Erika Shupe *leer smirk* Large Families on Purpose Part 6

[mango_fandango]

1 hour ago, THERetroGamerNY said:

Oh, gawd, I just realized that Erika would undoubtedly be one of those "enforcer" types in QF... The ones that subtly coerce, shame, and guilt other "less godly" women into her damaging belief system...

"We don't judge others for living differently than what we do" *cough cough* BS *cough cough*

[December]

3 hours ago, defraudingjezebel said:

I agree. I think Erika is the type that doesn't want to venture out of her comfort zone, geographically speaking. She has always lived and travelled within western Washington state. I notice that when she and the kids go on any kind of outing, camping trip, visit to a museum, etc., its always within a very close radius of her home. Even when they go camping, they always go to the same area that is very close to their home. There are so many beautiful places to camp in Washington state but I guess they don't want to venture out and try anything new. 

I wonder if Erika has ever been outside of Washington. 

Well, she's certainly not going to explore nearby cities like Seattle or Portland with the kids. If sports teams are too much outside influence, walking through big liberal cities like those must be off limits.

[picklepizzas]

9 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

Yeah. The Maxwells are probably worse, but at least they actually used to do those tours and got out of the house, and actually met people. The Shupes don't have that, mainly because they are basically Maxwell sheep. The Shupes would probably have a more interesting life if they were like the Bontragers and were a travelling musical family. An RV would be more cramped than their current house, but at least the kids would get out more and interact with more people than just relatives and their church family.

hahaha you have literally just described the jill rodriguez family. but i think i would rather live at the rodriguez rodeo than the shupe penitentiary for the exact reasons you described. 

[imokit]

The Shupe kids can breathe.  The Rodrigues kids in that hair spray filled rv can't.

They also seem marginally less broken.  We know Karen and Melanie have enough spirit to cause Erika grief and Bob occasionally intercedes on their behalf. The Rodrigues kids have no will at all.  

They all have it hard, but my lungs make me pick Erika over Jill.

[Foudeb]

Materially the Shupes have it a lot better - they are fed, have a roof over their heads, a good routine, have limited time to focus on academics, and are kept warm in winter. I have a feeling they get beaten a lot less as well, Erika's more into mind control than blanket training (or so I would surmise based into their respective blogs).

This said the Rodriguii is probably the only family out there worse than the Shupes, so let's keep things in context here.

ETA: what both families have in common is that they don't love their kids and probably didn't even want them other than to appear godly.

I do so wish people would stop having kids they won't love and nurture.

[mango_fandango]

All the kids, minus Karen and Melanie, have been rollerblading. Lacey and Lilly actually seem to wearing different style clothing for once! Brandon looks tiny. Maybe he'll hit a growth spurt soon, though. 

Melanie's done a butterfly sidewalk drawing. Girl has serious talent!

[alexandracabot]

1 hour ago, mango_fandango said:

All the kids, minus Karen and Melanie, have been rollerblading. Lacey and Lilly actually seem to wearing different style clothing for once! Brandon looks tiny. Maybe he'll hit a growth spurt soon, though. 

Melanie's done a butterfly sidewalk drawing. Girl has serious talent!

Also, Anna Marie's in shorts! I think, based on the second photo. The long pink skirt that one of the twins has on looks ridiculously hard to roller blade in.

[imokit]

Shorts and a tank top!  Adorably dressed, but wow.

Also I completely approve of the appropriate safety gear they're all wearing, which is something we rarely see fundies use!  Plus one twin wearing a short skirt which won't interfere with roller blading.  Yes the other twin is not appropriately dressed, but OMG 2 of 3 fundie girls are appropriately dressed for a sport.  That's still big.  And as a little girl I would have been very jealous of the twins sparkly arm guards.

[elliha]

I think that Erika has said somewhere on the blog that the girls may be excused from dresses/skirts sometimes when they do sports so maybe this is one of those moments and not a change of policy. While the longer skirt on one of the twins is probably less fun to skate in I can say as a person used to skirts that I would personally not be hindered by that length and you have to remember that the younger girls have never known anything but skirts so they are probably better than me when it comes to moving around in a skirt. Good for the Shupe kids to have some fun though and I agree that it is great that they have the proper protective gear, falling while rollerblading is not fun, scrapes everywhere...

