Where's Sparkling Lauren?

[ILoveJellybeans]

Besides the distance to the bus I'm not seeing how this is any different than normal. Honestly I wonder if the girls would be allowed to decide to stay with a new family since they get to make all their own decisions. I'm sure Lauren would have no problem driving her newly renamed slut bus around to all her festivals without having to be bothered with those pesky kids of hers

That's one thing that worries me about these kids (well, one of many, not forgetting lack of nutrition, lack of schooling, unsupervised access to hazardous things like deep water or heights, their mothers lack of concern when they get lost, being barefoot outside where there is broken glass and loads of poisonous animals...). At what point is she going to let them go on their own sparkling adventure? What if Aisha is 13, and decides she wants to go and live on her own? Or worse, what if she meets a guy in his 30s and decides that she loves him and they want to move in together and have a creepy statutory rape relationship, and Lauren is okay with it because she is sooooo mature for her age despite her barely being able to read and having no skills necessary to live by herself.

[AussieKrissy]

I can not find this person on the Individuals and families link to get a background on her. Which family is she linked to?

[halcionne]

I can not find this person on the Individuals and families link to get a background on her. Which family is she linked to?

She doesn't seem to be listed there currently. Here is the first FJ post about her, from 2012:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11137

[ViolaSebastian]

She is sometimes cagey, as much of her financial mooching continues to come from her fundamentalist supporters, even now. She has made comments on FB that she does not identify Christian. She's rather new-agey, make up your own religion now. She has talked about righteousness in the past as in the girls are choosing righteousness when they call her by her first name and not when they call her mom or mommy. I think she's really just a whatever spirituality floats my boat today mentality now. But, she IS good at internet marketing. Her career WAS internet marketing before she quit, and it shows in how she markets herself and doesn't easily let herself get caged into anything real, despite her claims of seeking authenticity.

So long as even a little of her funding comes from those Christians, she isn't about to let herself get fully pigeonholed into being not one of them anymore. Thus, I don't think you'll ever get a straightforward answer on what she does believe now.

Someone can share links. David's religious beliefs got so crazy he got thrown out of their last church and there ought to be videos of his rantings still around somewhere.

Wasn't she calling all this 'unchurching'? Whatever the hell that is...

[keen23]

She doesn't seem to be listed there currently. Here is the first FJ post about her, from 2012:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11137

I have nothing to add to this conversation, just that I love your avatar halcionne!

[nausicaa]

That's one thing that worries me about these kids (well, one of many, not forgetting lack of nutrition, lack of schooling, unsupervised access to hazardous things like deep water or heights, their mothers lack of concern when they get lost, being barefoot outside where there is broken glass and loads of poisonous animals...). At what point is she going to let them go on their own sparkling adventure? What if Aisha is 13, and decides she wants to go and live on her own? Or worse, what if she meets a guy in his 30s and decides that she loves him and they want to move in together and have a creepy statutory rape relationship, and Lauren is okay with it because she is sooooo mature for her age despite her barely being able to read and having no skills necessary to live by herself.

I've foreseen the bolded happening for a long time. Lauren will encourage it even, because the girls will be off her hands, she can talk about how mature they are, and Lauren won't have any competition with men. Those poor girls really don't stand a chance.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I do worry about what she will do with them when they are old enough to decide they want to move out. What age would she let them do that? Would she care if one of them had a much older partner when they were underage? If Aisha decided now that she wanted to go and move out and live by herself, would Lauren let her? I cant see her insisting that all of the kids who live through her parenting stay living in the bus with her until they are all of age. It will be so cramped in 10 years when she has a bunch of nearly full grown teenagers who are all unbathed (the bus probably smells already, but an adult and four teenagers? Kids don't sweat and stink nearly as much as teens and adults do).

[Unschool Apostate]

She receives welfare money for the girls, IIRC, and payments are reduced after a certain age (6?). Do the benefits stay at the same rate after that up until age 18?

[Alice_Fraggle]

I actually wouldn't be too surprised if she forgot a child somewhere.

