Summary of Spring Days with the Moodys

[salex]

Would Beatrix Potter be okay? Or the Just-So stories and Aesop's Fables?

All of those are pretty squeaky clean and have a moral. But are the Maxwells allowed to read about anthropomorphized animals? (Not making a joke, I've actually known fundies who wouldn't let their kids read or watch anything with talking animals.) What about those kids' Christian books published by the Lutheran church in the 50s and 60s?

I would think that the Just So Stories might not be a good choice, because, I have long thought that a lot of the old testament stories, if taken literally, sound a lot like a Just So Story. And that way lies doubt.

[Snarknado]

People who have had next to zero life experiences should not be writing books. However Sarah certainly follows the model of 'write what you know.'

[RandomTrivia]

Horatio Alger.

Who was a pedophile, it appears.

Yes, thank you. Couldn't think of the name at all this morning.

I like the Just-So Stories, but I think they're too close to fairy tales, which probably = ebil magic in Maxhell. Plus, talking animals. Anything boring enough to be Maxwell-approved probably faded into obscurity years ago - except that rotten Elsie Dinsmore.

[Jana814]

People who have had next to zero life experiences should not be writing books. However Sarah certainly follows the model of 'write what you know.'

Soo true!

[twin2]

Far too much detail about exactly what they do and don't eat.

I'm actually dying to know this. Somehow I'm guessing it mirrors the Maxwells exactly...

[FloraDoraDolly]

Sometimes I imagine offering the Maxwell "children" (I use that term loosely) real quality literature that would horrify them: The Witch of Blackbird Pond or even worse, The Giver.

For some reason, "The Giver" freaks out fundies. I don't know why-- wouldn't fundies want their children to respond to the baby killing the way Jonas did?

BTW, I saw the previews for a movie version of this book. UGH! The kids are too old and the whole thing looks too high tech science fictiony. I hated the movie version of "A Wrinkle In Time" for the same reason. Meg didn't even wear glasses!

[FloraDoraDolly]

Would Beatrix Potter be okay? Or the Just-So stories and Aesop's Fables?

All of those are pretty squeaky clean and have a moral. But are the Maxwells allowed to read about anthropomorphized animals? (Not making a joke, I've actually known fundies who wouldn't let their kids read or watch anything with talking animals.) What about those kids' Christian books published by the Lutheran church in the 50s and 60s?

Weren't the Maxwells one of those families that does not allow talking animals? Or am I thinking of someone else?

[Hane]

For some reason, "The Giver" freaks out fundies. I don't know why-- wouldn't fundies want their children to respond to the baby killing the way Jonas did?

BTW, I saw the previews for a movie version of this book. UGH! The kids are too old and the whole thing looks too high tech science fictiony.

Yeah. The producers seem to be hopping on the Teen Dystopia bandwagon. I was discussing this with a friend the other day: It's probably all about the money. Producers know that movies marketed to teens are more profitable than those aimed at twelve-year-olds, and really have no clue that tweens can think deeply about the kinds of concepts that The Giver presents. So sad that they didn't have the guts to film a version that's true to the original.

(Brings to mind the movie version of Tuck Everlasting, in which the ten(?)-year-old heroine was turned into a teenager.)

[Tesseract]

For some reason, "The Giver" freaks out fundies. I don't know why-- wouldn't fundies want their children to respond to the baby killing the way Jonas did?

BTW, I saw the previews for a movie version of this book. UGH! The kids are too old and the whole thing looks too high tech science fictiony. I hated the movie version of "A Wrinkle In Time" for the same reason. Meg didn't even wear glasses!

I didn't know they were making a movie based on The Giver. Does anyone else pass on movies of favorite books? I hated A Wrinkle in Time, too, and wished I hadn't seen it. I like my own pictures better :D I did take my husband, who is ill, at his request, to see Ender's Game. It was neutral in that it didn't ruin anything, but I wouldn't call it well done either.

Well, back to beige with the Moodys. Thanks Miggy!

[divadivine]

If they're planning and scheduling work so well, why don't their making biscuit plans and their shopping plans clash?

