Now Scheduling for Summer: Erika Shupe (pt. 7)

[mango_fandango]

Here is the photo of the food for @molecule. Sorry to @19 cats and counting for sharing a photo of food. 

[Audrey2]

1 hour ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

Skirts only is not really a good marker of fundie-ism in my opinion. Some fundies are not skirts only. 

I agree. On the flip side, there are non fundies who wear skirts most or all of the time. I usually wear skirts when I'm not at work because I'm not fond of my backside, and I feel they perform some camouflage. I'm probably deluding myself, like the guys with combovers.

[molecule]

15 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

Here is the photo of the food for @molecule. Sorry to @19 cats and counting for sharing a photo of food. 

Thank you! I actually do see it on her FB page now. I hadn't scrolled down far enough. *duh*

That does look like a big difference with the food distribution--although I could see Erika asking for the younger kids' food to be put in bowls so they would be less likely to spill.

[princessmahina]

9 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

I agree. On the flip side, there are non fundies who wear skirts most or all of the time. I usually wear skirts when I'm not at work because I'm not fond of my backside, and I feel they perform some camouflage. I'm probably deluding myself, like the guys with combovers.

I'm almost exclusively skirts-only, and I'm not a fundie. It's not so much a "conviction" as it as a personal preference. 

[nelliebelle1197]

This is wikipedia, but I thought it was a good definition:

 

For other uses, see Fundamentalism (disambiguation).

Fundamentalism usually has a religious connotation that indicates unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs.[1] However, fundamentalism has come to apply to a tendency among certain groups—mainly, though not exclusively, in religion—that is characterized by a markedly strict literalism as applied to certain specific scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, and a strong sense of the importance of maintaining ingroup and outgroup distinctions,[2][3][4][5] leading to an emphasis on purity and the desire to return to a previous ideal from which advocates believe members have strayed. Rejection of diversity of opinion as applied to these established "fundamentals" and their accepted interpretation within the group is often the result of this tendency.[6]

[refugee]

20 minutes ago, molecule said:

Thank you! I actually do see it on her FB page now. I hadn't scrolled down far enough. *duh*

That does look like a big difference with the food distribution--although I could see Erika asking for the younger kids' food to be put in bowls so they would be less likely to spill.

I don't think Panda Express works that way. From what I recall (prices may have gone up since the last time I was there) a "Panda Bowl" was under $5 and got you one "side" (noodles, rice, or fried rice) and one entree. The plates are at least a two or three dollars more, and get you two or three entrees (depending on how much you want to pay) -- so, you're getting much more protein.

Wouldn't want the kids to get too much protein, after all. The parents are bigger (have already gotten their growth) and need more protein than the kids. Oh, wait...

(When our budget was tight and we wanted a meal out, but not burgers, we often went to Panda. Less than $5 per person, if we drank water (and yes, that's the parents, too). Sometimes I'd splurge and get an order of egg rolls to split among us.)

[molecule]

Oh, yeah, I forgot they were at Panda Express. 

[bertnee]

I recently went to Panda Express for the first time and got a bowl with rice and orange chicken because I only wanted the orange chicken 'entree' and didn't feel like I needed double servings of the same thing. It was still a lot of food!! And I'm not a small eater, either, trust me. 

[princessmahina]

 In my experience with Panda Express, the kids' portions all look reasonable. They're about what I, a reasonably active 23 year old woman, would get (plus a few egg rolls, but I digress). Bob and Erika's portions look oversized to me. 

[nelliebelle1197]

Bob's mock turtleneck is scaring me.

[defraudingjezebel]

So... Erika posted a pic of her and Bob doing family Bible time last night and someone commented on it this this morning, saying: 

Quote

 It's not all rainbows all the time like she portrays guys. Sometimes I feel these posts are a bit fake.

I cracked right up after reading that. Of course, Erika responded that real life isn't as perfect as the pictures. *wink*

She also wrote a second comment under the picture saying that she is planning on writing a post about how their family does bible time. She had an old bible time post that was deleted, right? Maybe she is simply rewriting everything on the blog? I'm still trying to figure out her game plan. 

[mango_fandango]

4 hours ago, defraudingjezebel said:

So... Erika posted a pic of her and Bob doing family Bible time last night and someone commented on it this this morning, saying: 

I cracked right up after reading that. Of course, Erika responded that real life isn't as perfect as the pictures. *wink*

She also wrote a second comment under the picture saying that she is planning on writing a post about how their family does bible time. She had an old bible time post that was deleted, right? Maybe she is simply rewriting everything on the blog? I'm still trying to figure out her game plan. 

And of course that dissenting comment is GONE.

