THIS is why fundies scare me

[Carla Bruni]

The way fundies can turn off their parental instincts simply blows my mind. My grandmother survived a famine. For the rest of her life, she had anxieties about her children and grandchildren having enough food. We always did, put she was so traumatized that there were things we simply could not say around her- "I'm hungry" was definitely one of them. Hearing a child say that would set her into a full scale panic attack. It didn't matter that it was after school, and we were nonchalantly grumbling on our way to the refrigerator to pull out hard boiled eggs, chickpeas, yogurt, fruit, or whatever else we felt like to have a snack. A child saying those words automatically sent her back to the place where people would lie down and die on the street. Kelly bragging about feeding 11 people on 2 chicken breasts and other mothers patting her on the back is just vile. How can they be OK with the fact their children tell them "I'm hungry" and the answer is "too bad"?

^^ This x a million. I'm sure I've posted about this before, but my grandmother survived the siege of Leningrad, and with her, you were NOT leaving the table until your soup + salad + main course + side + dessert were eaten. She may have gone a little overboard, but it was all pure good intentions, because she actually knew what starvation felt like. What KILLS me is how some commenter on that top post actually DARED to compare Kelly's style of "parenting" to what people in other parts of the world eat - because clearly every woman in the developing world who's feeding her children on $2 does this because she WANTS to. @*$%*@$%&@#$%.

I work with refugees in camps in Africa, and one of the most horrifying issues we've now come up against is that women are injecting themselves with cow growth hormones to fatten up and "look prettier", because they simply can't afford to eat enough themselves, and being larger is a sign of health/prosperity/beauty in their culture. Everything they earn goes to feed their kids, who still have to get high-calorie energy biscuits and shakes from the World Food Programme to meet nutritional goals. If any of these women read that post, they'd go fucking berserk. It's INSANE.

[LynnJ0516]

I think two chicken breasts are just enough to feed my family of two. I can't imagine stretching that for 11! :( How sad. My heart breaks for her children. I hope she gets on the WIC program and gets some nutrition in them soon.

[sarahjames3]

I cannot understand why any family struggling to make ends meet with 11 children already - would continue to have more chldren! It is not God's will for her to have more children than they can feed. This has been addressed many times but there is nothing "natural" about producing 11 or more children. There is planning involved in order to become pregnant again so rapidly -time after time after time! God helps those who help themselves and each child she adds to that family is making this situation more and more desperate for those kids.

[Sobeknofret]

I think two chicken breasts are just enough to feed my family of two. I can't imagine stretching that for 11! :( How sad. My heart breaks for her children. I hope she gets on the WIC program and gets some nutrition in them soon.

Two chicken breasts would feed me and my husband, but not leave leftovers. My kid is a vegetarian and wouldn't eat any, but if he ate meat, I'd be pressed to stretch it to three people. The thing is, she has the food available, she just refuses to make adequate meals for her family with it. She has two deer and a steer in her freezer, which should be more than sufficient for the family--Kelly is just parsimonious as hell with the food. It makes me so angry, I can hardly see straight.

[AnnieC 305]

Today is both a federal holiday and the presidential inauguration, I'm not surprised.

Yeah, the husband reminded me of that AFTER I got off the phone. :oops:

My apologies again for the rant, I'll try again tomorrow.

[GiggleOfGirls]

Getting pregnant quickly doesn't always involve planning - sometimes a lack of planning is all that it requires. Even with nursing around the clock and doing the ecological breastfeeding thing, 2% of women get their fertility back within the first 6 months postpartum. Most fundies schedule their babies pretty early on, which raises that percentage considerably, even if they're still breastfeeding.

I know a couple of women personally who tried ecological breastfeeding and were pregnant within the first three months of their babies' lives unless they started using contraception almost immediately, which they did do after the first 2-3 babies.

[sarahjames3]

Ecological???

[sarahjames3]

I hope she's still breastfeeding several of those children because they need the extra nourishment!!!

