Long-time lurker, here. I have quite a lot to say and I really would like your responses/opinions on it. I have never been a minion but I have been a fan and I am slowly losing interest in the family, mostly because they don't really do anything interesting. A lot of the things here I agree with, don't get me wrong. But a lot of the times stuff you says here goes too far and I want to address a few things here.
-Any statement that B&M don't do _____ is fallacious. We see about 12 minutes or less of their day. In a 14 hour day, what we see in the vlog is less than 2% of their day. It's not fair to claim that they never play with Ollie, read to him, sing to him, teach him anything, let him play outside, etc. We don't know what happens the other 98%.
-Oliver's bedroom. I know you guys backed off this issue but I wanted to quickly jump in. It was mentioned that you wouldn't have been mad about it if they had given credit to Hobby Lobby in the first place, not "hiding" it. I want to mention that they DID say in the room reveal that they got most of the stuff from Hobby Lobby (10:20 in the tour itself as well as in the vlog the day before the room tour went up even moreso), before anyone originally accused them of stealing the idea. They never claimed it was their own concept anywhere. Also, all of Ollie’s toys are downstairs, including books in the white shelving unit which are at Ollie's level. Missy has ALWAYS loved reading to him as part of his nightly routine. Just because you don't see it, does not mean that it doesn't happen.
-Love. So many times here (I don't think it’s a popular opinion but I did want to address it), I've seen it implied or outright stated that B&M neglect or don't love their children. That's not fair in any respect. They love, cuddle, teach, read with, and take care of their son. Millions of children would be so lucky to have parents like them. Too many are abused or ACTUALLY neglected and it's heart wrenching.
-Appearance. This I don't understand. A lot of people claim that B&M are horrible, bitchy and rude people but then those same individuals call them fat, lazy, ugly, say they have bad skin, a wrinkly face, or have bad teeth. Making fun of the appearances of others is pretty rude and bitchy thing to do and just not necessary in my opinion.
-And finally, to everyone wishing that Missy has a hard, painful delivery or that Finley is 10lbs (or that B&M suffer any other physical harm) - that is not safe for either of them and if anyone wishes harm or pain to someone else you can't call yourself or act like a better person than B&M.
All of that said, I too, see a lot of things that bother me about the Lanning’s. Teaching Oliver wrong things (moose is a cow, peach is an apple, etc) the cultural insensitivity of the room design, the amount of TV Ollie is subjected to, the donation issue with the ranch and they could be doing more correcting on Ollie’s bad behaviour but ultimately they love their children and any implication that they don't isn't fair. I'm totally fine with discussion threads. I am a believer that if you put your life online as so many family vloggers do, they should be open and understanding of public criticism... but sometimes these criticisms are stretched into harassment and I don't think they are snarky, rude, or skeevy for getting rid of that negativity in the comments or replying to it with counter arguments (like replying to the blogger about the nursery decore).
Thanks for listening. I have the utmost respect for you all and I hope you won't just shun me because I have alternate opinions. Interested to hear what you guys have to say!
