After years of blindly doing everything her parents say, Jill Duggar has developed a fondness for breaking with family tradition.
Sure, the change is largely a result of Derick Dillard’s feud with Jim Bob Duggar, but it seems the Dillards have been planning to go their own way for a while now.
For example, the Duggars love homeschooling, and Jill and her siblings all did their book learnin’ at the compound.
But Jill and Derick revealed last year that they will not be homeschooling their two sons.
The decision received a mixed response from fans at the time, and it seems many of Jill’s followers are still inexplicably upset by her plan to ensure that her children receive the best education possible.
One fan has resorted to flat-out begging Jill not to send her kids to school – and the situation is every bit as weird as it sounds.
“Public schools are indoctrination centers for evil. I call them farms for the elite,” the fan recently commented on Jill’s personal website.
“Please don’t send your children to public school! Homeschool them.”
“Poor Israel. This honestly breaks my heart.”
The comment was in response to a blog post Jill wrote revealing that she and Derick had recently registered their 4-year-old son Israel for kindergarten.
“This week we went and got Israel registered for kindergarten,” she wrote.
“It’s hard to believe he will be five this year! We have already been homeschooling him some, but decided it would be fun to let him go to kindergarten this year.”
“It’s extra special because it’s the same school district Derick enrolled in over 25 years ago.”
Obviously, Jill would be fully justified if she had decided to lash out at the fan who sought to spoil the occasion by accusing her of shipping her son off to a brainwashing center for future heathens.
But she opted for a far more diplomatic approach:
“Thank you for your concern,” she wrote.
“We do try to prayerfully consider each step we take and not just run on autopilot,” the 28-year-old wrote.
Thankfully, most of Jill’s commenters were far more supportive.
“I’m a kindergarten teacher and it’s such a wonderful experience for children,” one fan wrote.
“Don’t get me wrong, homeschooling is awesome, but I sure do love my job and the friends I share it with! He’s going to [love] it, you will too!” the supporter added.
Look, it’s easy to believe that what worked for your kids is the best approach for every kid.
Or that you know what’s best for a stranger’s children, simply because you watch the family on a reality show once a week.
But the fact is, the only ones who know what’s best for Jill and Derick’s kids are Jill and Derick.
Besides, if you really want to roast the Dillards, there are so many legitimate reasons to do so.
Let’s not drag their kids into it.
