Sparkling Adventures in Child Neglect - "Gayby" on Board

[acheronbeach]

Wow, she found Vegemite in Iceland? She must've searched long and hard for that... I could barely find fakey meat products except at a couple of shops in the capital.

I'm surprised she posted that close-up of herself from China. It's a really unflattering picture and her own photos usually strike me as very much posed and carefully selected...

[happy atheist]

She was tagged in a photo on FB today with one of the Gold Star Gays "touching the belly for the first time". She has made it to Iceland, as she posts about her first priority being to source some Vegemite, as seven weeks without it are enough! FWIW, her belly looks tiny, particularly if compared to her other pregnancies.

Ben the GSG's FB cover photo is "anything's a dildo if you're brave enough". Yikes.

I haven't been able to find the picture. Is it private?

[lilith]

Wow, she found Vegemite in Iceland? She must've searched long and hard for that... I could barely find fakey meat products except at a couple of shops in the capital.

I'm surprised she posted that close-up of herself from China. It's a really unflattering picture and her own photos usually strike me as very much posed and carefully selected...

Vegemite is a yeast based spread, like British marmite. Australians eat it with butter on toast (among other ways). I imagine she would have had to go to a shop that specialised serving expat Australians to find it.

[ladyaudley]

I haven't been able to find the picture. Is it private?

Must be. i'm facebook friends with her.

[happy atheist]

Must be. i'm facebook friends with her.

Oh well. She won't be able to keep herself from posting something publicly soon.

[So Many Lies]

I'm surprised she posted that close-up of herself from China. It's a really unflattering picture and her own photos usually strike me as very much posed and carefully selected...

I love redheads and freckles so so much. I thought her and Davey boy made a striking couple. After 5 kids in quick succession she has pulled up well. As a brunette, red hair seems quite magical to me but Now that I've seen the breadth and depth of the fuckery I Don't think she's attractive at all.

I do find she is vain and posts ridiculous glamour shots. The one with aisha when she returned from the trip abroad is one that springs to mind. And the stomach photos which were obvious humble brags.

The Aisha Hairdryer shot I didn't like because even though she spoke about Aisha it was Lauren in the forefront. Kind of symbolic if you ask me.

[lilith]

I love redheads and freckles so so much. I thought her and Davey boy made a striking couple. After 5 kids in quick succession she has pulled up well. As a brunette, red hair seems quite magical to me but Now that I've seen the breadth and depth of the fuckery I Don't think she's attractive at all.

I do find she is vain and posts ridiculous glamour shots. The one with aisha when she returned from the trip abroad is one that springs to mind. And the stomach photos which were obvious humble brags.

The Aisha Hairdryer shot I didn't like because even though she spoke about Aisha it was Lauren in the forefront. Kind of symbolic if you ask me.

I always love how she posts about rejecting societies standards for female beauty and does nothing to assist her daughters in embracing and exploring their beauty and femininity, but she only ever posts pics of herself in full makeup and taken from a flattering angle and she puts so much time and effort into her outfits and dread maintenance.

I'm the dreaded mainstream suburban mum, subscribing to western beauty ideals, but I didn't manage to do a full face of makeup when I had toddlers unless I was heading to the office or out for an event. And I allow my daughter (and sons on occasion) the cosmetic indulgences that I enjoy instead of telling her that she's too authentic to make herself feel pretty. I would bet that Lauren is one of the only women at Rainbow Festivals to put her face on every morning for a day in the bush. And good for her, but I wish she'd stop pretending she was above it all and that she would stop making her daughters express the ideals with their appearance that she refuses to with hers.

[halcionne]

August, I was going to mention that too. The Travelers are Irish descent, and different from Roma. I don't know if their is a Roma population in the US, I am sure there is, but Travelers are different, and also known as con men.

For those of you living in France, my mom was robbed last time she was there and my memory is fuzzy but I thought that there were laws about minors not getting jail time so the crime rings used juviniles to do their dirty work. It was highly organized. Also, we were robbed in France when I was a teen. We live in a big city and are not cometely ignorant and were cautious. My mom speaks perfect French because her family is French and lived there for many years, so we did not stick out to horribly.they (the criminals) are just very good at what they do.

Problematic comment is problematic.

[So Many Lies]

I always love how she posts about rejecting societies standards for female beauty and does nothing to assist her daughters in embracing and exploring their beauty and femininity, but she only ever posts pics of herself in full makeup and taken from a flattering angle and she puts so much time and effort into her outfits and dread maintenance.

And I love the hypocrisy of living under the banner of Be the Change you Want to See in Your Children all the while doing the complete opposite.

It's gotta be a throwback to her missionary days "well, we're all sinners..."

[freejugar]

I love redheads and freckles so so much. I thought her and Davey boy made a striking couple. After 5 kids in quick succession she has pulled up well. As a brunette, red hair seems quite magical to me but Now that I've seen the breadth and depth of the fuckery I Don't think she's attractive at all.

I do find she is vain and posts ridiculous glamour shots. The one with aisha when she returned from the trip abroad is one that springs to mind. And the stomach photos which were obvious humble brags.

The Aisha Hairdryer shot I didn't like because even though she spoke about Aisha it was Lauren in the forefront. Kind of symbolic if you ask me.

The pics of her and her daughters are like 90% Lauren. Even in those it shows how self absorbed she is.

[bionicmlle]

She posted a pic on IG of a playground in Iceland and how sparkling it was that she was the only supervising adult - apparently all Icelandic children are free range sparklers, too.

[Miggy]

Lauren has absolutely no idea of where "normal" starts and finishes, does she?

