What is going on at the Maxwells?

[VodouDoll]

On April 21, 2016 at 7:03 AM, mango_fandango said:

That's likely about the depression, especially if she eschewed medication. Now that Mary's graduated she doesn't really have any kind of goal, she wasn't involved much in the homeschooling but at least she had the 30 years of homeschooling thing. And really, to many people, it's not much of an achievement. If her kids were all at Ivy Leagues or were pulling in $100K a year people might take notice, but as it is, they're not doing anything. The guys are working questionable jobs, all self-employed, likely limited themselves when they had the God-speak on their sites (and anyway people can still google them and find the blog). The daughters have absolutely nothing. "Look at us! We homeschooled for THIRTY YEARS!!" But you have fuck all to show for it.

That is a really great point. Okay, Teri homeschooled for 30 years. But what does she have to show for it? The Maxwells blog all the boring minutae of their days but not the interesting stuff that would really be an advertisement for their lifestyle and business(es).

If they want people to homeschool the way they did, they have to show how their kids are using their education. Are they working, earning, communicating, creating, innovating, thinking, writing, teaching, contributing to their fields, helping others, making a difference? The Maxwells won't say, which I imagine means no, they're not. And if they're not, what good was that education to begin with? Teri just wasted a bunch of time.

They'd say (and have said, both plainly and between the lines in decades of blog posts) that the point of their children's education was to ensure they came out the other side sheltered, innocent of knowledge of sin (read: ignorant of the real world), and with all imagination stomped out so they can't imagine any other way of life and never want to leave the cult. Heaven guaranteed.

If I were a potential Maxwell follower, though, I'd want to know what they have to show for those 30 years of work. I'd want to know what amazing things the kids have been empowered to do after three solid decades of one-on-one education, and no, "Our three adult daughters have been hanging around the house for years doing mom's chores for her," does not count.

[anjulibai]

Yeah, you would think they'd talk more about their sons' businesses or the types of things the daughters do all day. But we rarely hear about any of that. Why are they so private about that aspect? You'd think it would be free advertisement, not just for the success of their system but for their sons' businesses as well. 

[kpmom]

Well, I guess the Maxwells really told us.  In today's post they make it clear they are all for Carly and think she was a "wise and strategic choice". 

 

ETA:  Sorry, I guess this post belongs in the Cruz thread.  My excuse is the Maxwells have me so flabbergasted at their acceptance of Carly as vp I didn't know what I was doing.

[ladyamylynn]

On 5/1/2016 at 6:16 PM, bionicmlle said:

Anna Marie is now matching clothes with her spouse?  That seems new.  That fabric is the exact same fabric. I wonder if she sews his shirts - if she does, she is a might fine seamstress.

My guess is that the shirt was purchased and she happened to find matching fabric for the frumper. It's a fairly common print- if she did sew the shirt, I agree that she's got mad skills.

[16strong]

5 hours ago, kpmom said:

Well, I guess the Maxwells really told us.  In today's post they make it clear they are all for Carly and think she was a "wise and strategic choice". 

 

ETA:  Sorry, I guess this post belongs in the Cruz thread.  My excuse is the Maxwells have me so flabbergasted at their acceptance of Carly as vp I didn't know what I was doing.

They're supporting a woman in politics? What is going on with the Maxwells, indeed.

[socalrules]

"Wise, strategic choice" means Cruz chose Carly to get the women vote but won't actually use her in any capacity because, well, women aren't supposed to have important jobs. Plus, it's better to have a woman VP that has to defer to a man than a woman in charge as President. 

[MamaJunebug]

2 hours ago, ladyamylynn said:

My guess is that the shirt was purchased and she happened to find matching fabric for the frumper. It's a fairly common print- if she did sew the shirt, I agree that she's got mad skills.

A cousin used to home-make her husband's shirts and even made him at least one tailored suit.  Mad skillz, indeed, and not unheard of, especially for Anna whose purpose in life other than snagging Chris was making & marketing soap.  No offense nor diminution of soap-making and -marketing intended!  Cousin learned the tailoring skills while earning a BS in Nursing and birthing her first 2 kids. So yay for Anna, it seems perfectly doable for her. 

