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

[lascuba]

On 3/20/2022 at 6:12 PM, GeeGolly said:

Ben and Jessa are JB & M 2.0.

The wedding picture looks like a deliberate call back to her parents'. Corny, but meh. The kissing picture was JB/M copying Ben and Jessa when they got a bunch of attention over the picture. Derrick and Jill also copied it and I think Josh and Anna did as well. The Duggars are nothing if not unoriginal.

[GeeGolly]

10 minutes ago, lascuba said:

The wedding picture looks like a deliberate call back to her parents'. Corny, but meh. The kissing picture was JB/M copying Ben and Jessa when they got a bunch of attention over the picture. Derrick and Jill also copied it and I think Josh and Anna did as well. The Duggars are nothing if not unoriginal.

Yes, I'm aware of the origins of the pictures. No matter how they came about, it doesn't change my opinion that Jessa is very much like Michelle and Ben is very much like JB.

Jessa and Michelle are bossy, vain, selfish 'martyrs'. Ben and JB are shallow, arrogant, sanctimoniousness, bumbling fools. 

[Minivanessa]

 

22 hours ago, Adeejay said:

Which was why Jessa married him; 3-year difference notwithstanding.  She has to be the boss.  I cannot see her with any of her sisters' husbands. 

Also, conveniently, Bin's no challenge to JB's position as Jessa's de facto headship. Jessa knows where the power is in the family, and who holds the purse strings. No doubt he's influenced strongly by Mee-chelle of course, but JB's still large and in charge in Duggar world.

I also can't see her with any of her sisters' husbands. 

IMO Jessa's too insecure to handle much detachment from the JB/TTH family-industrial complex. (On that issue, Austin being straight outta local IFB would not be such a threat but as noted, she has to be the boss and that would. not. happen. with Austin, lol.)

Edited March 22, 2022 by Jeeves
wrong quote at first

[madpsych78]

2 hours ago, Jeeves said:

 

Also, conveniently, Bin's no challenge to JB's position as Jessa's de facto headship. Jessa knows where the power is in the family, and who holds the purse strings. No doubt he's influenced strongly by Mee-chelle of course, but JB's still large and in charge in Duggar world.

I also can't see her with any of her sisters' husbands. 

IMO Jessa's too insecure to handle much detachment from the JB/TTH family-industrial complex. (On that issue, Austin being straight outta local IFB would not be such a threat but as noted, she has to be the boss and that would. not. happen. with Austin, lol.)

I can't see her with any of her sisters' husbands, but I think that Jeremy in particular appears to enjoy the headship role more than any of the others. You definitely get that sense that he controls everything and even had to correct what Jinger says. Jinger appears to have no discernable thoughts of her own separate from what Jeremy thinks.

In the Dillards' dynamic, Jill is in a position where she is not afraid to voice her opinions and disagree with Derick, but at the same time, Derick still voices his opinions (i.e., he's not domineering, but he's not whipped either), which I don't think would work well for Jessa. In contrast, Ben just seems SO passive-aggressive where Jessa is concerned.

I think Austin hasn't been vocal about his beliefs because he hasn't had time to be. One of his strengths is his work ethic - he really takes provider and breadwinner roles seriously. I also think Joy doesn't offer her views because she doesn't have them, not because Austin forbids her. The difference is that Joy appears to care just a little bit more than Jessa about appearances. What I will give them is that Austin does not appear to discourage Joy from interests going beyond that of a traditional homemaker - she has helped Austin with some of his projects, built furniture, and they both seem to love the outdoors.

[GeeGolly]

Joy wanted an easy, simple, tomboyish life and Jinger wanted a lively, urban, cosmopolitan-ish life. They both got what they wanted, to a degree and both seem very happy. Actually Jessa and Jill seem happy too. I think each of the sisters run as much of their family circuses as they want to run.

