Arndt Man Boys & Mary-Elizabeth living out their own unique stories

[0 kids n not countin]

The birthday bedroom celebrations continued for Mark's birthday, I believe he is now 33.  Happy Birthday mark, I hope you enjoyed!  From Dad's Diary:

 

Quote

Late in the morning, at 11:30 or so, everyone gathered in the master bedroom.  We went on to celebrate Mark’s life, showering him with a song, a cake, gifts, and many expressions of affection.  After the party, Cathy, Paul, John, Luke, Jude, and I took him out for a meal.  (We drove to a small pizza place that is located in south St. Louis County.)

As the third-eldest son, Mark’s history stretches back to the “old days”of the Belleville homestead.  During our drive home (after the meal), Cathy looked at a photo of Mark that was taken when he was an infant.  (He was probably 10 weeks old at the time.)  A glance at the picture brought forth sweet memories.

After his return to the house, Mark took care of some work duties, then joined five brothers (Paul, John, Luke, Jude, and James) for an evening meal.  (I believe they drove down to Waterloo.)

 

[December]

On 7/31/2016 at 0:30 PM, CrazyCatLady said:

So why do they do this birthday shit in their parents' bedroom? Have they ever explained that? Is it because that's where they were conceived?

Whatever the reason is (and I could see it being something totally wacky!), it's odd. No matter how old they are, it's a pretty lame birthday celebration. But documenting it publicly, especially when the birthday kid is in their 30's, is downright bizarre. 

On 7/23/2016 at 5:56 PM, Suz8710 said:

God this family just continues to blow my mind. These guys all have jobs that pay the bills, are in good shape,  are decent looking, and are fun loving if a bit dorky and awkward. You also don't see them selfie-ing it all over social media. IMO, their appeal level far surpasses that of the Duggars and the like. Yet these are the folks who are unmarried/no courtships. 

You hit the nail on the head. In such large families, it's not super weird if one or two stay single forever. But all of them? That's definitely something to do with the family dynamic. It sounds like they each have stuff to offer the world and a potential partner... it's honestly kind of sad that none of them have relationships.

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

Rick and Cathy, but Rick especially, will never let the Arrested Development Men leave home.  The AD Men support the family.  Imagine if the oldest ones, the ones with jobs, all left home.  Who would support Rick and his endless movie project?  Oh my gosh, he might.....shudder... have to get a job.

Oh who am I kidding, He'd make the teenagers who were left quit home school and go to work.  Rick has no intention of working ever again.

[gustava]

On 7/31/2016 at 11:31 AM, JenniferJuniper said:

He posts photos on the main page, but his deep thoughts are in Dad's Diary, which you have to register for.   Here is the recent bedroom birthday party photo.  At least Peter is sitting on a chair.  One year he was given his cake whilst lying in the parental bed.

And Mama doesn't have her hand on his tummy.

[AmazonGrace]

19 hours ago, December said:

Whatever the reason is (and I could see it being something totally wacky!), it's odd. No matter how old they are, it's a pretty lame birthday celebration. But documenting it publicly, especially when the birthday kid is in their 30's, is downright bizarre. 

You hit the nail on the head. In such large families, it's not super weird if one or two stay single forever. But all of them? That's definitely something to do with the family dynamic. It sounds like they each have stuff to offer the world and a potential partner... it's honestly kind of sad that none of them have relationships.

At some point the infantilizing of adults gets so noticeably odd that a lot of people would stay away from such a potential partner because they figure even if the guy is all right the inlaws are probably batty. 

[Howl]

Safe at Home Ministries...FamTeam...14 kids.  I'm not seeing anywhere in the Web site where they explain the "Safe at Home"  part and how this is enforced on the home front. 

Also not seeing any reason (other than full blown emotional incest and emotional crippling) why these boys have not actively sought out wives or homes of their own and started families, if they like family so much.     

[AmazonGrace]

Eh, what? 

Quote

 

The next FamTeam Day/Softball Classic will be held on Sunday afternoon, October 5.  The event will unfold on “FamTeam Field,” the softball diamond that sits behind the the Arndt family house in southwestern Illinois.

The first Classic was held in 1999.  As time passed, this annual event developed into something that we now call a FamTeam Day— a blend of Christian inspiration, indoor/outdoor fun, and friendship.  As simple and “down-to-earth” as these weekends are, many participants have been deeply impacted by them.Read more at www.stocklocksmith.co.uk..

 

There is nothing about the Arndts or softball or Christians at the link, it's a British locksmith. 

[0 kids n not countin]

Not sure how to copy & paste from my phone, but yuck, in a recent Dad's Diary, Daddy Arndt talks about his colonoscopy.   

[Palimpsest]

1 hour ago, 0 kids n not countin said:

Not sure how to copy & paste from my phone, but yuck, in a recent Dad's Diary, Daddy Arndt talks about his colonoscopy.   

