Joy and Austin: This One Time At Family Camp

[Panopticon]

Maybe the big glasses were Giddy’s own choice? I know a kid who got her first glasses at a very young age. She absolutely was NOT having the toddler styles even though she was, in fact, a toddler. In the interest of not having an argument about the glasses every single day, her parents let her choose frames intended for an older child. The drama of glasses-wearing went way down. 

[ginger90]

If they’re actual corrective lenses, the size could be a good choice. I have seen so many children with smaller ones and they tend to look over the top of them.

Either way, I think they look cute on him.

[Zella]

I agree they look a touch big on him, but prescriptions can also affect the type of frames you can use. I have a really strong prescription--my glasses make other people who wear glasses feel seasick looking through them LOL--and I've been told that certain frames wouldn't accommodate my lenses. 

I'm glad he got the glasses, though. I still remember the first time I got mine. I was 7, and I'd never realized the world could be so bright before then. 

[Cinnabon]

37 minutes ago, Zella said:

I agree they look a touch big on him, but prescriptions can also affect the type of frames you can use. I have a really strong prescription--my glasses make other people who wear glasses feel seasick looking through them LOL--and I've been told that certain frames wouldn't accommodate my lenses. 

I'm glad he got the glasses, though. I still remember the first time I got mine. I was 7, and I'd never realized the world could be so bright before then. 

Same. I got my first pair at 9 or 10. I was amazed on the drive home that I could finally read the names of stores and signs. My mom cried, because she had no idea how bad my eyesight was.

[crazycatlady58]

I was starting 5th grade.  I was amazed I could see the leaves on trees.

[GeeGolly]

I was 40 something and I was feeling old. 🙃

[floridamom]

I was in the 6th grade; finally got glasses. Yes, I, too, could not believe how I could see each individual leaf on the trees.  A new world opened up for me. No wonder I had to sit up close to the blackboard in 5th grade to copy my homework assignments...

[lookeyloo]

I hope Giddy likes his new glasses and maybe because they help him he will be willing to keep them on.  I got my first pair at age 7.  When I had my cataracts done a couple years ago the dr. said I could use readers (complicated eye issues and even thought I bought the better lenses, couldn't get perfect correction) but they frustrated me and had eye doctor make glasses with reader correction that I slap on in the a.m. and take off at bedtime.  I am not a candidate for contacts, never was.

[3 is enough]

If I am not mistaken, Austin has only one sister .  He may be perfectly ok with having just 2 kids.  

Joy always showed early and had prominent bumps with her pregnancies.  She didn't look pregnant to me in any of the photos I saw.

[Salacious Kitty]

1 minute ago, 3 is enough said:

If I am not mistaken, Austin has only one sister .  He may be perfectly ok with having just 2 kids.  

Joy always showed early and had prominent bumps with her pregnancies.  She didn't look pregnant to me in any of the photos I saw.

Austin also has two or three half siblings. I'm not sure if they lived together growing up or if they lived with their mother. But Austin seems close to them now; they often vacation with family in Texas.

[Cinnabon]

1 hour ago, 3 is enough said:

If I am not mistaken, Austin has only one sister .  He may be perfectly ok with having just 2 kids.  

Joy always showed early and had prominent bumps with her pregnancies.  She didn't look pregnant to me in any of the photos I saw.

Hopefully he’ll get an vasectomy then. I don’t trust Joy to use birth control effectively, lol.

[Lady Whistleup]

I think they might have another kid but I don't see Joy being constantly pregnant. For one, Joy seems to actually enjoy her kids and watching them grow up. It's quality not quantity for Joy.

[GeeGolly]

I think Austin's sister has been pushing out blessings at the rate of Michelle Duggar. Who knows what he and Joy will do.

[Salacious Kitty]

26 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

I think Austin's sister has been pushing out blessings at the rate of Michelle Duggar. Who knows what he and Joy will do.

Yeah, she has five or six. With some very kreative names.