[Cinnabon]

2 hours ago, madpsych78 said:

I can't see her with any of her sisters' husbands, but I think that Jeremy in particular appears to enjoy the headship role more than any of the others. You definitely get that sense that he controls everything and even had to correct what Jinger says. Jinger appears to have no discernable thoughts of her own separate from what Jeremy thinks.

In the Dillards' dynamic, Jill is in a position where she is not afraid to voice her opinions and disagree with Derick, but at the same time, Derick still voices his opinions (i.e., he's not domineering, but he's not whipped either), which I don't think would work well for Jessa. In contrast, Ben just seems SO passive-aggressive where Jessa is concerned.

I think Austin hasn't been vocal about his beliefs because he hasn't had time to be. One of his strengths is his work ethic - he really takes provider and breadwinner roles seriously. I also think Joy doesn't offer her views because she doesn't have them, not because Austin forbids her. The difference is that Joy appears to care just a little bit more than Jessa about appearances. What I will give them is that Austin does not appear to discourage Joy from interests going beyond that of a traditional homemaker - she has helped Austin with some of his projects, built furniture, and they both seem to love the outdoors.

I don’t think Austin brings in as much money as some may think. He accepted a house from Boob, and it’s been mentioned that they are probably on some form of public assistance (healthcare coverage). He also seems to spend a lot of time on Mediccccccops nonsense like skydiving, etc. Are there any properties currently in his name that he’s allegedly flipping? Oh, and he’s been sued for shoddy work and lost .

ETA - Joy also continues to shill stupid products on SM, and continues to exploit her kids for extra $$$ on YouTube. She wouldn’t have to do either if her headship actually supported them .

Edited March 22, 2022 by Cinnabon

[SMama]

29 minutes ago, Cinnabon said:

I don’t think Austin brings in as much money as some may think. He accepted a house from Boob, and it’s been mentioned that they are probably on some form of public assistance (healthcare coverage). 

ETA - Joy also continues to shill stupid products on SM, and continues to exploit her kids for extra $$$ on YouTube. She wouldn’t have to do either if her headship actually supported them .

Joy earned that house, she worked from around age five, exploited by her parents for a TV show.

Do we know they have government subsidized health care? I’m a SAHM, we live way below our means, I practically live in shorts and T-shirts  year round. Our daughter is a competitive swimmer plus takes music lessons. Two very expensive activities. The swim team mom assumed my daughter was on free meals at school (thus eligible for a fee waiver for the $25 per year swim membership fee) or was a foster child (she’s Chinese). We were baffled about how conjecture became fact. 

John Webster and Kelton Balka have decent jobs, that hasn’t stopped Alyssa and Josie from shilling products. Heck, Josie has her own business. Evan will graduate as an electrician soon. I doubt Carlin will stop shilling products.  Some people just want as many extras as possible. 

[madpsych78]

Yeah, I don't think that any of the wives shilling any products has any reflection on how much their husbands make.

[SnapHappy]

11 hours ago, madpsych78 said:

Yeah, I don't think that any of the wives shilling any products has any reflection on how much their husbands make.

Agreed, no reflection. They're just bored out of their freakin' skulls with their drab, boring, pointless lives.  

[Madtown]

Apparently, Jessa doesn't believe in letting any of her kids nap in their own bed/crib.

[GeeGolly]

Jessa needs to clean her mirrors too.

Is this the old house? This light switch is interesting.

  

[peppergal]

On 3/21/2022 at 3:15 PM, xwordfanatik said:

Jessa could at least buy a dozen reusable gift bags and some tissue paper.  That lazy thing of using those ugly unwrapped boxes sucks.

I agree that she's her mother all over again. 

As a combination of laziness and eco-consciousness, I've started collecting reusable boxes like shoe boxes, taking a glue stick and some wrapping paper to them and covering the result with clear contact paper.  I even just keep the tissue paper in there to reuse the next time.  They last for years and it makes gift wrapping for family events a breeze for me. 