And I love how they consult a how-to-fix-it book rather than Google or a YouTube video like the rest of us.

You can't consult YouTube because it's a mini version of The Beast. The Beast steals children's hearts from their parents. And we all know what happens when someone steals your child's heart. Just something to think about.

[divadivine]

Off to the prayer closet Myfanwy! :naughty: There house is a laugh riot, there was that hilarious time when Uriah's driver seat kept vibrating Stevie's arse. And it turned out to be his sunglasses lodged in a crack. They laughed all night until Stevie decided they were making an idol of the situation.

And don't forget about the time Terri almost ate the cheese paper! Those crazy Maxwells!

[divadivine]

We know Steve-o Lord of the Lazy Boy Lounger does not tip 20%. He gives the employee a tract & tries to covert them & tell them the will die & go to hell unless they accept Jesus as their personal Lord & Savior. Steve, it's not nice to lie! Jesus knows what you're doing. He sees everything. Just something to think about!

[Jezebel]

Would Beatrix Potter be okay? Or the Just-So stories and Aesop's Fables?

All of those are pretty squeaky clean and have a moral. But are the Maxwells allowed to read about anthropomorphized animals? (Not making a joke, I've actually known fundies who wouldn't let their kids read or watch anything with talking animals.)

I suspect the main objection the Maxwells (and equally controlling, isolating, legalistic fundie parents) would have to those books is that even if there is a moral to those stories, the Bible isn't credited as the source of that morality. Jesus or the necessity for salvation aren't even mentioned.

Aesop's Fables, despite their moral lessons, are of pagan origin--Aesop was born in Greece roughly 600 years before Jesus of Nazareth. Kipling's Just So Stories include supernatural beings (there's a djinn, IIRC, in one), and the stories explain natural phenomena in terms other than "God created it that way." In some of them, humans are the ones who make things "just so"--an African man painted himself black, then dabbed spots on a sleeping leopard. And in Beatrix Potter's stories, there is not only the matter of anthropomorphized animals, but also naughty, disobedient children (Peter Rabbit entering Mr. Magregor's garden after being told explicitly not to is a classic example).

When it comes down to it, the Maxwells (and fundies of like mind) don't see children's books as a means of amusement snd entertainment. That they might inspire an active imagination is part of their danger. The Moody books are ultimately meant to convey the proper way to live--being obedient to authority, following routines and gender roles, always thinking of Jesus, having no independent thoughts or desires. Cultivating imagination is the last thing they want, because if a kid is allowed to use their imagination they just might start imagining a different way of life than the one their parents have chosen for them.

The only ones who get to exercise their imaginations are the parents--the patriarchal "vision" is an imaginary ideal of perfect family life and eternal salvation forced upon the reality of kids who come out of the womb with personalities, talents, and inclinations of their own. The kids have to be made to fit the image imagined for them, and the job has to be done so thoroughly they never imagine differently for themselves. Hence the obsessive control and restriction of potential influences (friends, church youth groups, and TV, as well as books), the rigid scheduling, the harsh discipline, and the constant question hanging over their heads: "Where will you go when you die?"

So Sarah probably hasn't read any fiction in a very long time--perhaps not even since adolescence. As Steve likes to boast, his kids don't read, they write (and very poorly, I might add, Steve-o). And it seems pretty hypocritical that he'd tell his daughter to write children's books, having eliminated her own reading for pleasure as an empty "idol" and potential bad influence. But the Moody books are less about entertaining children than serving as a tool (alongside Steve and Teri's nonfiction works) for indoctrinating entire families into their insular, paranoid, rigidly controlled ideal.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

Wow, the Moody books are worse than I imagined! Silly me, I assumed there would at least be a plot! Props to Miggy and anyone else who's made it through one or more. I'd never make it.

Last month we attended a "publishing party" at my daughter's school for the entire second grade (mostly 8 year-olds). Each student wrote and illustrated a fairy tale inspired by a classic. And after flipping through several of the books on top of reading my daughter's, I'd put any of them up against this Moody nonsense any day. I was beyond impressed with the quality of work and the extent of the kids' imaginations! It's so sad to think of any one of them having that squashed

[Miggy]

My fundy-in-laws aren't allowed Beatrix Potter. They aren't even allowed Guess How Much I Love You? which is a standard in Christian bookshops. NO. TALKING. ANIMALS!