And possibly with the updating thing. Maybe she'll update the life with twins post too. Although, from what we've seen about Lacey and Lilly not quite grasping the unique twins concept yet, I bet she still tells them apart solely by their earrings. They're five years old for God's sake. Most mothers can tell their twins apart after mere weeks/months. But then, this is a fundie mom, and fundie kids don't have unique personalities, least of all the Shupes. (We even know a bit about each individual MAXWELL for crying out loud.)

Also, that woman who wrote that real life is talking about and to Jesus all day every day... BOOOOOOOORING. Life is so much more than that. Funnies make me sad.

[Hera]

On 5/4/2016 at 11:21 AM, princessmahina said:

I'm almost exclusively skirts-only, and I'm not a fundie. It's not so much a "conviction" as it as a personal preference. 

Me, too.  I generally find them more comfortable than pants (except yoga pants!) and shorts. 

[slickcat79]

25 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

And possibly with the updating thing. Maybe she'll update the life with twins post too. Although, from what we've seen about Lacey and Lilly not quite grasping the unique twins concept yet, I bet she still tells them apart solely by their earrings. They're five years old for God's sake. Most mothers can tell their twins apart after mere weeks/months. But then, this is a fundie mom, and fundie kids don't have unique personalities, least of all the Shupes. (We even know a bit about each individual MAXWELL for crying out loud.)

I was thinking about this the other day, and it occurred to me that it probably makes Erika SO IRRATIONALLY ANGRY that she has an odd number of children. I'm sure she likes having twins to be all matchy-matchy with, but it would be so much more aesthetically pleasing if she could divide her children into even boy-girl groups. Maybe one reason why she always treats Lilly and Lacey like they're one person? 

[mango_fandango]

30 minutes ago, slickcat79 said:

I was thinking about this the other day, and it occurred to me that it probably makes Erika SO IRRATIONALLY ANGRY that she has an odd number of children. I'm sure she likes having twins to be all matchy-matchy with, but it would be so much more aesthetically pleasing if she could divide her children into even boy-girl groups. Maybe one reason why she always treats Lilly and Lacey like they're one person? 

I remember she criticised the notion of splitting twins up at school because it was necessarily "forced" and she wanted to encourage the twin thing. It's not forcing them to be separate. It's encouraging them to have different friends, and NOT be together 24/7. 

Erika encourages the twin thing, so no wonder she views them as one. I wonder how she'll teach them to read. Well, Karen will have graduated this year, they can take a twin each. 

[anjulibai]

Aren't the twins fraternal? 

[December]

4 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

I remember she criticised the notion of splitting twins up at school because it was necessarily "forced" and she wanted to encourage the twin thing. It's not forcing them to be separate. It's encouraging them to have different friends, and NOT be together 24/7. 

Erika encourages the twin thing, so no wonder she views them as one. I wonder how she'll teach them to read. Well, Karen will have graduated this year, they can take a twin each. 

Yeah, treating twins like they're one unit seems super unhealthy. Even the twins' names are kind of matchy (though it's not like that's unheard of for siblings, esp. twins, in less religious families). They should be allowed to develop their own personalities, friends, hobbies, etc. Then again, judging by the blog, she's not exactly trying to get the other kids to branch out much, either.

[THERetroGamerNY]

I remember one mother that I briefly talked with, and I recall her saying she made sure to treat her twins as totally seperate individuals, because the typical dress-alike, treat as a unit stuff was shown to lead to issues later in life.

Had never been aware of that until she had mentioned it. Was quite revealing.

[defraudingjezebel]

Praise Jesus, Erika wrote a brand new blog entry!!!! Excuse me, not one but THREE of them. I'm quite shocked. 

http://www.largefamiliesonpurpose.com/2016/05/professional-parents-yes-part-1-of-2.html

http://www.largefamiliesonpurpose.com/2016/05/professional-parents-yes-part-2-of-2.html

http://www.largefamiliesonpurpose.com/2016/05/family-bible-time-hymn-singing_5.html

They seem like semi-regurgitated older material but they are indeed new posts. I haven't thoroughly combed them but I will do so tomorrow. Maybe Erika decided to rewrite everything, omitting the more personal stuff? 

[mango_fandango]

For the most part they're regurgitated. I actually recognise a lot of the material. Yes, I am that sad.

15 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

And of course that dissenting comment is GONE.

And possibly with the updating thing. Maybe she'll update the life with twins post too. Although, from what we've seen about Lacey and Lilly not quite grasping the unique twins concept yet, I bet she still tells them apart solely by their earrings. They're five years old for God's sake. Most mothers can tell their twins apart after mere weeks/months. But then, this is a fundie mom, and fundie kids don't have unique personalities, least of all the Shupes. (We even know a bit about each individual MAXWELL for crying out loud.)

