This year, parenting has been weird and has added challenges that we've not had to face before. Thanks to the global health crisis, we've had to get creative in how we entertain our children. Many of us cannot go to play centers to allow our kids to run out their energy. We also can't have the grandparents around to help keep the kids entertained while taking a few minutes off duty.
We're making it work, though the struggle is real, and we need to have a little more empathy for parents who are doing their best and making choices for their kids. That includes Jessa Duggar — she's never shied away from parenting how she wants to, even though she's often called out for her choices, no matter how big or small they are at the end of the day.
She recently shared a cute video of her kids playing together.
Jessa Duggar shared a sweet video Friday of her three kids playing together. Spurgeon, who is 5 years old, 3-year-old Henry, and 1-year-old Ivy enjoyed each other's company at home while mama Jessa watched. Getting all the kids to play together is a feat on its own that deserves to be celebrated, and they looked like they were having the best time.
In typical kid fashion, the three kids built a fort out of the couch cushions and were hiding in there together. Jessa caught their playtime on video and shared it with her fans on Instagram.
"Fridays are for fort-building," she wrote in the caption.
Ivy was happy to have her mom's attention, noticing she had a camera recording their playtime together. She peeked her head out behind the cushions and gave a sweet little princess wave, calling out "Mama!" a few times.
On the other side of the couch, which had the cushions flipped up and placed upright like walls, were Spurgeon and Henry. Spurgeon was reading the label that was on the couch, and Henry was holding on to his every word – watching his older brother sound out the letters and teach him a little about it too.
Jessa moved the camera closer to Ivy and asked her, "Is this your house?" and asked her to show it to her.
It's so clear these kids were having a great time. Parents know that when our kids can find something they enjoy doing together, it's a bonus. We want them to grow up with fond of playing with each other, and couch forts always seem to bring so much joy.
Ivy is happy to show off the fort's inside, which has loads of space for the little ones to hang out. "That's a really nice fort you guys have there," Jessa is heard saying while moving the camera around.
Jessa shared this video with her 2.2 million Instagram followers – and there was a mix of reactions.
The 28-year-old mom of three had a lot of support in the comments from people who saw all the joy in the video. Little Ivy lights up, and her excitement about the fort is all over her face. It's also adorable to see Spurgeon help his little brother start learning how to read just using the label on the couch.
"Fun!!!!!," wrote Jessa's sister-in-law, Anna Duggar, in the comment section.
"If that doesn't make your heart smile, nothing will!" shared another commenter.
"Jessa your such a great mommy!! Your doing it the right way," another fan wrote. "Each one of your cuties are so beautiful."
Several people recommended Jessa pick up the Nugget – a couch for kids specifically designed to help make couch forts easier and more fun.
And a lot of people were impressed with Spurgeon's reading skills.
But, of course, there also were people who picked apart Jessa's parenting skills.
Specifically, near the end of the video, when Henry was on screen, everyone could see he was playing with a toy gun. The gun wasn't a plastic fluorescent Nerf-style gun but one that looked more realistic (with a bright plastic orange tip to show it's not real). Henry was having fun with it, pointing it at his siblings and shouting "Bang!" when he pulled the trigger.
"So cute!! … waiting for all the toy gun comments. Lol. It's a TOY! " one person wrote, knowing there would be issues in the comment section.
"This post has been edited multiple times, so I'll just say it again," one person replied. "Teaching your kids young that guns are toys is exactly how 91 Americans die from firearms every day. Gun violence is the second leading cause of death in children, aged 10-19 in the US. Kids in the United States are 65 TIMES more likely to get shot then kids in Great Britain.
"If we want change we need to start early, but they are raising the next generation of gun owners," the person continued. "There are 33,000 gun deaths each year, yet 91% of all Americans want background checks. This is what we need to be worried about. And thank you for starting the conversation! All of these statistics are from the Epic documentary, Under the Gun. I'd highly recommend watching it!"
That comment started a longer thread, with people trying to compare toy guns with toy cars. "two completely different comparisons," one person hit back. "cars are not made to kill, guns are … no judgment on @jessaseewald but I personally agree with the fact that guns should not be made into toys … your entitled to your opinion and so are the rest of us, no need for eye rolls."
One statistic roundup on guns and children shows that so far in 2020, "there have been unintentional shootings by over 220 children. This has resulted in 92 deaths and 135 injuries." The same data points to "around 77% of accidental gun deaths happen in the home," so it is a problem that's very real.
Jessa hasn't yet replied to any of the critiques in the comment section, and it's unlikely that she will.
