Titus2's Steve Maxwell: Seriously Anti-Fun

[mango_fandango]

2 hours ago, Black Aliss said:

I know, right? I likes me some erotica once in awhile, and I do make a distinction between erotica and porn--one makes me horny and the other makes me queasy. I don't judge people that get off on porn, either, as long as there's no actual exploitation or abuse of other living creatures involved, i.e., words and drawings, not photographs. Hopping on the idle speculation bus, I'm guessing that, like a certain eldest son of a large family with its own reality TV show, Steve likes the rough stuff.

*pukes in bin* 

[Audrey2]

3 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

*pukes in bin* 

I know the rule about double quoting, so I won't, but there isn't enough brain bleach in this universe to remove that image from the brain!

[Foudeb]

He should look at porn, and every night too!

Regular masturbation might not cure the crazy but it certainly won't make it worse. Being less high-strung would certainly be an added benefit...

[kpmom]

Teri's posted two re-runs for her March and April Mom's Corners.

I think Teri is definitely enjoying her retirement and can't even be bothered to write Mom's Corners much anymore.

[Coconut Flan]

Good for her if not for their business.

[Sundaymorning]

2 hours ago, kpmom said:

Teri's posted two re-runs for her March and April Mom's Corners.

I think Teri is definitely enjoying her retirement and can't even be bothered to write Mom's Corners much anymore.

The only question is, what can she even enjoy in the Maxhell household? Other than spending some time with her grandkids (strictly scheduled of course), all fun is banned. It's not like she can read a book, watch tv, meet up with friends or do whatever normal people like to do in their free time.

I really wonder what the Maxwell women are doing all day long. Their business seems to be slowling down, and there just isn't enough work in the household to keep three young women plus Terrie (cause I doubt Stevehova lets her get away with doing absolutely nothing) busy.

Since all fun is banned, and just sitting around thinking about life is also forbidden, they basically have to have something to do for at least 12 hours a day, and even if they do clean the whole house every day, it's still not enough work for three young adults.

[Elegant Mess]

17 minutes ago, Sundaymorning said:

I really wonder what the Maxwell women are doing all day long. Their business seems to be slowling down, and there just isn't enough work in the household to keep three young women plus Terrie (cause I doubt Stevehova lets her get away with doing absolutely nothing) busy.

Tedium has a wonderful way of expanding into any time gaps, and I suspect that (and Ellie, of course!) has largely filled the void.  Methinks we can probably see our reflections in the ceiling fan blades and cabinet doors by now!

Also, I just checked their blog - April 4 post shows Anna and Mary dressed alike standing on ladders helping Christopher and NR-Anna prepping their house to paint.  So, it appears they're also being farmed out. 

[bertnee]

Maybe they take a note from Victorian-era ladies and do things like needle-point, knitting, quilting, etc? Cross-stitching Bible verse samplers...? None of those things involve "wordly things" and they certainly are time-intensive hobbies! I feel they would have mentioned it on the blog if so, but just an idea.

[Foudeb]

They've got 3 married brothers with kids now - that's one babysitter per household.

[SPHASH]

7 hours ago, Foudeb said:

They've gomarriedarried brothers with kids now - that's one babysitter per household.

And what if Stud John and Jesse get married

[Foudeb]

13 hours ago, SPHASH said:

And what if Stud John and Jesse get married

Abigail and Bethany will be old enough to be farmed out!

[Handmaiden of Dog]

Oh I've asked this question many times (what do they do to keep occupied) because with 4 grown women in one house they cannot spend all day every day cleaning and cooking-- they must have rubbed the paint off the walls by now.  And the ceiling fans are so clean you could eat off of them!

[anjulibai]

I bet Anna does some work for her brothers. Wasn't she going to some conference with them? I just think they don't advertise that because, well, she's a girl. 

[SolomonFundy]

On 4/8/2016 at 4:54 PM, Sundaymorning said:

The only question is, what can she even enjoy in the Maxhell household? Other than spending some time with her grandkids (strictly scheduled of course), all fun is banned. It's not like she can read a book, watch tv, meet up with friends or do whatever normal people like to do in their free time.

I really wonder what the Maxwell women are doing all day long. Their business seems to be slowling down, and there just isn't enough work in the household to keep three young women plus Terrie (cause I doubt Stevehova lets her get away with doing absolutely nothing) busy.

Spending time with the grandkids isn't scheduled to prevent Teri from having too much fun. It's scheduled to give her a definitive break from them after putting in her "quality time". Some of the worst years of Teri's life were when the second batch of her children were being born. I get the impression that she blames the kids for the years of postpartum depression rather than Steve or even herself. Circumstantial evidence is all I have to go on, but I've always had the impression that Teri Maxwell doesn't particularly like small children.

Steve was okay with her doing very little during the day during the depression years, provided the kids stepped up to fill the void with housework and food preparation. I'm guessing that Teri does what Teri wants, whatever that is, and Steve is probably okay with it provided she doesn't relapse into c. 1990's "crippling mental illness mode". The cleaning and cooking probably still fall on the daughters. It's what they were born for, after all. And they may as well enjoy cleaning their parents' home since they will never be allowed to leave the compound to make a home for themselves.

[kpmom]

7 hours ago, SolomonFundy said:

Spending time with the grandkids isn't scheduled to prevent Teri from having too much fun. It's scheduled to give her a definitive break from them after putting in her "quality time". Some of the worst years of Teri's life were when the second batch of her children were being born. I get the impression that she blames the kids for the years of postpartum depression rather than Steve or even herself. Circumstantial evidence is all I have to go on, but I've always had the impression that Teri Maxwell doesn't particularly like small children.

