Fasting with the Maxwells.

[treemom]

And the argument was over whether cats or dogs were better.

Was it really?

[PrairieGirl]

Midwesterner here. How in the name of all that is pagan have I never heard of Pizza Ranch? Have I been living under a rock? GASP! Have I been living a sheltered Maxwellian life? :cry:

[nelliebelle1197]

Was it really?

Yes. It really was.

[treemom]

Yes. It really was.

Every time I think there is no possible way that I could find out anything more ridiculous about the Maxwells, someone surprises me. So they had the sort of fight that is completely normal at that age among siblings and the punishment was basically to not eat. I hate Steve so much.

[Peas n carrots]

Jesus. Sarah is my age and has never been able to make her own food choices or plan her own menu or grocery shop to her preferences. I just can't imagine.....

It's little things like that that make me worry about the Maxwell Spinsters (Stevehovah isn't going to let his girls go...EVER). When he passes they are going to be presented with a world of choices, and they are going to be unprepared with how to make decisions.

Even if they were married, unless they married their father's clone they would probably be faced with some decisions to make during the day (shall I make pasta for dinner or bean burritos)? They are completely unsuited for living in a sphere outside of Steve's influence.

I hope that Nathan, Christopher and/or John will be able to take them in. There is not hope for the Maxwell sisters.

[lilith]

It's little things like that that make me worry about the Maxwell Spinsters (Stevehovah isn't going to let his girls go...EVER). When he passes they are going to be presented with a world of choices, and they are going to be unprepared with how to make decisions.

Even if they were married, unless they married their father's clone they would probably be faced with some decisions to make during the day (shall I make pasta for dinner or bean burritos)? They are completely unsuited for living in a sphere outside of Steve's influence.

I hope that Nathan, Christopher and/or John will be able to take them in. There is not hope for the Maxwell sisters.

Poor Sarah will probably live out the last week Teri scheduled before her death over and over for the rest of her life. Or move in with a brother and expect his wife to schedule her.

It just blows my mind when I remember Sarah is my age. I, the heathen atheist, have the children she was raised to expect, but my (relatively unexceptional life) has had 100 times the scope of hers. I'm coming to a place where I'm becoming the caregiver in my relationship with my father - I can't imagine being under his "authority" about the most banal details of everyday life and him obsessing about holding my heart - he and my mother went out for a night so I could cook dinner for my first serious boyfriend and have privacy in which to lose my virginity, and my Dad has always been very accepting of my desire for other men in my life. Steve would have a heart attack, but I'm the one who has ended up with partner (who owns his own business and can support me and the kids - I could stay at home but chose to do admin for his business), children and a home of my own, all that he has taught Sarah to aspire to....

Something to think about Steve.....

[Peas n carrots]

Poor Sarah will probably live out the last week Teri scheduled before her death over and over for the rest of her life. Or move in with a brother and expect his wife to schedule her.

It just blows my mind when I remember Sarah is my age. I, the heathen atheist, have the children she was raised to expect, but my (relatively unexceptional life) has had 100 times the scope of hers. I'm coming to a place where I'm becoming the caregiver in my relationship with my father - I can't imagine being under his "authority" about the most banal details of everyday life and him obsessing about holding my heart - he and my mother went out for a night so I could cook dinner for my first serious boyfriend and have privacy in which to lose my virginity, and my Dad has always been very accepting of my desire for other men in my life. Steve would have a heart attack, but I'm the one who has ended up with partner (who owns his own business and can support me and the kids - I could stay at home but chose to do admin for his business), children and a home of my own, all that he has taught Sarah to aspire to....

Something to think about Steve.....

Same here, Sarah and I are the same age. Although I don't have kids, I've been married since my mid-20's, have my own household, pay my own bills, work at a fast paced job with a career track and I still manage to clean my ceiling fans (as well as other things) on a fairly regular basis. I wonder if she feels like she has failed because she is not doing the one thing she was brought up to do? At least if she had options she could just shrug and say "well, plan A didn't work out let's try plan B" but she can't do that as there was just plan A, and it has to be devastating.

It's just so cruel...and so controlling of Steve not to allow her to execute plan A. No wonder it looks as if she has given up on life.

[jaynie]

Every once in a while we do this "my life versus Sarah's life" thing here. There have been discussions about the fairness of such comparisons, since they can verge on boastful sometimes. The thing is though, by age ten I was allowed to go to the corner store on my own. I was allowed to join the school Choir. I sometimes walked to my friends' houses' on a whim. All totally unremarkable. Forget employment, forget travel, forget romance -- Sarah, a woman in her thirties, has less life experience than many a prepubescent child. And Steve thinks this is a bragging point.

