. Is she even aware of how awkward that is for guests to be hit with that visual the moment they step in the house? Makes me wonder if she's over-compensating.

I can’t imagine that have a lot of alone time anymore. Doesn’t one of the kids still sleep in their bedroom?

[emmawoodhouse]

Henry flashback.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKuZ-L_rUmW/?igshid=18wpoj3cqm11o

[farmgal4]

27 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Henry flashback.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKuZ-L_rUmW/?igshid=18wpoj3cqm11o

He’s nearly 4, and I can’t understand what he’s saying 90% of the time. 😢

[Temperance]

I thought his birthday was later in the month. Wow! That means Spurgeon and Henry are almost exactly 15 months apart.  They're closer in age of all the Duggar grand siblings.  

[GeeGolly]

18 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Henry flashback.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKuZ-L_rUmW/?igshid=18wpoj3cqm11o

And in true Henry fashion, it seems he fell asleep while eating again.

[floridamom]

Poor Henry. Jessa's children need structure which should include set nap times for Henry and Ivy. Spurgie should be in school. He is so bored.

[MargeGunderson]

Those poor kids often seem like they are only a step above feral.

[Joan of Argh]

7 hours ago, floridamom said:

Poor Henry. Jessa's children need structure which should include set nap times for Henry and Ivy. Spurgie should be in school. He is so bored.

Exactly, they have no structure, no set times for napping, eating and most of the time they don't have a bed to call their own.

I've seen pics of all three passed out here, there and everywhere usually covered in crumbs or clinging on to a box of crackers, a piece of fruit or half eaten sandwich.

Henry and Ivy should have their own little beds and not sleeping together or in the parents bed or flopped in the queen sized guest bed.

Even with all of that the thing that bothers me most is poor little Spurgeon wandering around looking for something to do when he should be in school, he's seems like a bright child and is naturally curious but he's stuck in that house with the same old books and toys with his baby brother and sister as his playmates.... Such a shame... Thank goodness that Jill has Issy in school.

[Joan of Argh]

On 1/30/2021 at 3:29 PM, BitterApple said:

Henry carefully vacuuming the rug was cute, but why does it seem like Ivy sleeps non-stop? I swear that kid is always either napping or just waking up in all of Jessa's videos.

I can appreciate Jessa wanting to brighten her space with the plants, but yeah, they'll all be dead before spring. 

The portraits over the couch would've been cute if the main focal point wasn't Jessa and Bin kissing. Is she even aware of how awkward that is for guests to be hit with that visual the moment they step in the house? Makes me wonder if she's over-compensating.

I agree...The kissing picture would be okay as a framed 5x7 but that huge pic over the couch in the living room is very awkward.... all three pics would look better in smaller sizes and sitting on a mantle or side table.

[Growsonwalls]

Even if they wanted to do the homeschooling thing they could still actually, you know, homeschool. Read books. Go on little educational field trips. Do something other than build forts and take naps on the diaper-couch. Ivy has such sad eyes. It's tragic. 

[Dustbunny]

On 1/30/2021 at 3:29 PM, BitterApple said:

 why does it seem like Ivy sleeps non-stop? I swear that kid is always either napping or just waking up in all of Jessa's videos.

I've been wondering about that too and even when she's up her eyes usually look tired, her hair looks messy and snarled in back and her face looks like it needs to be washed.

From the text on this pic it sounds like she falls asleep in Bens arms every night.

 

[DangerousMinds]

From one of the crazy conspiracy theorists on Bin’s mom’s Facebook page. Daddy Caldwell is her pastor. She is talking about the Covid vaccine and what her pastor has said.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2021 by DangerousMinds

[Zella]

22 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

From one of the crazy conspiracy theorists on Bin’s mom’s Facebook page. Daddy Caldwell is her pastor. She is talking about the Covid vaccine and what her pastor has said.

 

 

Lawsy. I mean, I'm not really surprised but still. 

[libgirl2]

8 hours ago, Zella said:

Lawsy. I mean, I'm not really surprised but still. 

Me neither, the morons. 

[doodlebug]

16 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

Even if they wanted to do the homeschooling thing they could still actually, you know, homeschool. Read books. Go on little educational field trips. Do something other than build forts and take naps on the diaper-couch. Ivy has such sad eyes. It's tragic. 

What Jessa and most of the Duggars do that they call homeschooling is an insult to people who really do educate their children at home.  We have been known to refer to it as homefooling.

