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

[elliha]

11 hours ago, princessmahina said:

I have a feeling that jelly bean thing will backfire. It's constantly being held up to them and they get so little. At least one person is going to end up bingeing like crazy on junk food when they get out of that house. 

Judging from his figure Bob is already doing this...

[EyeQueue]

I'm so sorry for your loss @Eternalbluepearl.

[Melissa1977]

On 22/4/2016 at 6:44 AM, feministxtian said:

I won't believe Erika has had a change of heart until she starts showing that her kids are EATING...like enough calories and nutrients to support their growth and activity. I won't believe it until she takes those kids to a REAL pediatrician. Until she tosses the damn schedules and/or puts the kids in REAL school (Christian or public). Until then she's still an over-controlling bitch who should have never had 9 kids. Maybe Bob is finally growing a pair of balls and telling her she needs to lose the control bullshit or he'll toss her ass out the door and let the kids just run wild. 

You're right.

But I think she has changed  a bit. For practical/material reasons. Having one or two children working must be good for the family finances.

How old is  the eldest boy? I feel for him, he seems ill.

[SilverBeach]

Semi-starving your children is abusive.

[mango_fandango]

6 minutes ago, Melissa1977 said:

You're right.

But I think she has changed  a bit. For practical/material reasons. Having one or two children working must be good for the family finances.

How old is  the eldest boy? I feel for him, he seems ill.

Brandon's thirteen. He's always been tiny. In the now deleted Easter post, the first photo is rather spooky. He and Anna Marie look exactly the same age and height, whereas in fact Brandon was six and Anna Marie would've been four (she's just under three years younger than Brandon). Riley, then about three, also looks the same height. They honestly look like triplets. You'd never guess that there was such an age gap.

[elliha]

What if the card is somehow connected to the changes. "Thank you for investing in us and our family", it almost sounds like Bob might have asked Erika to change for the sake of the family... What if Karen asked Bob to speak on her behalf and he did and perhaps even decided to throw in a couple of demands of his own. Hadn't someone seen a LinkedIn account for Erika? What if she is looking into getting a part time job/a job from home? If finances are tight now and they only have two older children they are probably only going to get worse when the bulk of the children hit their teens even if Karen and Melanie has left the house by then. 

[mango_fandango]

5 minutes ago, elliha said:

What if the card is somehow connected to the changes. "Thank you for investing in us and our family", it almost sounds like Bob might have asked Erika to change for the sake of the family... What if Karen asked Bob to speak on her behalf and he did and perhaps even decided to throw in a couple of demands of his own. Hadn't someone seen a LinkedIn account for Erika? What if she is looking into getting a part time job/a job from home? If finances are tight now and they only have two older children they are probably only going to get worse when the bulk of the children hit their teens even if Karen and Melanie has left the house by then. 

In the scheduling a few kids post (which is still up I believe) Erika did at one point do very part time (her words) work for her dad, I think when she only had Karen and Melanie, perhaps when Brandon was a baby. She did it from home. 

She could be looking to earn money from the blog, too.

[Antimony]

5 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

In the scheduling a few kids post (which is still up I believe) Erika did at one point do very part time (her words) work for her dad, I think when she only had Karen and Melanie, perhaps when Brandon was a baby. She did it from home. 

She could be looking to earn money from the blog, too.

She also makes money peddling Lilla Rose stuff, I believe. Hair clips she would have a hard time selling if it weren't for her daughters, as she can't wear them. (They do sell pretty stuff, I wish they had claw clips which is what I mostly use to hold up my hair. Helps me store all kinds of pencils up there too.)

I think she's trying to monetize. I feel like there is probably some significant financial strain. I also don't think investment is an accidental word choice. That doesn't explain all of the deletions, though, unless she's worried that a larger audience will google her. Google would lead them straight to here and all the snark would be available. 

[IrishCarrie]

If she's only deleting the most controversial posts, wouldn't they be the ones that got most snarked on here? So maybe this is all in an effort to avoid a random Google of her name bringing them straight here!

i think we need a campaign akin to the "Doug Phillips is a tool" one!!!  

 

[mango_fandango]

9 minutes ago, IrishCarrie said:

If she's only deleting the most controversial posts, wouldn't they be the ones that got most snarked on here? So maybe this is all in an effort to avoid a random Google of her name bringing them straight here!

i think we need a campaign akin to the "Doug Phillips is a tool" one!!!  

 

Sadly, Googling "Erika Shupe" brings up her archive here as the second result. Of course, this is me googling her, my phone could be biased as I spend so much time here.

[Black Aliss]

I still can't believe she's trying to feed 11 people on a pound of pasta and a bowl of raw spinach. A pound of pasta will feed 8 people as part of il primo, the first course followed by a second course of a portion of meat or fish, with vegetables. As the main event, I think you need a pound of pasta for 4 adults/teens.

[refugee]

3 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

Brandon's thirteen. He's always been tiny. In the now deleted Easter post, the first photo is rather spooky. He and Anna Marie look exactly the same age and height, whereas in fact Brandon was six and Anna Marie would've been four (she's just under three years younger than Brandon). Riley, then about three, also looks the same height. They honestly look like triplets. You'd never guess that there was such an age gap.