I get that she may not have the time (or care enough) to do the whole neatly cover it in paper and seal it with contact paper thing, but she could just grab a few boxes, hand her kids some stickers and markers to decorate them with and let each kid have their own personal reusable gift box that they designed themselves with very little actual work from her.  She could even post a video for her coveted "mommy points"

[dargosmydaddy]

Fern's eyes are saying, "Help me."

[Westiepeach]

6 minutes ago, dargosmydaddy said:

Fern's eyes are saying, "Help me."

Do you blame her? 

[dargosmydaddy]

4 minutes ago, Westiepeach said:

Do you blame her?

Not one bit.

I wish I could rescue you, Fern. I really do.

[GeeGolly]

11 minutes ago, dargosmydaddy said:

Fern's eyes are saying, "Help me."

4 minutes ago, Westiepeach said:

Do you blame her? 

Poor Fernie, she does look so uncomfortable.

 

[cmr2014]

6 hours ago, Madtown said:

Apparently, Jessa doesn't believe in letting any of her kids nap in their own bed/crib.

She's carrying her around because there is literally no place for her to lay down. The house is absolutely filthy.

Why does she insist on posting these photos? Is she incapable of learning from the past? Does she think that some nice retired homemaker is going to see this and come over and do the work for her because Jesus?

Thank God they're moving into a bigger house so she can have more space to fill with old diapers and unwashed laundry.

[GeeGolly]

4 minutes ago, cmr2014 said:

She's carrying her around because there is literally no place for her to lay down. The house is absolutely filthy.

Why does she insist on posting these photos? Is she incapable of learning from the past? Does she think that some nice retired homemaker is going to see this and come over and do the work for her because Jesus?

Thank God they're moving into a bigger house so she can have more space to fill with old diapers and unwashed laundry.

One would think that a mom with four kids 6 and under would have a crib, or at least a Pack 'n Play. But right, this is Jessa we're talking about.

[lascuba]

16 hours ago, cmr2014 said:

She's carrying her around because there is literally no place for her to lay down. The house is absolutely filthy.

Why does she insist on posting these photos? Is she incapable of learning from the past? Does she think that some nice retired homemaker is going to see this and come over and do the work for her because Jesus?

Thank God they're moving into a bigger house so she can have more space to fill with old diapers and unwashed laundry.

Those baby wearing pictures give attachment/crunchy parenting vibes, which doesn't match up with Jessa's personality at all but would get her all sorts of praise if she moved in those online spaces. I'm almost starting to believe that she genuinely doesn't notice mess and that's why she keeps posting pictures like that, because she assumes people will focus on the subjects of the pictures and not notice the background. As touchy as she is about criticism, there almost has to be something weird going on with her for her to keep posting the hater bait that is her dirty house.

[Zella]

6 hours ago, lascuba said:

I'm almost starting to believe that she genuinely doesn't notice mess

I've started to think that too. I really don't think she notices or cares. 

[Insert Username]

I want to scream "Make your bed!!!" I don't understand how you can just leave it like that all day - it literally takes two minutes to fix a bed

[iwantcookies]

On 3/23/2022 at 6:57 PM, dargosmydaddy said:

Fern's eyes are saying, "Help me."

Sorry kid it will just get worse as the days go by… 

All you got to look forward to is sleeping whenever you fall over, eat crackers 24/7, sit in the fridge to drink and cool off and do school on the birthing couch. 

[Westiepeach]

8 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

Sorry kid it will just get worse as the days go by… 

All you got to look forward to is sleeping whenever you fall over, eat crackers 24/7, sit in the fridge to drink and cool off and do school on the birthing couch. 

“School”… Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!

[Cinnabon]

1 hour ago, Insert Username said:

I want to scream "Make your bed!!!" I don't understand how you can just leave it like that all day - it literally takes two minutes to fix a bed

Eh, I hate making my bed and it’s not a big deal to me. But I wouldn’t take pictures or videos of it to share on SM, either.