[iwantcookies]

Yes we don’t want to change the “stellar” , “priceless” Duggar DNA by some pesky vaccine 🙄🙄🙄

 

Idiots indeed 

[awaken]

Omg what would an uneducated pastor know about vaccines and dna??  And why would someone think they’re an authority on medical or scientific issues?  Rhetorical question, I know 😞

[iwantcookies]

1 hour ago, awaken said:

Omg what would an uneducated pastor know about vaccines and dna??  And why would someone think they’re an authority on medical or scientific issues?  Rhetorical question, I know 😞

The pastor read the right bible? 
 

I weep for all the children that have no chance to think for themself and to thrive. 

[Growsonwalls]

It's so depressing that Spurge is five. Like seriously depressing. 

[emmawoodhouse]

What's even worse is Henry is almost 4, and he's still practically intelligible. 😥

[DangerousMinds]

2 hours ago, awaken said:

Omg what would an uneducated pastor know about vaccines and dna??  And why would someone think they’re an authority on medical or scientific issues?  Rhetorical question, I know 😞

That pastor is Kendra‘s dad.

[Joan of Argh]

2 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

What's even worse is Henry is almost 4, and he's still practically intelligible. 😥

Now that you mention it you're right and it's shocking, why don't they have someone working with Henry?

I wonder if child services could step in and do something?

[doodlebug]

7 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

That pastor is Kendra‘s dad.

Which means that Kendra, Joe and probably the rest of the Duggars are not getting vaccinated.  While it is true that the most common COVID vaccines are based on technology involving messenger RNA, it does not incorporate into human DNA. Of course, I think that most of us think the Duggars are anit-vax anyway.  Josie got at least partial vaccinations because she was a preemie, but I don't think the rest of them are up to date on theirs.

The CDC specifically addresses the issue on their website; but, of course, they don't know anything anyway.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html

[rue721]

The upshot is that this means they'll all get Covid, and Covid is apparently causing some issues with male fertility 🙃

[doodlebug]

15 minutes ago, rue721 said:

The upshot is that this means they'll all get Covid, and Covid is apparently causing some issues with male fertility 🙃

That could only be a good thing for this bunch.

[Jeeves]

1 hour ago, rue721 said:

The upshot is that this means they'll all get Covid, and Covid is apparently causing some issues with male fertility 🙃

 

49 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

That could only be a good thing for this bunch.

I agree, except that if it happens and causes a slowdown or cessation of the baby-making in any of their marriages? I'm sure the wife will bear the "blame" for any disappointing failures to conceive.

The Duggarlings parrot the "we let God decide our family size" line, but IMO for most of them it's bullcrap and they are keen to keep the matriarch and patriarch happy with an ever-growing number of grandchildren. Jessa and Ben talked about having enough kids for a football team when they were first married, didn't they? It seems that all the married kidults except perhaps Jill and Jinger, are def on the babymaking train. If it slows down too soon for any of them, there could be hell to pay, at least inside their marriages and/or the Duggar tribe - even if they keep it on the down-low to outsiders. 

[Growsonwalls]

12 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

What's even worse is Henry is almost 4, and he's still practically intelligible. 😥

I know. Henry needs speech therapy. I can't believe Jessa is basically like "Yeah, Henry can't talk ... that's cool, he can just build forts." 

[ozziemom]

3 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

I know. Henry needs speech therapy. I can't believe Jessa is basically like "Yeah, Henry can't talk ... that's cool, he can just build forts." 

And do math, poor Henry. The video of Jessa randomly asking him 2+3, 5+1 etc was painful.

[farmgal4]

13 hours ago, Joan of Argh said:

Now that you mention it you're right and it's shocking, why don't they have someone working with Henry?

I wonder if child services could step in and do something?

They’re praying away the speech impediment. 🙄 If he had parents who had any common sense at all, he would be in Pre-K and a speech therapist would be working with him there.  

[Tikichick]

14 hours ago, Joan of Argh said:

Now that you mention it you're right and it's shocking, why don't they have someone working with Henry?

I wonder if child services could step in and do something?

 

18 minutes ago, farmgal4 said:

They’re praying away the speech impediment. 🙄 If he had parents who had any common sense at all, he would be in Pre-K and a speech therapist would be working with him there.  

Not sure about how it works elsewhere, let alone in Arkansas particularly, but here parents can have young children evaluated, and if a need is identified children younger than kindergarten receive in-home services.   Public schools then pick up the responsibility when the child enrolls.   I can imagine the in school services are chaotic in the midst of the pandemic, but I know for sure in home services are probably not happening right now.   For family reunification services and things like that we have been relying on court orders to motivate and prod action from agencies to see to it that any necessary services take place.   Show cause hearings on this type of thing have been happening on an increasingly frequent basis.