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

[Cinnabon]

59 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

I also hate to defend Jessa, but little kids love cardboard boxes. I don’t think I’ve ever looked back at childhood photos to admire the wrapping paper. My mom never really did the gift wrap stuff either, and I’ve never seen the appeal either. We wrap Christmas presents, because that’s a part of the suspense/chaos of Christmas morning. I’m sure when Ivy looks back at these pictures, she’ll remember how much she loves her pink helmet, and how that creepy doll lay a curse on their house and haunted them for years. 

I wonder if they know that all dolls come to life at night?

[Suzn]

I understand that many or most of you think Ivy was deprived in some way for not having wrapped gifts and all the other little extras.  I was just watching Ivy and she looked happy and excited over her gifts and it's hard to see that she would have been happier if her gifts came out of a gift bag.

Yes, Jessa is lazy and who knows what all is going wrong for her.  There are many things her children need, but I don't think a proper birthday party is high on the list.

[CalicoKitty]

14 hours ago, Cinnabon said:

I wonder if they know that all dolls come to life at night?

Ah, Raggedy Ann and Andy.  I loved reading the original stories to my classes when I was still teaching.  I'm sad that Jessa's kids probably won't be introduced to these wonderful stories.

Edited June 5, 2021 by CalicoKitty
forgot a word.

[Lady Whistleup]

It doesn't matter how Ivy gets her birthday presents. I just wish the Seewald kids didn't always look so sad and neglected.

[Joan of Argh]

When Ivy is admiring her new baby bunk bed she looks at the headboard and says “heart”  and points at the heart cut out and with her other hand she digs in her nose pulls out a booger and eats it and Jessa quickly turns the camera in another direction but Ivy was quicker with her booger snack 😋

Ivy seemed very happy with her gifts and she looked cute as a button in her princess dress ❤️ They should have taken the ice cream out sooner and I think they should have gotten a few pretty cupcakes or a small cake with a candle.... that’s a pretty special thing when you’re a little kid but I guess they might have had a proper party at the TTH for Ivy... I hope so.

 

[Cinnabon]

I hope Ivy actually  wanted the princess dress beforehand and Jesse didn’t just push it on her. It’s cute, but not all little girls need or want to be pretty little princesses.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Cinnabon

[Mindthinkr]

6 hours ago, Joan of Argh said:

They should have taken the ice cream out sooner

It can also be softened in a microwave for 30-60 seconds. 

[GeeGolly]

I haven't gone back to watch the video, but something was wrong with that ice cream. My first impression was that it looked more like frozen Rice Krispies than overly frozen ice cream.

[beckie]

8 hours ago, Cinnabon said:

I hope Ivy acted wanted the princess dress beforehand and Jesse didn’t just push it on her. It’s cute, but not all little girls need or want to be pretty little princesses.

I watched the video.  Ivy was thrilled with the princess dress. Seemed to me like she'd been wanting it.

[rue721]

9 hours ago, Cinnabon said:

I hope Ivy acted wanted the princess dress beforehand and Jesse didn’t just push it on her. It’s cute, but not all little girls need or want to be pretty little princesses.

Remember the video when they gave Ivy a new dress and she was looking at herself in the mirror like ☺️ and clearly feeling so beautiful? It was adorable. I think she likes pretty clothes.

Ivy seems like a sweet kid, I hope her light isn’t smothered by her parents’ neuroses and zealotry.

[madpsych78]

Hopefully Jessa will realize that her boys (Spurgeon in particular) are old enough to help out with some of the festivities among other things. Notice Jill has Izzy (and to a lesser degree Sam) helping out with Fenna and the garden. I love the idea of Spurgeon and Henry helping to wrap birthday presents. That will also give them something to do so that they are not just meandering around and being bored.

[Minivanessa]

12 minutes ago, madpsych78 said:

Hopefully Jessa will realize that her boys (Spurgeon in particular) are old enough to help out with some of the festivities among other things. Notice Jill has Izzy (and to a lesser degree Sam) helping out with Fenna and the garden. I love the idea of Spurgeon and Henry helping to wrap birthday presents. That will also give them something to do so that they are not just meandering around and being bored.

Do Duggar males help out with anything? Except running amok in the house when they are little kids, putting video cameras in dishwashers, etc? I thought all the Duggar males do is get married, father children, and do stuff for Duggar Enterprises as directed by JB. Not help women inside the home with women's work. 

[GeeGolly]

9 hours ago, Cinnabon said:

I hope Ivy acted wanted the princess dress beforehand and Jesse didn’t just push it on her. It’s cute, but not all little girls need or want to be pretty little princesses.

She seemed really thrilled with the floral headband.

[Cinnabon]

6 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

It can also be softened in a microwave for 30-60 seconds. 

That’s my “trick.” She was too lazy for even that.

