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

[princessmahina]

I think Erika just likes consistency and conformity. She wants the girls' room and the boys' room to look uniform. Besides, they all like being indistinguishable *rye chuckle*

That's why her whole house is in the same bland decorating style. In my house, every room looks different. The kitchen/dining area is wallpapered, but the living room isn't. The hall is blue and the bathroom is green. Each room is decorated in a different style, which we like. Hers is uniform, in shades of beige and grey. I don't know if it's because she's a fundie (and they like sameness), or if Erika has always been boring and unimaginative. Going off her past pictures, I'm going with it being another Erika-ism.

[lawlifelgbt]

About the salad thing: my wife and I just bought 1 pound of spring mix (well, really she bought it as I looked on disbelievingly). It's for us for sides/lunches for a few days, so maybe 8-10 servings?

But we're not stretching it to 11 like the Shupes and spinach, and here is all we're adding:

1-2 whole bell peppers;

Cherry tomatoes (for wife);

As much feta as I like on each serving (me);

4 oz carrots, chopped;

Shredded cheese to taste; and

A large amount of rotisserie chicken, torn up.

So it might work for 11 for one meal; but that's all the salad, plus most of a chicken, LOTS of cheese, and other veggies. Plus we will probably eat it with crackers or chips.

[Granwych]

3 minutes ago, princessmahina said:

I think Erika just likes consistency and conformity. She wants the girls' room and the boys' room to look uniform. Besides, they all like being indistinguishable *rye chuckle*

I'm going to need some serious "rye" to go over that hot mess.  Poor kids.

[elliha]

38 minutes ago, princessmahina said:

I think Erika just likes consistency and conformity. She wants the girls' room and the boys' room to look uniform. Besides, they all like being indistinguishable *rye chuckle*

That's why her whole house is in the same bland decorating style. In my house, every room looks different. The kitchen/dining area is wallpapered, but the living room isn't. The hall is blue and the bathroom is green. Each room is decorated in a different style, which we like. Hers is uniform, in shades of beige and grey. I don't know if it's because she's a fundie (and they like sameness), or if Erika has always been boring and unimaginative. Going off her past pictures, I'm going with it being another Erika-ism.

Yeah, I definitely think it is Erika's taste and that her house would look like it does now regardless of her religion. Sure, if they had more money it might be more high end but still beige and bland. As much as her decor bores me I must say that she does well decorating on a budget, that I can't take away from her. 

[lauraloralara]

Erika's decor style reminds me a lot of the  "soccer moms" I grew up around. I will say I think some of her style is a little dated; the master bedroom is very 1998 to me. But there is this very bland khaki, white, etc. aesthetic that a lot of people, where I'm from, at least, are drawn to for whatever reason. My college BF's parents house was decorated in this style. I think it's just an easy thing for people without a creative leaning to do and still have their house look nice. (I am definitely without a creative leaning, so I am not hating on these people.)

[refugee]

12 minutes ago, elliha said:

Yeah, I definitely think it is Erika's taste and that her house would look like it does now regardless of her religion. Sure, if they had more money it might be more high end but still beige and bland. As much as her decor bores me I must say that she does well decorating on a budget, that I can't take away from her. 

I wonder if any of it is rooted in insecurity and fear? My houses (serial -- we've never had more than one at a time) have been white or beige and boring for as long as I can remember. I sometimes joke that I don't have a decorating bone in my body, but it's not really a joke. I get anxious when I try to think about establishing some kind of decor. Maybe it's a part of my desire to stay hidden, not reveal too much about the inner me for fear of being too vulnerable.

It's not like a somewhat anonymous Internet forum, after all. You live there, and decor costs money, furthermore, and so might be difficult to change, and what if you get it wrong and it looks stupid and people laugh at you???

Sheesh, I'm having trouble breathing, just being this little bit introspective.

[molecule]

If Erika thought (or hoped) that they would be able to sell the house and move into something bigger at any point, light and neutral would be more practical. We've had several realtors tell us that too much color or personality can make it hard to sell a home because buyers can't imagine their own stuff in there. It makes sense to me to have everything the same color and very neutral. It's easy to do touch-ups and replace carpet sections if everything is the same. 

Although I don't love her style, I have to admit that she has more of a sense of style than I do. My decorating style falls between "there's been a struggle" and "a good layer of dust protects the furniture."

[feministxtian]

Even though our apartment walls are white, we have quite a bit of color going on. Lots of accents in "southwestern" colors, reds, blues, greens. I love color, and a neutral wall color just makes it all pop in a HUGE way. Although, I can't wait to move somewhere with a little more space, it'll still have LOTS of color. Our bedroom is done in natural wood and mostly shades of blue. Living room and dining room - brown furniture (bought for a different place) with accents in shades of red and blue. The kitchen is BORING but it's a sucky kitchen and I don't care. 