It's Saturday. Two blocks down from my house is a creek with big, open parkland on either side. There is play equipment at regular intervals. Go down there today and you will find kids riding bikes, kids in the creek catching frogs, kids on the play equipment, kids practicing cricket and there won't be an adult in sight. This is normal, everyday Australia.

Lauren steers clear of normal Australia though, so she doesn't see how our regular non-sparkly kids grow up. I haven't been to Iceland but what she describes sounds pretty normal to me. I think this is just a case of its foreign so it's better.

[happy atheist]

That looks a lot different from the pristine new playgrounds she usually posts about.

I wonder how lonely the girls are going to be. I assume school is in session in Iceland right now, and they don't know anyone besides the Gold Stars, so they won't have anyone besides each other to play with. At least in Australia they visit with other families often.

Are they all staying with the Gold Stars? I guess they can just hang a hammock in the closet and it'll be just like home to them. :cry:

[Trynn]

Also, I know nothing about Iceland so forgive my ignorance, but even of here were other children around, would the girls even be able to talk to them?

I mean, I've heard of kids getting along despite language barriers, but it could potentially be difficult.

[skankbiscuit]

I believe kids in Iceland begin learning English at school around the age of 6. It's possible that the kids will speak a little bit of English. My kids had a hard time when they first got to France because of the language barriers. Now between their French and the other kids' English they get by ok. But yeah, it's going to probably be really difficult for those girls.

Aren't the gold stars quite particular and fussy about things? I wonder how it's going to go with Lauren and the girls there 24/7 with no breaks. I think the gold stars will lose their minds. I also wonder how long after the birth they will let her stay there to recover, or if they will quickly send her and the girls packing back to Australia.

[Marianne]

Why is "gayby" offensive or funny ? What does it mean ?

[happy atheist]

Why is "gayby" offensive or funny ? What does it mean ?

Gayby = gay baby

It means the child of gays, not that the baby is gay.

[Miggy]

Not a term used by gays in the regular community, at least where I live. I know several gay couples raising children and all of them use baby, son and daughter - just like all the hetero couple and single parents. The only time I have it used is by the super special gold star gays. Those who are proud of the fact they haven't seen a vagina since they were born.

[Antimony]

Not a term used by gays in the regular community, at least where I live. I know several gay couples raising children and all of them use baby, son and daughter - just like all the hetero couple and single parents. The only time I have it used is by the super special gold star gays. Those who are proud of the fact they haven't seen a vagina since they were born.

I've heard it before but not since high school/very early college and it didn't mean what they use it for. We used it to mean "gay babies" as in "people much younger than us still discovering their sexuality and the queer community", which was important cause there was a group of confident-in-their-sexuality queer people in my high scool (self included) and it was sort of an unspoken network for advice, resources, sex education (I was certed in that from an outside liberal nonprofit), queer literature, etc.

But it also wasn't a term we would say to straight people so if it's being used still to mean a child of gay people, it's likely only these two that use it in such a way, cause at the end of the day it is slang. It's also only recently that the straight/ally community has become aware of various slang terms and definitions used in queer groups - I still have people ask me what bears or the 'down lo' are - so it isn't unlikely that it's being uses only internally.

Gold star gays also isn't an idea umique to gay men, lesbians also identify with it from time to time and some of them refuse to be with women who don't have their gold star. Its been a tension causing issue being lesbians and bisexuals for years, as well. But intraqueer politics are complicated and vary from region and from age group, but the point is is that it's unusual for straight people to hear much about them.

[Gherkin]

Going back to Lauren bring reported to child services. They won't to anything. As long as the children are alive then that's all they care about.

Unfortunately, the current government sacked a heap of child protection officers so the ones that kept their jobs have had their work tripled. Additionally, the area where Lauren lived is full of children who should be seen by child safety but aren't. A lot of these children are regularly exposed to drugs, alcohol, abuse etc. they sleep on dirty matresses on the floor,and they are dirty but they are fed and have a roof over their head. That's all that child safety can hope for. It's sad but true.

[Trynn]

Ooooh I'm am asexual, I want a good star too. Do I still get my gold star if I've seen a penis a few times, when I was changing my little brothers' diapers?

No seriously, I want my gold star!

/sarcasm

[Miggy]

Ooooh I'm am asexual, I want a good star too. Do I still get my gold star if I've seen a penis a few times, when I was changing my little brothers' diapers?

No seriously, I want my gold star!

/sarcasm

Well, as some say you aren't truly gold star unless you were born by caesarian, I'd guess that changing a boys nappy makes you a fail. Sorry to take that prize away from you. Lol.

I wonder how these lads got through high school biology and health. Did they keep their eyes shut or don't pictures count?

[ILoveJellybeans]

I wonder what Lauren does for diapers. I was thinking about it for some reason, and I cant think of how she must have done it. I cant see her using disposable ones, she is too sparkly and special, but she is too lazy to do elimination communication, cause you have to really know your baby's cues well to not get poop everywhere, and I don't think Lauren even knows or cares where at least half of her kids are at any moment in time. Also what would she do to wash cloth diapers in a sanitary way while living in a bus. Just sooooo much to wash, and I don't think laundry is a concept that Lauren knows well, as the whole family looks like they smell. I would hate to live in a bus with so many unwashed bodies. Ew.

[Miggy]

Even worse, imagine when they hit their teens!

[ILoveJellybeans]

That would be worse. Unbathed teens smell worse than unbathed children.

And what are they going to do when they are all on their periods?

Will they all still be squashing onto that hammock bed thing together in 5 years time when the girls are 15, 14, 12 and 10? Or will Lauren be in a hurry to kick out Aisha and Brioni so they have space?

She really didn't think this through.