Over the course of their many years in the spotlight, the Duggar family has frequently been criticized for the unorthodox fashion in which they choose to raise their children.
Some of this criticism is unfounded, such as when Jessa Duggar was chastised for living too close to a freeway, and thus -- her detractors claimed -- putting her children in harm's way.
The days are getting shorter, the never-used golf clubs and camping equipment are gathering dust, and the nagging sense that you're wasting the best years of your life withering away under the harsh glare of fluorescent lights in a cubicle that seems to get smaller by the day is growing more profound.
This can only mean one thing -- autumn is upon us.
All good things must come to an end, as the old saying goes. In other news, all reality TV shows eventually run their course.
Whether you love, hate or love to hate them, it's been over a decade on TLC for the Duggars, a mightily impressive streak.
In the last decade, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's children have undoubtedly made something of a career out of reality TV stardom.
But at what cost? Their entire identities.
Often when the fine denizens of the internet are spewing invective against reality stars in some sort of online forum the phrase "get a real job" is bandied about.
Far be it for us to defend the Kardashians and Snookis of the world -- people who could buy and sell us despite never having set foot in an office in their adult lives -- but life as a reality star can actually be quite demanding.
By now, we're all very familiar with the very strict courting rules that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar apply to all their children.
No kissing before marriage. No public displays of affection at all. No revealing outfits. And so on and so forth.
Even the most ardent defender of Jim Bob Duggar (if such a thing exists) would likely concede that the best word to describe the reality star's involvement in his daughters' love lives is "creepy."
Don't get us wrong, JB exercises far too much control over his son's lives, as well (except, of course, in Josh's case, but that's a conversation for another time).
If you're a fan of her family's reality show, then you're probably aware that Michelle Duggar is a mother of 20.
(She and husband Jim Bob adopted their nephew, Tyler Duggar last year.)
We're about to take you back to the dark days before Josiah Duggar began rebelling against his father's strict rules and harsh disciplinary tactics.
We're talking way, way back to a time when no Duggar women wore pants -- a time when if you wanted to find someone with the last name Duggar who wasn't completely under Jim Bob's thumb, you had to leave the Tontitown compound and travel to the Fayetteville home of Ms. Amy Duggar-King.
