It's time for what some would call a vacation!

[ThatSnark]

Sarah just posted that Jesse is becoming very good at pointing out mountains.... :?

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

You keep that up, Jesse! That's going to serve you well some day, I'm sure.

[halfheartedheroine]

Oh, I am sure he is able to this because HE was homeschooled. I, on the other hand, having attended public schools for my education, would be unable to identify a large land mass as a mountain. Darn!

*raises hand in shame* This first time I saw the Rocky Mountains, I initially thought that they were dark clouds in the distance along the horizon. I blame the living in Flatland USA for that one, though. :embarrassed:

[ILoveJellybeans]

Pointing out mountains? Is he five?

[sparkles]

I'd like to think she meant he's gotten proficient at identifying the individual peaks by name, but it's Poor Sarah so it didn't come out that way. Instead she made him sound like a doink. "These are mountains, this is the sky, this here is a rock..."

[Mary C Doates]

Oh, I am sure he is able to this because HE was homeschooled. I, on the other hand, having attended public schools for my education, would be unable to identify a large land mass as a mountain. Darn!

I sympathize. My graduate school degree did not teach me to differentiate between a really big hill and a mountain. I'm sure this was thoroughly explained, and somehow equated with DEATH, in the Maxwell homeschool curriculum.

[theologygeek]

You also shouldn't wear skirts to do a climb. .

They really looked like idiots in those skirts.

[ThatSnark]

I sympathize. My graduate school degree did not teach me to differentiate between a really big hill and a mountain. I'm sure this was thoroughly explained, and somehow equated with DEATH, in the Maxwell homeschool curriculum.

I'm pretty embarrassed to admit that in all my years of formal education, other than a 4th-grade geography/mapping thread that ran through the year, I was not taught to identify mountains, nor was I taken on a trip to do so. Now, I went to the nearby mountains a few weeks ago and was somehow able to identify them as non-flatland objects, so my auto-didacticism has served me well. No one's ever said that I'm getting better at it, though. Always room for improvement.

[nelliebelle1197]

I'm expecting an enchilada post any day now.

Godless, enchilada-eating heathen :dance:

[Odd1Out]

Sarah just posted that Jesse is becoming very good at pointing out mountains.... :?

That's hilarious. Way to make your brother sound like he's 2 years old Sarah. I wonder if he can identify airplanes when they fly over too. "Airpane, airpane!"

[snarkyjan]

That's hilarious. Way to make your brother sound like he's 2 years old Sarah. I wonder if he can identify airplanes when they fly over too. "Airpane, airpane!"

It should be said in a herve Villechaize voice: "Ze plane, ze plane!"

[terranova]

Pointing out mountains? Is he five?

If it were Joshua or Christina pointing out mountains, that would be cute. On an adult...??

[LurkerOverThePond]

Next he will be "learning about the shapes and colors" like the Duggars did in that amazing historic mansion.

[lilwriter85]

I'd like to think she meant he's gotten proficient at identifying the individual peaks by name, but it's Poor Sarah so it didn't come out that way. Instead she made him sound like a doink. "These are mountains, this is the sky, this here is a rock..."

I was thinking the same thing too.

[MamaJunebug]

They really looked like idiots in those skirts.

But-- but-- but some strangers they met hiking remarked on the skirts and said they'd never seen anybody climbing in skirts before and some strangers even said "I like your skirts" which apparently vetted the skirts --- which means they took compliments from strangers who are not Maxwells and not The Elderly ---- and presented those compliments as good things ----- even though the complimenters are from The World and ... oh, my brain is starting to fizzle-snap! I'm so happy I'm not a true Maxwell follower, or I'd be totally confused by now!!!

ETA: Is Jesse delayed? Now she's kvelling about his kvelling over his waterproof boots! I am *not* snarking on mental/physical delays, but her descriptions of him are baffling at best.

It strikes me as so odd that she continues to refer to her reversal siblings as "the five youngest." It just sounds like what a mother would write, not an elder sister. (Maybe Terifying took over this blogpost?)

And this is so badly written,

If you look very closely, you’ll see the five youngest walking along the path. They sometimes take longer at a viewpoint and catch up to those of us who need a bit more time to make it to the next destination.

I'd've edited to read, "They sometimes wait at a viewpoint so that those of us who need a bit more time can catch up." No biggie, but I wonder at the popularity of the Moody books; if they're similarly so clunky in their writing, the SOTDRT children who read them must be getting a weird idea of proper syntax and phraseology. *shrug*

[Peppercorn]

Well done, dpndetfarm, well done. :clap:

Steve's expression in the second pic...! :lol: I swear he's about to break out into the chorus of YMCA.

Meanwhile, twelve pages here and several blog posts there and I still haven't figured it out: If not a vacation, what do the Maxwells call it?

[sparkles]

ETA: Is Jesse delayed? Now she's kvelling about his kvelling over his waterproof boots! I am *not* snarking on mental/physical delays, but her descriptions of him are baffling at best.

