Summary of Spring Days with the Moodys

[socalrules]

The bible actually has tons of interesting and messy human stories in it, especially the OT. I wonder if she's allowed to read THOSE parts or if Stevehovah carefully picks her reading material.

I thought this too but the problem is that it doesn't seem that Sarah has the imagination to read the Bible and then use that as a template for a story of her own creation. The Maxwells seem to have been raised to to see everything literally, so i don't think Sarah would be able to take the story of Noah and turn it into We Bought a Farm or a Nicolas Cage type movie where he saves the world.

I think the last chapter had the most potential to be exciting. Sarah could have just started it out with the family planning a picnic when the threat of a tornado arose. If she had explained what the family did to prepare and a little about tornados, it could have been interesting. It seems as though she packs so much in a chapter with no rhyme or reason.

[shedemei]

Oh wow, can you imagine the story of the flood written as a Moody book?

Reading about Sarah and the Maxhells makes me actually, truly sad. I can't imagine how damaged those kids are by being forced to live in a perpetually abusive home.

[Trynn]

Well, if you read the actual biblical account, it is kinda boring... by today's standards anyway, not very exciting.

[Black Aliss]

Ducking in to say that my daughter and I did the Anne of Green Gables rounds when we went to PEI about 20 years ago. It's a lovely, peaceful place for a vacation, and there's a nice beach on the north shore.

I learned that Japanese girls often read Anne at school, and that some actually go to PEI to get married. At some of the tourist sites, there were English-French-Japanese trilingual signs.

The next semester, I had a Japanese student in my ESL class, and she told me that she did indeed read Anne of Green Gables at school.

Anne of Green Gables is so popular in Japan that you can even buy an AoGG costume for your cat.

[nelliebelle1197]

Thanks Hane & Uber Frau. Those are the rules I would EXPECT, even without any experience. You don't put a child in NICU unless it's pretty sick and you don't let children hold sick babies. Simple.

Actually, that is not true. My daughter was in NICU 3 months. Where I was (and it was a part of one of the med schools in the country and my neonatologist is world renown), kids could come in until flu season. Now mind you, this was sibling and not random neighbors....

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

I never thought I would relate to Sarah on anything, but I grew up with a dad who was [not abusive], but constantly at risk of blowing his top off over almost anything. Just about anything could turn my fun, upbeat dad into a living nightmare in a split second's time. As kids, me and my brother learned the expert way of walking on eggshells. Now, if I don't want my presence made known, you will not notice I am even in the room. I sneak up on people a lot. :lol:

I speak from experience that Sarah is very likely always in stress mode: When will mom freak out next? Omg, I shouldn't have said that, now the whole house is really going to be upset for the rest of the day because when mom's unhappy, so is everyone else! I hope that saying hello to my ungodly neighbor won't set her off. I can't believe that I asked her to bake something extra for Thanksgiving, she will be a stress mess for the rest of the week, and it's all my fault.

It's truly not a nice way to live and produces seriously anxiety-ridden kids. And when they figure out it's not their fault (usually as teenagers or adults), their parents are left wondering why their kids avoid their company. So I think Steve is trying to prevent a Maxwell Spring. As long as grown kids are infantilized, they won't understand that the way their parents behave has nothing to do with them.

+1. My parents were both like this, actually, though my dad was the screamer (never laid a hand on me but was constantly yelling, throwing things, stomping around, threatening, etc.) and my mom would go into silent treatment mode for days over really tiny things. I still turn into a shaking mess if a male raises his voice (I'm SO LUCKY that my partner is not a screamer), and if I'm in a room where people look uncomfortable, upset, etc., I immediately think I'm responsible. I love my parents, but...it was not a great way to grow up.

[16strong]

+1. My parents were both like this, actually, though my dad was the screamer (never laid a hand on me but was constantly yelling, throwing things, stomping around, threatening, etc.) and my mom would go into silent treatment mode for days over really tiny things. I still turn into a shaking mess if a male raises his voice (I'm SO LUCKY that my partner is not a screamer), and if I'm in a room where people look uncomfortable, upset, etc., I immediately think I'm responsible. I love my parents, but...it was not a great way to grow up.

+1 back, because I'm really glad to hear that you ended up with someone great. I see too many of my fellow womenfolk with not so hot parents/childhoods ending up with less than stellar guys, and it's not cool.

[GiGi_41]

Locally, there are discussions of splitting the county and sirens into three zones, so that the south half of the county doesn't hear sirens because a funnel was spotted 30-50 miles away. Seems like a good idea to me, we'll see if they make it happen or if it gets forgotten after tornado season passes.

They are discussing this in our county also, since it covers a lot of space. Another thing that happens sometimes is that an adjacent county will go off which then sets off our sirens. This just leads to people think it's a false alarm.

Last summer, all we had was a severe weather warning, with no siren. I woke up to a train going through my house. I looked at the report, saw it was severe not a tornado, shut my windows and went back to sleep. Luckily, I woke up the next morning to no power and some of the homes behind me severely damaged.

They ruled it a tornado, but they never issued an alarm. We were all very lucky as no one was killed. Someone in the county resigned.

[Miggy]

We're not quite finished yet ...

After the story finishes we get this final page (+ pages and pages of ads for Maxwell books.)

[Hane]

We're not quite finished yet ...

After the story finishes we get this final page (+ pages and pages of ads for Maxwell books.)

She's "dramatic thinker in the family"? God help us.

[Miggy]

Sarah ... oh Sarah ... where to start?