[16strong]

22 minutes ago, elliha said:

I think that Erika has said somewhere on the blog that the girls may be excused from dresses/skirts sometimes when they do sports so maybe this is one of those moments and not a change of policy. While the longer skirt on one of the twins is probably less fun to skate in I can say as a person used to skirts that I would personally not be hindered by that length and you have to remember that the younger girls have never known anything but skirts so they are probably better than me when it comes to moving around in a skirt. Good for the Shupe kids to have some fun though and I agree that it is great that they have the proper protective gear, falling while rollerblading is not fun, scrapes everywhere...

I just pulled part of the hem out on a knee-length dress while wearing shoes that weren't heels. I'd trip and bust my ass wearing a skirt with skates, and I don't particularly think it's safe for the kids, even if they're used to it. Same goes for long loose pants. I think cropped/tapered jeans are really best for skating. There's some fabric to minimize scrapes if you fall, and nothing will get caught in the skates. Just my opinion.

[Seven Severn]

Holy shit! Karen got a job! It's at *redacted*. Good for her!!!!!

How will she get there?

 

ETA: This might be the first time she has any meaningful contact with anyone outside of her family or church spheres. Hope she does well. Go get 'em, Karen! And save every last cent!!

 

[16strong]

What the what? GO KAREN!!!!!

[EyeQueue]

I noticed her excuse for not having a garden in one of her recent blog entries. Erika says it's because they live in the forest area so the deer would automatically make any gardening effort a lost cause.

I call BS on that. There are many gardening tricks that can stop deer and other critters from eating your plants. I think she's just afraid that a speck of dirt will get on someone's hands and end up in her house or something.

So she's doing small containers (from what I skimmed). I can't find the entry now, but I'm not sure how that idea jibes with her raised bed suggestion way back in one of the "Doing More with Less" entries.

Gardening would be a wonderful home-schooling project, and would certainly be doing "more with less." I'm at a loss as to why some of these mega families (Duggars, I'm looking at *you*) don't garden to save money and feed their families wholesome foods.

[Seven Severn]

Okay, I'm getting over my shock about Karen (but only a little). What possessed Erika and Bob (but mostly Erika) to allow this to happen? Could this be to placate Karen in some way? allow her a little more freedom in exchange for less "attitude"? Will Erika and Bob demand part of her paycheck? I hope she'll set a goal and be able to exercise financial discipline, but it could be really hard seeing as how she's never had access to more than a tiny bit of money at any one time.

[16strong]

1 minute ago, EyeQueue said:

I noticed her excuse for not having a garden in one of her recent blog entries. Erika says it's because they live in the forest area so the deer would automatically make any gardening effort a lost cause.

I call BS on that. There are many gardening tricks that can stop deer and other critters from eating your plants. I think she's just afraid that a speck of dirt will get on someone's hands and end up in her house or something.

So she's doing small containers (from what I skimmed). I can't find the entry now, but I'm not sure how that idea jibes with her raised bed suggestion way back in one of the "Doing More with Less" entries.

Gardening would be a wonderful home-schooling project, and would certainly be doing "more with less." I'm at a loss as to why some of these mega families (Duggars, I'm looking at *you*) don't garden to save money and feed their families wholesome foods.

My parents live in an area with a heavy deer population, and they have a garden. It's doable, but it's also tough and requires constant maintenance to keep them out. All of the trees in the back yard (peach trees, cherry tree) have their trunks wrapped year-round in hard plastic because the deer would literally eat every last scrap of them. They are looking at putting fine plastic netting around them and then over the top like a cage because they are so persistent. Deer are very destructive, and will eat almost anything. And what the deer don't get to, the birds and rabbits will.

[Yogi]

Facebook post just went up - Karen has a job!! Wonder if she will be able to manage her own money. I hope so.

ETA: someone beat me to it

[THERetroGamerNY]

You know... I always hope these people will prove me wrong, and that their kids will grow up and lead healthy lives ... so I see she gets a job, and it gets me hopeful... but then I've seen those hopes dashed more often than not...