[CalicoKitty]

 I make my bed every morning, but the cat unmakes it to take a nap in the afternoon.  I have one cat that loves to sleep under the covers.  But I do try, unlike Jessa, who seems to make no effort at all.

[emmawoodhouse]

9 minutes ago, CalicoKitty said:

 I make my bed every morning, but the cat unmakes it to take a nap in the afternoon.  I have one cat that loves to sleep under the covers.  But I do try, unlike Jessa, who seems to make no effort at all.

I have one of those cats! I'll walk into the bedroom to find that my bed has a 12 lb. tumor. 😃

Edited March 26, 2022 by emmawoodhouse
Autocorrect strikes again!

[Teriacky]

I also have a cat who likes to redecorate. He wants things where HE thinks they should go and not where I think they should go. 
 

… maybe they need a redecorating cat. Can’t be any worse than Jessa’s housekeeping. He (or she)  might actually improve the decor…

[BitterApple]

11 minutes ago, Teriacky said:

I also have a cat who likes to redecorate. He wants things where HE thinks they should go and not where I think they should go. 
 

Now that's an HGTV show I would watch!

[Ljohnson1987]

I think Jessa posts pics of a dirty home to make her seem like a 'Normal' Mom. Jessa.. you're not normal. You're a person in the spotlight, and people will criticize you. If you don't like it, don't post pics. 

[Rootbeer]

45 minutes ago, Ljohnson1987 said:

I think Jessa posts pics of a dirty home to make her seem like a 'Normal' Mom. Jessa.. you're not normal. You're a person in the spotlight, and people will criticize you. If you don't like it, don't post pics. 

I think Jessa doesn't realize there is a difference between messy or lived-in and downright filthy.  Her house appears to be the latter.

[floridamom]

Jessa has no idea how the average mom out here in the real world live. She has absolutely no frame of reference for this. She does not know, nor does she socialize or visit anyone outside of her belief system that I am aware of. She really is unaware. Her house is filthy. No excuse for her, since she is a stay -at- home mother and has advertised that being a wife, mom and homemaker is her God-given role in life. She should know how to schedule herself and not be a lazy slug in her household duties. She also should put her children on a good schedule, including proper nap times. ....and while she's at it, enroll Spurgie in a real school.

[GeeGolly]

3 minutes ago, floridamom said:

Jessa has no idea how the average mom out here in the real world live. She has absolutely no frame of reference for this. She does not know, nor does she socialize or visit anyone outside of her belief system that I am aware of. She really is unaware. Her house is filthy. No excuse for her, since she is a stay -at- home mother and has advertised that being a wife, mom and homemaker is her God-given role in life. She should know how to schedule herself and not be a lazy slug in her household duties. She also should put her children on a good schedule, including proper nap times. ....and while she's at it, enroll Spurgie in a real school.

I agree, but I think by now Jessa knows other folks keep a clean house. Ben's parents do. It seems Anna, Lauren and Kendra do. I assume Abbie does. Jessa also follows the Bates sisters, who keep their homes clean if not always perfectly neat.

I do agree with @Rootbeer that Jessa may not understand dirty verses messy. Dirty houses are gross. Messy houses are lived in. Big difference in my book.

[madpsych78]

2 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

I agree, but I think by now Jessa knows other folks keep a clean house. Ben's parents do. It seems Anna, Lauren and Kendra do. I assume Abbie does. Jessa also follows the Bates sisters, who keep their homes clean if not always perfectly neat.

I do agree with @Rootbeer that Jessa may not understand dirty verses messy. Dirty houses are gross. Messy houses are lived in. Big difference in my book.

I'd say even Joy and Jill probably have messy houses at best, but not dirty houses based on that definition.

[Cinnabon]

4 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

I agree, but I think by now Jessa knows other folks keep a clean house. Ben's parents do. It seems Anna, Lauren and Kendra do. I assume Abbie does. Jessa also follows the Bates sisters, who keep their homes clean if not always perfectly neat.

