Jinger Duggar On Passing This Duggar Tradition To The Kids

Jinger Duggar and her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, are opening up about adopting a Duggar family value to instill in their own kids.

The pair recently dished on their parenting choices, reflecting on family traditions they upheld as kids that shaped their adulthood.

Although Jinger has since denounced her childhood upbringing for harmful teachings, she still believes some lessons, like not watching Disney movies, are still valuable.

In a recent episode of “The Jinger and Jeremy” Podcast, Jinger and Vuolo explained their decision not to allow their children to watch all Disney movies.

During the discussion, Jinger explained how her family didn’t allow them to watch Disney movies growing up.

“Magic was something that they – I think it makes sense as a Christian why you would want to avoid that,” she said. She emphasized that instead of “Disney” films, they watched Christian and Bible stories.

Jinger recalled that there was one time she was allowed to choose a few films from the Disney store, and the family settled on “The Shaggy D.A.” and “Herbie the Lovebug.” However, she noted they would never have been allowed to watch movies like “Fantasia.”

Although Jinger was not allowed to watch Disney growing up, she plans to pass this tradition on to her kids, though in a more subtle and flexible way.

The mother of three said she and her husband, Jeremy, try to stay away from screens in general. However, she will let their children watch shows like PBS’s Franklin or Curious George.

“I like the slower-paced movies, the older movies, even older Disney movies,” Jinger said. “It’s kind of fun to let the kids watch that,” she added, emphasizing what her children will be allowed to watch.

Still, Jinger mentioned that there is one Disney princess movie she will not let her children watch. Although she couldn’t remember the name, she said it “goes into voodoo.”

“It’s like the green princess dress. I don’t even remember her name, but it’s with the frog and the princess dress. Is it Tiana? I don’t even know,” she said, referencing “The Princess and the Frog.”

She added that when it comes to Mickey Mouse and magical themes, it’s mostly harmless, and she would allow her kids to watch those.

After discussing what shows their kids will be allowed to watch, the couple also shared their concerns about the messages in some Disney movies.

“I heard a parent talking the other day about the princess themes of Disney movies and how, if you really think about it, Disney characters, like the main characters in Disney movies, are rewarded for disobeying their parents,” Jeremy said, suggesting that Disney movies promote disobedience.

He further emphasized his concern about how parents in these films often show up at the end to praise the characters, even after acts of disobedience. 

For this reason, the couple concluded that their children will not be watching those types of Disney movies.

It may come as a surprise that Jinger is adopting parts of her family traditions, especially considering she once criticized how much fear those traditions brought into her childhood.

In 2023, the “19 Kids & Counting” star detailed how she grew up under the “harmful” and “damaging” teachings of Gothard, per The Blast.

Vuolo’s parents, Jim Bob, 57, and Michelle Duggar, 56, were devout followers of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, which the disgraced minister led until his sexual harassment scandal.

“Fear was a huge part of my childhood,” Jinger said, explaining that she had no liberty to make decisions on her own.