Erika Shupe *grim rictus* Large Families on Purpose Part 4

[Tarantula_Mom]

On February 4, 2016 at 9:18 PM, Mango said:

Folding laundry is totally a skill, it's just not necessarily one that is terribly difficult for the average human to master or terribly critical for future career success..

It definitely is a serious skill. But I can retrieve data off "dead" computers, so I have no trouble finding people who will do my laundry, cook my food, and even repair my car in exchange for me retrieving their precious data from the tech gods, lol.

That's one of the saddest things about a lot of these fundy women, but especially Erika. They have no REAL skills, so they have to talk about folding laundry and organizing closets. 

[Queen Of Hearts]

7 hours ago, Coy Koi said:

 

Has Erika ever explained why they have a triple bunk and a single bed rather than two regular bunk beds?

Originally they did have two double bunks in each room.  it is believed that CPS paid them a visit (based on a comment someone left on her Facebook page) and suddenly she was in a desperate search for triple bunks.  It's assumed CPS made her make the bedroom windows accessible in case of an emergency, which was not possible with the standard double bunks.  

If they did away with the "family closet" they could put the girls in the bigger room they could put the four boys in the bigger school room upstairs, split the five girls between the two small downstairs rooms, and move the school room to the space currently occupied by the family closet.  The kids would all have a little extra space and each room has a closet so there would be plenty of room for clothes.  But we know Erika would never go for that as 1.) I don't think she wants the kids having a bedroom close to hers and 2.) without a 'family closet' what would make her "special" in the eyes of other fundy moms?  

[pnwgypsy]

I had this wild idea of them giving the master br to the 5 girls & moving into the play room & splitting the boys between the downstairs room, but that un restricted bathroom access would never fly.

[anjulibai]

Yeah, the smart thing for them to do is give the girls the master bedroom. But no way would Erick give up her special space.

[Eternalbluepearl]

A phrase I've seen repeated by different fundie blogger moms is "bedrooms are for sleeping." Erika would never think that her daughters were over-crowded. It is just the room where the beds are and is of little importance. The master bedroom is of big importance because it is the space where the sexy romance times happen. 

[alexandracabot]

10 hours ago, Coy Koi said:

I would feel super claustrophobic to sleep in a bed that I didn't even have enough headroom to sit up on. How on earth do they change the sheets on that bottom bunk? Even just making that bed would be hard, but I'm sure whichever poor kid has to sleep in it is required to do it perfectly every morning.

Has Erika ever explained why they have a triple bunk and a single bed rather than two regular bunk beds?

I don't think you can fit two regular bunk beds in the room without blocking the windows. Not that Erika cared before CPS showed up.

[princessmahina]

3 hours ago, anjulibai said:

Yeah, the smart thing for them to do is give the girls the master bedroom. But no way would Erick give up her special space.

I don't think you understand. Erika can't give up the master bedroom, because the master one is the only that fits her queen sized bed! She needs that space. 

[Anonymousguest]

My friend has a king sized bed in an 11x10ft room. a king sized bed is roughly 6ft wide so really there is plenty of room  I actually know lots of people who give up the master for a the kids to have the bigger room. Myself included. 

I personally would lose the school room and split up the girls, and put the boys in the bigger bedroom. Every time she shows pictures of the kids doing school they are at the kitchen table. With a little more space in the rooms the kids could have a shelf for their school stuff. 

[19 cats and counting]

On 2/4/2016 at 9:18 PM, Mango said:

Folding laundry is totally a skill, it's just not necessarily one that is terribly difficult for the average human to master or terribly critical for future career success..

But technically you can get through life without folding laundry (even if you don't have a spouse/kid/hired help to do so).  You can hang your clothes and just throw underwear/socks into drawers.

ETA I didn't get good at folding clothes until I worked in retail.  Then the clothes HAVE to be folded perfectly.

[THERetroGamerNY]

I can just imagine Erika trying to get a job...

What are your qualifications, Applicant?
Certified laundry folding expert

Name your favorite hobby:
Organizing

[Anonymousguest]

My boys mostly just live out of their laundry baskets. I don't even know how they tell what is clean or dirty. But I guess as long as they smell ok...

[19 cats and counting]

2 hours ago, THERetroGamerNY said:

I can just imagine Erika trying to get a job...

What are your qualifications, Applicant?
Certified laundry folding expert

Name your favorite hobby:
Organizing

A clothing store might take a look at someone who is an expert at folding clothes.  Her organizational skills would be very useful for a store scrambling to prep for a corporate visit.

[16strong]

57 minutes ago, 19 cats and counting said:

A clothing store might take a look at someone who is an expert at folding clothes.  Her organizational skills would be very useful for a store scrambling to prep for a corporate visit.

There are also professional organizers who help people get their houses in order. It really IS a skill. You have to have good visual-spatial skiĺls and mathematical abilities. Considering Erika is terrible at written English, but good at public speaking, it's a career field she'd probably excel at.

[mango_fandango]

I've also seen Erika's reasoning behind having the master bedroom being that having the biggest room is putting their marriage first, or something, above the children. Some commenter a while ago said she put her kids in the master room and herself in the small room, and she didn't mind, and Erika was all "oh you shouldn't feel bad about using the master bedroom for yourself cos it's putting your marriage first" or something. Plus she NEEDS the space for her bed, as @princessmahina said.

