Our Little Haven (blog)

[Just Not Good]

Aside from the Pearl issue.... They look poor and well cared for. Poverty doesn't equal bad parenting. These kids are getting their basic needs met- they don't look starved, they have life jackets on in the boating entry, they are being taken to the dentist- which is a far cry better than many families we snark on. These kids are at least allowed to go out and get grubby and make a mess of themselves without being shamed.

(And their clothes don't look dirty to me; they look old, and worn out, but they don't have the look of clothes that don't get washed and smell.)

[Mama Mia]

The house looks cluttered to me but not filthy, just old. I live in an old house and it is a huge pain to make the floors look clean even if I clean them daily and I don't have eleventy children running around.

Does anyone know what happened with Joshua's birth? I skimmed and saw that she went home from the hospital but then had to immediately go back, but I couldn't tell what happened.

From what I read he's having a hard time gaining weight and they aren't sure why. So they had him in the hospital for tests. One comment sounded like she changed her diet and now he's doing a little better, so maybe something she was eating made her milk taste bad to him/ upset his stomach.

[Mudball]

Everything looks old, worn, rumpled, out of style and the kids look active and outdoorsy. I think they look poor in a rural community, but I'm not necessarily seeing dirty or hoarder. At least the kids look happy, see a dentist and get to go eat "creemees" with their grandpa. :lol:

[16strong]

:shock:

Wow. I always wonder in cases like if a learning disability must be at play? My ten-year-old niece writes more clearly and correctly than that.

I wonder if they switched to public school because the mother doesn't have the mental capabilities to handle homeschooling? :?

Other details, like the fact that he has to call the doctor for her and handle her medical issues, as well as the fact that he seems to be a serial cheater makes me wonder (with no ill intent) if he is only with her because he knows she can't manage life on her own.

I seriously don't think she needs to be blogging. Between the insane length of her posts and the tmi details about her marriage (see her 7-year anniversary post! :shock: ), she seems to be utterly unaware of herself vs. the people around her.

/also, why does her blog background appear to be a closeup of skin lesions? Gross.

[lagenialester]

The main issue I had was that at one point in the pics it looked like her little guy (10 months or so) was in his car seat in teh front seat of the car!

Yeah, this was the only thing that made me uncomfortable. Otherwise seems like the kids are clean enough, fed enough, happy enough from what I can tell anyway.

[BlondeAgent007]

That squirrel casserole aside(gross) I'm not seeing anything here that screams abuse to me. They are poor and wear old clothes. These are not signs of bad parenting. She doesn't have any blog tags reading discipline, child rearing, spanking, or the like that are usually red flags for me that something is going on. Most people that religiously follow the pearls have at least some of these topics tagged. In half of my toddler pictures I am only wearing a diaper because I took all my clothes off all the time. I refused to eat baby food so I always had a trail of leftovers down my chest. If I didn't there was a ton of drool from running around with a bottle clenched between my teeth. My parents called me the dirty birdy and would clean me up when I really needed it. The clothes thing they felt wasn't a fight worth fighting. They knew I would wear them eventually. I grew up in nothing remotely close to poverty.

[polecat]

That squirrel casserole aside(gross) I'm not seeing anything here that screams abuse to me. They are poor and wear old clothes. These are not signs of bad parenting. She doesn't have any blog tags reading discipline, child rearing, spanking, or the like that are usually red flags for me that something is going on. Most people that religiously follow the pearls have at least some of these topics tagged. In half of my toddler pictures I am only wearing a diaper because I took all my clothes off all the time. I refused to eat baby food so I always had a trail of leftovers down my chest. If I didn't there was a ton of drool from running around with a bottle clenched between my teeth. My parents called me the dirty birdy and would clean me up when I really needed it. The clothes thing they felt wasn't a fight worth fighting. They knew I would wear them eventually. I grew up in nothing remotely close to poverty.

My mom was raised in poverty, and squirrel and rabbit made up the bulk of their diet. I don't think I could stomach it, certainly not given how much enjoyment I get out of watching baby squirrels every spring.

[smittykins]

I couldn't even eat rabbit, since I used to have a pet one(her name was Snowball).

[silverspoons]

I wonder if they switched to public school because the mother doesn't have the mental capabilities to handle homeschooling? :?

Other details, like the fact that he has to call the doctor for her and handle her medical issues, as well as the fact that he seems to be a serial cheater makes me wonder (with no ill intent) if he is only with her because he knows she can't manage life on her own.

I seriously don't think she needs to be blogging. Between the insane length of her posts and the tmi details about her marriage (see her 7-year anniversary post! :shock: ), she seems to be utterly unaware of herself vs. the people around her.

/also, why does her blog background appear to be a closeup of skin lesions? Gross.

I wanted to ask if it was a picture of her skin but I thought I was nuts. I think it might be.

[karen77]

I wonder if they switched to public school because the mother doesn't have the mental capabilities to handle homeschooling? :?

Other details, like the fact that he has to call the doctor for her and handle her medical issues, as well as the fact that he seems to be a serial cheater makes me wonder (with no ill intent) if he is only with her because he knows she can't manage life on her own.

I seriously don't think she needs to be blogging. Between the insane length of her posts and the tmi details about her marriage (see her 7-year anniversary post! :shock: ), she seems to be utterly unaware of herself vs. the people around her.

/also, why does her blog background appear to be a closeup of skin lesions? Gross.

It looks like a healing bruise, actually

[karen77]

Wow.. that lady needs HELP, and an education, holy shikaka.

[ViolaSebastian]

Sweet Jesus, she had a yeast infection for FOUR months...I just can't even imagine the discomfort.

An since December 17th 2013 when I found out I had a yest infection for 4 months

[docmom]

I liked the family in this blog (the original one). She seems to genuinely like kids and isn't completely overwhelmed. She may be one of the very few fundies who really should have a lot of kids. It seems like she's made the very reasonable decision to forgo the perfect house and cookie-cutter neat kids in return for happy, messy kids. I'd a million times rather spend time in that house than in Maxhell or Lori-land. Her husband makes dinner! And she gives her kids treats. They're fundie but they seem fundie-nice!

[Dru]

Add me to the *not* dirty hoarders camp. I know people who don't know the first thing about getting a stain out so their kids' clothes end up looking pretty rough. But like someone else said, they don't actually look dirty. The house is clearly old and I'm guessing they don't have the funds to fix it up. Nothing to see here.

Sometimes I get caught up looking at the commenters on these blogs. There was one on this blog, the spelling is bad, but she might be a sister in law or cousin? It caught my eye because they switched from home school to public school and the child was having behavior issues. She also talks about her struggles to find a church and be a good Christian. I could only read so far because the writing style.

mylittlefamily86.blogspot.com

This blog however is just depressing. :(

[BlondeAgent007]

My mom was raised in poverty, and squirrel and rabbit made up the bulk of their diet. I don't think I could stomach it, certainly not given how much enjoyment I get out of watching baby squirrels every spring.

I only meant that as a sarcastic aside, not that eating hunting game is actually abuse :) It was the only part of the blog that actually turned my stomach, so I had to include something snide about it.

[roddma]

While there is nothing wrong with being low-income, constant poverty can be detrimental. I still cannot fathom anyone wanting this many kids. It seems to be these women's only ID. There are all kinds of ways to get your kid fix without having them. I agree college isn't all that, but in this day and age a high school education only goes so far.