The nearly 16 year old Wizzy Arndt & her stuffed animal

[Green Glass]

Speaking of the Fam, here's a shot of one of the boys' bedrooms posted today. Can anyone even imagine being 32 years old and sharing a bunk with your 10 year old brother? I won't comment on the bedding and window treatments, although I'm sure the penguins think they're cute.

WOW. I didn't realize they had kids that old still living at home. I'll have to read more about this family. 32 years old, still sharing a bunk bed with 10 year old siblings... I can't even begin to imagine.

[synchroswimr]

This makes me sad.

Me too

[Bbfamteam]

They range from 9 to 32. All sons, except for Wizzy who will be 16 in a few weeks. As far as anyone knows, none have ever dated and no one seems the slightest bit inclined to make a run for it.

Wizzy and I share the same birthday. However, I will be living it up in Vegas while she hangs out with her stuffed animals and all those brothers. I think about how I was at her age and what I did when I was 16 and it makes me sad for her.

[darkplumaged]

Couldn't they AT LEAST put the grown men in separate rooms from the teens and tweens?

I am an introvert and have consciously needed alone time since I was maybe 11 or 12. I start to break down when I can't get it. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be in my 30s, still surrounded by over a dozen siblings and sharing a room with children. :shock:

[kiwimusume]

Couldn't they AT LEAST put the grown men in separate rooms from the teens and tweens?

I am an introvert and have consciously needed alone time since I was maybe 11 or 12. I start to break down when I can't get it. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be in my 30s, still surrounded by over a dozen siblings and sharing a room with children. :shock:

Same here. I would go completely insane.

[pixydust]

Speaking of the Fam, here's a shot of one of the boys' bedrooms posted today. Can anyone even imagine being 32 years old and sharing a bunk with your 10 year old brother? I won't comment on the bedding and window treatments, although I'm sure the penguins think they're cute.

That bedding is old! It's from walmart, from about 10 years ago (I bought it for my oldest when he moved into a regular bed, he was really into space!), I can't believe that they are still using it (my sons comforter fell apart after about 1.5 years, from washing it).

I do love that they are playing an old school Nintendo! I want one so badly, LOL.

[jesssnerch]

My daughter has that penguin.

[AVENues]

Wtf is that game on the screen? It looks like something on the old sega megadrive.

I love it actually. He could move in with me. I imagine he must be as "enthusiastic" about sexuality as I am. He looks not bad, I llike retro games too but he would have to sleep in a separate room, naturally. No snoring. And, a beer at least 3 times a week.

[BoomerLynn]

The more I read about this family, the more they creep me out. :?

[pixydust]

The more I read about this family, the more they creep me out. :?

Do you have a hard time putting your finger on it? Because I do! It's one of those things, I can tell that something is really weird and off in that family.....but I don't know exactly what. What kind of emotional abuse do those men have to have gone through to think that they are only "safe at home" in their early 30s? BTW, the oldest Arndt is my husbands age. We've been married for almost 7 years, have 3 kids, and my husband has lived away from home since he was 18 (ok, he had about 6 months back at 19 or 20, but then was back out). We own a home, 2 cars, and have a cat. I can't imagine him doing what he is told by anyone other than his boss and me (I run the money in our house). It's just messed up!

[Koala]

Wow...just wow. 32 years old and he's sleeping in a bunk bed with 4 other "boys" and playing Nintendo. And let's not forget the space sheets and the stuffed animals.

My son is 9. I took him shopping for new bedding about a week ago and he picked a solid navy quilt with solid sheets. I tried to sell him on a pretty cool set and he laughed at me all the way to the cash register.

[JenniferJuniper]

Do you have a hard time putting your finger on it? Because I do! It's one of those things, I can tell that something is really weird and off in that family.....but I don't know exactly what.

What makes them so incredibly weird is the fact that they all seem happy and in harmony with each other. Thirteen brothers under one roof. How is that even remotely a workable situation?

Their videos are mind numbingly boring but they're not scripted reality shows and watching them, I can't discern any hint of dissent or boredom or aggressiveness amongst them. While their house is isolated, they don't live in isolation. They travel, the oldest go to St. Louis for work and all of them spend time at the local Y. There's even a video of them all visiting the St. Louis Science Center. Not a creation museum, a real science museum.

They are stunted but not stupid, and some of them aren't bad looking.

How Rick and Cathy have been so successful in doing this to all of their kids is a true mystery, and one that I don't think we'll ever get to the bottom of.

[Morton Fan]

What makes them so incredibly weird is the fact that they all seem happy and in harmony with each other. Thirteen brothers under one roof. How is that even remotely a workable situation?

Their videos are mind numbingly boring but they're not scripted reality shows and watching them, I can't discern any hint of dissent or boredom or aggressiveness amongst them. While their house is isolated, they don't live in isolation. They travel, the oldest go to St. Louis for work and all of them spend time at the local Y. There's even a video of them all visiting the St. Louis Science Center. Not a creation museum, a real science museum.

They are stunted but not stupid, and some of them aren't bad looking.

How Rick and Cathy have been so successful in doing this to all of their kids is a true mystery, and one that I don't think we'll ever get to the bottom of.

A thousand times yes.

[truthteller]

What makes them so incredibly weird is the fact that they all seem happy and in harmony with each other. Thirteen brothers under one roof. How is that even remotely a workable situation?

