It’s all falling apart for Jim Bob and Michellle Duggar.
In very public and embarrassing fashion.
Ain’t it a shame?!?
What’s that? It’s not a shame? It’s the complete and total opposite of a shame, in fact? Good point.
The parents of 19 spent years trying to pretend as if they had it all figured out.
As if their strict and controlling and allegedly religious philosophies were the only way to raise a close-knit and godly family.
Heck, they likely had a whole bunch of people fooled for a long time, too, as TLC aired a reality show that depicted the Duggars as if they represented some kind of model unit.
But then it came out that Josh Duggar had molested his own sisters and cheated on his wife and that his parents had helped to cover up the former heinous act… and it’s been a mess for Jim Bob and Michelle ever since.
Most recently and most terribly, of course, Josh got arrested on child pornography charges and TLC severed ties with the Duggars at last and now the entire world is in on the not-so-well-hidden secret:
Jim Bob has only ever been in this for fame and fortune.
Several months before Josh was taken into federal custody, Derick Dillard leveled this accusation against his father-in-law, claiming Jim Bob pocketed almost all the money his kids made from their multiple TLC programs.
A short time later, Jill Duggar echoed her husband’s sentiments and went public with her estrangement from her mom and dad.
This is all a very long-windeed way of saying that Jill and Derick celebrated their son’s fourth birthday this weekend.
They did so with some loved ones in attendance, too, as Jana Duggar reunited with her sister and James Duggar also stopped by.
"We had a blast hosting a last minute water block party on the front lawn with some neighborhood friends while the kids took turns testing the hoses and checking out the fire truck!" wrote Jill on Instagram.
It didn’t take long for followers to notice, however, that two people were noticeably absent from the festivities.
"I guess the parent Duggar’s choose not to be grandparents to these boys," wrote one observers.
"What a shame they are like that what with all the family values they talk about. Sorry, Jill.
"You don’t need those kinds of people in your lives. At least Jana was allowed to go."
Jill read the comment and clarified why Jim Bob and Michelle weren’t at the party.
She said it was very simple: They weren’t invited!
"The fire truck birthday was just something we worked out between us and James. My parents always send or bring gifts for the boys’ birthdays," she wrote.
"We’ve had to put some boundaries in place over time for ourselves as learn to navigate life and work toward healing and restoration. They aren’t always invited to everything and vice versa."
Gotta admire the candor, don’t you?
Jill hasn’t held back when it comes to her parents for a long time now.
Heck, she even admitted that Jim Bob and Michelle pressure their kids to just crank out as many children as humanly possible, a fact everyone has simply assumed to be true for decades.
But which has now been confirmed by someone who knows welll.
"Growing up, it was ingrained in me that if you don’t have as many kids as you’re able to, that there’s something wrong with that," Jill told People Magazine this summer.
"But there was a shift in me," she thankfully added, explaining it was a shift "where I felt like it wasn’t wrong if you decide as a couple that it’s best for you to wait."
What a novel concept, right?!?
Let’s hope and pray the other Duggar women soon arrive at it themselves some day soon, as well.