Thursday, September 7, 2017

'Courtship, Kiddos and Future Sons-In-Law' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "Courtship, Kiddos and Future Sons-In-Law?"
  • The Bates are packing for a four-day trip to Adventures on the Gorge in West Virginia. The Websters won’t be able to make it, and neither will Josie, who is finishing up summer school. “Carlin is really excited about Evan coming,” says Callie.
  • As far as Tori knows, Bobby is not able to make it, as he had something come up at work.
  • “You know, when the kids were little and there was only one mom and one dad and one car…it was a lot easier,” says Gil. “Now, we’ve got kids everywhere, and we’ve gotta take two cars at two different times because of everybody’s responsibilities.”
  • When Evan arrives, Carlin has to fight her dad and the little kids to get the first hug.  Evan’s sister Kailyn comes along, as well.
  • When Kelly and the first batch of Bates arrives at the resort, Kelly, Tori, and a few others walk into the lobby to check in. “Tori was a little bit mopey,” says Jackson. “She was probably sad that Bobby wasn’t going to be there.” But Tori's mood is about to change...
  • As they enter the lobby, a man at the front desk turns around to help them, and it’s Bobby! Tori is elated and incredibly surprised. “It totally blew her away,” says Kelly. “I knew about it, and I was still impressed.”
  • After arriving at their cabins, Kelly and the kids enjoy an outdoor picnic lunch, complete with ice cream. “All of them brought their boyfriends, so I brought mine,” Katie tells Kelly, holding two containers of ice cream.
  • The following day, Tori and Bobby volunteer to babysit Judson, energetic Jeb, and the grandkids, while everyone else heads to the ropes course. “If it had been Jeb first, it would have been a one-child family,” says Zach.
  • “I’ve been excited about proposing to Tori for a long time,” says Bobby. While babysitting, he and Tori enjoy talking about their future (and the kids that they expect to have sooner rather than later).
  • Kelly is quite nervous about the ropes course. “The problem was, I had just enough pride in me that even if I was scared to death, I knew I had to try,” says the mom of 19.
  • During the time at the ropes course, Evan pulls Gil, Kelly, and Carlin aside for a courtship conversation. “I’m pretty nervous about talking to Mr. and Mrs. Bates about the courtship because I don’t know what they’re going to say,” admits Evan.
  • After they sit down, Evan asks for permission to start making plans to enter an official courtship some time over the summer. Gil and Kelly start by discussing the primary purposes of courtship (keeping God at the center and maintaining purity). “If it doesn’t work out, I want to make sure that both of you can still be friends [and] can leave the relationship with no guilt,” says Gil. “Whoever you’re going to marry is probably out there somewhere. If it’s Carlin, that’s great, but it may not be.”
  • “I do like Evan,” Gil tells viewers, “I think he’s a great guy, but I don’t know that Carlin’s grown up enough yet.”

16 comments:

  1. I haven't seen the episode yet to hear the tone used,"...but I don’t know that Carlin’s grown up enough yet,” sounds really harsh.

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    1. I'm actually impressed that they are not pushing the relationship to progress too fast. They see Carlin every day and we only see snippets of her life. I'm sure they have a better sense of how mature she is. I've come to see courtship as being similar to what we called "going steady" or "being exclusive" in my day. Perhaps Gil and Kelly have seen that treating this stage of a relationship as inevitably resulting in an engagement can create expectations that may not be fulfilled.

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    2. Me too I'm impressed too that they don't rush to get married like the Duggars. Being in a relationship for a few years before getting married is great!

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  2. My prayers go out to Alyssa, John & babies & the Webster families during the impending storm.
    BE safe.

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  3. I agree - Alyssa was VERY young when she married.
    They are very different in the eye of (fans) us, but it could do a lot of damage not to give them permission to court - after all, courting is JUST for getting to know each other.

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    1. Courting is not JUST getting to know each other. It follows the getting to know each other stage. It is figuring out whether or not to marry this person. Serious step, indeed.

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  4. I don't see how Carlin isn't grown up enough to court. She's 19 and a half, and Alyssa was only 19 when she got married. Carlin could very well have a long courtship like Tori which would make her 20 or 21 when she did eventually get married. I guess everyone matures at different rates and her father would know her maturity level, but I think he's just messing with them and next week we'll hear him give them the green light.

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    1. Carlin is very immature, not being rude, just honest

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    2. Alyssa also falls more to the older end of the kids. Youngest of the older girls/oldest of the middle girls. That can make you more mature at a certain age.

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  5. It might be harsh, but I have to agree with Gil. As much as I love Carlin (she does seem like a real sweetheart), she’s gotten more giddy and goofy lately, and her whole “let’s be funny” “like, totally” attitude seems to make her act more immature than I’m sure she is. Though I don’t know her, and I doubt the show gives a complete picture of who she is, if she were my 19 year old daughter, I wouldn’t mind letting her grow up a little and get a more serious picture of what she wants out of life before she made such a big step. And, having seen Gil’s love for his daughters, I’m sure he probably didn’t put it in a unfeeling way. He genuinely seems to want what’s best for his daughters, younger and older. 😊

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  6. Oh my heart sunk a bit. I'm hoping Evan says he's willing to take time and wait till Gil feels they're ready to court. Great and wonderful things come to those who wait.
    The cabins are cute. I'm sure they will have a great time. Rope trail kind of freaked me out a bit but they all did good.
    Looking forward to next week's episode.

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  7. it is nice to see the Bates parents look at each child as an individual. Alyssa was only 19 when she got married but Carlin is a different person so her 19 years does not necessarily bring her to the same maturity. With so many kids, it's refreshing to know they know each one well enough to make these advisory decisions.

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  8. Gil and Kelly are such wise parents. I also appreciate how they direct each child according to who they are as an individual.

    It seems like they really pray for wisdom to guide them according to God's plan for their individual lives.

    I really appreciate their godly example.

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  9. Carlin is a sweet girl and a wonderful Christian:) But, I think it would be good for her and Evan to wait a while for marriage. They both are still so young.

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  10. Were Tori and Bobby watching the babies unsupervised? I know they weren't alone but toddlers aren't old enough to be chaperones. If Gil and Kelly trusted them enough to be unchaperoned, good for them. The chaperone thing drives me nuts; either you trust your kid to make good decisions or you don't. You shouldn't have to monitor them.

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    1. The camera crew were good enough chaperones, I am sure 😄

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