[Zella]

His sister is married to a guy who comes from a big Duggar-adjacent family, too. 

[Salacious Kitty]

19 minutes ago, Zella said:

His sister is married to a guy who comes from a big Duggar-adjacent family, too. 

Right. Didn't she marry the Ballinger boy?

[GeeGolly]

4 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Right. Didn't she marry the Ballinger boy?

So she's ballin' a Ballinger? 🤣😁

Edited August 30, 2022 by GeeGolly

[Zella]

10 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Right. Didn't she marry the Ballinger boy?

Yes, as per Geegolly, she is balling a Ballinger. LMAO The eldest Ballinger boy. Sadly they don't pronounce it to where that rhymes, but it will forever more rhyme for me now. 😂

Edited August 30, 2022 by Zella

[dargosmydaddy]

Meagan is the sister who's married to the Ballinger and has 3 kids; the youngest is the same age as Evy. The older half sister, Rachel, has the six A-named children, but they're spread out over 19 years. Joy seems close to Rachel and her oldest daughter (who is closer to Joy's age than Rachel is); I think they trained for some kind of marathon together awhile back? Rachel's youngest two kids are close in age to Gideon and Evy. The oldest half brother and his wife apparently had 5 kids in 6 years, with the youngest born in 2019. (Source: Fundy Wiki)

[Salacious Kitty]

Oh, I was thinking of the half sister with the kids who have very speshul names. I'm surprised that the Ballingers only have 3. I could have sworn it was more.

[Zella]

4 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Oh, I was thinking of the half sister with the kids who have very speshul names. I'm surprised that the Ballingers only have 3. I could have sworn it was more.

I thought she had more too! LOL It's hard to keep track of all of these weirdos. 

[MamaMax]

It's posts like this that make me worry about Joy's emotional health.  I think her fears about her ability to parent are 100% related to her traumatic childhood.

[sagittarius sue]

I agree.  I think Joy would benefit from counseling with a bonafide therapist.  Joy and Austin appear to have a loving relationship, deeply concerned about each other.  I hope they are holding off on having more children.

Edited August 31, 2022 by sagittarius sue

[Cinnabon]

1 hour ago, MamaMax said:

It's posts like this that make me worry about Joy's emotional health.  I think her fears about her ability to parent are 100% related to her traumatic childhood.

No mention from Austin about giving their kids a good education. 🥲

[Madtown]

So is she still homeschooling or will he actually go to school?

[Absolom]

29 minutes ago, Madtown said:

So is she still homeschooling or will he actually go to school?

That is so scary for the poor kid.  I thought Jessa was bad, but TV for school is a horrifying thought.

[Cinnabon]

5 minutes ago, Absolom said:

That is so scary for the poor kid.  I thought Jessa was bad, but TV for school is a horrifying thought.

It was the best Joy could do. 

[ozziemom]

2 hours ago, Madtown said:

So is she still homeschooling or will he actually go to school?

Maybe they have Pre K at TTH? Aren’t there a few Duggar grandkids around Giddy’s age? Joy seems the least qualified of all to homeschool. I still remember how gleeful she was at her graduation from SOTDRT, no more learning for her!

[sagittarius sue]

I have my fingers crossed that it's a real PK school.  A prep film would make sense, and would assist with Giddy's learning delays.

[Tdoc72]

3 hours ago, sagittarius sue said:

I have my fingers crossed that it's a real PK school.  A prep film would make sense, and would assist with Giddy's learning delays.

I agree that school would probably be good for him but I think school would’ve started already.  Nj is going back next week and the South usually starts earlier.  

[SMama]

I don’t see them ever sending their kids to real school. Like another poster said, Joy is wholly inadequate to teach. She can’t handle anything beyond numbers 1-20, and the alphabet. 

[Zella]

9 minutes ago, Tdoc72 said:

I agree that school would probably be good for him but I think school would’ve started already.  Nj is going back next week and the South usually starts earlier.  

Yeah schools went back about 2 weeks ago where I am. 

