19 Kids & Counting: This is Garbage

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I have tried to support the Duggars and their growing family. I haven't argued that the series should be canceled or renewed, but the time has come for the show to die. Nothing is airing in any order, bits and pieces are repeated, and the recycled storylines have gotten entirely too tired. I'm betting that the only reason new episodes are showing up is because JimBob finagled a deal when Michelle was pregnant with Jubilee, and the production company is fulfilling that as cheaply as possible... like not filming anything extra and using scraps from the cutting room floor to finish off this season. Now, I'm not opposed to specials airing every now and then about the Duggar clan, especially as the older children marry and become parents themselves, but the ongoing junk has got to stop. If TLC was with the family in Asia or not (that was a recent trip the family took but has been keeping somewhat under-wraps), I'll take those episodes, but the same ol', same ol' is something that I can no longer tolerate.

19 Kids and Counting "Busy Duggars" (S06E17): Michelle opens with being sad over Jubilee. again. [why not some comments about how long she mourned over JCaleb? you know, the miscarried baby that caused Michelle and JimBob to become quiverful in the first place?] We see some homeschooling, like how the children ages 4-7 do phonics daily with Michelle, and how Johannah works on her penmanship.

Some of the boys ask Jill if they can shoot BB guns at cans and bottles.

Jonathan and Jennifer are there again/still, so they accompany JimBob when he takes some of the kids hiking and fishing. [haha, JimBob has no idea what moss does.] Part of the hike is on Grandma's property and she's never been all over it because of how overgrown it is. [odd, no?] Family friend Heidi is also on this day trip. [is she the woman to whom Johannah was writing her thank-you letter? and where are all of the other older Duggar girls besides Jana?]

Joy Anna has been driving for about six months and struggles with speeding.

The family plans a special event for Grandma Duggar and invite over Cousin Amy to help. They make cookies, do a facial, give her a foot massage and a mani/pedi, play soothing music, and bring her chocolates.

19 Kids and Counting "A Duggar on her Own" (S06E18): It's a nice day out so the family decides to go for a bike ride. But not just a regular ride on bikes. [of course not...] They realize that some of their bikes need repair, so they load up all of them and bring them to a shop... but then they see those multiple-people bike cars and get three of those for the family to use, which are okay except when it comes to the hills. [hahaha, I recently rode one of those for the first time when I was in Austria. kinda fun.]

TLC

Michael turned one in June, and Josh and Anna are actively hoping for more children. [this is only noteworthy because later episodes have him at just 11 months.] Anna takes the kids to the library, and Mackynzie struggles to pick just two to borrow. [Anna and Josh just look things up online so they aren't familiar with the local library scene. so much so that Anna doesn't even have a library card. and what was with Anna being asked to read aloud on her first time to the storytime group??]

Jana heads out for Journey to the Heart to lead groups for two weeks at a time. The family says goodbye to her at home and just JimBob goes to take her to the airport. Jana is shown at the retreat, leading the girls, calling home, and talking to the girls, who seem to love her.

19 Kids and Counting "Grand Ole Duggars" (S06E19): The family was invited to help with an outreach program where you do laundry with people. [interesting mission project...] Some of the older girls do nail painting, others serve food, some load quarters, fold clothing, etc. [haha! Grandma wouldn't ride with JoyAnna until she had been driving for four months.] The family certainly knows the mountain that can become laundry because Grandma spent a week away and the household's laundry got out of control. [what's with the huge focus on Grandma??]

ATI has an HQ in Nashville, so when they have a conference, the four oldest girls speak about "relationships with siblings, parents, God, guys, friends, and the fear of the future." Jana talks about an issue she had with Jessa when they were younger - she gave Jessa something important to her (a jewelery box) on good faith and to show love. [I just gave this scene a weird look.] At the Grand Ole Opry (oh, and by the way, Jonathan and Jennifer are with them), the family takes a tour of the Opry, sings "Amazing Grace" onstage for nobody, and tours the Gaylord Opryland Resort, where they take a boat ride.

19 Kids and Counting "Hunting and House Guests" (S06E20): Priscilla and David visit the Duggars. [Joy wearing a Gators shirt.] Josh and David are very competitive, when it comes to everything from on musical instruments (David on violin and Josh on piano) to sports (including unicycles and handstands). [holy cow looking at Josh on the couch made him look HUGE!]

Some neighbors of the Duggars bring over some Popeyes. [really? He bought all of that in the drive-thru line??] The neighbor then share that they'll take the Duggars hunting for turkeys. [Jinger's hair is different... not as frizzy, bigger curls, more separated?] They get up at 5am to rain, and a large portion of the family slept on the bus overnight, letting them leave only 15 minutes late instead of like two hours late. [haha!] Justin forgot to bring shoes so they have to pick some up in Northern Missouri. [this sounds like a ridiculous problem.] Michelle stayed home with the five youngest kids, plus two of the older ones didn't go (Josh and John-David, maybe?). They broke up into small groups, like JimBob and Jinger, Joseph and Josiah. After four hours, the father-daughter pair hear a gobbler but he doesn't come within range. BUT, the brothers have turkeys come right in front of them and they each give shooting a try, bagging both birds.

19 Kids and Counting "Baby Steps" (S06E21): We see how verbal Mackynzie can be, and Anna thinks that Michael is close to walking at 11 months, even though Mack didn't walk until 13 months (on a trip to visit Anna's parents, actually.] Michael takes his first steps at the car lot.

They recently got a kitten, Domino, which Mack picks up and plays with. They did have a cat for a while in 2010, but it became an outdoor cat and disappeared.

The Kellers are visiting, so JimBob and Michelle meet them for some bowling. Michelle forgot socks, so she gets some from a vending machine. JimBob, of course, makes a competition out of it, and they play with bumpers, plus the kids use an alligator ramp to make the balls roll. [I had never seen one of those before!] JimBob and Mrs. Keller tie with 118 for the lead, but in the end, JimBob knocks down one more pin.

Josh talks about having a few mechanics, a few detailers, and a few salesmen. We see him try to work out a deal on a trade, but notsomuch.

19 Kids and Counting "Kittens & Konstruction" (S06E22): JimBob and some of the children were coming back from Nashville when they saw kittens being given away. They called and asked Michelle, who was iffy on one but allowed two, even thought they already have an adult cat. Michelle makes certain times of day off-limits to give the kittens a break. [I can only imagine how badly that's needed!] They end up with three more when one of the houses they were working on had some living in the installation. [I wonder if that's where Josh and Anna got Domino...] At first, they slept in a pitcher to stay warm. [precious!] They nurse the kittens by hand every three hours, making "orphan mix" consisting of 1 can pet milk, 1 can water, 1 egg yolk, 1 Tablespoon Karo Syrup, and 1 tablespoon 7-Up. Michelle and a couple of the boys take the kittens to the vet, and they're all doing okay, including "Stubby," whose tail seems to have been bitten off. One of the electricians finds another kitten but he keeps that one.

The family works on the house some more, cleaning the property, pruning the landscape, chipping wood, etc.

We hear from John-David that he's now half-way done with cleaning up the bank's property after several months. JimBob talks to JohnDavid about getting married and moving into that house, but JohnDavid thinks it will be a few more years yet.