Stephanie and Christian Nielson will speak to Newtown kids

[lilwriter85]

NieNie blogged today that they are going to speak to children in Newtown. I wonder if Emilie Parker's family asked them or arranged for it. I recall Emilie's family is LDS. I don't want to sound cruel, but I don't think Christian and NieNie are the right people to get involved.

[E Street Fan]

You're not being cruel. I don't think the amazingly self-absorbed Nielsons are the right people to get involved, either.

I'm almost afraid of what NieNie might say.

[Coconut Flan]

Nooooo!!

I don't think they know much about handling tragedy with grace, but more how to work a book deal.

[Lostie]

This is a terrible idea! You do not sound cruel at all.

NieNie has experienced tragedy, I will definitely give her that, but I still can't imagine she or her husband are the right people to talk to children. Especially children who have been through so much.

Nooooo!!

I don't think they know much about handling tragedy with grace, but more how to work a book deal.

QFT to the bold!

[lilwriter85]

I haven't read Nie's book, but the GOMI posters have talked about it and a few incidents involving Nie's recovery and the descriptions/summaries of what happened annoyed me. Her and her husband seem to be against counseling. On IG, her husband made fun of a support group/class for people who are afraid of flying.

[lilwriter85]

I just looked at Nie's instagram and one of her fangirls said that her siblings will be at a youth conference where the Nielsons are speaking at. I hope it something LDS related and not something directly related to the Sandy Hook students.

[Katiebug]

This is the annoying chick who was in the airplane crash and then her husband left her to die, right? Exactly what does she have to offer to Newtown that will be relevant or useful for the children and their families? :roll: There are several hundred kids at Sandy Hook who are doing their best to go on with a normal life and normal school year, including a number of siblings of children who were killed. Having self-aggrandizing Internet pseudo-celebrities in town is not the way to encourage healing and a normal life.

I really hope this is some kind of LDS event and not something that the kids are subjected to in school.

[shrewlu]

This is the annoying chick who was in the airplane crash and then her husband left her to die, right? Exactly what does she have to offer to Newtown that will be relevant or useful for the children and their families? :roll: There are several hundred kids at Sandy Hook who are doing their best to go on with a normal life and normal school year, including a number of siblings of children who were killed. Having self-aggrandizing Internet pseudo-celebrities in town is not the way to encourage healing and a normal life.

I really hope this is some kind of LDS event and not something that the kids are subjected to in school.

Bolding mine.

Maybe she can teach them to endlessly milk a situation and how to be a sanctimonious hag?

I really do feel badly for her and her husband because the plane crash was a terrible thing. But I find the way they've handled themselves since then to be disgusting and if I were a parent at Sandy Hook (or anywhere else), I wouldn't want them near my kids.

[lilwriter85]

If they aren't speaking at some LDS related event, there will be people in the dark about them. Christian and Nie can easily be marketed as motivational speakers just by the plane crash being mentioned. I first learned about them when I was visiting with my parents and mom watching Oprah. I was cooking at the time and didn't pay too much attention to them. Later I found the blog and when I read some of the pre crash postings I got turned off and I also saw how they milked the situation. The Christmas product review scam that Nie did was fucked up and she didn't return items that people requested back.

I still feel for them, but the way they have handled themselves is annoying. It is pretty much seems that they did use some of donation money and things that weren't needed. Nie also claimed that some of the donation money was used so her siblings could fly to see her in the hospital. I can sort of understand that, but some of Nie's siblings aren't really hurting for money. CJane has revealed things about trust funds and one of the sister is married to a wealthy CEO. I was also annoyed when they filed a suit against the city where the crash happened. Christian and the flight instructor were cited as being mostly at fault for the crash. I was pissed when court records revealed that a settlement happened. I was hoping that the Nielsons wouldn't get a penny. Another annoying recent incident involving Nie was her being happy that her son tackled a classmate after the classmate said that Nie looked funny.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I really hope they dont say something stupid and make things worse :(

[HeckBound]

I wouldn't want these. grifters anywhere near my kids.

[hoipolloi]

Sure hope this is an LDS event, and not something inflicted on the other, non-LDS families involved.

Don't understand how she would be able to offer any comfort to anyone, given what she related in her book. At one point she talks about another burn unit patient who is depressed and then dies of her injuries. I got the impression that Nie was actually very frightened about this, so afraid, in fact, that in some atavistic way she couldn't even speak to the woman or her family. She didn't handle things well at all. Can't imagine what she'd bring to the Newtown community.

[MamaJunebug]

With all my heart, I hope this is an LDS church-related thing, so that the fewest posible children will be exposed to.