Also, IIRC they wore those same outfits early in their marriage, she may be sewing less, now. 

[VodouDoll]

When my dad was a high school English teacher he had a student whose ambition in life was to be a bespoke tailor. This boy made his own tuxedo for prom as his final project for home ec and my dad said it was the most beautiful suit he'd ever seen. The home ec teacher wished there were a grade above A+ she could have given him.

[nausicaa]

1 minute ago, VodouDoll said:

When my dad was a high school English teacher he had a student whose ambition in life was to be a bespoke tailor. This boy made his own tuxedo for prom as his final project for home ec and my dad said it was the most beautiful suit he'd ever seen. The home ec teacher wished there were a grade above A+ she could have given him.

If that student pursued that he likely has a lot of job security. Last time I heard there are only two people left in the United States with the skills and knowledge to make bespoke suits. And one of them is in his late 70s...

[sparkles]

The husband of one of the food bloggers I follow decided to teach himself to sew a few years ago because he was unhappy with the fit of his jeans.. Now, he's not only a meticulous sewer, but he designs and drafts his own patterns as well. Absolutely incredible work. He blogged the whole experience from the start and it's a fun read, especially to see how quickly he progressed.

http://www.taylortailor.com

[VodouDoll]

57 minutes ago, nausicaa said:

If that student pursued that he likely has a lot of job security. Last time I heard there are only two people left in the United States with the skills and knowledge to make bespoke suits. And one of them is in his late 70s...

I wonder sometimes what became of him. My dad remembered him because when he had this boy in 11th grade the poor kid was almost completely illiterate. It was a school in the inner city of Chicago. My dad spent the whole year teaching him after school to read words he might find on sewing patterns, tailor invoices, things like that, so at least he'd be able to get by someday in a job that was obviously his artistic calling. He told the kid, you can't own a business if you can't read. And the boy obviously had the talent.

[Black Aliss]

1 hour ago, socalrules said:

"Wise, strategic choice" means Cruz chose Carly to get the women vote but won't actually use her in any capacity because, well, women aren't supposed to have important jobs. Plus, it's better to have a woman VP that has to defer to a man than a woman in charge as President. 

In other words, someone to attend funerals while Ted turns the country into a Christianist State.

13 hours ago, VodouDoll said:

If I were a potential Maxwell follower, though, I'd want to know what they have to show for those 30 years of work. I'd want to know what amazing things the kids have been empowered to do after three solid decades of one-on-one education, and no, "Our three adult daughters have been hanging around the house for years doing mom's chores for her," does not count.

Most homeschoolers of my acquaintance like to tout the fact that their kid was accepted to CalTech or MIT or Harvard or University of Chicago. Of course they didn't use ABEKA materials to teach by worksheet. They taught critical thinking, using primary sources for research, writing, and other useful skills.

[Marian the Librarian]

Re: the matchy-matchy clothing of Christopher and Anna-Marie - here are two representative Maxwell blog pics from July and August 2011. The one I remembered was the one from their 8/4/11 "We had an available evening" post, about a family visit inflicted on "the elderly" - that's the shot taken from behind. The 4th of July pic was just a lucky find as I was scrolling through. I'm pretty sure it's the same outfits. (And yes, it's worrisome that I have any bandwidth devoted to remembering this stuff at all...  )

 

[courtlylove]

59 minutes ago, Marian the Librarian said:

Re: the matchy-matchy clothing of Christopher and Anna-Marie - here are two representative Maxwell blog pics from July and August 2011. The one I remembered was the one from their 8/4/11 "We had an available evening" post, about a family visit inflicted on "the elderly" - that's the shot taken from behind. The 4th of July pic was just a lucky find as I was scrolling through. I'm pretty sure it's the same outfits. (And yes, it's worrisome that I have any bandwidth devoted to remembering this stuff at all...  )

 

Is it just me, or are those pockets on Teri's shirt defrauding or not?

