Wizzy Arndt in her white "short, shorts"

[VooDooChild]

I watched the video! And now I deserve some chocolate....

Anyway! :pink-shock: :shock: :o :? This family just confounds me to no end. Why are they filming their lives (with spots for commercial breaks even!)? Who is their audience? Why do they think anybody cares? The penguins? Several times, I found myself thinking of Forrest Gump because their odd speech. They are allowed to leave the compound, but they go back! Mama Arndt and her "praise god" was awkward. Just... :cray-cray:

[Syd+Marky]

They are a strange lot...

Maybe the girl borrows her Moms clothes?Or would that be too normal for these people?

If someone were to flip through pics of my teen daughter and I on seperate occasions, one might think we own alot of matching clothes-when, in reality, most come from the same closet.

[ladyaudley]

I watched the video! And now I deserve some chocolate....

you certainly do. i only managed 4 minutes.

Several times, I found myself thinking of Forrest Gump because their odd speech.

the one in the red shirt (i cannot remember their names for the life of me) has it the worst, I find. Very odd.

[MsSaylor]

I just realized the speech (esp the guy who has it really bad) reminds me of a character from Ren and Stimpy. God was it cousin Sven?

[nokidsmom]

Wizzie is dressed like a normal teenage girl her age however I think normal as applied to this family seems to extend to dress only.

They are odd. They aren't totally fundie but not mainstream either, except for clothes. Truly in a league of their own. Can't see any of them marrying into a fundie or mainstream family. 'Course that is probably what Mama wants anyway and maybe this odd family setup has been created to insure exactly that. The kids have been told that they need to marry someone from a family just like them. Except there's nobody out there just like them.

[VooDooChild]

you certainly do. i only managed 4 minutes.

the one in the red shirt (i cannot remember their names for the life of me) has it the worst, I find. Very odd.

Flor-i-daah. Was his name Justin? Please don't make me watch again! :crying-green:

[Joan of Snarc]

I got through the first 9.5 minutes of that video, so far (don't know if I can bring myself to watch the rest.) But it's their inflections -- you never know within each sentence (each word even) whether they're going to go up or down. It's a constant roller coaster ride of up-down inflections that seem to my ear totally random. They've also got some of the vocal fry going:

UsE5mysfZsY

And who packs an old shower curtain on a trip? Oh, those Arndts.... Did anyone else catch one of them saying, "God wants us to have a TV show." TLC, you're missing out! The Great Flapping Shower Curtain Misadventure in Mississippi could bring in big ratings! BIG I tell you!

[MsSaylor]

They're from Mississippi?! Wtf. The closest I could come up with on the accents were some kind of north Dakotan. Even more confused now

[JenniferJuniper]

And who packs an old shower curtain on a trip? Oh, those Arndts.... Did anyone else catch one of them saying, "God wants us to have a TV show." TLC, you're missing out! The Great Flapping Shower Curtain Misadventure in Mississippi could bring in big ratings! BIG I tell you!

They actually do have a couple of TV shows. One called "FamTeam" and the other "Safe at Home". I don't think they are on too many places in the country, but I know they're on a Direct TV station in southern Illinois. Probably some religious programming channel. The videos on their website are episodes made for the show.

I suspect the shower curtain was a plant. I don't believe for a moment that none of the Arndt boys thought to check the weather or consider that luggage on top of the car might get wet. They've travelled by car all over the country for weeks at a time. But God wants them to have an interesting show and the manboys are just trying to help the Lord out.

They're from Mississippi?! Wtf. The closest I could come up with on the accents were some kind of north Dakotan. Even more confused now

They are all from the St. Louis area. Rick and Cathy grew up there and the whole Fam has been raised in Southern Illinois. Daddy Arndt is always proud to point out the fact that they can see the Gateway Arch from some spot on their property.

[rural juror]

It's seems like the speech impediment gets worse with each subsequent kid... Nathan's speech is terrible, but Paul sounds pretty normal, IMO.

[JenniferJuniper]

It's seems like the speech impediment gets worse with each subsequent kid... Nathan's speech is terrible, but Paul sounds pretty normal, IMO.

I think Nate might have some other sorts of impairments as well. But I agree that the accents get worse as you go down the line.

There are some videos that show them as kids, and one in particular with Luke around 11 or 12 in which he can be heard speaking entirely normally. Today he speaks with an Arndtish accent. It's slighter than the younger ones, but it's still there. When the older sons were young, they lived in a normal neighborhood so it may have started happening when they moved onto the isolated property. Without school or neighborhood friends, it seems they started picking up Daddy's odd way of speaking.

[Chicken bones]

Wow, on an excitement level, this video just made the Duggars' show look the the Bourne Identity.

[bananacat]

I don't have a problem with Wizzy's clothes, but damn she looks so young. I thought she was actually 14 and looked very young for her age, but she is actually 16 so she looks very very young for her age. I know everyone develops at a different rate and some are late bloomers, but she seems really far behind developmentally. Her mom is kind of short so it's not really the height that bothers, just to overall shape of her face and body is very young-looking. Who knows, maybe it could be completely normal but it almost makes me wonder if she is not getting enough nutrition.

[socalrules]

Do the Arndts follow the husband is in charge and the woman is subservient fundy rule? I always thought Mama Arndt was the one who wore the shorts in that family. I think if the family as their own little brand of fundy that no one else fits into. How could any of the Arndt "boys" ever be heads of their own households when their mama is in control of the one they grew up in? Although they seem to have a little more freedom than the Duggars, they seem, in some ways, more stunted. I can't imagine any of them married and raising families. Spending a day in that house must be like visiting and elementary school.