[Salacious Kitty]

7 minutes ago, Zella said:

Yeah schools went back about 2 weeks ago where I am. 

We went back on the 18th.

[Zella]

7 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

We went back on the 18th.

Yeah I just checked and ours was the 15th. A cursory search of the biggest school districts in Benton and Washington County also show them all going back on the 15th or 16th. 

Personally, I think Joy and Austin would be some of the absolute last of the Duggar offspring to send their own kids to school. I think they're definitely some of the most indoctrinated of the kids. 

[Salacious Kitty]

Just now, Zella said:

Yeah I just checked and ours was the 15th. A cursory search of the biggest school districts in Benton and Washington County also show them all going back on the 15th or 16th. 

Personally, I think Joy and Austin would be some of the absolute last of the Duggar offspring to send their own kids to school. I think they're definitely some of the most indoctrinated of the kids. 

And will be the most undereducated. I worry that Joy will struggle with teaching the kids to read.

[ozziemom]

1 minute ago, Zella said:

Yeah I just checked and ours was the 15th. A cursory search of the biggest school districts in Benton and Washington County also show them all going back on the 15th or 16th. 

Personally, I think Joy and Austin would be some of the absolute last of the Duggar offspring to send their own kids to school. I think they're definitely some of the most indoctrinated of the kids. 

Austin was homeschooled too IIRC so he may think Joy is capable of teaching the kids. Joy can stick Giddy with a tablet just like Alyssa Bates Webster does.

[StaceyNotStacie]

1 hour ago, Tdoc72 said:

I agree that school would probably be good for him but I think school would’ve started already.  Nj is going back next week and the South usually starts earlier.  

I wonder if Joy is still close to Jill and how close Austin and Derrick are. If they see Jill’s kids going to regular school (and seeing what Derrick has been able to do with a real education), maybe that can swing them in the direction of public school or a church preK program. They might also see the difference between an educated Izzy and “homeschooled” Spurgeon. 

Edited September 1, 2022 by StaceyNotStacie

[Zella]

34 minutes ago, StaceyNotStacie said:

They might also see the difference between an educated Izzy and “homeschooled” Spurgeon. 

I think one of the problems, though, is that their worldview doesn't look at an educated person and see it as an advantage. Where we would see curiosity, knowledge, critical thinking, articulateness, and creativity as a plus, they look at it as basically paving the way to hell. So, no, I don't think they're going to look at Izzy and see how genuinely happy he seems to be at school or the fact that he will likely end up better read and better spoken than his cousins. They'll just see him as someone who is routinely rubbing elbows with heathens on the daily and more likely to question beliefs and rebel and doubt. Whether or not he actually does those things is besides the point. 

Edited September 1, 2022 by Zella

[oliviabenson]

No way no how Joy is sending her kids to a real school. Like ever.

[ozziemom]

Can you imagine poor Joy trying to help Giddy with modern math homework? They will homeschool - it was good enough for them, so it will be fine for their kids. 

[Salacious Kitty]

7 minutes ago, ozziemom said:

Can you imagine poor Joy trying to help Giddy with modern math homework? They will homeschool - it was good enough for them, so it will be fine for their kids. 

Yup. Giddyup will learn the trades from Daddy. As for Evy, who needs an education when you're going to be a broodmare? 

[MamaMax]

13 hours ago, ozziemom said:

Can you imagine poor Joy trying to help Giddy with modern math homework? They will homeschool - it was good enough for them, so it will be fine for their kids. 

This is an aspect of the fundie home school culture that I don't know if its a feature or a bug - like Michele went to a real school and therefore was KINDA able to teach her kids the basics, as she had professional instruction. However, you know there were holes - things she herself never understood and so she either taught them incorrectly or not at all. But these holes will get bigger with every generation -- they will get farther away from any real theory of education or access to someone who actually understands the material.  I know people who homeschooled - but they are college educated themselves and also know where their personal weaknesses are and have made arrangements for help there - other teachers, on-line classes, etc. 