By the time I finished primary school I was writing letters to over twenty pen friends MY AGE and from every country you can imagine. By high school I was writing to people in French & German as well as English. Many of these people I still email today. I learnt so much about life in other countries; a Swedish friend who played ice hockey on the lake at lunch time (surf life saving grades were compulsory at my school and surfing was an optional sport), an American friend who wore casual clothes to school (we thought this was just on tv and that Americans really wore uniforms like us), an Moroccan who showed me that life as a Muslim is not how the media here like to portray it. So much better than just writing to relatives or elderly friends. (Nothing wrong with writing to relatives, just with limiting yourself to that.)

The Good Person Test is a great way to be nasty to someone. If one of my children tried to tell someone how bad they were using the "Good Person Test" we would be having a long conversation about basic manners!

[thoughtful]

It just gets sicker and sadder with every page. She is so incredibly stunted and crushed, it just takes my breath away.

My standards of what constitutes a fun and interesting day are really modest -- I just need a book or even my own thoughts, not roller coasters and trips to faraway places. But she can't even be entertained by her own thoughts. Due to her lack of exposure to -- well, just about anything -- they take her nowhere.

And, their burrito filling recipe is four times that described in the book -- they make burrito filling starting with 40 pounds of dried beans? :shock:

[Nootbar]

I feel so sorry for Max - someone should warn him that in "Summer Days" he'll enjoy playing that guitar so much that father Moody will have to rip it from his hands to keep it from becoming an idol...

[docmom]

It wasn't all fiction???? Wow, I thought she used her imagination and made it all up!

[formergothardite]

She is the "dramatic thinker" and her letter writing helped her learn to write the Moody books? How dull must the rest of the family be if she is the creative one and those poor recipients of her letters. They were probably bored to tears reading them.

[DefraudedByPlaid]

This recipe takes 2 days to make. 2 DAYS. Who the hell has that kind of time just to make BEAN BURRITOS? And let mixture cook all day, stirring FREQUENTLY???? WTFOMGARETHEYCRAZY?????

ETA: It takes 3 days to make, counting the bean soaking. You have GOT to be kidding me.

Now, now. It's a chance to TRAIN the offspring to be patient.

[twin2]

We're not quite finished yet ...

After the story finishes we get this final page (+ pages and pages of ads for Maxwell books.)

Sweet Jesus, that was painful.

She is so hopelessly clueless.

[DefraudedByPlaid]

Chaper 17. Wedding Excitement

It's Mr Delome's and Mrs Baugwell's wedding. The family go to church and Mr Delome meets them at the church basement door. Dad brings in the kids clothes.

Pastor Thompson wants to talk to Dad. The assisted-living home want somebody to run their service.

"Wow," Dad said. He looked thoughtful. "My heart's been burdened lately about the nursing home and our little ones." Dad has been worried about the kids getting sick. (Wrong way round Dad. I visit nursing homes regularly in my work as a musician and what they dread is visitors, particularly children, who bring in colds.) The Pastor and Dad decide to pray about it.

The ladies go upstairs to decorate the church. Maddie practices walking down the aisle with her basket.

Mrs Baugwell arrives after lunch. The flowers have been left at her house but the Pastor goes to retrieve them. Mrs Baugwell introduces her (adult) children to the Moody children but she gets the boys names wrong again, calling them Mix and Match. Remcaks arrive. Kenneth, the son, asks what the boys real names are and talks about his mother always mucking up names. Descriptions of people's clothes & hair. Parkers arrive. Message Parker is due in two weeks. Mom goes over with Maddie what she has to do - smile + drop flowers. Pastor Thompson is back with the flowers.

Mr Delome panics. He has had coffee and his breath will smell and he didn't bring mint. After almost a page of blah, his son produces one and it is all ok.

Microphone plays up. Sing. Mr Delome comes in. He tries to light candles but his lighter doesn't work properly. Pastor explains how both came to be single. Mrs Parker plays a hymn. Maddie comes in. Walks down the aisle throwing petals. Mr Baugwell comes in. Mr Delome thanks the Moodys for bringing him to Christ. Page of Mr Delome speaking. He asks if anyone would like to give their life to Christ.

"Delome, I'm ready to give my life to Jesus." It's Mr Gibson. He's getting saved at a wedding - yay. (This takes a page.)

"Pastor Thompson preached a message based on John 15."

I dos. Rings. Amy Jo plays the piano while Max, Mollie & Mitch sing. Couple sign the register.

Wait...wasn't he already saved when he came over to the house and ate the pepperoni (out of order)?

[uber frau]

He probably did it officially and got dunked.

[lilith]

Wait...wasn't he already saved when he came over to the house and ate the pepperoni (out of order)?

If he was saved he wouldn't have eaten the pepperoni until it was offered. Only heathen characters (and dogs) behave in the least bit badly or unexpectedly in Moody books.

[VodouDoll]

I like the idea that the dog is Sarah's long-repressed id. Glad to see it hasn't been completely smothered.

[uber frau]

Didn't Steve make a comment a while back about their old dog? Something to the effect that they didn't grieve for her when she died because she was just a dog and didn't have a soul?

I can remember the specifics, just that Steve doesn't think highly of animals.

[sparkles]

All I can say is there's a very good reason why the Maxwells self-publish.

[lilith]

Didn't Steve make a comment a while back about their old dog? Something to the effect that they didn't grieve for her when she died because she was just a dog and didn't have a soul?

I can remember the specifics, just that Steve doesn't think highly of animals.

He did write something like that.

It's sad, you can actually see in his writings about Honey (their dog) that he really did love her and indulge her as much as he could justify to himself, but had to keep trying to deny it because he felt that he shouldn't love a creature that Jesus didn't specifically command him to love and who he didn't believe had a soul.

But he still sounds more human when writing about Honey than in any other writings if his I've read.

[Miggy]

That's so sad. In Genesis, God gives us responsibility for all animals. He never said we couldn't love them.