[16strong]

1 hour ago, mango_fandango said:

I've also seen Erika's reasoning behind having the master bedroom being that having the biggest room is putting their marriage first, or something, above the children. Some commenter a while ago said she put her kids in the master room and herself in the small room, and she didn't mind, and Erika was all "oh you shouldn't feel bad about using the master bedroom for yourself cos it's putting your marriage first" or something. Plus she NEEDS the space for her bed, as @princessmahina said.

Oh, please. If she was putting her marriage first, Bob would probably look a little less miserable. She keeps the master bedroom for entirely selfish reasons. I'm also surprised that nobody has brought up the fact that she opens the blinds, (or, well, her kids do) every morning, until bedtime. I bet the inner workings of that house are quite a sight for the neighbors.

[sta_sha]

I (mostly) lurk in the Duggar forum, but recently decided to read up on some other fundie families. I started with Jill Rodrigues and that was pretty bad, but for some reason Erika just makes my skin crawl! Thanks to all on Free Jinger for the info.

 

[mango_fandango]

New (re) post: Part One of their Surrendering Control to God story. Plus she's linked to a Teri Maxwell Corner.

[IrishCarrie]

I'm so sick of all her reposting!!!

C'mon Erika, gimme some new sugar...

[princessmahina]

3 hours ago, IrishCarrie said:

I'm so sick of all her reposting!!!

C'mon Erika, gimme some new sugar...

Erika doesn't do sugar. But she'd be proud to offer you a serious cup of reposted sugar-free coco! *beam*

[OnceUponATime]

31 minutes ago, princessmahina said:

Erika doesn't do sugar. But she'd be proud to offer you a serious cup of reposted sugar-free coco! *beam*

I am contemplating giving you a down vote for your post because it made me vomit into my mouth. *grimace*

[happy atheist]

That old Def Leppard hit, Pour Some Stevia on Me.

[princessmahina]

6 hours ago, OnceUponATime said:

I am contemplating giving you a down vote for your post because it made me vomit into my mouth. *grimace*

I must be doing something right then 

[defraudingjezebel]

I briefly reread her "family planning" post and I've come to the conclusion that Erika is deeply covetous and jealous. We've discussed how she has lamented for years about how she wishes she lived in a bigger home, but I think it goes far beyond that. 

At two or three different points in the post, she mentions being jealous of her neighbors; what they owned, their independence, their financial situation, etc. She always uses that to make a point about her own self-sacrifice but its fairly clear that she truly is jealous.

She also seems deluded about what an "average" family can afford. She lists:

Quote

eating out at restaurants fairly often, taking vacations to Hawaii and Disneyland, down-hill skiing as a family in the winter and buying a boat for the summer. 

Now I grew up in a pretty privileged upper middle class family as an only child, but even my parents wouldn't have been able to afford skiing and boating along with constant costly vacations. I think she imagines herself as being some huuuuge martyr for her beliefs while everyone else is living the hedonistic high life. 

[Hisey]

I got the feeling that she is sick of struggling with money. This is going to sound terrible, but she once told a story about how important it was to have life insurance on your husband. An insurance agent told her it was the best feeling in the world to deliver a million dollar check to a grieving widow. It seemed to me that Erika was showing a particular excitement about the idea  of receiving a million dollar check. . . that she could decide how to spend all by herself. . .I'm not saying she wants Bob to die--I'm sure she loves him--I just think she'd really like a large sum of money to fall into her lap.

[OnceUponATime]

2 hours ago, Hisey said:

-I just think she'd really like a large sum of money to fall into her lap.

think she got some of the crazy powerball tickets?

 

3 hours ago, defraudingjezebel said:

She also seems deluded about what an "average" family can afford.

Yes - this. But really there are some things she could do to get some of the 'average' joe's holidays. Instead of wanting to buy her own boat for summer she should really invest in making friendships with people who own a boat. Arrange to bring the picnic food out to the lake for everyone (organizing - she can do that), and in return they get some use of the boat for the day. The kids would have others to play with, everyone could have fun. No boat maintenance, no needing to buy gas for it, no needing to store it. Winning all round.

I can't imagine her wanting to take all her children skiing. I think she'd either keep them on the learner's slope so she could see them at all times or freak out too much.

 

I grew up in a poorer than average family. I'm still surprised to this day when I hear people say monthly/fortnightly/weekly restaurant visits are part of middle class life. That was a once a year type thing for us.

Where I am in Europe there are some people (actually my whole class at uni) who think that going to a foreign country on holiday every year for at least a week is a human right (on par with right to water...). I mean here you can drive a few hundred km's and get there, but still that is a shitload of money because you have food/accommodation/fuel/flights to think about for a week. To me going on holiday is a luxury and not exactly a human rights issue but that might be because I grew up not having the the norm. I sometimes wonder if everyone in my class really believed that, or if some were just too ashamed of their financial status that they kept quiet. But it's stuff like that which make people feel like that is the obtainable and desirable norm, even if it might not be the reality for most people.