Being a mom is hard, and getting shamed and called out for our choices is (sadly) part of the journey. But being a celebrity mom in the spotlight? That gives even more people the opportunity to judge their parenting choices, and this is something that Counting On star Jessa Duggar knows all about firsthand. Since she and husband Ben Seewald welcomed their first son, Spurgeon, more than five years ago, Jessa has been shamed and criticized for just about everything under the sun. And while some of her critics have made good points about keeping her kids safe, others are clearly giving her unnecessary grief about simply being human.
From what she allows her kids to do during playtime to the way she keeps her house (and everything in between), it seems like there's nothing that Jessa hasn't been judged for, and that has to be exhausting — especially since, as far as we can tell, Spurgeon, Henry, and Ivy are all happy, healthy, and very loved kids.
Read on for all the times Jessa's been called out for her parenting. It's bound to continue in the future — at least for as long as she continues to put herself and her children out there — so we hope Jessa doesn't take any of it too personally.
Dangerous Furniture
Though Jessa probably thought she was just sharing cute pictures of her daughter at the time, her pictures of Ivy playing with furniture got more than a few eyebrows raised. People called Jessa out for letting her child sit inside the drawer of a end table, warning her about how dangerous it could be. Fortunately, it seems like everyone was just fine.
Henry's Birthday Gifts
When Henry celebrated his birthday in 2020, Jessa was called out for getting him too many birthday gifts. The week before the big day, she started a new tradition by giving him a gift every day so he could enjoy them one at a time instead of all at once. Despite Jessa explaining her plan — and sharing that some of the gifts were things he needed, like underwear — she still had to face the backlash.
Cutting Her Kids' Hair
The Duggars have been cutting the kids' (and each other's) hair for as long as we can remember. (It used to be a pretty big thing on 19 Kids & Counting, after all.) But when Jessa shared how she cut her kids' hair while they were in isolation, she was criticized for sharing a tutorial on how to do it when she isn't a professional hairdresser.
Fire Pit Video
In September 2020, Jessa shared a sweet moment with her fam: roasting hot dogs and marshmallows around the new fire pit she and Ben got. Sadly, she got judgy comments from all sides. Some people didn't like that Jessa called Ivy "sis," and others thought she said Henry's name too much. There were even some folks who were upset that the kids were outside barefoot.
Popcorn Stringing
Finding activities to keep kids entertained while cooped up at home can be hard, so Jessa got creative when her fam was social distancing in March. She shared a video on Instagram of her kids stringing popcorn and singing hymns, and even though it was cute, a lot of people thought Jessa was endangering her children by letting them use needles to string the popcorn.
Spurgeon's Diapers
Kids all potty train at their own pace, and that includes Jessa's children. But when her oldest, Spurgeon, was still wearing diapers at 2 years old, fans called her out for it on a totally unrelated post. Of course, it's common for a kid not to be fully potty trained at that point, and Jessa explained that Spurgeon wasn't quite ready — and didn't want to push him before he was.
Potty Training Video
Speaking of potty training … the diapers weren't the only opportunity Jessa had to be called out in that particular department. When Spurgeon finally was ready to use the potty, Jessa shared a video of Spurgeon talking to her after he had wet his pants. Many people felt that she was oversharing at that point, and that Spurgeon might be embarrassed to find out his mom had shared that moment with such a large audience when he was little.
Jessa's Messy House
With multiple kids at home, a clean house isn't always realistic. (It's not always realistic even with one kiddo!) But when Jessa Duggar shared photos opening up about the laundry that had taken over her guest bed, dirty dishes in the sink, dried spit-up in her bed — and a pile of dirty diapers that hadn't made their way to the trash — people quickly got judgmental.
Disposable Dishes
In 2017, Jessa shared a video of Spurgeon getting messy while eating spaghetti, and fans couldn't help but notice he was eating from a Styrofoam bowl. She got called out for being wasteful, but it's important to remember that, coming from a large family, Jessa was used to her parents always using disposable plates and flatware to avoid dirty dishes piling up…
Since then, she seems to have changed her habits.
Spurgeon Using a Bottle
Jessa has also been called out for how long she let Spurgeon drink from bottles. In 2017, this photo of Spurgeon drinking out of two bottles at once appeared on the Duggars' Facebook page, and people wasted no time letting Jessa know that they thought that Spurgeon was too old to be drinking out of bottles — and that it was time to take them away.
Boys Wrestling
Jessa obviously thought she was sharing something cute when she posted this video of a young Spurgeon and Henry wrestling. Sadly, people were only focused on how dangerous the situation could become for the boys. Fortunately, though, it seems like everyone was just fine and it was all in good fun, but that didn't stop the criticism from coming.
Playing With a Tag
In February 2018, Jessa shared this video of Henry and a stuffed animal whose tag he was playing with, writing, "Why is the tag better than the toy?" This is true for a lot of kids, but in this case, people jumped to point out that the tag was a choking hazard, and that someone could get hurt if she continued to let her kids play like this.
Getting Her Kids Tricycles
Tricycles are a toy that a lot of toddlers play with — especially before they're ready for a two-wheeled bike — but when Jessa shared that she'd bought her boys trikes at the thrift shop, people instantly called her out. According to her critics, tricycles are dangerous, they could hinder the boy's development … and people were upset they weren't wearing helmets.
Ivy's Pacifier
Jessa's daughter, Ivy, is still pretty little, so it wasn't surprising when she shared a pic of Ivy with a Wubbanub pacifier with a stuffed pig attached while riding in the car seat. Although a lot of babies use these, people were quick to warn Jessa that it could be harmful to Ivy's teeth in the future … even though she didn't have any at the time.
Playing With Water
Ah, yes, the water table — something that has saved many a mom's sanity on a hot summer day. Like many other moms, Jessa shared a video of her kids playing with one in their yard. But people immediately began warning her about leaving standing water in the table and telling her not to let the kids drink from it … even though she hadn't shared that they were doing any of these things.
Using Knives
In May 2020, Jessa shared a video on Instagram and YouTube of her making Crock-Pot chicken noodle soup with her children, who helped her with the prep work. In the video, 5-year-old Spurgeon was helping by cutting up the veggies for the soup with a knife — something that plenty of people flocked to the comments to let Jessa know was dangerous.
Eating Slugs
Jessa's kids are pretty rough and tumble — they love hanging out outside and getting dirty. But when Jessa shared a video of her family eating bugs, which were really gummy worms covered in cocoa powder, people had plenty of comments locked and loaded about how dangerous that was … not even watching the full video to find out that they weren't actually real bugs
