Sparkling Adventures Blog

[ILoveJellybeans]

Dell's favourite toy is a pair of scissors?? She could poke her eye out.

That is just terrible. Please tell me shes just screwing with her readers and seeing how far she can go with being a terrible parent and still having readers who think shes amazing.

Whats next? Swimming with crocodiles? Taking them to be babysat by the local crack dealer? Adopting a pet poisonous snake because its sparklier than getting a cat?

[amydamy]

Dell's favourite toy is a pair of scissors?? She could poke her eye out.

That is just terrible. Please tell me shes just screwing with her readers and seeing how far she can go with being a terrible parent and still having readers who think shes amazing.

Whats next? Swimming with crocodiles? Taking them to be babysat by the local crack dealer? Adopting a pet poisonous snake because its sparklier than getting a cat?

Wherever we park, the scissors are a great toy to take outside. They provide hours of contented play with minimal harm done to the plants around us.

There has to be some kind of age appropriate toy she can give her that's not a pair of scissors to keep her occupied. Or she could actually spend time playing with Dell herself.

[amydamy]

At the bottom of the post about scissors there is a picture of Calista with a giant knot in her hair. It looks like the only way to get rid of that knot will be to cut it out.

[princessjo1988]

Where to begin!

Her newest post is very interesting - "Homebods" - and sounds very conflicted. On the one hand, she praises the benefits of living in a house - and the girls (on the whole) look so much more relaxed, comfy, and well, safe - at least to me. But on the other, she says that outings become an inconvenience, and thus bus living is so much more sparkly.

It made me so sad to see Brioni 'sleeping' under the desk - to me, that just speaks volumes about the whole situation. I know that for me as a child, that I would seek out such places when I was insecure, scared or worried - they were safe, and comforting.

And Lauren, scissors are not toys. Not ever. Thankfully, they seem relatively blunt, but that does not mean that they cannot do damage. What if she decides one day to try to cut an electrical cord or something?

And ultimately, it is so, so ok to mourn. Life isn't forever sparkly, regardless of how much we can wish it otherwise. Her son died. I feel for her. But running won't fix it.

[chaotic life]

I just have to laugh. Right underneath the sentence bragging that the ONLY collateral damage of the scissors is one nick in a shirt is poor Calista with most her hair BUTCHERED....and what's left in that rat's nest so badly it likely would need to be cut out to remove it. Absolutely SHAMEFUL to treat her kids like that!!!

[lilith]

At the very least she could get Del a pair of blunt plastic toddler scissors. Those things only cut paper and maybe grass - they certainly wouldn't cut hair, and they have rounded ends so stabbing isn't an issue.

[SouthCarolinaGirl79]

I just finished the 100 page thread and now this one. I'm baffled as to how she can keep doing what's she's doing. Her decisions are putting her daughters into unsafe situations. How can she possibly keep getting away with it?

Did anyone notice that Aisha wasn't mentioned much nor pictured much in the most recent blog post? That poor little dear.

You read the entire 100 page thread on Miss Sparkles? Like in one sitting? Surely we have an award for this!

[SouthCarolinaGirl79]

I trying to move on past this shoe situation, BUT I was looking at the photos from the museum and the bottom of the girls' feet are just pitiful. In the photo in front of the whisper dish, Lauren is wearing sandals and the girls are barefooted. I'm less inclined to believe that the no shoes in public is less a matter of being free hippies and more like Lauren is too damn lazy to buy proper footwear for her children!

[wild little fox]

She posted video with herself and two of the girls on a bridge that moves back and forth. I wish I knew what she is saying about this bridge thing! I wish I had more of a backgroung in psyc!

btw, I was never arguing about the shoe issue. I think her children should wear shoes when areas are unsafe and unhygienic.

[heidi]

You read the entire 100 page thread on Miss Sparkles? Like in one sitting? Surely we have an award for this!

Not in one sitting! I read it over a few days. I agree, a one day marathon read through would be quite a feat!