Just for a contrast, in our family, two kids two years apart have often been mistaken for twins. They just have completely different bone structure. The older one is finer boned and has trouble gaining/keeping weight (high metabolism).

(Disclaimer: Not saying this is the case in the Shupe family; from what I read, it sounds like the kids aren't getting enough calories to grow properly. We always had plenty of food available, even if it was cheap starches -- before we went gluten free, I used to buy a lot of bread every week, and as long as the kids ate their breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they could make peanut butter sandwiches, or cinnamon toast, or egg salad sandwiches, or grilled cheese, between meals if they were hungry. Usually that meant a growth spurt was in the works. But then, their dad has a high metabolism and always seems to be grazing on something, too.)

[mango_fandango]

23 minutes ago, refugee said:

Just for a contrast, in our family, two kids two years apart have often been mistaken for twins. They just have completely different bone structure. The older one is finer boned and has trouble gaining/keeping weight (high metabolism).

(Disclaimer: Not saying this is the case in the Shupe family; from what I read, it sounds like the kids aren't getting enough calories to grow properly. We always had plenty of food available, even if it was cheap starches -- before we went gluten free, I used to buy a lot of bread every week, and as long as the kids ate their breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they could make peanut butter sandwiches, or cinnamon toast, or egg salad sandwiches, or grilled cheese, between meals if they were hungry. Usually that meant a growth spurt was in the works. But then, their dad has a high metabolism and always seems to be grazing on something, too.)

Yeah, I'm not trying to armchair diagnose here. He's just always looked young for his age. Really, we need to wait a few years till the other boys are older to see how they grow, and if Brandon changes or not, to make any sort of jump on the ISB.

[mango_fandango]

NEW REPOST GUYS! Sharing rooms and why it's valuable.

This response as to ages of siblings:  

 Doesn't matter.  Young people just seem to get older and more appreciative of the sweetness of babies and little ones.  *smile*  They become better and better nurturers, which in my mind should be encouraged to only continue until they are nurturing their own babies.

So the mid-thirties Sarah Maxwell should still be sleeping with Mary, then? And the 26 year old Jana Duggar should still be sleeping with six-year-old Josie? Sadly, Erika, there is a point where these things become inappropriate. Twenty somethings should NOT have to be sharing a room with kid siblings. They should be out doing their own thing. Too bad you're so afraid of the outside world that you won't let your kids do that. 

 

[Hisey]

1 hour ago, mango_fandango said:

Yeah, I'm not trying to armchair diagnose here. He's just always looked young for his age. Really, we need to wait a few years till the other boys are older to see how they grow, and if Brandon changes or not, to make any sort of jump on the ISB.

I can't diagnose Brandon, I'm not a doctor. But my FEELING is that he has some sort of illness (genetic or environmental, I'm not sure). It's not just his extremely small stature (Anna Marie is about his height, and she's three years younger). It's not just his thinness. It's his poor teeth, his complexion, and his obvious academic delay (at 12, he could not spell "mommy"). I have a middle-schooler, so I see a lot of 13-year boys in my day to day life. None of them -- not even the small ones -- look like Brandon. 

I think Erika takes him to the chiropractor for medical care. There have been pictures of all the kids, except Brandon, waiting in the chiro's office waiting room. 

I think Erika is well aware of Brandon's delays in growth. I notice that when there is a family picture, Brandon is never put near Anna Marie or Riley. That would make his growth delay even more obvious. Friends and relatives, especially, would be sure to notice that Anna Marie as tall, or taller, than Brandon, who is three years older.

[molecule]

I wonder if she's hidden so many posts so she can go back and make some changes and keep some things hidden. I just compared today's post to the original in the wayback machine. There weren't dramatic changes. She mostly added in some things to show the kids' personalities a bit.

The only interesting difference I found was in the section about napping. 

The new version is this:

Quote

 The 3-year-old little son slept up in our bedroom.  So he was in his big boy bed at night, but napped in the crib in the afternoon. 

Here's the original:

Quote

The 3-year-old little son sleeps up in our bedroom walk-in closet that has a full-size crib in it and even a crib tent over the top of it to help him stay there and sleep.  (Crib tents have been recalled - for dumb reasons in our mind - but none the less they're no longer sold.)  He needs that sleep, but if he can get out of bed and explore instead then he'll do that.  If he knows he can't get out then he lays right down and goes to sleep.  So he's in his big boy bed at night, but naps in the crib tent in the afternoon. 

She removed the fact that he slept in their closet and with a crib tent.

The religious stuff is hasn't been removed, which makes me question whether it's the religious stuff she's trying to hide or something else (like putting kids to sleep in closets with crib tents that have been banned). 

This part made me roll my eyes:

Quote

When we had more children napping than just these 4, we've had one little son (who needed total accountability) sleep on a blanket in the family room while I worked on the computer or in the kitchen near him.

Yes, small kids need supervision--but to call it accountability? Good grief.

[smittykins]

On April 22, 2016 at 3:19 PM, smittykins said:

I've seen both real and artificial bacon bits.  Hijack:. On one of those old-commercial compilations, I remember them(I believe it was McCormick)referred to as "real imitation bacon bits." 

