Shupe Mom tells us how to organize

[tkr322]

Because clearly her 47 previous posts on the topic are not enough

[Loveday]

Because clearly her 47 previous posts on the topic are not enough :dead-horse:

I was just thinking, isn't this a case of same shit different day? :lol:

[daisyjane1234]

That woman has a severe case of OCD. Her kids' summer schedules break my heart. She goes on for ages talking about the schedule and the fact that they get unstructured time to "just play". And then you find out it is an hour here and an hour there amid all the chores and character building. Oh, and of course, they can play in the backyard, or run through the sprinkler out front. No roaming the neighbourhood for the older kids. No long bike rides, no neighbourhood adventures, no walking to the ice cream store, or local mom-n-pop for a popsicle.

My kids enjoy long stretches of unstructured play, long bike rides, catching frogs and snakes in our local pond, hours of reading on the back porch, and so on. Isn't that what summer is all about!

[ILoveJellybeans]

I love organising but there comes a point where you should probably get tested for OCD, and I think Erika is past that point. Everything about her home and her family is so structured, sterile and controlled. I am surprised she doesn't schedule her children's bathroom breaks. The kids barely get to play, their life is just so strict and inflexible.

[FloraKitty35]

I love organising but there comes a point where you should probably get tested for OCD, and I think Erika is past that point. Everything about her home and her family is so structured, sterile and controlled. I am surprised she doesn't schedule her children's bathroom breaks. The kids barely get to play, their life is just so strict and inflexible.

Don't give her any ideas on her kids bathroom breaks.

[usmcmom]

I got wrapped up in her blog one day. It's all about the crotch with this woman. Her reasoning for wearing skirts is that a man's eye is drawn to the crotch if he sees a woman in pants. She mentions this several times in the comment section when talking about why she chose to wear only dresses. Crotch, crotch, crotch, crotch, crotch. I'm surprised these fundie men can get out of bed and function at all each day - the way their wives talk about them, they are in a constant state of arousal.

Here's one of her posts about modesty: (hope I did that right, breaking the link and all)

largefamiliesonpurpose.com/2011/02/modest-dress-heart-of-issue-surrounding.html

Oh, the organizing thing? I feel really, really bad for her kids; especially for the summer. Summer time should be fun and carefree. I think if you have so many children that the only way to manage them is to run your home like boot camp, it's time to use birth control.....like three kids ago.

[GiGi_41]

I'm sorry the repeated use of the star * just burns my eyes!

[browngrl]

There have been times when I have had to do something I did not enjoy in the least. I get through those times by organizing every moment. It is the only way I can get anything done when all I really want to do is run away. It strikes me that all of Erika's organizing is not just OCD (although I bet she has that too) - it is a desperate attempt to hold on when all SHE really wants to do is run away (although in no way could she ever admit to this). I don't get the impression that she likes children at all. Certainly she does not like the way children disrupt plans or mess things up. All of her parenting seems just about as joyless as the Maxwell's parenting.

[usmcmom]

I'm sorry the repeated use of the star * just burns my eyes!

Mine too. *frown*

[Shrinra]

Because clearly her 47 previous posts on the topic are not enough :dead-horse:

If you look at the dates on the comments, you'll see that none of her posts this year have been new. Whenever she responds to comments the blog post in question is bumped up to the top and given that day's date. I think that she is done telling people how to organize, thankfully.

Didn't they get a cat though? I am eagerly awaiting her post about putting the cat on a schedule!

[HoneyBunny]

I thought I had a smidge of OCD until I started reading her blog. That lady is cray-cray. I feel so, so sorry for her two oldest daughters. At one point, there was a photo of her oldest up in the middle of the night helping to feed the twins. She was about 12 at the time. I have some serious issues with parents expecting kids to get up in the middle of the night to tend to other kids (Duggars, Bates, etc.) She posts photos of the little kids playing in the back yard and there is always an older daughter right with them. Now, tell me, how many 15 year olds want to spend their summer on perpetual babysitting duties per their mom-arranged schedule?

I've often thought that she is lucky her husband doesn't have a shit fit about her OCD. That is the single biggest issue in my marriage...I would LOVE things to be more orderly, but he can live with lots of clutter (if I am halfway to OCD, he is halfway to hoarding). Maybe we keep each other sane.

Did I also read on her blog that she just miscarried? It blows my mind that, with children stacked like cordwood blocking the bedroom windows, she still thinks she needs to have more. Really?

And don't forget the issues with her husband's parents (they are estranged). Can you imagine having all those grandkids living that kind of life and knowing you can't help them?

