What to Know
It’s not like anyone really pegged Jim Bob Duggar for a hands on dad, but a resurfaced clip from 19 Kids and Counting that was posted on Reddit really helps remind everyone of that fact. In the clip, he comes home to see James and Joseph Duggar recovering from chicken pox. In a confessional, Jess and Jinger Duggar admit that taking care of the younger kids is “not usually his jurisdiction.”
I’m sorry, what? The father of 19 (and counting, thank you very much) can’t be bothered to take care of his kids unless they happen to be part of his jurisdiction? Aren’t all of his kids supposed to be his responsibility? Apparently not, with the Duggar-famous buddy system wherein older sisters take care of most of the younger children. Cool cool cool.
Jessa and Jinger commended Jim Bob for doing so well with the younger kids.
@mwmw617 #duggartok #duggarcringe #benseewald #19kidsandcounting#America ♬ 原聲 – mwmw617
During the 19 Kids and Counting episode in question, the majority of the kids come down with chicken pox and, seemingly for the first time ever, Jim Bob has to step up. He takes temperatures, gives medicine, and, well, does most of the things a parent does when they are taking care of their sick kids. The bar is pretty low here, let’s be honest. In the clip, Jessa, and Jinger talk to producers about Jim Bob stepping out of what is clearly his comfort zone to actually parent his kids.
‘My dad did a great job taking care of the little kids,” Jessa says.
Jinger chimes in, “Yeah. Usually that’s, like, not his jurisdiction, so he did great.”
The idea here is that Jim Bob should apparently be commended as a top tier parent for taking care of his kids when they were sick. Mind you, these are the children he chose to have and chose to raise, but alright. In the comments on Reddit, there weren’t really any surprises in Jim Bob’s behavior or his daughters’ reactions to him. But it’s still jarring to see in the old clip.
“The camera person probably had to tell him which kid was James,” someone wrote, in reference to a part of the clip where Jim Bob comments on his son James Duggar’s chicken pox.
“‘Not his jurisdiction’ in relation to your children is wild work,” another person wrote. “Jeebs & Meech should have been embarrassed to think this was a flex.”
Someone else commented that this was the Girls’ way of essentially saying, “We’re so impressed that our father was able to be a dad to his children for a few hours.”
The Duggar kids follow a buddy system.
@itsrowsdower Someone on my live yesterday asked about the Buddy System #duggarsnark #duggartiktok #duggartok #duggarfamily #michelleduggar #michelleduggarvibes #duggarbuddysystem #duggarcringe ♬ original sound – Itsrowsdower
If anyone is a little unclear about the Duggar family’s “jurisdictions,” it’s a branch off their buddy system. The family refers to the assigned chores and tasks as the older kids’ and parents’ jurisdictions. So no, actually taking care of the younger kids would not be in Jim Bob’s thanks to the other way the family does things, which is the buddy system.
Before older daughters like Jessa, Jinger, Jill, Anna, and Joy-Anna Duggar were married and moved out, they had buddies, or younger siblings, who were essentially assigned to them. These younger siblings would come to their buddy, or older sister, for most of their necessities, which took the parenting burden off Michelle Duggar for the most part. Even though she chose to have so many kids. And even though Jim Bob was also right there.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Jim Bob has never changed a diaper.
Because of Jim Bob’s so-called jurisdiction not involving caring for his younger children, there is speculation on how much he has actually done for his children over the years, short of providing a home, food, and clothes for them. Jinger, Jana, and Jessa once admitted on-camera to changing “thousands” of diapers over the years.
Someone wrote on Reddit, in response to this, “‘More than my parents’ would have been a sufficient answer for all of the older girls.”
“I think Jim Bob said something like it had been a very long time since he had changed a diaper while changing one of the little girls while the oldest ones were gone,” a Redditor added.
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