Maxwells hang out with the elderly

[nastyhobbitses]

Maybe someone passes round a hipflask before the Death Bus pulls up outside. 

If they visited my grandma's assisted living facility, she'd be the one doing this! But with pinot grigio in the flask because she's a classy lady.

[Jana814]

Speaking of Chris, I noticed he,  John, Jesse, Joe, Elissa, Calia, Melanie were all absent.

I wonder if some were sick or getting over being sick & didn't want to spread the germs. 

[Handmaiden of Dog]

The elderly love the little ones.

Ugh!  I would love to smack Sarah.  The Elderly, indeed.  Why not just say our guests or our friends?  "The Elderly" is not a homogeneous group of single-minded,uniform people.  If Sarah would get to know some of their visitors, actually have a real conversation with one or two of them, she might discover that they are interesting individuals with fascinating pasts who have led lives worth noting.  Instead Sarah comes across as dismissive with her label.  No doubt to Sarah the Elderly are "cute" and interchangeable.

[sparkles]

 

I wonder if some were sick or getting over being sick & didn't want to spread the germs. 

Sarah said that some were absent because of illness.

All of the ABC girls have had that cute, feisty, crinkly smile. I always dread the moment that I realize it's gone because it means the children have been fully assimilated into the Borg Maxwell collective and they are children no more. 

[CyborgKin]

Maybe someone passes round a hipflask before the Death Bus pulls up outside. 

For a moment I misread that as Desert Bus. My brain is imagining things because the Ninth Annual Desert Bus For Hope is currently in full swing.  (And it's probably everything the Maxwells would disapprove of!)

[usmcmom]

I noticed that Anna Marie dressed Ruthanne to match her outfit. Both are wearing orange long sleeve shirts and denim jumpers. I love the look that Ruthanne gives Tina when Tina is holding her hand and Anna is holding both of them. I am surprised that Joshua did not perform. Doesn't he usually perform with his father? I agree with the other posters about Tina. She does seem super spunky. I love that she is featured in most of the photos. Lydia was there, but there is no photo of her face. Joe, Elissa and baby are missing in action. Mary is too young to be wearing those shoes. My coworkers in their 60s wear them. Were John and Jesse also missing?    

Is Steve just messing with us by refusing to allow Lydia's face to be photographed?  From what I've seen of the very vague, distant, and blurry glimpses of her, she seems to look like Ruthie, who is a beautiful child.  Nathan's kids are adorable, but I'd love to see more pictures of the OfChristopher* girls.

*Whoever came up with OfNathan and OfChristopher - THANK YOU A THOUSAND TIMES! It is brilliant and I'm sorry I'm too lazy to search for its true source.  (hanging head in shame)

[Justme]

How do they get ill? They rarely leave the compound...

[blessalessi]

*Whoever came up with OfNathan and OfChristopher - THANK YOU A THOUSAND TIMES! It is brilliant and I'm sorry I'm too lazy to search for its true source.  (hanging head in shame)

Margaret Attwood's The Handmaid's Tale is the inspiration. The protagonist Offred was concubine and slave to the Commander Fred.

How do they get ill? They rarely leave the compound...

They get ill because God decides they need discipline. See Steve's "A trip to the woodshed" post for more detail. 

[PennySycamore]

For a moment I misread that as Desert Bus. My brain is imagining things because the Ninth Annual Desert Bus For Hope is currently in full swing.  (And it's probably everything the Maxwells would disapprove of!)

Desert Bus makes me think of Priscila, Queen of the Desert:

 

[Paperplate]

How do they get ill? They rarely leave the compound...

Their immune systems might not be so great because they haven't had enough practice (because of lack of exposure)? So when they actually get in contact with something they get sick more easily? 

[Jana814]

 

 

Their immune systems might not be so great because they haven't had enough practice (because of lack of exposure)? So when they actually get in contact with something they get sick more easily? 

 

That actually makes a lot of sense. I seem to remember a few years back Abby & Bethany got a lot of colds. Like every time they went to church. 

 

 

 

[Rear Window]

How is this different from any other day? More doom and gloom. And who wants to bet those are sugar free, tasteless cupcakes. 

[FloraKitty35]

You and me both, it is almost like they see them as pets and not people.

I'd like to know how the elderly see the Maxwell's?

[mango_fandango]

Random thought: I wonder if Abby's going to grow out her hair again. Bethany's always had a little bob. Come to think of it, so does Christina. Ruthie has a little bob already and she's not even two. When I was a baby, I had no hair for an embarrassingly long time. Up until I was about six or seven, my mum kept it cut fairly short for convenience, and then (presumably) I told her I wanted to grow it longer. Maybe the rule in Nathan's household is that it should be long enough to look feminine (i.e. a bob) and just stick a huge headflower in there just to make sure you can tell the kids are girls. We've always thought that Christopher/Anna Marie were more 'fundie' than Nathan/Melanie since Anna Marie is always wearing frumpers. The ABCs also seem to be allowed to wear knee-length skirts, whereas I don't see that happening with Ruthie and Lydia. My guess for them is mid-thigh minimum like Sarah and the reversal girls.

[SPHASH]

I  wonder if they know about the terrorist attacks in Paris.

[Jana814]

I doubt they do. They don't follow the news of the world. 

I  wonder if they know about the terrorist attacks in Paris.

I doubt they do. They don't follow the news of the world. 