I goofed--it was actually genuine imitation bacon bits:

 

[Anonymousguest]

I think you guys are reading way more into her blog cleaning than you should. There is no indication at all, in anyway that there is any kind of lifestyle change happening. I'm guessing she's just deleting the old stuff in order to clean it up and update it so she can repost it as new material without everyone asking why she only recycled blog posts. Hopefully she will be removing more personal details about her family as she does this. She's more well known now, with a bigger following, and her kids are older. Streamlining the posts (as in the example above with the napping) is a good thing, imo. 

[formergothardite]

So Erika is scrubbing her blog and removing things. What an interesting turn of events! 

[elliha]

52 minutes ago, molecule said:

This part made me roll my eyes:

Yes, small kids need supervision--but to call it accountability? Good grief.

Not only supervision, he probably needed to be close to his mom and while Erika calls it accountability I am glad she seems to have some maternal instinct left even after actively trying to schedule it away and she let him sleep close to her. 

[19 cats and counting]

5 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

Sadly, Googling "Erika Shupe" brings up her archive here as the second result. Of course, this is me googling her, my phone could be biased as I spend so much time here.

Where's Dan Savage when we need him.  Look at what he did to Rick Santorum.

[ViolaSebastian]

1 hour ago, molecule said:

I wonder if she's hidden so many posts so she can go back and make some changes and keep some things hidden. I just compared today's post to the original in the wayback machine. There weren't dramatic changes. She mostly added in some things to show the kids' personalities a bit.

The only interesting difference I found was in the section about napping. 

The new version is this:

Here's the original:

She removed the fact that he slept in their closet and with a crib tent.

The religious stuff is hasn't been removed, which makes me question whether it's the religious stuff she's trying to hide or something else (like putting kids to sleep in closets with crib tents that have been banned). 

This part made me roll my eyes:

Yes, small kids need supervision--but to call it accountability? Good grief.

It makes me wonder if she's perhaps gotten some more attention from CPS and is trying to lower her internet profile.

ETA: This sad comment from her Facebook page:

Quote

So I know this sounds sexist especially now a days when my sons could actually end up being the at home dad and my daughters could grow up to be the breadwinners but I feel this way in my home. So my daughters will never share a room in my home (even though all my children will end up in the same beds or even my bed most nights) my sons though all share a room, because boys need to learn to share and no what its like to share a life and resolve. My daughters only have now to have there own space, room and privacy. Although womanhood and motherhood are the best journey ever, those things like sharing and privacy and even never having space is the whole life. So why not give each of my daughters a piece of never again.

 

[mango_fandango]

2 hours ago, Anonymousguest said:

I think you guys are reading way more into her blog cleaning than you should. There is no indication at all, in anyway that there is any kind of lifestyle change happening. I'm guessing she's just deleting the old stuff in order to clean it up and update it so she can repost it as new material without everyone asking why she only recycled blog posts. Hopefully she will be removing more personal details about her family as she does this. She's more well known now, with a bigger following, and her kids are older. Streamlining the posts (as in the example above with the napping) is a good thing, imo. 

We could be, but what strikes me is how a lot of posts got scrubbed at once, and which ones. All the dressing modestly ones, the whole "why we homeschool" post. As others have also said, a lot of the controversial posts have gone: why they don't do Halloween, scheduling babies, etc. She's done a few reposts recently, like the modest swimwear one and the books, and they've gone. For some reason, the books post is gone, but the audiobooks one is not. 

[DaffyDill]

The following are from her Facebook "About" page:

Quote

Our blog title has a dual meaning: children are given to us by God on purpose (not by accident), and we choose to pursue life and parenting on purpose; proactively rather than re-actively. *smile* My heart's desire is to bring you encouragement, vision, and hope that family life can be pleasant and not chaotic, and to strengthen your parenting journey.
 

Quote

Children are not an accident, God created them and gave them to us on purpose; God has chosen to make us a large family of 11, and we live life on purpose. *smile* My heart's desire is to bring you encouragement, vision, and hope that family life can be pleasant and not chaotic, and to strengthen you in the parenting journey.

Those references to God etc are still there, although I don't recall what was there before the recent scrubbing.

To me, the scrubbing smacks of CPS attention, or she's trying to broaden her audience. Either way, it's a little strange. Then again, what isn't strange when it comes to Erika?

[mango_fandango]

Erika's changed back the description of LFOP on the FB page. Briefly it was an "education website", now it's back to personal blog. 

Also, why is Erika so damn obsessed with room decor all matching in the kids rooms?? Shes all like "but look they have their own individual comforters! At a glance it all matches but wait for the comforters to appear!!" How big of you, Erika. Who actually gives a crap if one kid has a spotty duvet, another a Disney one, another a floral one, another a stripy one etc?? We've mentioned before about not really knowing what distinguishes one Shupe from another except appearance. I mean, it's like she worries that people are gonna be all "ERMAHGERD ERIKA WHY DOES IT NOT MATCH DANG GIRL YOU GOING TO HELL FOR SURE".