[J'ean Skirt]

Two chicken breasts would feed me and my husband, but not leave leftovers. My kid is a vegetarian and wouldn't eat any, but if he ate meat, I'd be pressed to stretch it to three people. The thing is, she has the food available, she just refuses to make adequate meals for her family with it. She has two deer and a steer in her freezer, which should be more than sufficient for the family--Kelly is just parsimonious as hell with the food. It makes me so angry, I can hardly see straight.

A pound of chicken is, technically, slightly over 5 servings of meat based on standard nutritional guidelines. I've certainly gotten chicken breasts that are over a pound a piece. So it's not completely out of the question that this was sufficient protein for a meal. However, a lot of americans really don't like the 3oz of meat and think a 'serving' should be more than that.

I think the meal sounds disgusting and (meat? in a blender? ????) but 'two chicken breasts' is pretty vague as a serving size.

[Mela99]

I wonder where she does her food shopping. Aldi's would stretch money further. Or if she could fit it into her busy life, couponing. I'm 27 and I haven't bought soap, shampoo, deodorant in over 2 years (I stockpiled) and I pay about twenty-thirty bucks a month for about 200$ worth of groceries.

[polabear]

I just finally looked at the pic of the fridge. I'm horrified. My sister is known for her empty fridge. She tends to shop everyday, since she lives across the street from the store. Her fridge for a family of three has about 5 times the amount of stuff in it.

[Koala]

I have a confession. If I make any chicken for myself I put it in the blender to shred it. :oops: Chicken casserole, chicken salad, whatever. I have a huge texture issue and I can't eat any chunks of meat without gagging and losing my appetite.

I can totally see the aversion to it, but that's just the only way I can eat it. I have food issues...I know :lol:

[wild little fox]

Yeah, the husband reminded me of that AFTER I got off the phone. :oops:

My apologies again for the rant, I'll try again tomorrow.

Thank you for trying!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[gardenvarietycitizen]

I know fundies who ration their children's food specifically so that those kids don't cost them lots in clothing and food prices...

I WISH I could say this mentality is rare in fundie circles, but it was unbelievable common in the families I knew.

For a certain subset of the fundie bloggers they seem to take great pride in how far they can make a penny scream. They're all about how they have the skills to make a meal from anything, and how they don't understand why so many lazy leftists are happy to take Evil Gubmint Handouts (read: WIC/foodstamps) because of course they only have one income like God intended and yet manage to feed their kids fine on old veggie peelies broth (reading the thread I see that's "Garbage Soup"!) with maybe a bite of chicken in it and muffins made from bread crumbs left in the toaster.

I thought pride was a sin but in this one area it sure seems to be popular.

She's as though she fed the five thousand with her meager rice goop and her leg humpers are eating it all up. It's like they're hoping for food multiplication miracles, and choosing to focus on the "fed 11 people" part instead of the "two chicken breasts" part.

Exactly.

Apparently, "everyone" knows that boys just need to eat more.

Actually that reminds me of something quite a bit off-topic, but... lately Subway has run a series of annoying commercials during SNL that have adults in a work situation voiced by little kids. In the latest one two women in the office confront a man coworker who has come back with a Subway sandwich, and they ask him for it, he says he only has one, and of course they "oh it's no problem, we'll share" (amongst the two of them). Trivial thing, surely, but it did not escape my notice that's yet another place just slipping in the "of course women should eat less" meme. They're cute and flirty, of course they wouldn't need a WHOLE sandwich :roll:

This is part of the whole Fundie Mommy Wars mentality, the "I am holier than you because..." (insert thing/s of choice). Personally, I think she's making it up. There is just no way, just like I didn't believe Emily was doing all the crap she said she was. There is no way anyone can prove she's lying but even if she isn't, she is boasting, which is also a sin according to her own rule book (I imagine she would try to get out of that one by saying she is just being a Titus 2 whatever).