[Miggy]

10. Moodys Meet Furry Friends

Drive to safari. "Mollie and Mitch were quiet in their back-seat position. They enjoyed observing the scenery as they whizzed along the interstate." (Sarah's trips in Uriah?)

Arrive. Grandpa goes inside to "take care of a few details" while everyone else unloads. (This sounds to me like every time they go somewhere Sarah stays outside with the kids while parents go inside to but tickets, sort out a room, whatever it is that needs to be done. "take care of details" just sounds a little wrong - it's like Sarah does know what they are doing. It's not really that I am picking on the line in the book. It's just that it's Sarah saying it and it leaves me wondering?) Max can see a tiger in a cage and Dad lets them get out of the car to look at it. "I'm glad the tiger isn't in the drive through section. He looks really dangerous." (Hey Maxwells, I went to a Safari Park here in Australia where they threw meat onto the roof of the truck so the lions and tigers came and sat on the vehicle. Not dangerous. AWESOME! Closest I've ever been to a big cat.)

Grandpa comes back carrying a 40 pound bag. Grandma has a plastic cup and a pile of mini brown sacks. What is it? Oh the drama? Maybe it has something to do with the animals? Grandpa has rented a tram and driver to take them around the park. The driver greets them and starts drying the tram seats with a towel. (This is an important detail, I think.) Everyone gets on the tram. Grandpa opens the sack "We have tons of food to fees the animals with. It was more economical to purchase this big sack than little ones. I'm sure we won't go through it all, but who knows?" Description of dividing food into bags. Rules of being on the tram. In park. Ostrich.

(Now the highlight of the chapter. My teenagers thought this was hilarious when I read it to them.) "Oh, wow!" Mitch called out to Mom. "I just realised animals are going to eat out of my hand, and my hands could get pretty dirty. Should I use santizer between each one?" Mom smiled. "No. Just keep your hands away from your face, and you'll be fine. We'll do a thorough wash later." (Ok now I grew up on a farm and I know some animals can leave you pretty mucky. Feeding a poddy calf leaves you covered in goo. Needing to use hand sanitiser after feeding an ostrich? Dad use to tell us "if you can't wipe it off with grass, wash in the cattle trough". I'd love to introduce the Steve to Dad. I really believe there would be some sort of an explosion. Anyway, back on task ...) Tram has trouble driving up a hill. Caracals in a cage. Gaurs. Ostrich again. Kangaroos are hiding. Ostrich. Alpacas.

[Miggy]

Chapter 11. How Many Does It Take?

Zedonks. Zebras. Buffalo. A buffalo slimes Mollie and she has to use a any wipe to clean herself. "That's just nasty - nasty, nasty, nasty!" Cows. Camel. (Camel gets nearly three pages. This is one of those descriptions I had trouble reading through.) Mitch wants to know why they haven't seen a giraffe. Driver says the giraffe has had surgery and is in the main area near the gift shop. More camel. (NOOOO!) Pot-bellied pigs. Watusi. Emu. Donkeys. End of tram trip. Family hop off tram. It starts to rain. Mitch is upset because his glasses get wet and he hasn't packed his cleaner. Dad says Mitch can borrow his cleaner when they get to the restaurant. (Awww, poor Jesse. Did you leave you glasses cleaner at home on a trip and have to borrow Steve's?) Everyone visits the restrooms. (Love the attention to detail Sarah.) Grandma & Grandpa take the kids to the walk around area. Dad & Mom wait in the van with the babies because it is raining. Tiger. Lightening. Oh well, let's give up and go home.