[August]

My kids loved scissors at three. I never thought to send them outside with them, that's a great idea. Using them as tongs is creative, but why not get them some real tongs? They're even better for hand strength.

If you're clutching your pearls over scissors, don't watch the video where the girls are organising David's stack of table saw blades. At one point A drops them and B says "tat's a bad drop!". But don't worry, their feet were in no danger, they were sitting down...

On a palette on the forks of a forklift lifted to the ceiling of the shed. :o

http://m.youtube dot com/#/watch?v=UD6h-uu_ois&feature=relmfu

(can you see analytics on your youtube channel?)

[thoughtful]

A bath in a regular bathtub, without being suspended by ropes over an open fire? What a bore. :roll:

[Dysfundamental]

I don't think being concerned that unsupervised very young kids might injure themselves by using scissors as a toy is "clutching my pearls".

[lilith]

I just looked at the latest posts - poor poor Calista. Between being hacked at the front and matted at the back her hair looks a complete mess.

[Witsec7]

I just looked at the latest posts - poor poor Calista. Between being hacked at the front and matted at the back her hair looks a complete mess.

Lauren has spared no expense with her own hair. She get's get dreds tuned up, and she had them professionally installed.

[SouthCarolinaGirl79]

Has FJ ever determined what, other than attention, does Lauren get from this popular blog? It isn't monetized in any way that I can detect. Sure people blog for their own personal enjoyment, but to blog daily with photos and to have a large social media presence?

[Witsec7]

Has FJ ever determined what, other than attention, does Lauren get from this popular blog? It isn't monetized in any way that I can detect. Sure people blog for their own personal enjoyment, but to blog daily with photos and to have a large social media presence?

Donations. Look at the donations McMoney got before she was fully monetized.

[happy atheist]

Dell's favourite toy is a pair of scissors?? She could poke her eye out.

That is just terrible. Please tell me shes just screwing with her readers and seeing how far she can go with being a terrible parent and still having readers who think shes amazing.

Whats next? Swimming with crocodiles? Taking them to be babysat by the local crack dealer? Adopting a pet poisonous snake because its sparklier than getting a cat?

On their travels right before the ferry to Tasmania, they stopped and swam/waded in several places that had posted crocodile (and jellyfish) warnings.

And she and David hung out with/used the shower of the local smack dealer when they were in the city a year ago.

She doesn't have any pets that I know of (since their dog was poisoned under mysterious circumstances), but she posted an instagram picture of a warning about venomous snakes with a comment about how real Aussies feel at home around such things.

It seems like no matter how hyperbolic you try to be about Lauren, she's already been there, done that.

[lilith]

Has FJ ever determined what, other than attention, does Lauren get from this popular blog? It isn't monetized in any way that I can detect. Sure people blog for their own personal enjoyment, but to blog daily with photos and to have a large social media presence?

It's not monetized with ads (Lauren couldn't reconcile that with her personal philosophy at this point anyway) but she does get reader donations, both of cash and goods, and readers also offer her places to stay.

Plus it gives her recognition and connections in the Australian homeschooling and alternative community, that a socially isolated church girl from Brisbane wouldn't have built.

[CheeseDeprived]

Dell's favourite toy is a pair of scissors?? She could poke her eye out.

That is just terrible. Please tell me shes just screwing with her readers and seeing how far she can go with being a terrible parent and still having readers who think shes amazing.

It just gets worse and worse, doesn't it? :(

Apart from the possible danger (I'm quite laid back when it comes to kids using scissors or knives - but under constant supervision!), I wouldn't be impressed if some little kid came along and started snipping away at my plants. If you want your kids to do that kind of thing, let them do it at home in your own backyard. If you're too darn sparkly to have something as mundane as a backyard, find them something else to cut up, but leave other people's plants alone, be it on public or private grounds. What does that teach the girls about respecting other people's space and property?

And the hair... oh god, the hair... WHY?