BINGO. That's a great way to put it.

You can find various blogs mentioning restriction of toys, too - the kids all have access to plenty of toys and clothes (from relatives if nothing else - remember that so many of these families are only first-generation into this new radical culture, so the grandparents/aunts/uncles are all giving "normal" amounts of stuff) but mom gets obsessed with some idealized vision of the past where smiling children were always grateful for one outfit and maybe a toy or two each (and none of this new-fangled plastic, please) and so purposely give all the kids' toys away and similar. Of course the parents still have their computers for blogging, phones...

[NjoyingNsanity]

Oh for fucks sake that woman needs someone to slap some sense into her. My family of seven eats snacks that consist of more food than what she's calling a meal. We're far from rich but thenagain we're not too proud to ask for assistance if we need it. Granted Kelly and her ilk would call us lazy overbreeders who mooch of the system, but my husband works 40+ hours a weekand while I'm a SAHM I'm also taking college classes online, and my husband is hopefully switching jobs soon and the new job comes with a significantly higher paycheck. Unlike Kelly and her husband we decided to stop having kids, and focus on improving our financial situation to better provide for the five we do have. I see nothing wrong with accepting help for a bit while we work to improve our situation, at least I know my kids have enough to eat and adequate medical care if they need it.

Thing is I've learned how to make good meals on a budget. I might eat Ramen noodles or leftovers for lunch everyday, but my kids eat healthy meals. She had deer and beef why not buy a bag of potatoes, a couple carrots and whatever other veggies she liked and throw it all in a crockpot for a few hours and have a healthy delicious and filling meal. Heck add some homemade biscuit to that and you have a healthy meal that sticks to the ribs. My family lives on lots of one pot meals that are loaded with veggies and often have beans added for extra protein.

[TXDuck]

Because of this thread, my family has gotten omelets, wattles, pizza, lasagna, fried chicken, and even cake. And I can't even bring myself to tell them "no snacks, dinner will be ready in 15 minutes". And I've frozen more duck stock this weekend than I usually do during all of duck season.

I can't save any fundy kids from hunger. So my own kids are getting a bit spoiled.

[SamuraiKatz]

Making baby food was the only time I ever put cooked chicken in a blender. The last time I did that was about 17 and a half years ago. I call bullshit on her two chicken breast casserole for a family of 11.

[August]

Ecological???

Cosleep, nurse on demand night and day, no bottles, no pacifiers, no solids. Essentially not going more than 2 hours during the day and five at night without nursing.

[MarthaMarcyMayMarlen]

I commented on her blog as Mary Johnson. She responed by saying two chicken breast are enough and store bought ones are not reallly good anyway. Then her leghumpers said God has starved people in the past so this is okay and I dont have scripture to back it up. Isnt there a verse somewhere that says Anyone who harms Gods children should have a millstone tied around his neck and walked into the sea?

[wild little fox]

I clearly remember my mother not eating when things were tight and making sure we had all we wanted.

After my parents split up and we were, at times so poor that did not have a refrigerator (because of the electric bill) she got food stamps, went to the food bank, joined gleaners, dumpster dived, picked up throw away produce from the grocery store, caned, dried, smoked anything she could get her hands on. We were always fed and never went without. We gardened at friends houses because we didnt have running water. My stepdad had a lot of health problems and could not keep a job long, but he was really good to us and his unconditional love covered. It was a wonderful thing when he got a deer! We worked together as a family and even though I have my issues if push came to shove, I know how to make sure there us food on the table.

ETA: riffles

[desertvixen]

Went over and read the comments. Not ALL crazy but still plenty of crazy.

My favorites:

1. The bigger the animal was, the longer it takes to digest the meat - has anyone else heard this?

2. 80% of people qualify for WIC and that's why formula is so expensive? Somehow I question the stat.

