‘Welcome to Plathville’: Is Lydia Plath the Jana Duggar of the Plath Family?
Welcome to Plathville fans are worried about Lydia Plath. While her older siblings have broken away from their parents’ ultra-conservative lifestyle, Lydia has remained loyal to her mom Kim Plath and dad Barry Plath. The 17-year-old TLC star still lives at home, where she must obey Kim and Barry’s strict rules (such as giving them access to her text messages). She also regularly helps out around the house and cares for her four younger siblings: Isaac, Amber, Cassia, and Mercy.
The sweet-natured Lydia seems eager to please her parents and keep peace in her family. But some viewers think Barry and Kim are taking advantage of her daughter. They fear Lydia may eventually find herself in a position similar to Jana Duggar of Counting On.
Moriah Plath says Lydia Plath has a ‘huge burden’
Lydia takes on a lot of responsibility in the Plath household. It’s something others in the family have noticed, including her older sister Moriah Plath. In fact, when Moriah announced in the Welcome to Plathville Season 3 finale that she was moving to Florida, she made sure to remind her younger siblings to not take Lydia for granted.
“Guys just help Lydia out with the housework,” Moriah said. “She’s the oldest and she’s taking care of all of you guys really well. And she has a huge burden.”
However, Kim pushed back on the idea that Lydia was shouldering more than she could handle. She said that Lydia had few required chores.
“She has no household requirements at all,” Kim said.
The ‘Welcome to Plathville’ star has some things in common with Jana Duggar of ‘Counting On’
On Welcome to Plathville, fans have seen how Lydia steps in to care for her brothers and sisters. In that way, she has a lot in common with Jana Duggar of the now-canceled Counting On.
Like Lydia, Jana often takes charge of her younger brothers and sisters. And though many of her younger siblings have gotten married and started families of their own, the 31-year-old is single still lives with her parents.
Many followers of the Duggar family have speculated that Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar don’t want Jana to get married and instead would rather have her live at home where she can help with the kids (and perhaps care for them when they are older). Some Welcome to Plathville viewers suspect something similar is going on with Lydia and her parents.
“I really think they just don’t want her to leave because she’s the one who does most of the chores…,” one person commented on a recent TLC Instagram post.
“Lydia is the new Jana,” another person wrote on a different Instagram post.
Some fans fear Lydia will end up in an unhealthy relationship
If Lydia does leave home, some Welcome to Plathville fans fear she’ll end up in an unhealthy relationship. They think her parents have done enough to teach her to stand up for herself and are so controlling that they make her feel guilt over normal feelings, like her desire to exchange text messages with a boy she had a crush on.
“I would be very worried about Lydia,” one person commented on Instagram. “They put too much pressure on her. This can cause a lot of anxiety which can cause a lot of problems.“
“They haven’t given Lydia the skills to navigate the world or relationships in a healthy way,” another wrote. “She is at risk of entering into an unhealthy, rigid, controlling relationship.”
Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook!
