What to Know
Somehow, Joy-Anna Duggar‘s oldest child, Gideon, is already 8 years old, but after she shared footage from the way he celebrated with the family, some people are raising their eyebrows. From the decorations shown in her Instagram post, it appears that Gideon had a hunting themed birthday party — no surprise, considering just how outdoorsy his family actually is — and people have a lot of opinions about it.
It looks like Gideon had a pretty good day.
Sharing footage from Gideon’s big day, from the moment he woke up to discover his birthday gifts and decorations waiting for him in the kitchen to ripping into his gifts, Joy wrote that it was a “gift” to be his mother.
“Freckles across his nose, always making us laugh, quick to say thank you, quick to include someone else. A loyal friend. A kid who loves people deeply,” she wrote in her caption. “He’s creative, constantly building with his hands, dreaming up ideas, and being the sweetest big brother. This year I’ve watched him grow… not just bigger, but kinder, braver, more confident.”
Critics took a lot of issue with the party’s theme.
Judging by the shades of brown and green that were used as decor, the mallard duck-shaped piñata, and the coordinating balloons in matching colors, it seems like it was a hunting themed party, though not everyone was convinced that a theme like that would have been Gideon’s idea.
Others didn’t love the theme in general, with one person writing, “Anyone else think the Camo/hunting theme is an odd choice for a birthday. I guess just the juxtaposition of a theme focused on killing something for an event that’s celebrating life.”
Some even called it a “sad beige birthday,” asking where the explosion of color that kids usually like went.
Others compared Gideon’s party to the way Jessa celebrates her kids’ birthdays.
In the past, critics have called Jessa out for the low-effort way she celebrates her kids’ birthdays, which has included giving them unwrapped gifts in the Amazon boxes they showed up at her house in.
“They are already one up on Jessa by wrapping Gideon’s presents,” the OP who originally shared Joy’s post on Reddit wrote.
It looks like Gideon had a great day, which is all that matters… and it’s totally possible that this nature-loving kid chose the hunting theme all by himself. He seemed to really love it!