[Mice]

The way fundies can turn off their parental instincts simply blows my mind. My grandmother survived a famine. For the rest of her life, she had anxieties about her children and grandchildren having enough food. We always did, put she was so traumatized that there were things we simply could not say around her- "I'm hungry" was definitely one of them. Hearing a child say that would set her into a full scale panic attack. It didn't matter that it was after school, and we were nonchalantly grumbling on our way to the refrigerator to pull out hard boiled eggs, chickpeas, yogurt, fruit, or whatever else we felt like to have a snack. A child saying those words automatically sent her back to the place where people would lie down and die on the street. Kelly bragging about feeding 11 people on 2 chicken breasts and other mothers patting her on the back is just vile. How can they be OK with the fact their children tell them "I'm hungry" and the answer is "too bad"?

My father in law is like this. He was one of 15 kids and they grew up in dire poverty. He talks about how they used to have a can of Spam for Sunday dinner for 17 people and be so excited to have such a meal. He has been known to go through our shelves and fridge to make sure that we have enough food. He won't eat a crumb unless all the kids are fed first, then any women at the table. He is in his 70s and still hordes food (and he hordes some for us too, because he loves us). He would not believe that a mother would intentionally cause their child to go through what he endured. I can't believe it myself.

[SunnyAndrsn]

Someone has now addressed the chicken casserole debacle:

Of course Kelly replied with her typical nonsense:

Notice she only addressed to protein issue. She didn't make a peep about the fact that it's simply NOT enough food.

Two small chicken breasts--let's assume they are "small" like 5 ounces each. That's still less than an ounce of protein per person, which is about 9g. I don't care how little the littles are, they need more than an ounce of protein at a meal.

If it's decent rice and they each get 1/2 cup, they will get a tish more protein there, but still not enough. I eat 12g of protein in a SNACK and double that in every meal. Why? Keeps me full.

If store bought chicken isn't nutritious, why is she buying it? I love the fact that her argument for poor nutrition is to site the "typical" family that lives off of fast food.

Just for fun and to compaire, I reviewed my meal plan for this week: Split pea and ham soup, Chicken enchilada soup (with a full pound of evil, store bought chicken breasts), spaghetti with meat sauce, and sandwiches. Our lunches are left overs of this stuff. Breakfast is cereal, eggs/toast, or oatmeal. Sides are clementines, strawberries, bananas, greek yogurt, and fresh veggies. I have salad for a side with the spaghetti. Back ups are fish (frozen), extra chicken breasts to do whatever with, pizza ingredients, cheese, crackers, a lasagna that I froze, and we have a bag of potatoes, onions, and enough eggs to make just about any desert I'd want from scratch. Realistically, we have at LEAST two weeks of food in the fridge. It really makes me sad for her children.

While the kids ate me out of house and home, I would never, ever have considered locking them out of the pantry. If they were hungry, I wanted them to listen to their bodies and EAT. In the interest of full disclosure, we did buy a mini fridge to keep in our room with a lock on it. I'd hide stuff *I* wanted to keep for me or DH. I also would keep stuff in there I needed for recipes, but that were in danger of being demolished by a hungry teen. Her poor kids are going to end up with eating disorders by being limited like this.

It's not that hard...it's really not...I don't understand why they make it sound like it's 1. Rocket science; 2. that the rest of the modern world eats crap out of a box/fast food.

WTF

[Wolfie]

As annoying as the food fundies are, I think that since she already has the no doctor thing going on, her kids would be better off if she found WAPF.

[jenny_islander]

I've talked with some conservative Christian/possibly fundamentalist-lite moms who lock the fridge because their tight budgets force them to plan exactly what will be served even at snack time, and if the kids bypass (say) the oranges and carrots and go for the cheese that was earmarked for tomorrow's dinner, then tomorrow's dinner is going to be ruined. The thing is, there is actually food in the fridge in the first place!

And if chicken isn't that good, why didn't the kids get venison or beef instead? Since the freezer is apparently packed to the brim with meat?