Their videos are mind numbingly boring but they're not scripted reality shows and watching them, I can't discern any hint of dissent or boredom or aggressiveness amongst them. While their house is isolated, they don't live in isolation. They travel, the oldest go to St. Louis for work and all of them spend time at the local Y. There's even a video of them all visiting the St. Louis Science Center. Not a creation museum, a real science museum.

They are stunted but not stupid, and some of them aren't bad looking.

How Rick and Cathy have been so successful in doing this to all of their kids is a true mystery, and one that I don't think we'll ever get to the bottom of.

So many questions...

How can these grown men function at such a high level in their court reporting business and still be so socially inept?

How on earth do they get along so well?

How can grown, adult men not show any desire to be independent?

How can grown, adult men not make the slightest effort to pursue a woman?

Most of these men have no job, no car and no money well into their mid to late twenties. How are they OK with that?

[Sobeknofret]

Thanks to this thread I had the weirdest dream last night about going to a conference and having to bunk at the Arndt house. It was a combination of the Arndt thread and the Waller thread. So freaking surreal.

[0 kids n not countin]

and the stuffed penguin posts continue...

Luke Arndt:

Louie is a stuffed penguin, by the way.

Seth Arndt:

Ah, yes. Sorry if that was unclear. Louie is the two-year-old penguin standing to Peter’s left in that photo.

Jacob Arndt:

A pyramid of penguins.

[Closed Womb]

A thousand times yes.

Make that 1,000, plus one.

[0 kids n not countin]

They are also posting a thread regarding Humpty Dumpty. They argue that perhaps he's not really an egg. :roll: :think:

In this photo Mary-Elizabeth looks more her age, too bad her fashion sense seems to be so similar to her Mama Arndt.

[Closed Womb]

and the stuffed penguin posts continue...

Luke Arndt:

Seth Arndt:

Jacob Arndt:

Looks like "The Sexual Frustration of the Arndt Sons: A Penguin One Act."

Stuffed penguins are having orgies, the boys are in their dorm rooms, never to place a sock on the door to indicate privacy. Sigh.

[chaotic life]

The Arndt's didn't seem nearly as weird 10 years ago when their sons were just in their early 20s and it wasn't that big of a deal to have never stepped into the world or considered marriage and children. Now that they are entering their 30s, and especially considering they live in a world where EVERYTHING is focused on marriage and family, something seems bizarre to me.

The oldest Arndt son is only four years younger than me. Yes, I married young but I cannot imagine being my age and not even have ANY relationships EVER. It's like this family is raising a house FULL of men destined to be 40 year old virgins. I'm not sure I would ever consider this a success story. Children are MEANT to grow up and move on with their lives.

My guess on Wizzy is that she was originally nicknamed Lizzy. She has several younger brothers and the "w" sound is often substituted for the "l" sound in young children. It's actually one of the hardest and last sounds human speech develop. Perhaps a little brother called her Wizzy and it stuck. I think the entire family prefers to infantilize her even more than the boys since no one can handle the idea of her growing up and doing anything but being their personal icon.

[SisiL78]

OH, I just tried to watch their "safe at home" show..... its duller than the new Duggar episodes.

How many of those "boys" are over 18? The Arndt's income is based on their family, correct? I'm not sure who wouldn't think its weird to have 13 nearly grown men living in the house.

Let me get this straight. Not a single Arndt child is married or living on their own? I am just so confused.

[pixydust]

OH, I just tried to watch their "safe at home" show..... its duller than the new Duggar episodes.

How many of those "boys" are over 18? The Arndt's income is based on their family, correct? I'm not sure who wouldn't think its weird to have 13 nearly grown men living in the house.

Let me get this straight. Not a single Arndt child is married or living on their own? I am just so confused.

I believe that there are 9 Arndt men over 18, and yes, all of them live at home.

[nokidsmom]

I believe that there are 9 Arndt men over 18, and yes, all of them live at home.

I can't begin to fathom that those 9 young men are still at home. I could see it happening in a smaller family but a family with these many siblings? One would think that the odds were pretty small, that there would have to be at least one who want to move out, get married, etc.

Whatever Mom and Dad Arndt are doing, they have have quite a hold on their family, and while I am no psychologist, I am going to guess it's probably a combination of fear (both their own fears and instilling it in the kids), obligation, and guilt. My parents strove to keep me and my 2 sisters at home as adults and those were the tools they used. They succeeded (if you can call it that) with 2 out of 3. I was the one that left broke up the family at 24, according to them. They managed to keep my sisters at home until their 30's (31 and 34) when both finally married. By that time, it was starting to look very weird indeed to other family and friends that they were still at home.

So I can see how an Arndt-type situation can happen, but that can happen in this large of a family makes it quite disturbing.

[Just_Jane]

The more I learn about this family the more unusual they seem. It's weird the oldest is 32? That's the same age as me and yet I think of all of them as boys not men. I certainly would not be impressed. I've dated men who lived at home mostly due to financial reasons and one who was helping care for a parent. I currently live with my parents while I pay off some debts and get myself back on my feet financially. So still living at home at that age is not necessarily the weird part for me if that was all it was. Once you start adding in other aspects they are seriously like children and it's weird. Not something that most women would find remotely attractive. If I want a child I'd prefer to marry a man and have fun making one of my own not marrying an adult who acts like a child.

[rural juror]

The Arndts are super weird. They are officially tied with the Maxwells as my favorite families to follow. Hopefully John actually shares a room with the older guys and just came into the little kids' room to play video games.