[floridamom]

I can't find Jessa's stories/instagram with Ivy's birthday video.

It looks to me that  Spurge is bored as hell in that awful small living room....day after day.

How much can Jessa take them to the "big house" to play with the other? Keep in mind, that there are no little kids left who actually live at the big house. I don't count the M-kids as living there; they live in Suite "D", the warehouse. Spurge needs a good bath, haircut, clothes that fit and a nice class of kindergarten friends his own age to hang out with during the school day. I think he would do very well, much like Israel.

[farmgal4]

1 hour ago, floridamom said:

I can't find Jessa's stories/instagram with Ivy's birthday video.

It looks to me that  Spurge is bored as hell in that awful small living room....day after day.

How much can Jessa take them to the "big house" to play with the other? Keep in mind, that there are no little kids left who actually live at the big house. I don't count the M-kids as living there; they live in Suite "D", the warehouse. Spurge needs a good bath, haircut, clothes that fit and a nice class of kindergarten friends his own age to hang out with during the school day. I think he would do very well, much like Israel.

Under her IG profile, there’s a YouTube link.  Click on that, and it’ll take you right to it. 😊

[Crochetlady]

I don't even want to know what that stain or wet spot is on that couch... Gag. My kids and grands loved boxes they could get in and play. Spurge is over it all though. And as much as I love gift bags, what toddler doesn't love ripping wrapping paper off gifts? It would be worth the effort to wrap one at least 

[Tdoc72]

22 hours ago, Cinnabon said:

I hope Ivy actually  wanted the princess dress beforehand and Jesse didn’t just push it on her. It’s cute, but not all little girls need or want to be pretty little princesses.

She did look cute and happy with it, but it looked like it barely fit her or at least wouldn’t fit her for long. 

[Nysha]

On 6/4/2021 at 8:22 PM, Suzn said:

I understand that many or most of you think Ivy was deprived in some way for not having wrapped gifts and all the other little extras.  I was just watching Ivy and she looked happy and excited over her gifts and it's hard to see that she would have been happier if her gifts came out of a gift bag.

Yes, Jessa is lazy and who knows what all is going wrong for her.  There are many things her children need, but I don't think a proper birthday party is high on the list.

For me, it's not so much about Ivy's lackluster birthday week, but it's every damn event in these children's lives. If it's celebrated at home it's a boring, half-assed affair that comes across as her parents not willing to spend more than 5-10 minutes on one of their kids. For less than $10 she could have gone to the Dollar Store and got cheaper, balloons, a card, a banner, a cake mix, and some ice cream that wasn't frozen solid. 

They took the kids to the beach, but didn't bring beach toys for all of them (again, the Dollar Store has them) AND made those poor boys listen to Ben's boring sermon. There is no indication that her kids are getting any individual time with their parents, any stimulation outside of running wild at the TTH, any actual educational instruction, or anything that helps spark their imagination. 

So no, Ivy, Henry, and Spurgeon don't need proper birthday parties, but they do need parents who are invested in their lives more than they're invested in their social media and/or religion.

[emmawoodhouse]

Let's not forget that Jessa doesn't like cake. So, none of her kids will ever have it for a birthday that she arranges. Freezer burned ice cream is right on brand for her. 

[Zella]

12 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Let's not forget that Jessa doesn't like cake. So, none of her kids will ever have it for a birthday that she arranges. Freezer burned ice cream is right on brand for her. 

What is up with the Duggar girls trying to serve freezer-burnt dairy products to children and animals lately? LOL

Edited June 7, 2021 by Zella

[emmawoodhouse]

1 minute ago, Zella said:

What is up with the Duggar girls trying to serve freezer-burnt dairy products to children and animals lately? LOL

Is there a week of freezer burnt celebration that we somehow missed? 😂

[Cinnabon]

It’s either melted in a parking lot or freezer burnt at home with Jessa.

[GeeGolly]

9 hours ago, Cinnabon said:

It’s either melted in a parking lot or freezer burnt at home with Jessa.

And didn't Jill almost end up with melted milkshakes at her wedding?

[GeeGolly]

Maybe Ben fed Ivy the top of their 'wedding cake'. Jill with 2 years frozen breastmilk and the Seewalds with 6 years frozen parking lot ice cream.

[MargeGunderson]

10 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Is there a week of freezer burnt celebration that we somehow missed? 😂

It’s the dairy version of Shark Week.

Edited June 7, 2021 by MargeGunderson

[lascuba]

3 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

And didn't Jill almost end up with melted milkshakes at her wedding?

Root beer floats. The ice cream had melted because someone left the freezer door open. They refroze the melted ice cream and used it for the floats.

[Vivigirl10]

On 6/4/2021 at 7:52 PM, absnow54 said:

I’m sure when Ivy looks back at these pictures, she’ll remember how much she loves her pink helmet, and how that creepy doll lay a curse on their house and haunted them for years. 