It kind of bothered me that in her post about her Dad she kept referring to "tangible" ways that he helped her. That read as "gave me money" whenever she said it. Did anyone else read it that way?

[Flossie]

It kind of bothered me that in her post about her Dad she kept referring to "tangible" ways that he helped her. That read as "gave me money" whenever she said it. Did anyone else read it that way?

I haven't read that post yet, but I'd also read 'tangible' to mean money, food, fixing up the bus, etc.

[tankgirl]

Have to wonder how happy the Aunt actually was to have 4 more kids to care for, while already taking on some one else's three? I wonder if Lauren even asked first, or just showed up on the doorstep, with her poor filthy girl?

Those are going to be some broken kids :(

[August]

I just love how she blames not being close on her Dad. Geez, Lauren, do you think disowning him for years after he came out as gay could have been a reason for a certain chill in your relationship?

[Freed]

I've been marathoning Deadly Women during summer break, and, well... I have a horrible sinking feeling that Lauren could easily end up on that show.

[lilith]

She receives welfare money for the girls, IIRC, and payments are reduced after a certain age (6?). Do the benefits stay at the same rate after that up until age 18?

There is a loophole for homeschooling single parents to continue receiving the full parenting payments. I know she's registered as a homeschooler in QLD, so she'd okay qualify if they don't dig too deeply into her application.

[heidi]

I'm so sad for those girls. They don't even have a solid foundation of literacy to fall back on.

[halcionne]

I have nothing to add to this conversation, just that I love your avatar halcionne!

Haha, thanks. His expression just seems appropriate for so many situations. Is he saying "I'm into this" or "I'm over this" -- YOU decide! :twisted:

[ladyaudley]

Two more posts up. A litte FU FJ in the Hare krishna one ( She called ahead to see whether dropping in was okay). I wonder whether she wanted to show Brioni there was cruelty-free milk to stop her being vegan. Can't make Lauren's life much easier...

and I was annoyed at the other post, where her children wanted to stay away from the schoolchild crowd being "herded". Since her sparkling daughters are oh-so-tolerant (see the mention in the Hare Krishna post), how come they so avidly avoid the evul normal school children?

[Mama Mia]

Did anyone see this post? sparklingadventures.com/index.php?pg=2

It's titled "Exposure not Expertise" , it annoyed me sooooo much! She is talking on and on about how at this stage in her childrens's development all that matters is exposing them to a jillion different experiences in every possible area of life.

But all she really seems to be saying is that she doesn't have any interest in helping them to delve below the surface of any subject or progress in any coherent fashion. What really bugs me is that instead of just saying " hey, I'm too pre-occupied with myself to even bother to come up with any formal curriculum if my kid needs it" she slaps a philosophy on it.

Also she talks about how she's exposing her children to all these different cultures and types of people- but what she really means is that she's exposing her children to a bunch of different people who seem to share the same sorts of beliefs- but because they aren't mainstream beliefs it somehow counts as "diverse". No. No it doesn't.

What I hear her saying is that all of her children, whether they are 4 or 9, only need an adult to answer any questions that pop up- not be bothered to find a book on the subject, or help with writing or in any way become "expert" on any topic - because expertise would require some sort of effort on the part of the parent, while exploration does not. Really, really unfair to the two oldest girls to keep them completely in the learn by play mode that is appropriate for her youngest.

[Antimony]

But guys it is all totally okay because Lauren's parking in random places is doing the community such a great service.

Parking at a playground is great for locals because our presence through the night can deter vandals.

:wtf: But actually. First off, Lauren expects there might be some vandals just being around and she...decides that is a safe place to park? And that vandals are scared of her magical hippie bus?

I did my fair share of late night shenanigans in parks as a teenager (river swimming, swingset playing, catching up with friends, the like) and I can just say that I didn't feel entirely safe there (but expected that if there was somebody else there it was going to be another teenage hooligan) and I certainly would not have brought children I was the caretaker of there at night ever. Under any circumstances.

I also find it strange that the girls were apparently not so keen on playing with the school children or even being near them at all. That isn't very much like being open to all kinds of cultures and experiences. Very strange.