[rosalitta]

Maybe this has been brought up before, but I'm starting to think taking the meat out of burritos could have been just from one "child" enjoying it too much. Can't make an idol out of sustenance!

[smittykins]

Unfortunately, I live in a Panera-free zone, but I think I might be able to work in a trip to KFC on Monday(the one in our area is co-branded with Taco Hell). Of course, my lower digestive system might not appreciate it, but I'll wait till I get home to eat it... :lol:

[nomoxian]

Whenever Sarah posts a pic of all of them eating, I always pay very close attention to where the food is placed. More often then not, despite the gigantic table, the food is typically all in front of Steve. I have little doubt he serves the whole family. I hope that is not the case. Adults should be able to determine their own proportions.

Never noticed that before... but that is really disturbing!

[Lillybee]

I posted this a while ago, It is the Maxwell's weekly menu.

Lillybee » Sat Jun 15, 2013 3:24 pm

I just found the Maxwell meal plan. How boring is this?

Here's what our lunch menu is:

--Monday, Sandwiches

--Tuesday, Soup

--Wednesday, Pizza Bread (Bread toasted, then spread pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese: melt in the oven)

--Thursday, Bean Burritos or Breakfast Burritos

--Friday and Saturday, whatever (sometimes leftovers, Macaroni and Cheese, etc)

Dinner Menu:

We have salad and fruit each dinner.

Sunday--burritos

Wednesday--just salad and fresh tortillas

Saturday--homemade soup and fresh bread

Other evenings are variable

Hope this helps!

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Every once in a while we do this "my life versus Sarah's life" thing here. There have been discussions about the fairness of such comparisons, since they can verge on boastful sometimes. The thing is though, by age ten I was allowed to go to the corner store on my own. I was allowed to join the school Choir. I sometimes walked to my friends' houses' on a whim. All totally unremarkable. Forget employment, forget travel, forget romance -- Sarah, a woman in her thirties, has less life experience than many a prepubescent child. And Steve thinks this is a bragging point.

What makes it seems particularly cruel to me is that Sarah was raised to have one type of life, specifically - she's supposed to be a homeschooling mom of many. And yet that is being denied to her.

I honestly think that the Maxwells ended up making an idol of "sheltering." The kids were raised to feel proud (yes, proud) of the fact that they were so sheltered, that their parents cared enough to shelter them, and that they were so innocent and pure, that things more worldly children would take for granted, they needed to be sheltered from because they are that sensitive. If you read the "Hearts" book it's all in there.

And so the kids get older, but their very IDENTITIES are wrapped up in this idea of being sheltered and protected and obedient to their parents, being the perfect "good children." So they have no idea how to stop. Meanwhile the parents are the same, their identities are wrapped up in sheltering their children to an extent most people won't go to, and in homeschooling the kids. The parents even make MONEY off of this idea, with their books and ministry.

So how do you just turn on a dime and stop that? Well, it seems they can't. And so here we are.

If you think about it, Sarah is in her thirties. She is now the SAME AGE if not OLDER than her parents were when they birthed her. She's the age where her own parents were doing the sheltering, not being the sheltered. Her own parents had gone to college and the military and flown airplanes, they had seen the TV news and were actively filtering out "bad things."

There are similar stories about kids raised in the purity movement or otherwise propagandized to basically "never have sex, it's dirty, you need to be pure, pure, pure" who have trouble later on in life when they do get married, or even moving over to being able to talk to men to meet any in order to get married at all. That's not to say there's anything wrong with waiting for marriage before having sex, but people take it to such an extreme and build their entire self-worth up in it, and that is not a good plan. If you invest your whole life into being the perfect child who is perfectly obedient and killing the self, how on earth are you supposed to become the parents of the next generation??

It's just one more way in which this newfangled culture is not going to be multi-generational, I don't think.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

For what it's worth I could happily eat soup every day of the week. However, soup at my house is pretty much stew, it has that much stuff in it :)

[terranova]

"variable" sounds like it might be a naughty word at Chez Maxwell.

[ViolaSebastian]

Sheesh, they have bean burritos for lunch on Wednesday AND dinner on Sunday?

The smell of that house must be something else... :ew:

[divadivine]

Sheesh, they have bean burritos for lunch on Wednesday AND dinner on Sunday?

The smell of that house must be something else... :ew:

Maxwells are so holy they don't fart. Ever.

[16strong]

Sheesh, they have bean burritos for lunch on Wednesday AND dinner on Sunday?