[Miggy]

Chapter 12. Hot Rolls

Cafe. Grandma and Grandpa have been here before. They serve rolls in an unusual way. Mollie feels sick in the car. All panic. No one prepared for car sickness. It's ok - Dad has found a plastic bag. Grandpa goes in to the cafe to put their names down for a table. Everyone else waits in the car. It is an hours wait. Grandpa takes older four to a cheese shop. Others get to spend an hour sitting in the car. Table is ready. One page description of the room. (Boring.) Dad orders water for everyone and asks the waitress if there is something she would like them to pray for. Her sister is having surgery tomorrow so the Moodys pray for her. Mollie is excited because the water has lemon in it. A waiter comes out serving rolls by throwing them. Max catches one :) Mitch drops one in his water :( Mitch catches a second one after a painfully long descriptive paragraph. Waitress hands out okra. Max gets some but is worried about eating it if he doesn't like it. Another waitor - fried potato. Mollie is still feeling sick but has some anyway. Mitch wants to order from the adults menu. Dad thinks this is a bad idea but lets him anyway. Order food. Waiter: rolls. Waitress: okra. Waiter: rolls. Mom asks Dad to catch her one but he says she has to do it herself. She catches one. Yay Mom. Waitress: Sorghum. Waitress: Black-Eyes Peas. Maddie gets some and is upset because she thought they were black pears.

Dad saw a training opportunity. "Why, Maddie, you haven't even tried them. You don't know if you like them or not. I want you to eat two bites." (Most parents would make a child try a bite or two. No problem there. I just really hate "a training opportunity".)

Mollie still feels sick so she only eats rolls. Max has eaten his dinner and five rolls with twelve butter packets. This is ok because it is a treat. Mitch can't finish his adult sized burger.

"Dad," Mitch confessed. "You were right. The children's hamburger would've been enough. I'm positively stuffed."

"Thank you for your honesty. Take this little lesson as a good reminder to listen to your dad's counsel." Meal is finished. "Uneventful" four hour drive home. (This whole book is uneventful.)

Home. Pick up dog. Pick up fish. New school assignment: write a letter every two weeks with a descriptive paragraph that makes the reader really feel like they are there. (Sarah says at the end that this was her real school assignment.)

Dad picks up the mail and there is a letter from Kelly. She has given them $22 to say thank you. This is enough to buy two pairs of chickens from Gospel for Asia. "Praise The Lord!"

Reference at the end of the chapter:

1. You may downloads farm and animals from:

Titus2.com/moodys/farm

[CrazyCatLady]

$22... How random.

[salex]

So, this is a story about their trip to

missouri.animalsafari.com/

and

Lambert's Café home of the throwed rolls??? throwedrolls.com/

Since they are in the area, I wonder if they don't go to Silver Dollar City because of the expense or the defrauding tourist attire? It is a pretty G rated place.

[Miggy]

So, this is a story about their trip to

missouri.animalsafari.com/

and

Lambert's Café home of the throwed rolls??? throwedrolls.com/

Since they are in the area, I wonder if they don't go to Silver Dollar City because of the expense or the defrauding tourist attire? It is a pretty G rated place.

Lambert's Cafe is actually named in the story. I assumed the name was made up so didn't include it in my review. I should have realised by now that Sarah can't make up anything.

Sarah has said that in the evening she would read out what she has written and the family would offer suggestions/improvements. They also helped out with ideas for adventures when she got stuck. This means it's not just Sarah that is boring ...

[nomoxian]

Since they are in the area, I wonder if they don't go to Silver Dollar City because of the expense or the defrauding tourist attire? It is a pretty G rated place.

With the animal safari you don't need to get out of the car. No chance of interacting with non-[whatever denomination of Christian they are] there!

[ILoveJellybeans]

Wow, this is painful to read.

[Jana814]

Wow, this is painful to read.

Got that right!!

[Odd1Out]

So, this is a story about their trip to

missouri.animalsafari.com/

and

Lambert's Café home of the throwed rolls??? throwedrolls.com/

Since they are in the area, I wonder if they don't go to Silver Dollar City because of the expense or the defrauding tourist attire? It is a pretty G rated place.

Way, way too much fun for the Maxwells. Safari parks are good for small giggles and enjoying nature. Roller coasters might induce full-on laughter and excitement. Not allowed.