I look at old pictures of myself and feel bad about what my parents did to my hair... but at least it was the 80s and they didn't know any better. :P Though compared to C's hair in particular, most of us 80s kids looked pretty tame. She's going to look back one day and HATE her mother for letting her run around like that and posting countless pictures of it on the www.

[August]

It's not monetized with ads (Lauren couldn't reconcile that with her personal philosophy at this point anyway) but she does get reader donations, both of cash and goods, and readers also offer her places to stay.

Plus it gives her recognition and connections in the Australian homeschooling and alternative community, that a socially isolated church girl from Brisbane wouldn't have built.

Have you read the really old stuff? Where she tries to get the other mothers at playgroup to like her by making fancy cupcakes? (she clearly says she made them to impress the other mothers and make them like her). I think she did it because she was lonely and bored, then she did it because she was making online followers she felt were friends, now I think she does it in order to keep a stream of invites so she can spend her whole life in the first flush of meeting new people, never getting to that point where you realise you're not going to be great friends because you're staring to annoy each other.

Dysfundamental, how old are your kids? Have you forgotten that age? Did you not teach them to use scissors? No one could hurt themselves with those kid scissors, you couldn't even poke your eye out with them. The only risk is cutting hair, clothes, toys, books or furniture. She obviously is fine with the hair and clothes cutting, so who cares?

[SouthCarolinaGirl79]

August, I didn't know about the cupcakes. I do imagine she gets annoying quickly because I only read her blog sporadically and she drives me nuts.

[Munasa]

If you read Lauren's earlier posts, there are some that mention how she didn't feel accepted by other young mothers when they got together. One post talks about making cupcakes that were not"approved" of by the mothers at a gathering she took them to. To me it seems Lauren really tried to fit in for a while, but as a third culture person, she faced misunderstanding from others. I often wonder how her life might have been if she had found acceptance back then. I also think David is equally responsible for their choice to be'nomads'. It started with his work truck. It can't have been easy for either of them to find where they belonged as they both had unusual childhoods. Sometimes 'normal' people can be unintentionally unkind and unaccepting of differences. I also think those differences can make others feel uncomfortable. I am a 'third culture person' myself, but I think I would have found David & Lauren hard to relate to.

I can't see Lauren changing or trying to'fit in'.

And I can't understand her parenting style. She thinks it's wrong to give the girls any structure or direction in anything.

I see that August had just mentioned the cupcakes too.

[SouthCarolinaGirl79]

Third culture people... I had to google that one. I have friends who were raised with missionary parents, but I never knew there was a term for it. The things you learn on FJ!

[lilith]

If you read Lauren's earlier posts, there are some that mention how she didn't feel accepted by other young mothers when they got together. One post talks about making cupcakes that were not"approved" of by the mothers at a gathering she took them to. To me it seems Lauren really tried to fit in for a while, but as a third culture person, she faced misunderstanding from others. I often wonder how her life might have been if she had found acceptance back then. I also think David is equally responsible for their choice to be'nomads'. It started with his work truck. It can't have been easy for either of them to find where they belonged as they both had unusual childhoods. Sometimes 'normal' people can be unintentionally unkind and unaccepting of differences. I also think those differences can make others feel uncomfortable. I am a 'third culture person' myself, but I think I would have found David & Lauren hard to relate to.

I can't see Lauren changing or trying to'fit in'.

And I can't understand her parenting style. She thinks it's wrong to give the girls any structure or direction in anything.

I see that August had just mentioned the cupcakes too.

But she used to be extreme about structure and direction. Really extreme in her earlier post.

I think Lauren does change to try to gain the acceptance of those around her, and I think that's half her problem.

She tried really hard to conform and be the young conservative Christian mother, but she still didn't find acceptance. Now she's decided to be a nomadic earth mother hippie type, and she's doing better with gaining acceptance, but only short term shallow acceptance til she moves on, she still hasn't found lasting friendship or connections who will look past the trappings and see and love her.

As for the scissors, the ones in the pic aren't plastic toddler scissors, they are metal, and, if they are the crayola ones they look like, they can cut skin - ive had a child cut himself with them.