The Arndt parents do many disgusting things but Dad talking about a colonoscopy is hardly one of them.

I wish more people talked about them.  It is just as educational as talking about mammograms and pap smears.  If you live until you are 50+ you will have one.  If you are high risk you will have one earlier.  If you have ever delivered a baby you will probably talk about poop!

The prep is ghastly.  The procedure is unpleasant.  It involves your anus. And poop.

Early identification of colon cancer can be lifesaving.  Not so early identification results in colostomy bags or death.

Colonoscopies are not yuck.  They are reality.

[quincygal]

On Tuesday, August 02, 2016 at 9:13 AM, gustava said:

And Mama doesn't have her hand on his tummy.

Wait, is that Cathy wearing blue jean shorts???!!! WHERE ARE THE WHITE SHORTS???!!!

[Black Aliss]

1 hour ago, Palimpsest said:

Colonoscopies are not yuck.  They are reality.

I agree with everything you said about them. A colonoscopy at an earlier age than one normally gets one, ordered for a different reason, saved my life when it disclosed a cancerous polyp in an area where the then routine sigmoidoscopy would not have reached, and which had not shown up on the then routine fecal blood test. And, as temporarily unpleasant as the prep is, it's nothing compared to chemo.

Still, I don't see it as blog fodder. But that's just me.

[Palimpsest]

4 minutes ago, Black Aliss said:

Still, I don't see it as blog fodder. But that's just me.

I see it as educational.  And that is just me.

God forbid I defend the Arndts but all publicity is good.

[MamaJunebug]

My friend Palimpsest wrote, 

 

Quote

The prep is ghastly.  The procedure is unpleasant.  It involves your anus. And poop.

Yes and no. The prep is basically staying close to the toilet for a couple-to-six hours. My ex- was finished and sound asleep by 10 pm -- I was up til 3. The procedure was done without any memories except remarking that the doc was a cutie (he was!) and I awoke very refreshed from the anesthesia.  

Oh, right, the prep included some fasting, which I resented greatly. Fasting AND self-inflicted trots!!?? The nerve! But for sure, a few hours of that is such a small part of life. And knowing all was well was a blessing highly to be prized 

[LadyCrow1313]

9 hours ago, MamaJunebug said:

Oh, right, the prep included some fasting, which I resented greatly. Fasting AND self-inflicted trots!!?? The nerve! But for sure, a few hours of that is such a small part of life. And knowing all was well was a blessing highly to be prized 

My father has had @ least one (possibly two), & my sister had one last year. I know it's going to be an inevitable thing for me @ some point. And while I'm not overly excited about it, the above bolded is 100% true (both Dad & my sister checked out fine).

[Black Aliss]

16 hours ago, quincygal said:

Wait, is that Cathy wearing blue jean shorts???!!! WHERE ARE THE WHITE SHORTS???!!!

And the "jorts" are almost down to her knees! Oh, Cathy, please don't go all modest on us. So what if you've got a little cellulite on your thighs. That's natural at your age.

[Palimpsest]

15 hours ago, MamaJunebug said:

My friend Palimpsest wrote, 

 

Yes and no. The prep is basically staying close to the toilet for a couple-to-six hours. My ex- was finished and sound asleep by 10 pm -- I was up til 3. The procedure was done without any memories except remarking that the doc was a cutie (he was!) and I awoke very refreshed from the anesthesia.  

Oh, right, the prep included some fasting, which I resented greatly. Fasting AND self-inflicted trots!!?? The nerve! But for sure, a few hours of that is such a small part of life. And knowing all was well was a blessing highly to be prized 

I agree about the peace of mind and it was the fasting I found the worst.  Mr. P. found the drugs quite delightful, I didn't have such pleasant reactions.

But you forgot the farts!  The gassing is more painful for the person driving you home because the patient is usually still too happy to notice.

 

[MamaJunebug]

43 minutes ago, Palimpsest said:

I agree about the peace of mind and it was the fasting I found the worst.  Mr. P. found the drugs quite delightful, I didn't have such pleasant reactions.

But you forgot the farts!  The gassing is more painful for the person driving you home because the patient is usually still too happy to notice.

 

Hee! True about the toots!

i do remember that we bought a nice couple pieces of furniture after Ex-o had his done. The medics reminded us twice not to make any major financial decisions in the first 24 hours post-anesthesia, but whatever-it-was loosened up the old boy's wallet chain at the local Ethan Allen! 

[keepsweet]

On August 22, 2016 at 2:33 PM, Black Aliss said:

And the "jorts" are almost down to her knees! Oh, Cathy, please don't go all modest on us. So what if you've got a little cellulite on your thighs. That's natural at your age.