Re: modesty...someone asked how women should dress modestly in the workplace, and she responded that women shouldn't work, so she couldn't comment. Slam!

I could snark on Erika all day. Along with the Maxwells and Lori, she is one of my favorite fundies. And she provides so much snark-worthy material.

[Shrinra]

I thought I had a smidge of OCD until I started reading her blog. That lady is cray-cray. I feel so, so sorry for her two oldest daughters. At one point, there was a photo of her oldest up in the middle of the night helping to feed the twins. She was about 12 at the time. I have some serious issues with parents expecting kids to get up in the middle of the night to tend to other kids (Duggars, Bates, etc.) She posts photos of the little kids playing in the back yard and there is always an older daughter right with them. Now, tell me, how many 15 year olds want to spend their summer on perpetual babysitting duties per their mom-arranged schedule?

I've often thought that she is lucky her husband doesn't have a shit fit about her OCD. That is the single biggest issue in my marriage...I would LOVE things to be more orderly, but he can live with lots of clutter (if I am halfway to OCD, he is halfway to hoarding). Maybe we keep each other sane.

Did I also read on her blog that she just miscarried? It blows my mind that, with children stacked like cordwood blocking the bedroom windows, she still thinks she needs to have more. Really?

And don't forget the issues with her husband's parents (they are estranged). Can you imagine having all those grandkids living that kind of life and knowing you can't help them?

Re: modesty...someone asked how women should dress modestly in the workplace, and she responded that women shouldn't work, so she couldn't comment. Slam!

I could snark on Erika all day. Along with the Maxwells and Lori, she is one of my favorite fundies. And she provides so much snark-worthy material.

She did miscarry, but I believe that was a few years ago. The dates are misleading sometimes because some posts are years old, but have 2014 dates. She would love more children for some reason, even if she doesn't like them.

[Clementine]

I got wrapped up in her blog one day. It's all about the crotch with this woman. Her reasoning for wearing skirts is that a man's eye is drawn to the crotch if he sees a woman in pants. She mentions this several times in the comment section when talking about why she chose to wear only dresses. Crotch, crotch, crotch, crotch, crotch. I'm surprised these fundie men can get out of bed and function at all each day - the way their wives talk about them, they are in a constant state of arousal.

Here's one of her posts about modesty: (hope I did that right, breaking the link and all)

largefamiliesonpurpose.com/2011/02/modest-dress-heart-of-issue-surrounding.html

Oh, the organizing thing? I feel really, really bad for her kids; especially for the summer. Summer time should be fun and carefree. I think if you have so many children that the only way to manage them is to run your home like boot camp, it's time to use birth control.....like three kids ago.

WTF? "Very feminine"? Is a long shapeless skirt, flat trainers made of fabric and an equally shapeless fleece jacket "very feminine"? We must have different views of what feminine means when it comes to dressing.

[Clementine]

There have been times when I have had to do something I did not enjoy in the least. I get through those times by organizing every moment. It is the only way I can get anything done when all I really want to do is run away. It strikes me that all of Erika's organizing is not just OCD (although I bet she has that too) - it is a desperate attempt to hold on when all SHE really wants to do is run away (although in no way could she ever admit to this). I don't get the impression that she likes children at all. Certainly she does not like the way children disrupt plans or mess things up. All of her parenting seems just about as joyless as the Maxwell's parenting.

Or she could be suffering from depression. When I was depressed, brushing my teeth felt overwhelming and my brain didn't function clearly so I couldn't remember simple everyday routines (like go to toilet, brush teeth, wash face, brush hair) but had to make lists for everything. I cured it with therapy and SSRI, not submission and prayer.

[defraudingjezebel]

I am absolutely addicted to hate-reading Erika Shupe's blog. She is like the Maxwells but kicked up a few notches in the scheduling department. But in the Shupes' case, I think Erika wears the pants in the family even though she hems and haws all day long about submitting to her husband. I find her *smiles* and *giggles* to be the most horrifying yet simultaneously annoying writing style ever. You can tell she rules with an iron fist and the children MUST obey the almighty schedule.... or else....

If anything, the schedule is the golden calf of both the Shupe and Maxwell households.

[slickcat79]

She still has her twins in different colored earrings to tell them apart :? IDK, maybe it's the angle of the photos or something, but they don't even look identical to me...their facial features have slightly different shapes. I'll defer to anyone who has more experience with twins, but it seems strange to think that you could spend nearly every day with your children for over three years and not be able to tell them apart, even if they are identical.