[SolomonFundy]

1 hour ago, courtlylove said:

Is it just me, or are those pockets on Teri's shirt defrauding or not?

With the seams coming down, they kind of look like hospital IV bags.

[SPHASH]

2 hours ago, Marian the Librarian said:

Re: the matchy-matchy clothing of Christopher and Anna-Marie - here are two representative Maxwell blog pics from July and August 2011. The one I remembered was the one from their 8/4/11 "We had an available evening" post, about a family visit inflicted on "the elderly" - that's the shot taken from behind. The 4th of July pic was just a lucky find as I was scrolling through. I'm pretty sure it's the same outfits. (And yes, it's worrisome that I have any bandwidth devoted to remembering this stuff at all...  )

 

Ah yes, the infamous shove Gigi and Grandad to the side picture.

[mango_fandango]

2 hours ago, SPHASH said:

Ah yes, the infamous shove Gigi and Grandad to the side picture.

God, that is awful, now I see it. Everyone bunch together real close but forget Gigi and Grandad. 

[SolomonFundy]

22 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

God, that is awful, now I see it. Everyone bunch together real close but forget Gigi and Grandad. 

Well, the REAL members of the family had to stand in the open area right there together in the center of the room. Otherwise the light over the mantle wouldn't shine directly above Stevehovah's glorious head.

[MamaJunebug]

12 hours ago, Marian the Librarian said:

Re: the matchy-matchy clothing of Christopher and Anna-Marie - here are two representative Maxwell blog pics from July and August 2011. The one I remembered was the one from their 8/4/11 "We had an available evening" post, about a family visit inflicted on "the elderly" - that's the shot taken from behind. The 4th of July pic was just a lucky find as I was scrolling through. I'm pretty sure it's the same outfits. (And yes, it's worrisome that I have any bandwidth devoted to remembering this stuff at all...  )

 

Bandwidth, schmandwith, you're my hero!

The Shove Granddad & Gigi To The Side Photo (tm SPHASH, another hero) is just one in a series. There's another where all are more formally dressed and G&G are so far to the left of the photo that they can be easily cropped out, leaving a SteveFamily-Only photo, and no one would ever be the wiser. 

I guess the reasoning was, "Why go to the trouble of taking two photos -- one with the grands and one without? Just shove 'em over and crop 'em out."

Respect For The Elderly, like all else in Oceania/Maxhell, is what Steve *says* it is. 

[kpmom]

7 hours ago, SolomonFundy said:

Well, the REAL members of the family had to stand in the open area right there together in the center of the room. Otherwise the light over the mantle wouldn't shine directly above Stevehovah's glorious head.

You can almost hear the Angelic choir singing!

[Eternalbluepearl]

Everyday I check "What's going on at the Maxwells" and everyday I hope the answer is something life-changing for Sarah. 

[anjulibai]

Well, you know, Gigi and Granddad aren't/weren't real Maxwells, so they don't count as real family. Only someone with the last name of Maxwell counts. 

[CyborgKin]

5 hours ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

Everyday I check "What's going on at the Maxwells" and everyday I hope the answer is something life-changing for Sarah. 

Something like she gets a second dog?  Or she publishes a young adult horror novel... based on her life?

3 hours ago, anjulibai said:

Well, you know, Gigi and Granddad aren't/weren't real Maxwells, so they don't count as real family. Only someone with the last name of Maxwell counts. 

But what about those who weren't born Maxwells, Steve?

[anjulibai]

1 hour ago, CyborgKin said:

Something like she gets a second dog?  Or she publishes a young adult horror novel... based on her life?

But what about those who weren't born Maxwells, Steve?

The only count after they are married to a Maxwell son. The count even more after they've birthed a Maxwell grandchild. And even more if they it's a Maxwell grandson.

Maxwell. 

[SPHASH]

2 hours ago, CyborgKin said:

Something liashe gets a second dog?  Or sh e publishes a young adult horror novel... based on her life?

But what about those who weren't born Maxwells, Steve?

Yeah Steven Ray Bargar, son of Paul from Ida Grove IA.