I think Aisha and Brioni and Calista and Lana are all adorable children and really do seem pretty darn delightful and sweet and really deserve so much more. Who knows what kind of education they're getting, but they seem pretty inherently clever/problem solvers, and it just isn't being nourished. Aisha mentions in her birthday interview (9) that her favorite book is A Little Princess. I remember reading that as a child, but not at what age. Is it her age level?

[flubber]

But guys it is all totally okay because Lauren's parking in random places is doing the community such a great service.

:wtf: But actually. First off, Lauren expects there might be some vandals just being around and she...decides that is a safe place to park? And that vandals are scared of her magical hippie bus?

I did my fair share of late night shenanigans in parks as a teenager (river swimming, swingset playing, catching up with friends, the like) and I can just say that I didn't feel entirely safe there (but expected that if there was somebody else there it was going to be another teenage hooligan) and I certainly would not have brought children I was the caretaker of there at night ever. Under any circumstances.

I also find it strange that the girls were apparently not so keen on playing with the school children or even being near them at all. That isn't very much like being open to all kinds of cultures and experiences. Very strange.

I think Aisha and Brioni and Calista and Lana are all adorable children and really do seem pretty darn delightful and sweet and really deserve so much more. Who knows what kind of education they're getting, but they seem pretty inherently clever/problem solvers, and it just isn't being nourished. Aisha mentions in her birthday interview (9) that her favorite book is A Little Princess. I remember reading that as a child, but not at what age. Is it her age level?

She only thinks it's free, most councils actually don't allow overnight parking in random car parks...even if it's not signed. And I'm sure the locals LOVE random hippys parking by their parks...it would make me feel SOOOO much safer.

[RandomTrivia]

She just posted on FB about the 2nd anniversary of Elijah's death, with a link to her blog post about his grave marker.

[Elinor]

Aisha mentions in her birthday interview (9) that her favorite book is A Little Princess. I remember reading that as a child, but not at what age. Is it her age level?

Yes, it is her age level. I'd say the book was for age 8+. I read it as a teenager and loved it then. Welll-written children's literature can be enjoyed by all ages. :)

[Burpies]

I do worry about what she will do with them when they are old enough to decide they want to move out. What age would she let them do that? Would she care if one of them had a much older partner when they were underage? If Aisha decided now that she wanted to go and move out and live by herself, would Lauren let her? I cant see her insisting that all of the kids who live through her parenting stay living in the bus with her until they are all of age. It will be so cramped in 10 years when she has a bunch of nearly full grown teenagers who are all unbathed (the bus probably smells already, but an adult and four teenagers? Kids don't sweat and stink nearly as much as teens and adults do).

I think the bolded will depend on how long she gets assistance for her children. I could see her holding on to them as long as possible so she can get whatever assistance she would get for them in Aus.

[happy atheist]

I imagine the locals are thrilled at the vandal deterrence and don't think the Gifted Gypsy looks at all like a predator's van, parked by itself all night by a playground. It must be so comforting for them. :shifty-kitty:

[chaotic life]

And Hellena says on her FB *exactly* what my biggest issue with Lauren is, as one mother who lost her son three weeks after Lauren. Lauren has created a world where her girls never grieve and only sparkle.

The problem with that is that children who are not safe to process losing a sibling WILL internalize it. So, they "sparkle" now because they are not allowed to hurt, to grieve, nor to cry. And down the road, that pain that they hold close because they are not allowed to express it will boil out, and it will boil out in ugly, big, devastating ways for all of them.

Perhaps it is because I was a child who lost a sibling myself and was never allowed to grieve, only to have it overshadow my entire life as I entered my adolescent years, griped with a hidden knowledge that it must somehow have been my fault to lose my sibling, but I don't see ANYTHING positive about this mentality that Lauren has.

Lauren has always been allowed to grieve, even when it requires her to shut down and do nothing. Those girls are forbidden to grieve, because it is only if they sparkle that they are worthy of Lauren pulling herself out of her schism of grief back into the world, and her salvation is NOT their responsibility, nor should it be their burden but she has no issue making it such.