Wait, Can the Duggar Kids Not Even Regular-Hug Their Own Parents?

We learn something new about the Duggar family every day, and they just keep getting weirder! On May 13 they posted a video for Mother's Day where a few of the kids told Michelle Duggar why they appreciate her (as Jana, basically the real mom, stood by). The video is "awkward" for several reasons: it sounds scripted, everyone looks miserable, and, most imprtantly of all, fans have noticed that Michelle doesn't even front-hug her own children.

"K listen side hugging your children is bizarre and I don’t understand with or agree with anything this family does," said one commenter on the video. "Side hugs for mom too?!" asked another, while a third said, "weird side hugs her kids too." The family is famous for requiring their older children to only give members of the opposite sex a side-hug until their wedding day, with Jim Bob explaining, "A side hug is a good medium between super closeness and too distant." The reason for doing this is to avoid any premature sexual feelings, temptation, or moral lapses… so like, why can't Michelle hug her own children head-on?

The family has never said that this is a rule, but after doing it to several children in a row in the YouTube video, we started looking back to see if we could find any parental front-hugs. In several videos, Michelle hugs her kids from the side. This includes daughter Jordyn for her birthday, Josiah Duggar's fiancee Lauren Swanson when they announced their engagement, and Jill when she announced her second pregnancy. In these videos, Michelle doesn't hug her daughters' husbands, either. Even weirder? Jim Bob doesn't ever seem to hug his kids at all, side or otherwise.

However, it seems like the girls do hug other people. In a video from Joy-Anna's wedding, she lets a friend hug her with both arms, though she does kind of turn to the side. Jill and Derick both seem to cuddle, wrestle with, and hug both of their sons, but who knows if that will change when they get older. But truly, how sad to go through life never getting a real hug from your parents?

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