Erika's place is as bland as her personality though. 

[pnwgypsy]

Just spent he weekend camping in Erika's neck of the woods. On our way to the campground we saw a giant cleaner guys vinyl sign strapped on a large trailer alongside highway 20.

Regarding the blog scrubbing, perhaps it's cps related? Wouldn't it be hard to monetize a blog of old content? The removal of Jesus from the description is most telling, to me. Jesus is practically Erika's middle name.

[Shiny]

1 hour ago, pnwgypsy said:

Just spent he weekend camping in Erika's neck of the woods. On our way to the campground we saw a giant cleaner guys vinyl sign strapped on a large trailer alongside highway 20.

Regarding the blog scrubbing, perhaps it's cps related? Wouldn't it be hard to monetize a blog of old content? The removal of Jesus from the description is most telling, to me. Jesus is practically Erika's middle name.

Removing Jesus language doesn't scream CPS, but lots of the other stuff does. My guess is that she's attempting to mainstream and will work on monetizing her family over the next year. This is probably just the first step in doing so. 

 

[mango_fandango]

12 hours ago, Shiny said:

Removing Jesus language doesn't scream CPS, but lots of the other stuff does. My guess is that she's attempting to mainstream and will work on monetizing her family over the next year. This is probably just the first step in doing so. 

 

She'd already removed all her old examples of schedules, and when someone asked to see the current one she said "no that is no longer available sorry." Also, having once said that triple bunks were not a great idea, suddenly switches to them saying that they make the room more spacious/airy. Plus a commenter casually mentioned a CPS visit and erika ignored them, no confirmation or denial, maybe she was just ignoring it as didn't want to remember? She's not PP or Nicole Naugler who rant about CPS visits. She's obsessed with the idea of appearing perfect so a CPS visit would totally be something she'd avoid mentioning.

[molecule]

When was this CPS visit, and how did people find out about it?

[Eternalbluepearl]

27 minutes ago, molecule said:

When was this CPS visit, and how did people find out about it?

I don't know when it was. People found out because someone commented on her facebook page something about sorry CPS came to visit you, you don't deserve that. All of a sudden, the girls room had a triple bunk and better access to the window in that room. 

[Tim-Tom Biblethumper]

I was looking for something else and found this blog post:  
Charts & Lists That Save My Sanity
http://www.largefamiliesonpurpose.com/2011/02/charts-lists-that-save-my-sanity.html

[elliha]

1 hour ago, Tim-Tom Biblethumper said:

I was looking for something else and found this blog post:  
Charts & Lists That Save My Sanity
http://www.largefamiliesonpurpose.com/2011/02/charts-lists-that-save-my-sanity.html

Some of these lists are quite reasonable according to me. Keeping tabs of what is in the fridge and pantry can be hard enough with just two adults and 1-2 children so that part is completely understandable to me as most families do shop more or less the same thing every time. The activity lists for children are not that bad either, it is great to have a list for a bored kid and if you do you will always have a suggestion to throw at them in need. Having routines easily explained to small children by using pictures can be a very good tool for some children but having lists for everything is Erika overkill to me. However, this post is one I think is genuinely useful.

[16strong]

4 hours ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

I don't know when it was. People found out because someone commented on her facebook page something about sorry CPS came to visit you, you don't deserve that. All of a sudden, the girls room had a triple bunk and better access to the window in that room. 

She also made a couple of posts concerning fire safety, and how quickly modern homes become totally engulfed in flames. It's (4-5 min) for modern homes as opposed to 30 minutes for homes built in the 1970's and earlier. The widespread use of artificial fibers has really lowered the count, so by the time a fire is detected, Erika's kids don't have time to move a bunk bed to open a big window and escape. Not with the house being as small as it is. It seems like she really got the importance of fire safety, so I'm happy about that.

[Melissa1977]

I wonder if she'll enroll the little ones to a school. At least, her admired Jeubs have finally done. Erika could work, which I think she would enjoy, and the children could learn and have fun for some hours a day.

[slickcat79]

51 minutes ago, elliha said:

Some of these lists are quite reasonable according to me. Keeping tabs of what is in the fridge and pantry can be hard enough with just two adults and 1-2 children so that part is completely understandable to me as most families do shop more or less the same thing every time. The activity lists for children are not that bad either, it is great to have a list for a bored kid and if you do you will always have a suggestion to throw at them in need. Having routines easily explained to small children by using pictures can be a very good tool for some children but having lists for everything is Erika overkill to me. However, this post is one I think is genuinely useful.