 

 

 

 

[Dru]

Speaking of Chris, I noticed he,  John, Jesse, Joe, Elissa, Calia, Melanie were all absent.

Hasn't John been away all week on his anti-fast at the irrigation conference?

Yep, John is likely still at his conference or in transit from.

Melanie's sister Grace is coming back to KS to visit family this week. I'm sure there won't be a mention on the blog of null, but I'm personally thankful that the kids will get to visit people who still have joy in their lives.

 

[Hane]

Ugh!  I would love to smack Sarah.  The Elderly, indeed.  Why not just say our guests or our friends?  "The Elderly" is not a homogeneous group of single-minded,uniform people.  If Sarah would get to know some of their visitors, actually have a real conversation with one or two of them, she might discover that they are interesting individuals with fascinating pasts who have led lives worth noting.  Instead Sarah comes across as dismissive with her label.  No doubt to Sarah the Elderly are "cute" and interchangeable.

Their use of The Elderly reminds me of Lois Lowry's dystopian YA novel "The Giver," which takes place in a "perfectly" ordered future society.  In it, babies are born to artificially inseminated "birthmothers," then placed with married couples who have applied for parenthood and been approved by the elders. Children are assigned careers at age 12 and begin training. When they are old enough, they are sent to live with the "single adults." Those who wish to marry apply for a spouse and, if approved, have a spouse assigned to them. Couples who want children also go through the approval and assignment process. Once their kids have grown up and left home, the parents are sent to live with the single adults. When they're too old to care for themselves, they're sent to live with "the elderly." At a certain point, the elderly are sent to "Elsewhere," meaning that they are secretly euthanized. 

Fiona, one of the main characters, is assigned to be a caretaker of the elderly. She cheerfully talks about her work learning to bathe and care for her new charges--and at one point blithely tells her friend, "Did you know there's a discipline wand for the elderly?" Earlier in the book, a "discipline wand" is described as a kind of switch used to correct children's misbehaviors such as mispronouncing words. This nauseated me. It's all so reminiscent of the Pearls and blanket training, long before I'd read about those.

[kpmom]

A couple years or so ago somebody called Steve out on his calling the residents "The Elderly".  His response was so condescending.  He said something like he thought that term was "precious" or something like that.

Anybody remember exactly what he said?

[Dru]

Steve is precious. And by precious I mean a douche nozzle.

[singsingsing]

I'm pretty sure in The Giver they also take pills to suppress their libido. Fundies like the Maxwells would love that.

[MamaJunebug]

A few things:

I'll tske partial credit for Ofchris and Ofnathan. At least, I remember using those a few eons back. But I might've gotten the inspiration by someone else's use, even earlier. 

Mary's clogs are right comfy for anybody! Why should we 60-yo's have all the fun?

Tina and the old doll giving each other the stink-eye is one of the most honest, candid and enjoyable snapshots I've ever seen from MaxH. However, Anna's look might also be honest: honestly frantic, that the little one isn't providing The Approved Smile Of Bland Happiness. Well. Not my problem. 

I don't find any great significance that we don't see Lydia's face nor any of the John Maxwell Family (TM).  I'd like to think that Ofchris and her headship have enough autonomy - now that they're not immediate family  (roll eyes) - to opt out of having their children's faces published a lot on a totally public website.  (I would minimize that,  if I had young kids.  FWIW)

Similar vague hope about The John Maxwell Family (TM).  Maybe Ofjohn wants / needs a lot of rest with Calia. One of my kids did. not. sleep. his first 6 months and I was at wit's end. If I had been a SAHM, I'd've cleared my calendar of everything optional, installed blackout shades and dived for my own bed every rare time the little blessing closed his eyes!

[lilith]

How is this different from any other day? More doom and gloom. And who wants to bet those are sugar free, tasteless cupcakes. 

The Maxwells actually bake a surprising amount of sugary desserts. I'm sure they only consume them in tiny scheduled portions, but they bake a lot more than most people.

[delilahdog11]

I am not sure if I should chalk this up to horrendous maxwell writing skills or if the maxwells truly see the "elderly" as all having some sort of mental handicap. The sentence: "the elderly just love the little ones" and actually every description Sarah writes about their time with the elderly bothers the every living fuck out of me. 

I wonder if the maxwells view the elderly as dim witted, retards. It seems that way by they way Sarah described then and their interactions with them. 

I hate the word retard. Hate it. But that is what springs to mind when I read her blog post. In maxHELL is it just assumed that the all ELDERLY, everywhere are some how suffering from some sort of cognitive disease? 

Maybe that is how Steve painted the grandparents that wouldn't convert to the Steve's verison of Christianity.  Yeah  your grandparents have mental problems because they don't believe in Jesus  

I wish Steve could meet my great great grand elderly and my great elderly.  Their mental acuity would run circles around Steve's dull mind.  

 

 

[CyborgKin]

 

Desert Bus makes me think of Priscila, Queen of the Desert:

 

Desert Bus is... well it started as a videogame created by Penn and Teller, which was never actually released, and now it's used in an annual charity fundraiser (for Child's Play, which donates toys and games to children's hospitals) called Desert Bus For Hope.  Desert Bus 9 is ongoing right now.  It started as people playing Desert Bus (streamed live online) for as long as people donate (1st hour is $1, each subsequent hour is 7% more) but because Desert Bus is literally the most boring game ever, it's augmented with all sorts of performances as requested by viewers.

 

For example:

Needless to say, the Maxwells would be frightened and condemning of everything about it!