Jesse Maxwell is gonna homeschool

[Daenerys]

I find it unimaginable to get up at 5am every day. I'm a night owl, and it's something I have to fight constantly because I would prefer to be someone who easily gets out of bed in the morning but I need a lot of sleep. Ideally I like to go to bed at 11 and get up at 8. Before 7am I'm a zombie and end up passing out in the early afternoon!

[Coconut Flan]

It's strange to me but we still have some people of the early to bed early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy, and wise type mentality. Perhaps when people relied more on outside work and daylight was precious it made sense. Now unless the project of the day is house painting/renovation or yard work, it makes much less sense in the Maxwell camp. I have fundie neighbors though and they tend to look down on anyone who isn't up by 7 AM. I wonder if Steve has trouble sleeping once it's light outside. I have a couple relatives like that and if they could they'd have their entire families on their schedule if it wouldn't cause major discontent.

[sparkles]

I used to be a total night owl and always wanted to find a job with an overnight shift. Things started changing as I got older, plus I have a lot of hobbies where getting up early makes sense. Bread baking for one, especially with slow-rise doughs; photography to catch the best light, and gardening where it's much better to be out before it really starts heating up (and to catch the most bugs, yick.) I trained myself over time and like I said, early morning is now my favorite time of day.

None of those reasons would fly with the Maxwells. Nope, it's all about more time with the Bible. And staggered exercise times, because the girls can't work out with the boys. :roll:

[WonderingInWA]

I used to be a total night owl and always wanted to find a job with an overnight shift. Things started changing as I got older, plus I have a lot of hobbies where getting up early makes sense. Bread baking for one, especially with slow-rise doughs; photography to catch the best light, and gardening where it's much better to be out before it really starts heating up (and to catch the most bugs, yick.) I trained myself over time and like I said, early morning is now my favorite time of day.

None of those reasons would fly with the Maxwells. Nope, it's all about more time with the Bible. And staggered exercise times, because the girls can't work out with the boys. :roll:

Well, and sticking to the schedule. The schedule should never EVER change. Ever. Even if the seasons do, the schedule should never change.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Waking up with the light would be great - but the sun doesn't even come up until after 7AM, this time of year!

I am someone who finds it hard to sleep when the sun is up (well, all the way up and bright) and so usually I like making sure that when it does rise, the light is fully in my room, because I do like waking up earlyish, just not at 6, or heaven forbid 4 :)

What I find helps me to wake up is pretty simple - I read some web page that pointed out that the natural human sleep cycle for the average person (entry sleep, through deep sleep and REM, and back to light light sleep) is 90 minutes. This then repeats for as long as you're sleeping.

So I find if I set the alarm for some multiple of 90 minutes after I go to bed, waking up is a LOT easier. That doesn't mean I'd always get enough sleep (4.5 is a multiple of 1.5, and that's not enough for me) but I can function fairly well on 6, so if I go to bed by midnight on a work night I can wake up at 6 easily enough (and if I thought "oh, just 15 minutes more" then the waking up will be HARDER again). I try to hit either 6 hours or 7.5. Usually during the week it's 6, and recharging on the weekends with 7.5.

But if on the weekend I stayed up until 1AM, that means I'll set the alarm for 8:30 - I won't try to force myself to still wake up at 7:30. Surely that's anathema to people who have a schedule locked to the absolute clock. (Personally my schedule on the weekends is about "this much time spent on this activity" but it's not locked to the clock and has wiggle room.)

[AnywhereButHere]

Can't remember which one I opened, but in one of Teri's blocks of life was "Make Steve's breakfast."

I don't understand why Steve can't make his own breakfast, it is not hard and it is not like he has anywhere to be at any particular time.

At least Teri' didn't have time on her schedule to "put toothpaste on Steve's toothbrush."

Maybe they figure that's self explanatory and does'nt need to be written out... :P

It's strange to me but we still have some people of the early to bed early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy, and wise type mentality. Perhaps when people relied more on outside work and daylight was precious it made sense. Now unless the project of the day is house painting/renovation or yard work, it makes much less sense in the Maxwell camp. I have fundie neighbors though and they tend to look down on anyone who isn't up by 7 AM. I wonder if Steve has trouble sleeping once it's light outside. I have a couple relatives like that and if they could they'd have their entire families on their schedule if it wouldn't cause major discontent.