Those legs of the jean short belong to a man child, or Cathy hasn't shaved in month. (click to enlarge and you'll see what I mean)

[quincygal]

36 minutes ago, keepsweet said:

Those legs of the jean short belong to a man child, or Cathy hasn't shaved in month. (click to enlarge and you'll see what I mean)

Thank God!  I was getting worried!!

[Black Aliss]

1 hour ago, keepsweet said:

Those legs of the jean short belong to a man child, or Cathy hasn't shaved in month. (click to enlarge and you'll see what I mean)

whew

[nokidsmom]

On 8/1/2016 at 1:37 PM, Sobeknofret said:

The Arndt men (I refuse to call them boys, because they aren't) and Mary Elizabeth aren't living out their "unique" stories. They never will. They've emotionally and socially crippled every one of their kids, and as a result, none of them will ever live out anything resembling a unique story. They're going to live out a stunted version of what their parents think their stories should be.

So much potential, all of it willfully wasted by the leeches they call parents. It genuinely sickens me.

The longer the Arndt men and Mary Elizabeth continue to be "safe at home", the more I am convinced that Rick and Cathy have done a real number on them, perhaps not intentionally (though it's still wrong), but very, very thoroughly.   In addition all of them are being exploited in one way or another to help support their parents when most of them are at a point in their lives where those efforts should be made towards living their own lives, having their own homes, building their own families.    Rick and Cathy have managed to hijack the lives of 14 kids, thinking it's a great thing and even worse, seem to have brainwashed those same kids into thinking the same.   

Perhaps some of them are chafing under this weird family scenario, but when they post that they think they are part of the best family in the world, or when some of those young men are let out of the family home to do work and happily return,  it doesn't seem likely that any of them think there's something wrong with this picture.  I hope I am wrong, perhaps there's more going on behind what Rick wants to show to the world.  Still you think that one or two of them would realize maybe, just maybe that life is passing them by and they should do something about it.   

I have personally witnessed some of this weird dynamic elsewhere, but it was only a fraction of what goes on with this family, and what I saw pissed me off and still does.    To call Rick and Cathy leeches is perfectly appropriate.

[JenniferJuniper]

9 hours ago, nokidsmom said:

   To call Rick and Cathy leeches is perfectly appropriate.

They absolutely are.  Rick much more than Cathy because at least she actually does things like shop and paint and home school the dwindling number of students (down to two, I think). Able-bodied Rick has done nothing but play softball, direct and star in his insane film vanity project, drive aimlessly around rural southern Illinois with one captive adult offspring at a time (rewarding him or her with a "fountain soda" if they are lucky), and record every mindnumbingly dull Groundhog-like day in his diary.   And this has been going on for many years.

My fascination with the Arndts revolves around the "why" as much as the "how".   Even if one or more of them gets away, we'll probably never know how Rick and Cathy pulled this off.  They just aren't high-profile enough for a tell-all to be profitable, assuming any of their kids could even process what happened.  But why did they do this?  When their first son was born, did they look into his eyes and say "You're never going to leave us.  You will toil all your days for your family and never leave.  You'll never have a wife, kids, a retirement account or even your own bedroom."   Probably not.  But at some point Rick must have realized that keeping them brainwashed and down on the farm would create an idyllic life.  For himself. 

     

[anachronistic]

The why of it fascinates me, too. I mean, they aren't isolated, they see how other people live.......right? Do these guys honestly think it is normal to be sleeping in a bunk bed at their age? (Short trips/army excluded) I don't think most adults like bunk beds. It reminds me of those people on the Russian steppe who went off the grid in like the 40s and were found 50 years later or something. They are the true definition of brainwashed.

[bertnee]

Even if you didn't care about privacy and were totally cool with sharing a bedroom with your brothers well into adulthood, those beds aren't long enough to be comfortable for a grown adult to use every single day for their entire lives!!

[nokidsmom]

Just wanted to alway reply to this:

On 8/2/2016 at 0:52 PM, AmazonGrace said:

At some point the infantilizing of adults gets so noticeably odd that a lot of people would stay away from such a potential partner because they figure even if the guy is all right the inlaws are probably batty. 

I remember back in my single days, there were guys that I stayed away from because while the guy was nice, the family was crazy or strange or just too plain overinvolved in their son's business, such as Mama's Boys.   I wrote them off immediately.

Possible that this is also a  factor why there has been not a gf or wife for any of them by now.    People look at guys in their 30's living like this and say WTF.  In addition, I can't believe that word has not gotten around about this family's weirdness and this has scared some potential partners off.   There may have been women interested in them who got brushed off or run off, and it gets around.     

I don't think there's much hope for the older manboys.   They are probably too enmeshed with their parents and too well trained to do everything for them (including giving up the right to have your own life) but there might be some hope for the younger ones when they see that their older brothers are not getting anywhere.   In addition to shaking off the brainwashing, they will probably have to leave and go somewhere far from where people associate them with that "nice but weird" family.