Parents of any classiness at all instruct children, early on, not to make fun of people who look odd. I have a darling friend whose face is disfigured and I still sometimes find myself missing half of what she has to say to me because as I try to lip-read (I've got hearing loss), I can't help but think about her appearamce, and whether she's self-conscious because I'm studying her face, etc. And we're 60-yeawr-old and have known each other for decades.

Now, put Sandy Hook Elementary survivors, ages 6-10 (?), into a room with a lady whose face can't help but reflect tragedy and pain and downright scary things, and what's the point? How is this supposed to benefit them?

I'm only a mom, not a psychologist, but IMHO the only motivational, inspirational speakers that the children should have to listen to are the ones their parents think will be good for them. These children heard screams, shots, may have seen people die, right before their uncomprehending eyes and yes, all of them now face life without friends and in the worst cases, without a brother or sister.

How NieNie and Chris can be of any real help in this case is entirely beyond me.

[Emme]

I highly doubt that the Jewish families will go. Or any of the families. That is the LAST thing people need, religious proselytizing. She is so incredibly good at making things ALL ABOUT HER.

[lilwriter85]

If it is an LDS related event, there is a huge chance that the Parker family will go. Even if the Nielsons do meet with the Parkers, I can see Nie totally making everything about herself. Nie and Christians are celebs in the American LDS world. She has appeared in that LDS magazine a few times and a lot of her hardcore fans are usually Mormons. There are some Mormons who dislike the Nielsons, but a lot of the higher ups put them as the post family for "inspiration". NieNie hasn't changed since the plane crash, she is still immature. I can see some LDS bishop in Connecticut pushing the Parkers to meet with Nielsons.

[Patsy]

Ugh.

[OkToBeTakei]

Ugh.

Precisely.

Although was it just me that STARED in total horror at that bloody HUGE pink flower hair accessory she was plugging?

[formergothardite]

I really can't figure out why anyone would think to ask them to come. How will she spin this to make the entire thing all about her and her plane crash being worse than these parents having their children gunned down? Because you know she will.

[lilwriter85]

Her blog and IG haven't been updated. On webstagram, one of her fans met her on the plane and was "star struck".

[lilwriter85]

Precisely.

Although was it just me that STARED in total horror at that bloody HUGE pink flower hair accessory she was plugging?

I have also stared in horror at the same stuff she plugs on her site. The baby mocassins were cute, but we all know she got those for free.

[Mommy22alyns]

Her blog and IG haven't been updated. On webstagram, one of her fans met her on the plane and was "star struck".

Where's that barfing smilie when you need it?

I agree that this is a wretched idea. She's way too self-absorbed to be of any help whatsoever.

[FairyPrincessK]

My only response to this would be below the character limit:

Why?

Oh, yeah, because Stephanie and Christian's, admittedly tragic, accident is now equal to all other tragedies and qualifies them to be "tragedy celebs"? Yeah. It sounds about as insensitive and ridiculous as it is.

[lilwriter85]

My only response to this would be below the character limit:

Why?

Oh, yeah, because Stephanie and Christian's, admittedly tragic, accident is now equal to all other tragedies and qualifies them to be "tragedy celebs"? Yeah. It sounds about as insensitive and ridiculous as it is.

I kind of agree with the "tragedy celebs" description. There have been other people who have disabled or disfigured and they kind of do become tragedy celebs, especially if they have blog or go on the speaking circuit. Some of those people are annoying. I find Christian and Nie to be annoying because neither one has changed since the plane crash and they are self-absorbed. I have to admit to being inspired by people who have been in a similar situations to Nie. Katie Piper, the British model scarred in an acid attack is well known in the UK and she has been interviewed by the American press a few times. She also wrote a book. With Katie, I see someone who is sincere and she did a documentary series about other people with disfigurements and deformities getting plastic surgeries. Nie did visit a burn center but she made it about herself by giving away calendars of her and her family. There was also Lauren Manning who was disfigured at the WTC on 9/11. Her husband wrote a book and they made the media rounds in 2002 or 2003. But they went off the radar for several years until the 10th anniversary when Lauren released her own book.

[mirele]

I'm evil enough to wonder if this is not a school thing but a Mormon missionary opportunity, i.e., Nie and Christian are having a fireside at the ward where the one student went to church. And non-members are being invited. Or it's being held in a public place but it's going to include testimonies of how their faith strengthened them in their time of trial, as well as the Mormon belief that families can be together forever.

tl;dr: It's a missionary stunt. :(

[MyName]

yeah because nearly dying yourself in a plane crash and them mooching off people is so exactly like having your child gunned down at school. :roll: Who invited the Nielsons? YUCk