Well, MJB, you said it first but I've always had the same thought. Jesse is almost NEVER mentioned at length--and sometimes not at all, and there's very little discussion of his accomplishments (except for his graduation) and few photos. He's the invisible Maxwell. There's also something about his look that reinforces my feeling too. And as you said, NOT snarking at all. If he does in fact have delays, I hope (but won't hold my breath) that he's getting/has gotten the help he deserves.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Its a possibility I guess, I hope they arent keeping quiet about him just because he is and they are ashamed of it.

Although then again, all of the Maxwell "kids" seem a bit delayed, as Steve has sheltered them so much they seem way younger than their ages.

[VodouDoll]

Well, MJB, you said it first but I've always had the same thought. Jesse is almost NEVER mentioned at length--and sometimes not at all, and there's very little discussion of his accomplishments (except for his graduation) and few photos. He's the invisible Maxwell. There's also something about his look that reinforces my feeling too. And as you said, NOT snarking at all. If he does in fact have delays, I hope (but won't hold my breath) that he's getting/has gotten the help he deserves.

I think the only thing we really know about Jesse is that he loved playing the guitar and showed a serious talent for it, so Steve forced him to quit and take up an instrument he wasn't as good at and didn't enjoy. Steve says he did this to keep Jesse from being tempted into the sin of pride, to stop him from having fun with music, and to keep the guitar from becoming an idol. It's a standard cult indoctrination/brainwashing tactic for the leader to criticize and devalue followers' talents, which breaks down their followers' sense of self and confuses their self-worth. This destroyed sense of self encourages dependency on and submission to the leader. Steve brags about this at their Keeping Children's Hearts sessions as an example of good parenting. Poor Jesse.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Steve you are an asshole. He squashed his own child's talent? Poor guy, any good parent would be proud of their kid for having something they are really good at.

[sparkles]

At his best, even Stephen King couldn't write a more frightening book than Keeping Our Children's Hearts.

So this thing with destroying one's identity, discouraging enjoyment, squelching talent and so forth, is this was fundies mean by "dying to the self" in order to accept and revere Jesus? If so, why did god even bother creating us if we're meant to be nothing but empty shells?

[VodouDoll]

At his best, even Stephen King couldn't write a more frightening book than Keeping Our Children's Hearts.

Truth.

So this thing with destroying one's identity, discouraging enjoyment, squelching talent and so forth, is this was fundies mean by "dying to the self" in order to accept and revere Jesus? If so, why did god even bother creating us if we're meant to be nothing but empty shells?

Well, I think it's certainly what Steve Maxwell means by dying to the self to revere Jesus. He's a freak even by fundie standards, though. Most of them don't have any problem with fun or encouraging their children's talents. It's only in Maxhell that having talent and love for playing hymns on the guitar would be a bad thing. And then only if you're really good at it.

[LurkerOverThePond]

I don't think Jesse is delayed anymore than the other Maxwell kids are after their total brainwashing. I think he's just the forgotten Maxwell, maybe a bit shy guy who doesn't want to be up front. Looks like he has quite strong glasses that make his eyes look bigger than usual and a bit off.

Sarah really does make him sound like a 5 year old kid, learning what mountains are and playing in the water puddles. But I think we can all blame Poor Sarah's unfortunate choice of words. I think she meant that he recognizes individual distant mountains by name, and he was just testing his new boots to see if they really are waterproof. Sarah, please stop writing about Poor Forgotten Jesse (PFJ) like he is somehow challenged if he is not.

[slickcat79]

It strikes me as so odd that she continues to refer to her reversal siblings as "the five youngest." It just sounds like what a mother would write, not an elder sister. (Maybe Terifying took over this blogpost?)

Sarah has referred to the reversals as "our reversal babies" on more than one occasion. I would imagine she's been expected to take on a mothering role to the younger kids from the time they were born, especially with Teri's health problems.

Maybe Jesse isn't as good at "keeping sweet" as the others. If my father made me give up something that I loved, especially something as benign as playing guitar, I would harbor some bitterness. I pity all the Maxwell offspring, but it would be especially hard to get by in that family if you didn't fit the self-motivated, isolationist mold that Steve favors.

[allyisyourpally5]

And this is so badly written,

If you look very closely, you’ll see the five youngest walking along the path. They sometimes take longer at a viewpoint and catch up to those of us who need a bit more time to make it to the next destination.

I'd've edited to read, "They sometimes wait at a viewpoint so that those of us who need a bit more time can catch up." No biggie, but I wonder at the popularity of the Moody books; if they're similarly so clunky in their writing, the SOTDRT children who read them must be getting a weird idea of proper syntax and phraseology. *shrug*

[argypargy]

And this is so badly written,

I'd've edited to read, "They sometimes wait at a viewpoint so that those of us who need a bit more time can catch up." No biggie, but I wonder at the popularity of the Moody books; if they're similarly so clunky in their writing, the SOTDRT children who read them must be getting a weird idea of proper syntax and phraseology. *shrug*

Hang on, Sarah's sentence seems to contradict itself (or have I read it wrong??)

So the "younger" take longer at viewpoints, then catch up to those who take longer to get to the next point? But I thought the younger ones were the ones taking longer? Good Lord get this woman into writing school