Steve was okay with her doing very little during the day during the depression years, provided the kids stepped up to fill the void with housework and food preparation. I'm guessing that Teri does what Teri wants, whatever that is, and Steve is probably okay with it provided she doesn't relapse into c. 1990's "crippling mental illness mode". The cleaning and cooking probably still fall on the daughters. It's what they were born for, after all. And they may as well enjoy cleaning their parents' home since they will never be allowed to leave the compound to make a home for themselves.

ITA with everything, especially the bolded.  

I think the fact that the grandkids preferred their aunts to their grandma (and that was mentioned by Teri herself) is pretty good evidence of her feelings about small children.  Now, she can feel good about spending time with her grandkids, but hand them back to their mom at a specified time.

  To be fair, she's not the only grandparent I've heard of who loves their grandkids, but doesn't mind handing them back and heading home.  Although she's the only one I've heard of who actually schedules an ending time! 

And i really think Steve is absolutely fine with whatever Teri does (within reason of course) as long as it holds off any relapse into depression.

I remember his Dad's post about getting Mom a hard hat, in which he told husbands to buy whatever appliances will make their wives' lives easier.  I also think homeschooling with Christian textbooks was all about making homeschooling as painless as possible for Teri (although sending the kids out to school would have done the trick even better).

[Jana814]

The thing is Steve would never approve of sending any of their kids to a regular school (even if it was a Christian one). 

[SolomonFundy]

5 hours ago, kpmom said:

I remember his Dad's post about getting Mom a hard hat, in which he told husbands to buy whatever appliances will make their wives' lives easier.  I also think homeschooling with Christian textbooks was all about making homeschooling as painless as possible for Teri (although sending the kids out to school would have done the trick even better).

If only those kids had been allowed to attend a Christian high school, at least...

There were also some old posts from his days of taking walks with Teri's dad. Steve makes it pretty clear that the meetings were generally for or about Teri, and how to accommodate or work around her depression. The one that sticks out the most to me was about the original puppy that they got for the kids. Steve "felt God" push him towards getting a dog, but he resisted because he was afraid it would rattle Teri too much. He asked Teri's dad his opinion during one of their walks, expecting to hear that it was a terrible idea, only to be surprised that he was supportive and thought it would be good for her. (An interesting takeaway from this is that Steve thought God had commanded him to do something and yet he was willing to NOT do it simply to avoid an angry/overwhelmed wife.)

From the little bit they have opted to share over the years, as well as leading themes in the Moody books that seem to be drawn from life, it seems like the Maxwell home was on autopilot until Mary was about 8. Teri spent a lot of time away from the areas the children were, either in the kitchen or her bedroom, and did the absolute bare minimum necessary to further their homeschool education. Their entire "empire" is build upon the premise that children need to be kept at home at all times, but that they also needed to avoid bothering their parents as much as possible. All of the spreadsheets, printables, workbooks and "chore packs" are about spoon-feeding the kids busy work so that they don't bug mom. 

[Handmaiden of Dog]

So we are still back to the question of what Teri does all day if she doesn't clean, cook, or mind grandchildren.  She probably takes long naps and reads the Bible but then what? We know she doesn't watch TV or read books or do crafts.  I'm guessing she doesn't leave the house so that rules out Salsa lessons, three martini lunches with friends, and volunteering at Planned Parenthood.

Here is how I spend the majority of my days:  gardening, home improvement, gym, cooking, baking, cleaning, training and playing with the dog, reading, TV, computer stuff, craft projects, and spending time with my husband.   Frankly I can't picture Teri doing any of that stuff except spending time with her husband. What do you think she does in the period of time after dinner but before going to bed? She can't be reading the Bible for 3 or 4 hours, can she?

[seattlechic]

Oh shit. I just read ONE, ONE post of their website and I want to puke. I mean... 

"enable wives to be efficient and peaceful with meek and quiet spirits" 

what the flying fuck is this???? WOW. I am just so incredibly happy to have joined FJ. My life is about to get even more interesting. 

[Black Aliss]

2 hours ago, Handmaiden of Dog said:

So we are still back to the question of what Teri does all day if she doesn't clean, cook, or mind grandchildren.  She probably takes long naps and reads the Bible

Bingo. I think Teri, like Mrs. Moody, spends a lot of time in the bedroom with the blinds drawn, recovering from what used to be called "the vapours".

[kpmom]

1 hour ago, seattlechic said:

Oh shit. I just read ONE, ONE post of their website and I want to puke. I mean... 

"enable wives to be efficient and peaceful with meek and quiet spirits" 

what the flying fuck is this???? WOW. I am just so incredibly happy to have joined FJ. My life is about to get even more interesting. 

Oh keep reading, seattlechic.  You're in for a trip down a very weird rabbit hole!

[Jana814]

I also wonder what Teri does all day. I can't help but think that Anna-Marie thinks she was the best mother and wants to be just like her.  

[SPHASH]

50 minutes ago, Jana814 said:

I also wonder what Teri does all day. I can't help but think that Anna-Marie thinks she was the best mother and wants to be just like her.  

Then NR Anna's mother must have been pretty bad.

[SolomonFundy]

2 hours ago, SPHASH said:

Then NR Anna's mother must have been pretty bad.

Or NRAnna is savvy enough to understand how to flatter her way into the heart of two self-absorbed in-laws.

[Granwych]

7 hours ago, Jana814 said:

I also wonder what Teri does all day. I can't help but think that Anna-Marie thinks she was the best mother and wants to be just like her.  

Two words:  Stockholm syndrome.