One of the nice things that we can say about Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard is that they break Jim Bob’s rules.
Now, Jill is letting her sons watch a Christmas movie that’s about as secular as you can get while, you know, being about Christmas.
She’s having the "date night" with her sons while Derick is off studying for finals.
In a video that Jill Duggar shared with her fans, she has a "date night" with her boys.
"Getting ready to make some popcorn, yay!" Jill says in an attempt to drum up enthusiasm.
Neither Israel or Sam seep especially jazzed during the video.
They have pretty good excuses, though.
Israel apparently just awoke from a nap, so he seems a little out of it.
And Samuel is, um, a literal baby, just rolling around on the kitchen floor one a onesie. Like babies do.
Once Jill announces that they’ll be watching "All I Want For Christmas Is You," Israel seems interested.
In fact, he sounds downright impatient for the film to begin.
(Remember, children perceive time differently than adults do — a few minutes can stretch on for them but pass in the blink of an eye for us)
Jill tells him that they’ll make popcorn first.
Samuel seems pretty indifferent to all of it. But, again, he’s just a baby.
Derick is not present in the video.
Jill explains that he is at a coffee shop studying for his exams.
Derick, as you may recall, is now a law student.
In addition to concerns about him possibly using his degree to become the opposite of a civil right’s attorney, fans note that this leaves Jill to parent alone for hours on end.
But hey, at least this way he’ll have a real job and he and Jill won’t need to beg fans for donations.
What was particularly interesting about this is Jill’s choice in a movie for her boys.
"All I Want For Christmas Is You" is a CGI film named after the classic song by the same name.
According to Wikipedia, the premise is: "Young Mariah desperately wants a puppy for Christmas but her parents are not convinced that she should have one."
The plot continues: "They agree to let Mariah dog-sit the puppy Jack and if she can take care of Jack then she can have a dog of her very own."
None of that has anything directly to do with Jesus.
As we said, it’s about as secular as a movie about Christmas can be.
This flies in the face of Jim Bob’s mandate that his family not consume secular entertainment.
And, honestly, it’s a relief to a lot of fans who hope that the Duggar grandchildren will have a shot at a normal life.
Their parents never had a chance, but maybe they will — even if notorious transphobe Derick Dillard is their dad.
This isn’t the first time that Israel and Sam have gotten to enjoy something that wasn’t "on message."
Jill and Derick have also allowed their chlldren to watch the popular cartoon, Peppa Pig.
Notably, Peppa has been controversial even in the secular world.
In Australia, an episode was pulled because the spider-friendly message that was important in the US and UK could be dangerous for Aussie children.
And China has banned certain videos of Peppa Pig on the grounds that the show’s imagery has been co-opted as a "gangster" symbol.
Still, the show is popular because it’s mostly wonderful for very young children to watch.
It’s great to see that Jill and Derick are opening up their kids to new experiences.
Having faith can be wonderful, but it is not a betrayal to enjoy media that is unrelated.
We will say that it’s kind of funny to watch people watching Christmas movies when it’s not even Thanksgiving yet.
Perhaps a lack of entertaining children’s movies about Thanksgiving is to blame.