What to Know
As Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar‘s kids have reached adulthood and started families of their own, each of them seem to have dropped hints about the way they’re doing things differently with their kids than their parents did with them — and sometimes, this comes with a decent amount of shade thrown their way. Joy-Anna Duggar‘s latest Instagram reel is all about celebrating the grandparents that her in-laws are to her kids, but at the same time, it seems to be a dig at her own parents, who aren’t mentioned in the video at all.
Joy posted about Austin’s parents while doing a popular social media trend.
In recent months, TikToks and Reels about your children having the kind of grandparents where you can bring them over without even needing a diaper bag because they’re so stocked up on everything the little ones need have been very popular, and now, it’s Joy’s turn to make a video for this trend.
Showing clips taken from around their house, we can see they have everything from sippy cups to toys to pack and plays at the ready for sleepovers — no easy task, considering that Joy’s three kids range in age from 8 to 2.
People are convinced she’s calling out her own parents at the same time.
And it wasn’t just the video that made them feel that way; it was the fact that her caption on the post seemed to be pointed, too: “Their house is always ready for little feet, snack breaks, toy messes, and sleepy grandbabies. Some people wear the title of Grandma & Grandpa… and some truly live it.”
This opened up a debate on Reddit about whether or not Joy was also saying (without actually saying) that her own parents don’t live the grandparent life and use it as a title only.
“It must be nice to actually see your kids have meaningful, personal relationships with their grandparents. Instead of on the Duggar side your grandparents might not even remember your name on the spot. They’ve got how many grandchildren now?” one person wrote. (More than 30. They have more than 30 grandchildren, BTW.)
Another added, “I strongly suspect Joy and Austin are more in contact with the Duggars so that Joy keeps access to her minor aged siblings and niblings and so that their kids aren’t isolated from their cousins than out of genuine love and trust and willingness.”
Joy’s kids do seem to spend the most time with Austin’s parents.
While Joy does appear to spend plenty of time with her side of the family around major holidays — and hangs out with her sisters and their kids regularly — anytime she and Austin have gone out of town without the kiddos, it seems like his parents are the ones they stay with while mom and dad are out of town.
To be fair, Jim Bob and Michelle do have a lot more grandkids than the average grandparent does, but maybe that means they’re missing out on forming deeper relationships with them along the way.
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