Duggar Buddy Teams: Proof Eldest Sisters Raised Younger Siblings

If you know anything about the Duggar family and their buddy teams, then you're aware that Michelle and Jim Bob have long stepped back when it comes to hands-on parenting their gigantic brood. Established in 2001, it placed the older girls with litters of littler Duggars to "help out" when the couple wasn't available. And um, thinking about the buddy system now, it kind of seems like the Duggar girls did more mothering than their actual mother did sometimes!

Of course, we could also interpret the Duggar buddy system as longterm maternal training for the Duggar women, although that's a theory for another day. It is worth noting that although only the four eldest girls (Jana, Jill, Jessa and Jinger) were buddy leaders for a few solid years, with Joy-Anna reluctantly stepping in when Jill moved out. Technically, Josh at one point was a buddy leader too.

…it's probably fine that they phased him out of that role.

In any case, we're looking back and it really does seem that the little kids were raised up by a series of Sister-Moms. Scroll down for the receipts.

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Joy-Anna has literally admitted that Jill raised her.

The oldest of Jill's buddies, Joy-Anna was upset when Jill left the compound to marry Derick, noting that Jill had "always taken care of [her]." Strong emphasis on "always" there — Jill has admitted in the past that she used to change Joy's diapers. That in itself is a huge responsibility for an older sibling, but considering the not-too-large gaps in their ages, that means Jill was changing her sister's diapers at 7 years old.

Likewise, Jill has pretty much raised Jenni, who looked devastated when Jill moved out.

Little Jennifer Duggar is not looking happy in this picture from Jill's bridal shower, and it's no surprise. Jill and Jenni are particularly close. When the sensitive child was frightened by a rambunctious horse, it was Jill she went to for comfort. It's also worth noting that Jenni is never really pictured one-on-one with her mom Michelle, though there's one particular group photo where she's looking especially detached. Hmmm.

Joy-Anna was carrying the burden of her younger siblings as a child — literally.

Joy-Anna is born in a precarious place on the Duggar continuum; she's the ninth of 19 children, which solidly makes her a smack-dab-in-the-middle child. As a result, she was formally Jill's buddy, but also had to take care of her younger siblings when Jim Bob and Michelle weren't watching. In the TV special 14 Kids and Pregnant Again, six-year-old Joy-Anna is seen carrying one of her baby brothers around…several times.

Jessa, not Michelle, was the one comforting 2-year-old Jordyn during her trip to the dentist.

The most heartbreaking part of this is before they leave, seemingly often-neglected Jordyn's chanting, "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" And yet when the terrified toddler is getting her x-rays done, Michelle is solidly off-camera. Instead, it's big sister Jessa by her side, comforting the panicking child through her pictures.

When Jackson got lost at Newark Liberty International Airport, Jana was the one who comforted him.

Dude, Jim Bob and Michelle didn't even realize he was missing. Jim Bob remarks that they were just living their lives and "Scott the cameraman" heard an announcement over the loudspeaker about a missing boy named Jackson. Woops. Sure enough, the hysterical child ran to his buddy, Jana, while Jim Bob and Michelle joked with the cameras about the whole thing. A+, guys.

So can we just admit that Jana is more Mary Poppins than Cinderella?

Let's face facts: the eldest and unmarried Duggar sister is more of a mom than all of the kids who actually have children. She's stepped in with bringing up Josh's quintet of M-named kids, with Anna admitting that, "she'll be helping with diapers, feeding the other kids, and just generally being a godsend as we've come to expect." And after Jessa gave birth to little Spurgeon, it was Jana at the baby's bedside while her sister rested up.

But this is nothing compared to the way Jana, for decades, has taken care of her younger siblings. As the oldest daughter, she was frequently left in charge (with the very-occasional help of Grandma Duggar) when Michelle and Jim Bob were out of town. We still remember how the terrified girl stepped up when Josie had a seizure. It's no wonder that she's nicknamed "The Baby Whisperer."

And nowadays, Jana's full-on taken up the role of raising the little Duggars, and some people suspect that keeping Jana around and unmarried is intentional. "Jim Bob and Michelle have been known to go out on date night and leave all the kids at home with Jana in charge of the house," a Radar Online insider revealed. "They'll be gone for hours, and she has to watch over everyone. She does it with a smile, but it’s sad. It’s not like she ever gets a date night!" Guys, there's a reason why when Mother's Day rolled around, Jana, not Michelle, was the one getting praised by Duggar fans.

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