Also, that woman who wrote that real life is talking about and to Jesus all day every day... BOOOOOOOORING. Life is so much more than that. Funnies make me sad.

Holy crap! My phone autocorrected fundies to funnies!! That is something they are NOT.

[JillyO]

1 hour ago, mango_fandango said:

Holy crap! My phone autocorrected fundies to funnies!! That is something they are NOT.

It appears your phone has not been properly blanket-trained!

[slickcat79]

1 hour ago, mango_fandango said:

Holy crap! My phone autocorrected fundies to funnies!! That is something they are NOT.

I think most phones use "fun dies" which is much more appropriate 

[elliha]

16 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

I remember she criticised the notion of splitting twins up at school because it was necessarily "forced" and she wanted to encourage the twin thing. It's not forcing them to be separate. It's encouraging them to have different friends, and NOT be together 24/7. 

Erika encourages the twin thing, so no wonder she views them as one. I wonder how she'll teach them to read. Well, Karen will have graduated this year, they can take a twin each. 

My brother and his wife have twins. The school was really adamant that they should be in different groups in school and they needed to fight to get them to go to the same class group. The school seemed to be sure the teachers would mix them up, that they would not play with other kids and all kinds of stupid reasons to not keep them together. They are fraternal and do not look alike at all and they had their own friends already from daycare when they also were in the same group so the school finally gave in and let them be in the same group at school. They stayed in the same group until they changed schools when they started 7th grade, then they wanted to go to different groups by their own choice. It was really extreme how negative their school was to them being in the same group though, they acted like my brother and his wife couldn't parent their children properly because they wanted them to stay together. 

I have learned that it can be very bad for the development of identity to treat twins as a unit, and my brother and his wife only had the same or matching clothes for their daughters for parties and holidays or on the rare occasion they chose to dress like that on their own. Their names sound nice when you say them together but they start with different letters and the sounds are not similar in other ways either. They did get the same things or outfits sometimes but mostly to avoid fighting. When they got older they had different interests so they naturally got different things. As teens they are not alike at all and other than that they both play basketball they don't seem to have much in common more than being sisters. 

[mango_fandango]

26 minutes ago, elliha said:

My brother and his wife have twins. The school was really adamant that they should be in different groups in school and they needed to fight to get them to go to the same class group. The school seemed to be sure the teachers would mix them up, that they would not play with other kids and all kinds of stupid reasons to not keep them together. They are fraternal and do not look alike at all and they had their own friends already from daycare when they also were in the same group so the school finally gave in and let them be in the same group at school. They stayed in the same group until they changed schools when they started 7th grade, then they wanted to go to different groups by their own choice. It was really extreme how negative their school was to them being in the same group though, they acted like my brother and his wife couldn't parent their children properly because they wanted them to stay together. 

I have learned that it can be very bad for the development of identity to treat twins as a unit, and my brother and his wife only had the same or matching clothes for their daughters for parties and holidays or on the rare occasion they chose to dress like that on their own. Their names sound nice when you say them together but they start with different letters and the sounds are not similar in other ways either. They did get the same things or outfits sometimes but mostly to avoid fighting. When they got older they had different interests so they naturally got different things. As teens they are not alike at all and other than that they both play basketball they don't seem to have much in common more than being sisters. 

The issue of keeping twins together or not seems to be quite polarising. I've seen arguments for both sides.

Erika, though, is an extreme. Lacey and Lilly are identical, which probably makes a difference. In the old Life With Twins post, Erika stated that she only told the twins apart by their earrings, and they were seventeen months old at this point. Most mothers of identicals can tell them apart by personality traits: Twin A is feisty and the boss, Twin B is laid back and more of a follower, or whatever. The fact that Erika could only tell the twins apart by their earrings, and then a few years later saying that Lacey and Lilly hadn't grasped the unique twin concept yet at age four, seems a bit extreme IMO. I doubt things have changed much either.

[elliha]

33 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

The issue of keeping twins together or not seems to be quite polarising. I've seen arguments for both sides.

Erika, though, is an extreme. Lacey and Lilly are identical, which probably makes a difference. In the old Life With Twins post, Erika stated that she only told the twins apart by their earrings, and they were seventeen months old at this point. Most mothers of identicals can tell them apart by personality traits: Twin A is feisty and the boss, Twin B is laid back and more of a follower, or whatever. The fact that Erika could only tell the twins apart by their earrings, and then a few years later saying that Lacey and Lilly hadn't grasped the unique twin concept yet at age four, seems a bit extreme IMO. I doubt things have changed much either.

Totally agree with you on Erika being extreme. Identical twins are as you say usually easy to tell apart for people who know them, from their personalities or how the move and so on. It is understandable that strangers struggle to tell them apart but this should not be an issue in a family other than from a distance or while running.