Ugh.

But here's hoping anyways. =)

[defraudingjezebel]

Oh my goodness I saw Erika's facebook post about Karen's job and I actually gasped!!! I'm genuinely shocked that Erika has allowed her to get a job that isn't somehow tied to their faith. She'll get to meet and interact with people in the rest of the world, and she'll be making her own money! Wow. I'm actually thrilled for her. I hope everything goes well and that this leads to increased freedom for Karen. 

[princessmahina]

I saw Erika's post and immediately jumped on Free Jinger. I knew you guys would be right on top of things  The cool thing about Karen getting a job (to Erika) is that someone is taking some of her scheduling duties off her hands. I wonder how big of a cut Mom and Dad Shupe are taking out of Karen's earnings...you know, for gas money and so on. There's no way they're letting her keep ALL the money. Think of how many jelly beans she could buy with it!

[mango_fandango]

HOLY GUACAMOLE!!

A FUNDIE GIRL GOT A JOB!!

and this from last year:

 

They have not gotten jobs outside the home yet either at only ages 15 and 16. Again, no need, and not wise in our opinion to do so so young. I mean they've done some pet sitting with neighbors next door, and maybe some car washing/detailing this summer, but not actual employment. We do allow them to have money-earning jobs in our home so they can begin learning about using/saving money. They need to be developing all of their skills in keeping a home and homeschooling, etc. And they are learning a lot. There is no hurry to get a job and get out into the world so early. We have talked a great deal about what kind of work they would like to pursue and what skills they should then be developing and education to pursue that if they choose.

Ok, it is from a year ago... Still, it's a big step, especially for a fundie girl. 

I don't know if Karen's graduated yet. She will do this year. The Shupes don't usually finish school this early. Of course, homeschooling does offer flexibility... or maybe it's just a Saturday thing.

Wonder why Erika allowed her to get a job? Maybe money is tight and they want someone else working. Maybe 17 is their limit- I think Melanie is the same grade as Karen. Who knows.

[refugee]

1 hour ago, 16strong said:

Deer are very destructive, and will eat almost anything. And what the deer don't get to, the birds and rabbits will.

That's what I'm contemplating--I'd like to have a garden, but there are rabbits all over the place, so I'm not sure how to end up with lettuce, carrots, and strawberries for *me*.

[imokit]

Also noting that all kids have their own decent sized frozen yogurts and one of the little boys has more than 2 m&m like things in his.  For kids who are restricted to a jelly bean at the time, the sugar rush they're getting must be a shock!

[EyeQueue]

31 minutes ago, refugee said:

That's what I'm contemplating--I'd like to have a garden, but there are rabbits all over the place, so I'm not sure how to end up with lettuce, carrots, and strawberries for *me*.

When I had a garden a few years back, I didn't have to deal with deer (it sounds like from what @16strong said, they can be very destructive--but with some hard work perhaps not impossible to deal with), but I did get the rabbits away by getting some dog fur from the local Petsmart and tying it to the low fencing I had around my beds. That seemed to keep them away, and (*blush*) the headship's urine. We read that if you urinate around the perimeter, some animals would regard it as a bigger animal marking their territory, so would steer clear.

We had some issues, but still ended up with quite the haul of various veggies.

[16strong]

25 minutes ago, refugee said:

That's what I'm contemplating--I'd like to have a garden, but there are rabbits all over the place, so I'm not sure how to end up with lettuce, carrots, and strawberries for *me*.

My folks use super fine netting and attach panels of it between same-height (read: very tall) posts/stakes in the ground. It's not a pretty arrangement, but it works way better than their neighbors' traditional chain-link fence garden. Stake the netting with little ground stakes tightly every few inches. The "door" is the same netting velcroed to the two adjoining panels. It can't be staked, but they've only seen one rabbit, and he looked like Peter Rabbit getting caught out by Mr. McGregor. Not sure how he got in or out, but he never returned. Lol

[THERetroGamerNY]

And isn't there sprays, or sprinkles, of a sort that scares off deer and rabbits. Like crystalized fox urine for rabbits? I swear I saw that at a garden center once...