The smell of that house must be something else... :ew:

I'm willing to bet that their house smells more like industrial cleaner than anything else. And to be honest, I can't really imagine their house smelling like anything at all. They just seem so meticulous about everything being spotless and perfect.:shrug:

[MsSaylor]

What's with Steve and burritos?

That menu makes me sad. Seriously I'm thinking about all the things they don't get to eat and it makes me sad. Do they ever get dessert besides animal crackers? Pies on thanksgiving? Birthday cake?

[Coco]

I'm willing to bet that their house smells more like industrial cleaner than anything else. And to be honest, I can't really imagine their house smelling like anything at all. They just seem so meticulous about everything being spotless and perfect.:shrug:

i bet they even use free and clear detergent :lol:

[quincygal]

OK, so nothing planned for Monday but last night I went out with 2 gal pals. We ladies (none were Greatest Generation) celebrated 2 birthdays between us. We went to California Pizza Kitchen, had four drinks, three of those pizzas, and two desserts plus 2 small birthday sundaes between us. Today, my family is brewing beer & holding an open house-ish kinda thing with food. We also have more beer for folks to sample while brewing. And wine for non-beer folks, and juice for kids. I will sinfully sit around with galpals while my husband & many men work hard in my kitchen!

I am dedicating this to Sarah & family!

[SPHASH]

Pizza Ranch last nite was great! Sorry no pics to share but I had two chicken legs, one chicken wing, a slice each of pepperoni, the Stampede, and the Prairie, corn, salad with french dressing, a small scoop each of potato salad, macaroni salad, and cole slaw, water for my drink, and for dessert a slice of cherry pizza. One lady sitting next to me noticed my cherry pizza so she got herself some. All was good only bad part last nite was the half room we reserved we could only have for two hours so we had to leave at 6:30 to make room for other guests. The other half of our room had a birthday party going on. The manager was nice and professional about kicking us out though. Later tonight is game nite at church so more pizza coming.

[Peas n carrots]

What makes it seems particularly cruel to me is that Sarah was raised to have one type of life, specifically - she's supposed to be a homeschooling mom of many. And yet that is being denied to her.

I honestly think that the Maxwells ended up making an idol of "sheltering." The kids were raised to feel proud (yes, proud) of the fact that they were so sheltered, that their parents cared enough to shelter them, and that they were so innocent and pure, that things more worldly children would take for granted, they needed to be sheltered from because they are that sensitive. If you read the "Hearts" book it's all in there.

And so the kids get older, but their very IDENTITIES are wrapped up in this idea of being sheltered and protected and obedient to their parents, being the perfect "good children." So they have no idea how to stop. Meanwhile the parents are the same, their identities are wrapped up in sheltering their children to an extent most people won't go to, and in homeschooling the kids. The parents even make MONEY off of this idea, with their books and ministry.

So how do you just turn on a dime and stop that? Well, it seems they can't. And so here we are.

If you think about it, Sarah is in her thirties. She is now the SAME AGE if not OLDER than her parents were when they birthed her. She's the age where her own parents were doing the sheltering, not being the sheltered. Her own parents had gone to college and the military and flown airplanes, they had seen the TV news and were actively filtering out "bad things."

There are similar stories about kids raised in the purity movement or otherwise propagandized to basically "never have sex, it's dirty, you need to be pure, pure, pure" who have trouble later on in life when they do get married, or even moving over to being able to talk to men to meet any in order to get married at all. That's not to say there's anything wrong with waiting for marriage before having sex, but people take it to such an extreme and build their entire self-worth up in it, and that is not a good plan. If you invest your whole life into being the perfect child who is perfectly obedient and killing the self, how on earth are you supposed to become the parents of the next generation??

It's just one more way in which this newfangled culture is not going to be multi-generational, I don't think.

The Maxwell's are the real-life version of Groundhog's Day. Living the same week, over and over and over.

Btw, their menu doesn't seem to have a lot of protein included. So their small portions can't even be that filling. Or, they are likely just used to it at this point.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Wow, they really don't eat well :( I feel bad for the "kids", its all they've ever known.

[AuntCloud]

My heathen family's weekend menu:

Saturday - buttermilk whole-wheat pancakes for breakfast, Coco Brooks calzone for lunch, rotisserie chicken and salad for dinner.

Sunday - toast with goat cheese Boursin and home-brewed espresso made by headship; chicken with chestnuts and root vegetables slow-cooked in red wine and date molasses, Alice Waters' ratatouille, butternut squash, quinoa and cranberry salad, corn bisque and pear-cinnamon coffee cake.

(We don't always eat that well - im procrastinating so as not to study).