Michelle Duggar’s Comments Under Fire After ‘Shiny Happy People’ Peels Back IBLP ‘Buddy System’
Duggar family fans are furious over Michelle Duggar’s vintage “buddy” comments seen in Prime Video’s Shiny Happy People documentary. Longtime viewers know that the Duggar family employs a buddy system where older offspring watch out for younger siblings. However, this particular method of IBLP parenting has come under fire after several key issues were raised in the docuseries.
Michelle Duggar shared the IBLP’s parenting style on the family’s TLC series
Longtime followers of the Duggar family are familiar with the family’s “buddy system.” It was discussed at length in several of their TLC series, including 17 Kids and Counting, 18 Kids and Counting, and 19 Kids and Counting.
In the Prime Video series Shiny Happy People, Michelle was seen discussing this parenting method in a vintage TLC clip. She explains how her family functions properly with only one mother and 19 children.
“My older children help to care for the younger children,” Michelle explained. “When the baby is born, it’s my buddy until it’s weaned. And then from there, it goes to the other buddy, whoever’s turn it is to get a buddy.”
According to a passage in the Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar-penned book The Duggars: 20 and Counting, the idea of the system was to allow for a “servant’s heart.” This methodology correlating household work to the IBLP’s teaching was standard throughout the Duggar family’s TLC series.
Michelle Duggar’s buddy comments in ‘Shiny Happy People’ draw ire from viewers
In a post from Reddit’s Duggar Snark thread, viewers looked at Michelle Duggar’s comments with fresh eyes. After watching Shiny Happy People, they have a different perspective on this controversial parenting method.
One Reddit user wrote, “Their ‘jurisdictions’ of housework also. Those girls were doing more work than the typical grownup does. And they weren’t allowed to complain, slack off, or otherwise show a lack of contentment. No, it was ‘servant’s heart’ all the way.”
“Seeing it all these years later and realizing how young Jessa was when tasked with all that laundry. Seeing those girls work while the boys lie around. It’s disturbing,” claimed a second Shiny Happy People viewer.
“And with their baby ‘buddies,’ they aren’t even getting a good night’s sleep. Those poor girls,” penned a third Reddit user.
“Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I feel it would be much harder to care for a toddler than a newborn. All Michelle had to do was breastfeed and change diapers for 1 or 2 newborns while the daughters had to wrangle a bunch of kids, toddlers, and babies, and they had to do all the cooking and cleaning too! It’s so cruel what they went through,” noted a fourth docuseries in their online comments.
What does the Duggar buddy system entail?
Per the book The Duggar Family: 20 and Counting, the buddy system utilized by the family is described in detail. Michelle Duggar shares how the system works and how she believes her children look forward to having their buddies.
“Children age eight and up look forward to being a big buddy. That means they’re finally old enough to have a little buddy assigned to them,” Michelle wrote in the book.
She continued, “Big sisters on the buddy team get to help by buckling the baby into the van, helping with bath time, fixing hair, and picking out outfits. Having those extra sets of hands and eyes helping tend t the younger children are such a blessing to mom and dad.”
At age 11, Joy-Anna Duggar discussed the buddy system in the book’s sidebar. She wrote, “We help one another with our jurisdiction, music, and homeschool lessons. And it helps us develop a servant’s heart, one of the Christlike characteristics we’ve studied.”
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets is now streaming on Prime Video.