I think the shopping list is a great idea, although hers is quite specific and monotonous (it is Erika). I am a bit confused by the Dollar Tree list. IME, you would never be able to cost-effectively get food and household items for a family that size at Dollar Tree. And considering that she seems to go for the most expensive brands of TP, paper towels and whatnot, you'd think she'd be concerned about quality. IDK, maybe there's a store close by that they can make quick trips to in a pinch.

Even the activity charts are just so...Erika. Why do they need 60 minutes to play dress up? What if they really wanted to write a story but only had 20 minutes? Couldn't they just set it aside and finish it later? Or, you know, crazy idea, but they could just keep working on the story for another 10 minutes...they're home all day and make their own schedule. What if they got really into their book and wanted to keep reading for more than 15 minutes? It would have driven me nuts if I got to a really good part of a book and my mom told me I had to put it down immediately because **SCHEDULE**.

 

[Eternalbluepearl]

33 minutes ago, Melissa1977 said:

I wonder if she'll enroll the little ones to a school. At least, her admired Jeubs have finally done. Erika could work, which I think she would enjoy, and the children could learn and have fun for some hours a day.

I don't see Erika ever working at a traditional job. I could see her writing a book about organization or continuing to do speaking events and earning money from that. All the while though, she will be espousing that the wife is to stay home and not work. 

[16strong]

1 hour ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

I don't see Erika ever working at a traditional job. I could see her writing a book about organization or continuing to do speaking events and earning money from that. All the while though, she will be espousing that the wife is to stay home and not work. 

I could see her as a bookkeeper or a receptionist. I could also see her as a professional organizer. She'd be good at stocking, but I don't think she'd have the patience for retail.

[Rubaiyat]

I realize that I only have slightly less than half of the kids that Erika has, but does it bother anyone else that direct sibling care is on Karen's list?  

I have a huge problem with siblings raising other siblings.  Please don't misunderstand, in any sort of group - especially families - when everyone pitches in and helps, things get done faster and better.  I'm all for kids doing chores, their own hygiene, making their own simple meals, etc...  I'm even fine with kids making some of the family meals.  But making an older sibling completely responsible for the hygiene and grooming of a younger sibling (or the middle of the night feedings!!!) upsets me.  Karen didn't have 9 kids, Erika did.  Karen's job is being Karen, not being AM's sister-mom.  

Our former next-door neighbors had 9 kids.  Nice family.  IFB.  They were good friends and good neighbors, and had nice - if slightly feral - kids.  The kids would all play out in the yard pretty frequently, and it was obviously the older kids (2 boys and a girl) to keep the youngers out of the street and such.  But, I never once saw an older child caring for a younger in a parental way.  It was awesome.  I'd frequently hear an older child telling a little "you need a new diaper, let's go see mom."  They also homeschooled, and mom had varying degrees of pretty SEVERE morning sickness throughout each pregnancy.  On bad days, she'd prop herself up in her chair, hand out school assignments (a full day of real school, her kids were very well educated) and just check work all day.  She also did most of the cooking, or one of the menz (their oldest son was 20) would bring home take out or grill.  Never saw a schedule, or a chore chart, but holy crap did they get a lot done!  My rambling point is that my neighbors seemed to have a good handle on what kids need, and dare I say, deserve, without making the offspring raise each other.  They were also overjoyed with the size of their family, and the kids always seemed thrilled in each other's company.  They also *GASP* participated in tons of group activities, extracurriculars, went on field trips with us, and had crazy amounts of friends.  We miss having them next door.  

So, I'm going to hang on to the idea that you can have a crapton of kids without making them raise or be responsible for each other.  You can even do it and be happy and have fun!  

[princessmahina]

Erika's degree is in education, a field she needs to stay away from. If she's going to be educating people, she should stick to her own children, rather than spreading her misinformation and stupidity to hundreds of kids. 

I think she would make a good prison warden though. She already has plenty of practice keeping people doing monotonous things, eating boring food, and staying confined in small spaces.

[bertnee]

I think she would be an excellent prison warden!

[Eternalbluepearl]

13 minutes ago, bertnee said:

I think she would be an excellent prison warden!

I think she already is one. She and Bob locking the kids closets at night so no kids go snooping through closets is really telling. What would they end up getting into? The extra underwear? If your house is a prison...you have too many damn kids. 

[Gimme a Free RV]

You know, in going back over her blog, her meandering posts, and the pictures of her house and how she organizes, she acts like she's the one who came up with original, BRILLIANT ideas on how to organize.  

Nope, Erika.  Your system looks normal to me.  Better than the worst; not nearly as good as the best.  If it works for you, great.  Stop pretending like everyone needs to learn from you.  I bet if I sneaked into your house and moved a pot from one shelf to another, you'd come unglued!

The girls' sleeping arrangements:  YIKES!  Which poor little soul sleeps underneath the bunk beds on the floor in that "cave?"

And SERIOUSLY?  They lock the children's closets at night? What a control freak!!!!