My husband and I both like sleeping in. We will both aim for the last possible minute to get out of bed. I've learned to live with this, he however, feels massively guilty for some reason. Whenever we are out at some horrendously early hour (early flight, kid's soccer game etc...) he'll point out all the other people/cars/office buildings with lights on, and say "See, everyone but us gets up early." I'll reply "NO. These people all got up early. The rest of them are still asleep which is why you don't see them!" Then starts the discussion/argument that lasts until we fully wake up or until the kid threatens to throw a soccer ball at our heads so he can go back to sleep. :D

[argypargy]

Let me get this straight. They are made to go to bed at 9PM?? Grown-ass adults (yes Steve, your "children", aside from Mary are adults) have a bedtime that would be before sunset at certain times of the year?? You have got to be kidding me.

[flojo]

Mr. Flojo and I are terrible people. Due to his work schedule, he doesn't get home until close to midnight. By the time he winds down etc, we've found it works best for us to sleep around 2-10. I'm working on my thesis so pretty much set my own hours, so can do that...

[Jana814]

I'm a big night owl (& so is the rest of my family). I could never live as a Maxwell. The only time I go to bed early is if I'm sick.

[Rescinded and Mended]

Early wakeups were one of my beefs as a night owl fundie-lite teen. Why on earth is it more Godly to go to bed at 9:00 pm and get up at 6:00 am than to go to bed at 1:00 am and get up at 9: am? It's 8 hours of sleep either way. I never got a sensible answer.

Of course these days I get up at 5:00 am and enjoy the early morning hours, but you can't get a sensible word out of me after 8:30 pm -- I'm headed for bed and any attempt to force me to stay awake makes me snarly.

The Maxwell rigid schedules are ghastly. I bet they all get twitchy if they fail to keep to them exactly. Teri got very nervous and apologetic when she ran a couple of minutes over in the presentation I went to last June. It was no big deal, except to a Maxwell.

Exactly this. I have a good friend who lives with relatives right now. They are fundie-lite country people who are well-intentioned, but clueless. My friend has a very difficult work schedule at the moment, and she is frequently scheduled to work until 2 in the morning, or be up at 3 AM to open the store at 4 or 5. Her relatives don't seem to understand that if she gets home and falls asleep at 3 AM, then wakes later on at 11 in the morning, she isn't being lazy. They will actually try to wake her up at 8 AM and insist that she "isn't getting the most out of her day." It's the same amount of hours she needs to sleep, it's just on a different schedule from the rest of them. Why they can't seem to figure out the basic math involved is beyond me.

[Brightonbelle]

Waking up with the light would be great - but the sun doesn't even come up until after 7AM, this time of year!

I am someone who finds it hard to sleep when the sun is up (well, all the way up and bright) and so usually I like making sure that when it does rise, the light is fully in my room, because I do like waking up earlyish, just not at 6, or heaven forbid 4 :)

What I find helps me to wake up is pretty simple - I read some web page that pointed out that the natural human sleep cycle for the average person (entry sleep, through deep sleep and REM, and back to light light sleep) is 90 minutes. This then repeats for as long as you're sleeping.

So I find if I set the alarm for some multiple of 90 minutes after I go to bed, waking up is a LOT easier. That doesn't mean I'd always get enough sleep (4.5 is a multiple of 1.5, and that's not enough for me) but I can function fairly well on 6, so if I go to bed by midnight on a work night I can wake up at 6 easily enough (and if I thought "oh, just 15 minutes more" then the waking up will be HARDER again). I try to hit either 6 hours or 7.5. Usually during the week it's 6, and recharging on the weekends with 7.5.

But if on the weekend I stayed up until 1AM, that means I'll set the alarm for 8:30 - I won't try to force myself to still wake up at 7:30. Surely that's anathema to people who have a schedule locked to the absolute clock. (Personally my schedule on the weekends is about "this much time spent on this activity" but it's not locked to the clock and has wiggle room.)

That's a really interesting idea. I don't need a great deal of sleep but if I'm woken from a deep sleep (while dreaming) I'm horrible.

[Dru]

Steve is having an email exchange with a European woman who is not his wife?!?!? He has let SIN into his heart! He should be interacting only through Sarah or Teri, thus maintaining full accountability at all times. When Teri gets his computer logs for this month he's in trouble. He has committed adultery in his heart!

The Jesse post makes me wonder if Melanie wants to put Abby in kindergarten. I could see her wanting to send her to a Christian kindergarten a few days a week, especially if she is facing another high risk pregnancy,

Doubtful since Melanie and her siblings were homeschooled as well. College doesn't seem to be frowned upon in her family though. Dad is a chiropractor and at least three of her siblings (2 sisters and a brother) went to college. So hopefully the girls will get something approaching a respectable education.

