Merry Christmas... from the Arndt Penguins

[nausicaa]

They don't have co-workers. They work as independent contractors. They do associate with other people, of course, but it's probably mostly one-off situations. And even if they are used by the some of the same attorneys for depositions or trials, court reporters don't do much chit-chatting with anyone at legal proceedings.

No doubt all part of Daddy's plan.

Ahh, well that explains things to me a bit more (while also making the situation that much creepier). I did wonder how they dealt with questions about their homelife at work. But if they're staying locked in their little Arndt unit wherever they go...

[GeoBQn]

It's pretty telling that they named their ministry SAFE AT HOME. They obviously think the world is a big, bad, scary place, and infantilizing their children was one way to keep them safe at home.

What does the ministry actually DO, other than the annual Softball Classic to raise money for itself?

[uber frau]

Okay, about stuffed animals and adults....

My husband loves stuffed animals. We've had several we've collected over the years, and while they are now theoretically our son's, my husband still loves the animals and takes the animals to bed.

He's got a master's degree, works IRL with co-workers and everything, he's obviously married to me and we have a kid.

It's possible to like stuff-animals (DH prefers whales, for some reason, so they are sort of his penguins) and still be a normal adult.

Nobody's arguing it isn't possible to be a well-adjusted adult who likes stuffed animals. Nobody is arguing it's impossible be a well-adjusted adult who lives at home. I'm sure that in the right circumstances (not that I can think of any, but anyway) it might not even be wierd to eat cake in their parents bed. It's not any one thing about the Arndts that's weird, it's the whole package deal. A whole family of adult men, living at home and playing with penguins and eating birthday cake in their parent's bed? Yep, hell weird.

[truthteller]

What does the ministry actually DO, other than the annual Softball Classic to raise money for itself?

Other than the softball event, the only thing they do is Rick's "sermons" over the internet from time to time. They also do the Youtube videos. :roll: Vine Valley. :roll: That's pretty much it. They have a 501-C 3 license for it too. It's a good tax dodge for them, plus it gets Rick something he craves... attention.

[nokidsmom]

Stockholm syndrome.

There's no way every one of those adults was born with some syndrome that is preventing them from growing up and leaving. With the exception of Wizzie, they all look hale, hearty and well-nourished. But somehow they have been brainwashed into believing that staying with the FAM is far safer and therefore far superior to moving on with their own lives. The older ones are so well trained that that Mommy and Daddy can trust them to return after their worldly jaunts. Like the kidnap victim who's allowed to play with kids in the neighborhood but never tells anyone who he really is.

The actual techniques used in this process remain a mystery because, despite their apparent openness with the blogging and the TV show, we really know very little about their home life. Best guess is that everything we see is carefully filtered by Daddy. And that the brainwashing itself started when the kids were very young.

To the bolded: absolutely this, IMO. Why do I think so? Because my own parents did this to me and my sisters, continuing with my sisters when they were adults, keeping them at home because that was "best" and most of all managing to keep them terrified to go against against what my parents wanted in any way. Sure, they went to work and did have friends, but parents kept tabs, had to always be "in the know" and were way too vested in keeping things as they were when we were kids. My dad had a downright hatred of TV and media outside of what he grew up with and things were filtered similarly to Daddy Arndt. We were taught to be wary of outsiders and outside influences save what was deemed OK by my parents. So while perhaps not as extreme as the Arndts (can't know for sure since I don't know what their home life is like) I do see similarities to my sisters who definitely had Stockholm syndrome going now that I reflect back on it.

Yet at the same time, I was the one who decided it was time to leave home post college and got seriously pissed off when my parents tried to block my efforts in numerous ways, finally relegating me to the "bad daugther who broke up the family" when they didn't succeed. Which no doubt that fear of being like me was used to help keep my sisters at home.

Long story short, both my sisters managed to meet my BILs, get married however my parents' hold on them remains to this day and one of them lives nearby per my parents' wishes. To still be part of the family, go to the same church, have my parents involved and in the know. Sort of similar to the Arndts' expectation that the boys were just continue to live on the family property after marriage.

My parents got 2 out of 3. That the Arndts haven't experienced any kind of rebellion / "I am up and leaving" from any of their kids at this point is beyond remarkable.

ETA: Sorry for the long post. Not meant to rant (though it helps!) but just to show similarities that I am seeing with the Arndt kids with the whole safe at home thing, adult kids being treated like children, overinvolvement of parents, the whole filtering by dad, stuff like that.

[nokidsmom]

Okay, about stuffed animals and adults....

My husband loves stuffed animals. We've had several we've collected over the years, and while they are now theoretically our son's, my husband still loves the animals and takes the animals to bed.

He's got a master's degree, works IRL with co-workers and everything, he's obviously married to me and we have a kid.

It's possible to like stuff-animals (DH prefers whales, for some reason, so they are sort of his penguins) and still be a normal adult.

