Jessa Duggar has shared a lot of what she thinks of her qualities as a wife.
Now, she is discussing her effectiveness as a parent.
To hear Jessa tell it, the messy state of her home is the fault of her children. And also her parenting style.
But she says that it’s a good thing … while insulting other parents who don’t “raise up” their children via “biblical parenting” like she does.
On social media, Jessa Duggar Seewald is putting secular parents, non-Christian religious parents, and even fellow Christian parents, on blast.
Why? Because they don’t practice what she calls “biblical parenting.”
This week, she discussed her kitchen and the general state of her home.
“With four young kids, sometimes it honestly feels easier to just do all the things myself,” Jessa admitted.
“Less mess, less time,” she explained, goes into simply doing a chore yourself as an adult.
“And,” Jessa went on, “less effort to teach the process.”
“But little kids are often eager to assist,” Jessa pointed out.
She is not wrong there. There is an entire line of toys devoted to giving kids tools to “help” basic chores.
“And these are opportunities to help them form positive habits,” Jessa went on.
So far, so good, right? This is when Jessa’s caption took a turn.
She noted that parents can teach children habits “of being helpful and seeking out ways to bless and serve others.”
Being helpful is a wonderful character trait. Serving others — personally, professionally, or spiritually — should be a choice.
“One practical way my older three love to work,” Jessa shared, “is making snacks for each other.”
She described: “Toasting bread and adding butter/jam, slicing oranges, and making their favorite — ‘slinky apples.'”
Because of Jessa’s cult upbringing and continued extreme fundamentalist views, she views simple chores through a very specific lens.
Jessa then quoted M is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood by Abbie Halberstadt.
“Learning to be helpful starts at a young age. Or at least it should…” the quote began.
Jessa continued: “Too often, our frustrations in this area stem from a paradoxical form of laziness that I’ve been tempted to adopt at times.
“It goes a little something like this,” read the quote.
Jessa’s quote then quoted: “‘Cleaning with kids is torture. I could do this so much faster myself. I’ll just plop them in front of some cartoons and get this sorted.’”
“There are times, especially with tiny children, when this is the only way the living room will get picked up,” the quote admitted.
At least, “before our in-laws walk in the door, and that’s fine.”
The quote went on: “But when it becomes our crutch, we have a problem.”
“Biblically excellent motherhood acknowledges that while allowing my children to play and be little is important,” the quote went on.
Jessa’s caption continued: “shirking my responsibility to teach them skills and attitudes.”
These are skills and attitudes “that will serve them and others well as they grow is wrong…”
Most of this makes sense, even if it’s framed in a very specific (fundamentalist Protestant Christian) way.
Then it gets downright unsettling.
“Training up the next generation of helpers may, in the beginning stage, feel like getting a root canal in while gargling rubbing alcohol,” Jessa quoted.
The quote concluded: “But the benefits — to them! to you! to others! — are manifold.”
The language of that last part does have some uncomfortable connotations.
To some, “training up” just means “raising” a child. To others, it is a euphemism for emotional and physical abuse.
But even if we ignore that particular turn of phrase — it was not, after all, Jessa’s own words — there’s an issue.
Jessa’s suggestion appears to be that Protestant Christian parenting is not simply her style, but the only style.
We know that, as a member of a fundamentalist cult, she of course feels that her way is the only acceptable way.
But it’s just rude to say it.
Jessa Duggar Insults Other Parents, Praises Her Own “Biblical Excellent … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip .