Erin & Chad went to the park. (yawn)

[Justme]

Chad said they've been "busy" with school and such. I'm surprised Erin actually went back to school. I wonder who is her chaperon now that her buddy dropped out to plan her wedding.

[singsingsing]

Maybe she doesn't need a chaperone now that she's married. I'm not surprised she went back. She only had a semester to go and unlike Alyssa she actually wanted to be there.

[NoneandDoneinCali]

I agree, if her new Lord and Master doesn't demand she have a chaperone, then she isn't going to have one. It's not really up to her. I am very glad to hear she went back to school, though. Good for her!

[Pretzel]

Allowing myself to quote from his blog...

and the different day-to-day things that come up can often become overwhelming and always compete with the greater priorities in life

translates: SEX. :mrgreen:

[singsingsing]

Allowing myself to quote from his blog...

translates: SEX. :mrgreen:

Maybe I'd an idiot, but how does that translate to sex? Which part is the sex part, the day-to-day overwhelming things, or the greater priorities...?

[Pretzel]

Both. ;-) I wasn't being serious when I wrote this. It's just so...innocently written by him, but it leaves room for so much interpretation and which greater priority could a newly wed couple, who's only had sex for 2 months now, have other than that? ;)

* grocery shopping - check

* tax office - check

* laundry- check

*enjoying the physical aspect of marriage- work in progress

[Luisainlondon1]

Allowing myself to quote from his blog...

translates: SEX. :mrgreen:

I would understand that Erin is not that sweet little princess anymore, she can be pretty bitchy instead :lol:

[Fourcard5]

I wonder if she likes sex, I don't think so :(

[singsingsing]

There are a hell of a lot of incredible assumptions flying around here! Maybe Erin really is a bitch who hates sex, and maybe she's addicted to painkillers and secretly hates playing the piano but feels like she has to keep up the act. Wouldn't that be something? Unfortunately there's no evidence whatsoever for any of it.

[Dandruff]

I'm curious what day-to-day things he would sometimes find overwhelming. He has a job - are the expenses of having a wife in college, rent, etc. more than he expected? Erin (I would think) would be responsible for maintaining the home, cooking meals, and doing at least most of the shopping. She might be lonely compared to living with the Bates clan but she's going to school - so there would be some interaction with others - and can probably visit with the rest of her family pretty often or they can visit her. Is Erin wanting more time and attention than Chad can/wants to provide? Is Chad having a hard time transitioning from dutiful son to family leader? I wouldn't fault him for it and figure there are more than a few men he could talk to on the subject. Maybe they were just expecting their marriage to be a fairy tale and the reality...isn't?

[gypsygirl22]

Isn't Erin the one they teased about not knowing how to cook? Maybe Chad works all day & has to do the cooking too...this could be overwhelming for him. Maybe he never expected to have to lift a finger around the house and he's stressed. Another possibility is the financial obligations are freaking him out...rent, utilities, food, hair products for Princess Erin.

[nausicaa]

Chad did just move halfway across the country to a new place (in addition to leaving his family and becoming the "leader" of a newly formed family according to his belief system). At least for me, moving to a new place is really tiring the first few weeks/months (and that's with no family changes, just me moving). Finding your way around, learning the roads, finding doctors, adjusting to new culture/weather, finding places for the things you like to do/foods you like to eat. The adjustment often takes a lot out of me.

And yes, in addition, they are now financially responsible for themselves, which I suspect they were somewhat buffered from up to now.

[Tangy Bee]

There are a hell of a lot of incredible assumptions flying around here! Maybe Erin really is a bitch who hates sex, and maybe she's addicted to painkillers and secretly hates playing the piano but feels like she has to keep up the act. Wouldn't that be something? Unfortunately there's no evidence whatsoever for any of it.

Dang Sing Sing. Calm down. What is it with you when it comes to virginity and sex? I agree that married life is something they both are adjusting to. They both come from large families and for now it's just the 2 of them. I would like to "assume" they are happy to be "alone" with each other. I also would like to "assume" that Chad realizes he doesn't have a doctor's salary like his dad and had better start brainstorming on how he will provide for his wife and future blessings. Married life isn't all sex, hugs, & kisses. I'm sure their parents told them the fundie version of that. Never too soon to find that out ;)

[beautyandthefish]

Isn't Erin the one they teased about not knowing how to cook? Maybe Chad works all day & has to do the cooking too...this could be overwhelming for him. Maybe he never expected to have to lift a finger around the house and he's stressed. Another possibility is the financial obligations are freaking him out...rent, utilities, food, hair products for Princess Erin.

According to Kelly, Erin was given quite a few recipes and cookbooks and is getting better at cooking.

[VeryNikeSeamstress]

and the different day-to-day things that come up can often become overwhelming and always compete with the greater priorities in life

translates: SEX. :mrgreen:

I could see 'babymaking' being considered one of the 'greater priorities in life'. There is a great deal of pressure to have 'blessings' on the way in their community. Plus their marriage was a very high profile quiverful royal wedding which included a cake for Gothard. With that level of status/attention, I'm sure they were both hoping that the next blog entry could be a very speshul announcement.

[lizziesmom]

Why does every fundie set up a blog and inundate the Internet with their day to day activities? Yawn.

[albanuadh_1]

and the different day-to-day things that come up can often become overwhelming and always compete with the greater priorities in life

Greater priorities probably translates to bible study and prayer which would take up a fair amount of their time. Trying to settle in and handle all the day-to-day matters takes time as well. Perhaps they are finding it quite the juggling act. I don't know.

[lizziesmom]

Greater priorities probably translates to bible study and prayer which would take up a fair amount of their time. Trying to settle in and handle all the day-to-day matters takes time as well. Perhaps they are finding it quite the juggling act. I don't know.

I don't know about that. In the context of the entire post I took it to mean that Erin should come before all the day -to -day mundane aspects of married life and they haven't been spending enough time together.

[singsingsing]

Dang Sing Sing. Calm down. What is it with you when it comes to virginity and sex? I agree that married life is something they both are adjusting to. They both come from large families and for now it's just the 2 of them. I would like to "assume" they are happy to be "alone" with each other. I also would like to "assume" that Chad realizes he doesn't have a doctor's salary like his dad and had better start brainstorming on how he will provide for his wife and future blessings. Married life isn't all sex, hugs, & kisses. I'm sure their parents told them the fundie version of that. Never too soon to find that out ;)

:lol: What on earth...? What is it with me when it comes to virginity and sex? I have no idea. I didn't think there was anything, and I honestly have no idea what you're getting at! But this honestly gave me a great laugh, so thank you!

[bal maiden]

Why does every fundie set up a blog and inundate the Internet with their day to day activities? Yawn.

to give us something to snark on, of course! ;) it's a symbiotic relationship, we give them attention, they give us amusement....

[Sola]

Isn't she pregnant yet?

[nokidsmom]

Thinking that in fundie-land, young adults are not considered adults until they marry and are still sheltered as children until then, I would think that suddenly being considered an adult, marrying, moving out, moving away (such as in Chad's case), now being responsible for your own home and bills would be quite an adjustment. Heck, many of these things by themselves are an adjustment even for non-fundie folks. I can see newly married fundie couples finding it overwhelming.

Though I am surprised that Erin didn't know how to cook. Given that wife and mother is the main achievement for women in her lifestyle, one would think she would have been taught even if she didn't like it. So with Chad's new responsibilities as husband and headship, add taste tester to the list.

[socalrules]

I would think finally spending time alone with someone, without a chaperone, is an adjustment. You finally see the real person, warts and all. Everyone is on their best behavior in a courtship becuase they are always being watched. Now you see the nagging. Now a person will disagree with you. Now you finally realize that there is more to a relationship than taking pretty pictures. When people date normally, you learn to deal with the ups and downs of a relationship before you marry. Courtship only allows the up times. It does not allow you to realize that there will be tough times and that the day to day grind of life will affect your relationship. Courtship doesn't prepare you for life with someone you have only known in a fundy bubble.

[3 ring circus]

Thinking that in fundie-land, young adults are not considered adults until they marry and are still sheltered as children until then, I would think that suddenly being considered an adult, marrying, moving out, moving away (such as in Chad's case), now being responsible for your own home and bills would be quite an adjustment. Heck, many of these things by themselves are an adjustment even for non-fundie folks. I can see newly married fundie couples finding it overwhelming.

Though I am surprised that Erin didn't know how to cook. Given that wife and mother is the main achievement for women in her lifestyle, one would think she would have been taught even if she didn't like it. So with Chad's new responsibilities as husband and headship, add taste tester to the list.

I'm not surprised she can't cook. She doesn't strike me as a girl that really does much housekeeping or cooking. I think having Michaela close in age to her made her able to hide from learning those things. I just don't see her in the kitchen cooking and getting up at all hours with kids. Can you imagine cooking with that hair all over the place?

I can see how they would want time to go walk alone. I'm sure she's back in school and he's busy working, plus her family probably stops in a lot. It has to be a huge adjustment moving out, not having all the people around and then throw the physical aspect in. Yikes!

[3 ring circus]

Isn't she pregnant yet?

I don't see her hurrying to have babies. It would be a major adjustment for her not to be the center of attention. I don't know that I've really seen her do much on the shows other than play the piano.