I do agree with @Rootbeer that Jessa may not understand dirty verses messy. Dirty houses are gross. Messy houses are lived in. Big difference in my book.

Huge difference! Clutter and disorganization is different than dirt and grime. 

[SnapHappy]

14 hours ago, madpsych78 said:

I'd say even Joy and Jill probably have messy houses at best, but not dirty houses based on that definition.

Jill's house is just as filthy, she's proved it many times.  And she has half the number of children. 

Edited March 28, 2022 by SnapHappy

[Zella]

49 minutes ago, SnapHappy said:

Jill's house is just as filthy, she's proved it many times.  And she has half the number of children. 

When has JIll had a literal mound of dirty diapers on display in her house? I don't think Jill--or any of the Duggars, for that matter--is a domestic goddess, but I've never seen any of the other Duggar kids be quite so brazen about filth as Jessa. 

[Cinnabon]

7 hours ago, Zella said:

When has JIll had a literal mound of dirty diapers on display in her house? I don't think Jill--or any of the Duggars, for that matter--is a domestic goddess, but I've never seen any of the other Duggar kids be quite so brazen about filth as Jessa. 

Never.

[BigBingerBro]

[sagittarius sue]

1 hour ago, BigBingerBro said:

Like the carpet, are those jammies chosen to hide dirt?

[iwantcookies]

I guess the pjs were a gift! 

[Albanyguy]

Why is everything Spurgeon wears too tight for him? Look at the collars of the other kids' jammies. They'll all loose and comfortable-looking; Spurgeon's looks like it's choking him. And his hair always looks damp and sweaty.

[sagittarius sue]

Holy Pals is the name of the company.  holypals.com   Their purpose:

Our purpose at Holy Pals is to make the Bible a part of every child's life at home. Have fun with story time before bed and use the pictures on the pajamas to tell the story or even have your child do it! Each pajama has a fun Biblical print and has the passage reference stitched on the sleeve. Look up the passage with your child and memorize where the story is in the Bible. Both you and your child will grow to know the Bible more and more with every wear. 

[GeeGolly]

15 minutes ago, Albanyguy said:

Why is everything Spurgeon wears too tight for him? Look at the collars of the other kids' jammies. They'll all loose and comfortable-looking; Spurgeon's looks like it's choking him. And his hair always looks damp and sweaty.

I was thinking the same thing for Fern too. How did they get that top over her head.

[Westiepeach]

And why does everything always have to be “bible” with them? Sheesh. Let them have ducks and bunnies and trucks and princesses and superheroes and… whatever! 

[SMama]

17 minutes ago, Westiepeach said:

And why does everything always have to be “bible” with them? Sheesh. Let them have ducks and bunnies and trucks and princesses and superheroes and… whatever! 

They would have to pay for those.

[farmgal4]

3 hours ago, Westiepeach said:

And why does everything always have to be “bible” with them? Sheesh. Let them have ducks and bunnies and trucks and princesses and superheroes and… whatever! 

Ducks, bunnies, trucks, etc. are not part of the brainwashing process.

[farmgal4]

5 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

I must say that Jessa and Ben do make some cute kiddos!

[Adeejay]

These kids are absolutely adorable.  In my humble opinion, Henry, Garret and Fern are arguably the best looking Duggars grandkids.

[Portia]

4 hours ago, Westiepeach said:

And why does everything always have to be “bible” with them? Sheesh. Let them have ducks and bunnies and trucks and princesses and superheroes and… whatever! 

Or if the jammies have to be religious, how about Noah's ark of the feeding if the 5,000....not, you know, a sepulchre.

[emmawoodhouse]

8 minutes ago, Portia said:

Or if the jammies have to be religious, how about Noah's ark of the feeding if the 5,000....not, you know, a sepulchre.

Well, she DID say that they were Easter jammies. 🙄