[HoneyBunny]

She still has her twins in different colored earrings to tell them apart :? IDK, maybe it's the angle of the photos or something, but they don't even look identical to me...their facial features have slightly different shapes. I'll defer to anyone who has more experience with twins, but it seems strange to think that you could spend nearly every day with your children for over three years and not be able to tell them apart, even if they are identical.

I helped care for twins from the age of 2 weeks on. It took me about a week to tell them apart. Even when others would look at their photos and say they couldn't tell one from the other, I could point out 10 things that were different, not to mention that their needs and personalities were always unique.

Oh wait. Unique. That's the issue. Erika doesn't tolerate uniqueness from any of her kids.

ETA: This was my 300th post, and my post count title is now Children Stacked like Cordwood. How very appropriate!!!

[16strong]

Wth is with that creepy-ass *smile* thing she does in her posts. Every 2 sentences: *smile*. It's worse than the Joker.

Erika strikes me as the kind of woman who is in charge of organizing all the events at church, so you always have to deal with her because she's everywhere, but you can't stand her because although she is always speaking in a high-pitched voice and wearing an ott smile, she is throwing verbal and mental knives at you the minute you have your back turned.

[Luisainlondon1]

Her oldest son Brandon is eleven but looks like a very young child. His 8 years old sister is as tall as him. Is there something wrong with him?

edited: to fix a typo

[usmcmom]

I helped care for twins from the age of 2 weeks on. It took me about a week to tell them apart. Even when others would look at their photos and say they couldn't tell one from the other, I could point out 10 things that were different, not to mention that their needs and personalities were always unique.

Oh wait. Unique. That's the issue. Erika doesn't tolerate uniqueness from any of her kids.

ETA: This was my 300th post, and my post count title is now Children Stacked like Cordwood. How very appropriate!!!

I've never met a mom of twins who could not tell their children apart after a few days. When I ask they always will say "this one has a longer face; this one's hair is a bit darker; this one has a tiny freckle...." And since I love children and think all are unique I listen and try to learn to tell them apart too. You'd think their mother would make an effort. I think it's horrible if a mother can't tell her three-year-old twins apart! I bet her older daughters have no problem with this.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I can slightly pick out differences between their faces in the one photo of them at the side, but I cant tell them apart in any other pictures.....but I don't know them and am not very good at facial recognition.

But surely their mother knows how to tell them apart by face. Even identical twins.

One strange thing about Erika's blog, is that we don't know anything at all about the kids. I have no idea what their personalities are, they are all the same and don't seem to have any individuality. Their rooms are all bland and dont look like kids live there, just beds crammed into a space. With all of the other blogs, we seem to get a feel for what each kid is like-this one is more outgoing, but her sister is shyer, this one is creative and sensitive, but his brother is athletic and tough, this one is very emotional, but his sister isn't, this one doesn't seem like they are drinking the Kool Aid and seems unhappy.......but there is nothing about the Shupe kids.

[16strong]

I can slightly pick out differences between their faces in the one photo of them at the side, but I cant tell them apart in any other pictures.....but I don't know them and am not very good at facial recognition.

But surely their mother knows how to tell them apart by face. Even identical twins.

One strange thing about Erika's blog, is that we don't know anything at all about the kids. I have no idea what their personalities are, they are all the same and don't seem to have any individuality. Their rooms are all bland and dont look like kids live there, just beds crammed into a space. With all of the other blogs, we seem to get a feel for what each kid is like-this one is more outgoing, but her sister is shyer, this one is creative and sensitive, but his brother is athletic and tough, this one is very emotional, but his sister isn't, this one doesn't seem like they are drinking the Kool Aid and seems unhappy.......but there is nothing about the Shupe kids.

That's because it's not about the kids. Ever. It's all about Erika. :?

[Minnesota]

On her newest post a comment was made about why she doesn't make any new posts. Her response was that people only ask for her old posts.

[Joan of Snarc]

I think these two are the inspiration for Allison and Donnie on Orphan Black.

:shifty-kitty:

[usmcmom]

At least Erika's kids look clean and well groomed. I know her older daughters probably do much of the work with the little ones but Zsu can't even keep her kids clean. I know kids have spills and stains at the end of each day, but Zsu's kids look like they wear layers of grime. I just really feel bad for kids who have nobody who takes those extra steps for them. Keeping somebody clean is just a matter of dignity, I think; and it teaches them good habits for when they're older. I think Erika and Zsu are both crazy moms but I bet Erika doesn't get near the looks when out in public that Zsu does.