I don't often have a complete LOL moment but this did it for me!  Made my day - thank you! 😁

[Madtown]

On 6/6/2021 at 10:26 PM, emmawoodhouse said:

Let's not forget that Jessa doesn't like cake. So, none of her kids will ever have it for a birthday that she arranges. Freezer burned ice cream is right on brand for her. 

That's what is sad. Just because she doesn't like cake, doesn't mean her kids can't have one. My dad doesn't like cake. Didn't stop my mom from making one for my birthdays or my brother and sister's birthdays. Freezer burned ice cream would've never been an option..lol. This is where Jill wins on birthdays. She actually asked Izzy what kind of cake he wanted and she made it. Was it perfect? No, but Izzy loved it and that's what matters.

Also, why I am so upset over this cake thing? Lol...Maybe none of the kids like cake…

Edited June 8, 2021 by Madtown

[GeeGolly]

Did anyone notice the papers tacked up on the wall behind the couch? Are they worksheets? Sheet music? Bible verses?

[lascuba]

Jessa AND BEN! could have gotten an ice cream cake to be more celebratory if they didn't want actual cake. That was always my favorite as a kid.

Was it just the 5 of them in that video? I'm wondering if they just didn't want to bother with any kind of cake because they didn't want to have a lot of leftovers.

[iwantcookies]

There is no such thing as leftovers when it comes to CAKE 🤣

[Zella]

2 hours ago, Madtown said:

That's what is sad. Just because she doesn't like cake, doesn't mean her kids can't have one. My dad doesn't like cake. Didn't stop my mom from making one for my birthdays or my brother and sister's birthdays. Freezer burned ice cream would've never been an option..lol. This is where Jill wins on birthdays. She actually asked Izzy what kind of cake he wanted and she made it. Was it perfect? No, but Izzy loved it and that's what matters.

Also, why I am so upset over this cake thing? Lol...Maybe none of the kids like cake…

I was just thinking about this. Today is my grandpa's birthday. (83!) He always gets pie for his birthday because he likes it better than cake. Specifically coconut cream pie. But he's never, ever begrudged the rest of the family having cake on their birthday.

If Jessa doesn't want to have cake for her birthday or her wedding, that's her call and her right. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but it's not fair to then enforce her preference on her kids for their birthdays or to serve such shoddy ice cream to people on any occasion. 

[Crochetlady]

1 hour ago, GeeGolly said:

Did anyone notice the papers tacked up on the wall behind the couch? Are they worksheets? Sheet music? Bible verses?

I think I read on her Instagram that they're songs they sing every week. I'm too lazy to go back and look at the comments. But someone asked her. 

[3 is enough]

There are plenty of foods that I don't particularly like but that never stopped me from serving them to my family.  Jessa is very self centered.

[Westiepeach]

4 hours ago, lascuba said:

Jessa AND BEN! could have gotten an ice cream cake to be more celebratory if they didn't want actual cake. That was always my favorite as a kid.

Was it just the 5 of them in that video? I'm wondering if they just didn't want to bother with any kind of cake because they didn't want to have a lot of leftovers.

But that would have taken actual effort and work and planning. Not gonna happen with those two.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Westiepeach

[GeeGolly]

Didn't Ben go get food during one of Ivy's birthday days? He couldn't have picked up fresh ice cream, cup cakes or an ice cream cake? 

[Zella]

8 minutes ago, Westiepeach said:

But that would have taken actual effort and work and planning. No gonna happen with those two.

This is another reason why I think Jessa's reputation as the family organizer is another example of them all being clueless idiots. I don't think she is actually very good at organizing at all. I think she just had a forceful enough personality to boss the others around, and her parents called that organizing. And being able to herd other people can be a useful trait to have and necessary skill, but it's not the same as being organized. 

[3 is enough]

What does she do all day?  She doesn't clean, doesn't cook, leaves the kids to fend for themselves. They don't appear to have a tv, so she isn't hooked on soaps or HGTV.  All I can think of is hours of deleting negative remarks on her social media pages.

[GeeGolly]

57 minutes ago, 3 is enough said:

What does she do all day?  She doesn't clean, doesn't cook, leaves the kids to fend for themselves. They don't appear to have a tv, so she isn't hooked on soaps or HGTV.  All I can think of is hours of deleting negative remarks on her social media pages.

They have a tablet. She could be a secret soap watcher. lol

[lascuba]

3 hours ago, iwantcookies said:

There is no such thing as leftovers when it comes to CAKE 🤣

Too true! Maybe she wanted to limit the amount of desert available to avoid constant sugar highs.