[JenniferJuniper]

I don't have a problem with Wizzy's clothes, but damn she looks so young. I thought she was actually 14 and looked very young for her age, but she is actually 16 so she looks very very young for her age. I know everyone develops at a different rate and some are late bloomers, but she seems really far behind developmentally. Her mom is kind of short so it's not really the height that bothers, just to overall shape of her face and body is very young-looking. Who knows, maybe it could be completely normal but it almost makes me wonder if she is not getting enough nutrition.

Mommy has the boys obsessed with calories. A couple of them were overweight when they were teens and for young men they are now all hyper-conscious about protein grams and carbs. Although we see Wizzie baking sweets from time to time, it's possible that there are food restrictions in the house. Her younger brother Caleb is quite big, but being the control freak she is, it wouldn't surprise me if Mommy has an individual food plan for everyone.

Do the Arndts follow the husband is in charge and the woman is subservient fundy rule? I always thought Mama Arndt was the one who wore the shorts in that family. I think if the family as their own little brand of fundy that no one else fits into. How could any of the Arndt "boys" ever be heads of their own households when their mama is in control of the one they grew up in? Although they seem to have a little more freedom than the Duggars, they seem, in some ways, more stunted. I can't imagine any of them married and raising families. Spending a day in that house must be like visiting and elementary school.

The short answer is no one really knows. It does appear that Mommy's basically in charge of their day-to-day lives, but what we see is so heavily edited, it's hard to know what's really going on.

In one of their newer videos, the FamTeam is shown playing a softball team with at least one woman on it. I believe the FamTeam lost. And in an older video, Mark said his mother could have easily run her own company had she not opted to raise and homeschool so many kids. So at least on the surface, it doesn't appear that they believe in the general subservience of women.

[already hungover]

Wizzy looks nice in her outfit. The family as a whole, however, is bizarre.

Yup. Wizzy and the manboys all seem pretty nice, which is why they're so fascinating. I'd rather hang out with the Arndts than with any other fundy family we discuss here.

I was glad (and surprised) to see that Wizzy was allowed to participate in a softball tournament with the boys this weekend.

[VooDooChild]

I don't have a problem with Wizzy's clothes, but damn she looks so young. I thought she was actually 14 and looked very young for her age, but she is actually 16 so she looks very very young for her age. I know everyone develops at a different rate and some are late bloomers, but she seems really far behind developmentally. Her mom is kind of short so it's not really the height that bothers, just to overall shape of her face and body is very young-looking. Who knows, maybe it could be completely normal but it almost makes me wonder if she is not getting enough nutrition.

I think she looks more like she's in the 10-12 range. The penguin play looks like kids in the 4-7 range. It all looks like child abuse, and I feel for the offspring. I wonder if they are lonely or feel like they are missing something, but can't put a finger on it. Then again, I think they just don't know any better or that they are, in fact, missing out on a life.

[salex]

I think Nate might have some other sorts of impairments as well. But I agree that the accents get worse as you go down the line.

There are some videos that show them as kids, and one in particular with Luke around 11 or 12 in which he can be heard speaking entirely normally. Today he speaks with an Arndtish accent. It's slighter than the younger ones, but it's still there. When the older sons were young, they lived in a normal neighborhood so it may have started happening when they moved onto the isolated property. Without school or neighborhood friends, it seems they started picking up Daddy's odd way of speaking.

Perhaps there is lead in their well water? Or something.

[lizziesmom]

They're from Mississippi?! Wtf. The closest I could come up with on the accents were some kind of north Dakotan. Even more confused now

They are from Belleville, Illinois.

[CelticGoddess]

It just creeps me out that she's a little mini-version of her mom. Nobody in that family is allowed to have an individual personality.

This I completely agree with. While her clothes are not creepy, the family is just strange and odd in a very creepy way.

How old is Wizzy now? (And will she ever be known by anything else?)

[yetanothermeg]

After watching this video, I am so conflicted!

Mark has been the Ardnt man-boy with my affections from the earliest days. If I ever became a righteous widow I would sweep him off his feet and have my way with his hairless body. But those shots of a shirtless Paul?

Hmmm........decisions, decisions. :think:

[yetanothermeg]

And is it just me, or do the middle three boys sound like Forest Gump in those beach scenes? Sal-tay.

[bananacat]

I think she looks more like she's in the 10-12 range. The penguin play looks like kids in the 4-7 range. It all looks like child abuse, and I feel for the offspring. I wonder if they are lonely or feel like they are missing something, but can't put a finger on it. Then again, I think they just don't know any better or that they are, in fact, missing out on a life.

Yeah, that's what I meant but I didn't explain it clearly. From the pictures she looks much young, maybe an immature 13 at most but I would've guessed 11 with no other info. But from other posts about her, I thought I remembered her being 14 or maybe just barely 15. To find out she is actually 16 is just really odd. Like I said, some people are late bloomers, but she seems really far behind even so. In a lot of cases a teen girl will start late and then progress really fast within a year or so and catch up, but this is girls is off somehow, like she already started puberty but just isn't progressing.

[miffy]

After watching this video, I am so conflicted!

Mark has been the Ardnt man-boy with my affections from the earliest days. If I ever became a righteous widow I would sweep him off his feet and have my way with his hairless body. But those shots of a shirtless Paul?

Hmmm........decisions, decisions. :think:

Easy decision, Mark is the one with a personality.

[miffy]

Yup. Wizzy and the manboys all seem pretty nice, which is why they're so fascinating. I'd rather hang out with the Arndts than with any other fundy family we discuss here.

I was glad (and surprised) to see that Wizzy was allowed to participate in a softball tournament with the boys this weekend.

I think in some ways Wizzy is very lucky, all those brothers!!!

I'd rather hang out with them too. Even if it meant picking up lego with a RC helicopter & playing with ducks.