[acheronbeach]

Stevehovah reads here, so I don't know why he can't recognize that when his kids write, it's just an embarrassment to them and reflects a subpar education.

That said, he probably just convinces himself that we're being overly critical because we're Christian-hating feminists.

[RachelB]

I'm an early riser, so I don't really find much fault with them for that. My normal wake-up time, even on weekends, is 5 am. I freelance in addition to my full-time job and I just find that I'm far more productive early in the morning than I am after I get home. Also, just before dawn is my favorite time of day. I love the quiet and watching the sun rise, and on weekends, it's also a great time to start bread baking (one of my hobbies). It's ME time. Of course, ME time that doesn't involve prayer or reflecting on one's sins is verboten in Maxwell land. And I get up early because I WANT to, not because it's part of a rigid schedule that was set for me by mommy and daddy, even though I'M AN ADULT. Big difference.

We all know, however, that following the schedules and living the same unvarying lives day in and day out with the same people is what the Maxwells choose to do, right?

ETA: Like Palimpsest, I'm also toast fairly early in the evening and I'm usually in bed by 9 to unwind, read, listen to music and and for online learning (hobbies and professional development, both for pleasure). I know I've had enough when my iPad hits me on the nose.

My most productive days happen when I'm on a 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. schedule. But keeping that schedule rigorously would mean a much more solitary life than I want. There are other things that matter to me, too.

[Justme]

Didn't they post once, that one of the reasons for getting up so early, is that they could "walk" without the fear of bumping into "regular" people who may be in bikini's or something... :roll:

[anniebgood]

I noticed that too and I made a comment about it as an 'atheistic, non native English speaking European'.

Steve M took the trouble to write to me an email.

Thank you. He missed it.

Steve Maxwell

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36)

"Remember me as you pass by,

as you are now so once was I,

as I am now, you are to be,

so be prepared to follow me."

Words found on a gravestone

That's Steve's signature on all his email. We had a short-lived email conversation. He didn't like my liberal Lutheran leanings.

:cracking-up:

[latraviata]

That's Steve's signature on all his email. We had a short-lived email conversation. He didn't like my liberal Lutheran leanings.

:cracking-up:

His ex libris so to speak. He has such a cheerful demeanor.

[Hane]

Night owl here. I've always been one. I hated arriving at school logy, even though my mother always enforced early bedtimes. (Please don't get me started about the elementary school practice of math the first thing in the morning, because "everyone" is supposed to be all well-rested and "fresh.") To me, one of the benefits of adulthood is being able to stay up as late as I want, and determining my own sleep schedule.

Because of this, I coined the term "nocturnal baking" (I do a lot of homemade breads and cakes for friends at church and work). My sister actually told me, "You should get under-cabinet lighting in your kitchen. You know--for the nocturnal baking."

[latraviata]

Night owl here. I've always been one. I hated arriving at school logy, even though my mother always enforced early bedtimes. (Please don't get me started about the elementary school practice of math the first thing in the morning, because "everyone" is supposed to be all well-rested and "fresh.") To me, one of the benefits of adulthood is being able to stay up as late as I want, and determining my own sleep schedule.

Because of this, I coined the term "nocturnal baking" (I do a lot of homemade breads and cakes for friends at church and work). My sister actually told me, "You should get under-cabinet lighting in your kitchen. You know--for the nocturnal baking."

We must be twins, switched at birth.

[Katydid]

I honestly really feel badly for Teri Maxwell. I feel like she's been spiritually trapped and doesn't have an escape route, even if she wanted one.

[Jana814]

I honestly really feel badly for Teri Maxwell. I feel like she's been spiritually trapped and doesn't have an escape route, even if she wanted one.

So true! Been thinking this for a long time.

[latraviata]

We must be twins, separated at birth.

[ljohnson2006]

He has to find a wife and have some kids first.

[SamuraiKatz]

Do the Maxwells still use chore packs? Do they still follow THE SCHEDULE from 4:15 am to 9:00 pm each day? I have trouble wrapping my mind around such rigidity and inflexibility.

[twin2]

Do the Maxwells still use chore packs? Do they still follow THE SCHEDULE from 4:15 am to 9:00 pm each day? I have trouble wrapping my mind around such rigidity and inflexibility.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around if Sarah at 32 has any say on when she gets to go to sleep or get up?