Ivy is young enough where these types of rituals don't really matter because she has no idea what's going on yet. But Spurgeon and Henry are old enough to have a sense of these things, so I kind of feel that a little cake and singing "Happy Birthday" would have been a good way for them to learn that birthday celebrations are for everyone.

[lascuba]

1 hour ago, Zella said:

This is another reason why I think Jessa's reputation as the family organizer is another example of them all being clueless idiots. I don't think she is actually very good at organizing at all. I think she just had a forceful enough personality to boss the others around, and her parents called that organizing. And being able to herd other people can be a useful trait to have and necessary skill, but it's not the same as being organized. 

My pet theory was always that Jessa was the organized one because she had to be, and as soon she got married and had her own house, that didn't require the same level of organization because it was just 2 people, and that didn't have jurisdictions she was responsible for or Michelle would lose her shit, she enjoyed that freedom so much that she can't be assed to go back to being organized now that she has kids that generate a lot of mess. It's like how Jill was an absolute disaster of a mother with Israel at first when she had been the most dedicated sister mom. Once she had to do something because she was an adult and she had to and not because that was rule she was praised for following so well, she flailed.

[Zella]

6 minutes ago, lascuba said:

My pet theory was always that Jessa was the organized one because she had to be, and as soon she got married and had her own house, that didn't require the same level of organization because it was just 2 people, and that didn't have jurisdictions she was responsible for or Michelle would lose her shit, she enjoyed that freedom so much that she can't be assed to go back to being organized now that she has kids that generate a lot of mess. It's like how Jill was an absolute disaster of a mother with Israel at first when she had been the most dedicated sister mom. Once she had to do something because she was an adult and she had to and not because that was rule she was praised for following so well, she flailed.

I think there's a lot of truth to that, but also just as an organized person myself (I still remember the color coded folders I assigned to each class I had 10 years ago, and I've got seven or more layers of subfolders within folders on my flash drive), I do not really see a fellow organizer in Jessa before or after. I see someone who functioned the same as a drill sergeant, more or less, rather than an actual organizer or planner. 

In fact, I feel like it was actually a real disservice to Jessa and her siblings for her family to conflate being an enforcer with being an organizer. 

Edited June 8, 2021 by Zella

[IndianPaintbrush]

I can't stand Jessa, but it makes me sad to think about all the professions that would suit her personality if she had a real education. I picture her as CEO of a bank or some other type of corporate boss lady.

[JoanArc]

4 minutes ago, IndianPaintbrush said:

I can't stand Jessa, but it makes me sad to think about all the professions that would suit her personality if she had a real education. I picture her as CEO of a bank or some other type of corporate boss lady.

Dominatrix.

[Cinnabon]

5 hours ago, Madtown said:

That's what is sad. Just because she doesn't like cake, doesn't mean her kids can't have one. My dad doesn't like cake. Didn't stop my mom from making one for my birthdays or my brother and sister's birthdays. Freezer burned ice cream would've never been an option..lol. This is where Jill wins on birthdays. She actually asked Izzy what kind of cake he wanted and she made it. Was it perfect? No, but Izzy loved it and that's what matters.

Also, why I am so upset over this cake thing? Lol...Maybe none of the kids like cake…

I like cake but ice cream cake is even better! And easier - all you do is buy a pre made pie crust and let a couple of pints of Ice cream soften, then dump them in and spread the ice cream around. Freeze the whole thing and there you have it. She could have done that and didn’t.

[Westiepeach]

Just now, Cinnabon said:

I like cake but ice cream cake is even better! And easier - all you do is buy a pre made pie crust and let a couple of pints of Ice cream soften, then dump them in and spread the ice cream around. Freeze the whole thing and there you have it. She could have done that and didn’t.

Or just buy one at Dairy Queen with extra crunchies in the middle... mmmmm...

[Cinnabon]

3 hours ago, Zella said:

I was just thinking about this. Today is my grandpa's birthday. (83!) He always gets pie for his birthday because he likes it better than cake. Specifically coconut cream pie. But he's never, ever begrudged the rest of the family having cake on their birthday.

If Jessa doesn't want to have cake for her birthday or her wedding, that's her call and her right. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but it's not fair to then enforce her preference on her kids for their birthdays or to serve such shoddy ice cream to people on any occasion. 

I’m pretty sure Jessa did have a cake for her wedding. Just not one big enough for any of the unwashed masses. 
 

also - coconut cream pie! my favorite too!

[Cinnabon]

5 minutes ago, Westiepeach said:

Or just buy one at Dairy Queen with extra crunchies in the middle... mmmmm...

Baskin Robbins!

[Zella]

14 minutes ago, Cinnabon said:

I’m pretty sure Jessa did have a cake for her wedding. Just not one big enough for any of the unwashed masses. 
 

also - coconut cream pie! my favorite too!

Wow getting a cake for yourself but feeding the peasants melting ice cream is a real dick move.