Jim Bob et al may think that education isnt important but I think the downplay how crucial their own organized education has been to help them succeed in their own businesses. How are the grandkids going to be business owners when/if they cant keep up enough to get a GED? 

[Ohiopirate02]

Austin teaching Gideon his trade will result in Giddy learning math.  It will be practical application instead of theoretical.  I cannot think of a trade that does not use math, and depending on the job the math involved is more complex than basic addition and subtraction.  

[Ljohnson1987]

I hope Joy got some real counseling after losing Annabelle.  She shouldn't feel pressured to have sex on demand. Stand up for yourself, Joy! Show your children that a woman does not have to submit to a man. 

Do either Joy or Austin have enough education to teach their children? Send them to public school. 

[ozziemom]

1 hour ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Austin teaching Gideon his trade will result in Giddy learning math.  It will be practical application instead of theoretical.  I cannot think of a trade that does not use math, and depending on the job the math involved is more complex than basic addition and subtraction.  

I’m not seeing Austin teaching math to Giddy. He may take Giddy along to work sites as Giddy gets older and start showing him how to handle tools etc. But I hope Giddy will be learning to read, write and do math well before then. And Joy doesn’t seem suited to homeschooling. The Duggar grandkids who live near TTH  could certainly start attending SOTDRT together, seems like a lot of them are already there. 

[Notabug]

17 hours ago, Zella said:

Yeah I just checked and ours was the 15th. A cursory search of the biggest school districts in Benton and Washington County also show them all going back on the 15th or 16th. 

Personally, I think Joy and Austin would be some of the absolute last of the Duggar offspring to send their own kids to school. I think they're definitely some of the most indoctrinated of the kids. 

Around here, Pre K programs tend to start later and finish earlier than the regular school year.  Maybe that is the case with Gideon?  I think he could really benefit from a true Pre K educational experience.  However, I also agree that neither Joy nor Austin seem to be the type to value a public school education.  They are also unlikely to see Joy as anything but a wonderful teacher/mother despite the many reasons we all think she is not going to be able to educate her kids well and, in fact, probably won't enjoy it and won't do anything but the barest essentials for them.

Around here, a lot of churches have Pre K programs for kids.  My niece and nephews actually attended one at a Baptist church near their home even though they are not Baptists; mainly because the teacher came highly recommended.  She was an actual licensed educator with a college degree.  The kids got a lot of Bible stories and knew a lot of religious Christmas songs; but they were really well prepared for entering regular public school kindergarten too.

Edited September 1, 2022 by Notabug

[sagittarius sue]

1 hour ago, Ljohnson1987 said:

I hope Joy got some real counseling after losing Annabelle.  She shouldn't feel pressured to have sex on demand. Stand up for yourself, Joy! Show your children that a woman does not have to submit to a man. 

Do either Joy or Austin have enough education to teach their children? Send them to public school. 

Judging by the age Evy is now, it appears that Joy and Austin are using some method of birth control.

[SMama]

For Gideon to attend real Pre K one of the parents has to believe that their homeschooling is not as good as a public school. Austin and Joy have the kool aid coursing through their veins. 

A few years ago there was an event at Fort Rock. They were called on the Pearl’s abusive methods. Austin and Joy defended the Pearls, were proud to have been subjected to corporal punishment, and both felt they turned out just fine.

Israel and Samuel are enrolled in public school because of Derick. No matter how much lip service he paid to homeschooling when Izzy was kindergarten age he gave up the pretense and made sure his child would get a good education. 

Edited September 1, 2022 by SMama

[beckie]

Even if they refused to send them to public schools, they could send them to private school. I know they won't do anything other than homeschool, but they do have other options.

[satrunrose]

3 hours ago, sagittarius sue said:

Judging by the age Evy is now, it appears that Joy and Austin are using some method of birth control.

It's certainly an interesting gap. Gideon, Annabelle and Evy were more of less back to back. I really hope it's on purpose.