Agree. I like squirrels and have a few stuffed ones at home. During the big Beanie Baby craze, I never got them except for the squirrel and he's still around. I also have my stuffed ratty teddy bear. Working woman, college graduate, long time married.

[moodygirl86]

Agree. I like squirrels and have a few stuffed ones at home. During the big Beanie Baby craze, I never got them except for the squirrel and he's still around. I also have my stuffed ratty teddy bear. Working woman, college graduate, long time married.

I have recently left my job and my colleagues clubbed together to get me a gift. They know I love cats but am not allowed any pets by my landlord so they bought me a little stuffed kitten. I call him Ginger and am not ashamed to say I cuddle him every night. I'm an independent 27 year-old who has been financially responsible for myself for the last 10 years. In fact, if I was allowed a real cat in my flat I'm sure I'd be the archetype of the crazy cat lady.

[penguinagogo]

I think I have more penguins

and probably more lego than the arndt boys

but I am a functional adult with kids, dammit!

and my kids are free to grow up and someday will leave the pingus behind

and that may make me a little sad that theyre not little anymore

but glad that theyve grown up and made lives of their own

and I can still sit at home with my little friends...

drifting into antartic anarchic senility :cry:

penguinsagogo :penguin-no:

[lawlifelgbt]

Stuffed animals do not = immature! I'm in law school, intern, and staff a law journal, and partner works full-time now. She sleeps with a stuffed cat she's had since she was born (she's 25). I (23) sleep with a bear I got made recently at Build-A-Bear; he's small, my favorite color (light blue) and has a cute little suit jacket. She only sleeps with hers, and keeps it in the bedroom. I sometimes set my bear on the couch (like now) by me as I browse the Internet from under a blanket, and I sleep with it.

I may lack in the cooking department, but I'd like to think I'm a functional adult!

[Mama Mia]

Nobody's arguing it isn't possible to be a well-adjusted adult who likes stuffed animals. Nobody is arguing it's impossible be a well-adjusted adult who lives at home. I'm sure that in the right circumstances (not that I can think of any, but anyway) it might not even be wierd to eat cake in their parents bed. It's not any one thing about the Arndts that's weird, it's the whole package deal. A whole family of adult men, living at home and playing with penguins and eating birthday cake in their parent's bed? Yep, hell weird.

I think all of those things would be ok IF there was any sign that they also had outside relationships. Even if they are all very introverted and love hanging out with their family, it just doesn't make sense that NONE of them would have a partner by now.

[Trynn]

I have never allowed myself to be ashamed that I sleep with a stuffed animal.

For the last... Gulp, 13 years, it's been won a stuffed dolphin my grana gave me for my 12th birthday. There's a story behind the dolphin, so I'd never get rid of it anyway, but yes, I sleep with a stuffed animal.

I only just got financially Independent (sort of) but that's not for want of trying. I do have mental issues, but mostly I function as a normal adult. (Or at least, I'm really good at fooling people into pretending I do.)

So for the penguins alone, I have a hard time snarking.

The only time I'd

Eat cake in mom and dads bed is if I was sick and dying, or one of them was and couldn't make it to the table or something.

[singsingsing]

If the Arndt boys/men were independent, went to university or trade school, went out into the world, had friends, had girlfriends or boyfriends, started renting or buying their own places, and generally seemed like well-adjusted adults, the fact that they loved their stuffed penguins and still liked to play with legos would be a completely different story. It would be kind of cute and like a nostalgic throwback to childhood. The problem is, they were never allowed to move on from childhood. They're still in it. They're 30-year-old men who are frozen as 8-year-olds.

[PennySycamore]

There was recently a discussion on Houzz about how much we adults would like one of those architectural sets of Lego bricks and what fund we could have designing buildings with them. Of course, I think most of us were married and independent of their parents.

[mockingbird]

If the Arndt boys/men were independent, went to university or trade school, went out into the world, had friends, had girlfriends or boyfriends, started renting or buying their own places, and generally seemed like well-adjusted adults, the fact that they loved their stuffed penguins and still liked to play with legos would be a completely different story. It would be kind of cute and like a nostalgic throwback to childhood. The problem is, they were never allowed to move on from childhood. They're still in it. They're 30-year-old men who are frozen as 8-year-olds.

Right. I love stuffed animals so I'm definitely not making fun of having them in general - it's the context that makes the Arndts' penguin obsession weird and snarkable to me.

[nokidsmom]

Right. I love stuffed animals so I'm definitely not making fun of having them in general - it's the context that makes the Arndts' penguin obsession weird and snarkable to me.

Agreed. A lot of independent adults like kids' toys / stuffed animals and I think there's nothing wrong with nurturing one's "inner child" this way. It can be fun and also I think it can take a bit of stress out of adult life.

But for people like the adult Arndt boys who are clearly kept in their childhood, the stuffed penguins and legos are just another indicator of people who haven't and aren't allowed to grow up.