Arndt Man Boys & Mary-Elizabeth living out their own unique stories

[gustava]

15 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

Since we lost the epi-hound to cancer last summer (God, I still miss that boy)

I just lost a little canine, so I send lots of hugs. 

[Palimpsest]

1 hour ago, gustava said:

I just lost a little canine, so I send lots of hugs. 

I so sorry.  Many hugs to you too.

[Carm_88]

I wonder how many hours a day they lift weights? Is that how Rick keeps them occupied when there isn't filming or softball? 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

Is Cathy still homeschooling or do they let the children "graduate" at 13-14 and start working in the family businesses?  To help support Rick and immortal VV of course.

I'm still floored that Rick, perfectly able boded, gave up working years ago so his **children** could support him and the family.  I'd die of shame, but I guess he doesn't have any as he's perfectly happy to leech off his sons.  

Think about it -- those Kidults have the responsibility of supporting 16 people + film project. No wonder they don't marry.  They'd have to add wives and children to the 16 people+ they already support.

[nausicaa]

1 hour ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

Is Cathy still homeschooling or do they let the children "graduate" at 13-14 and start working in the family businesses?  To help support Rick and immortal VV of course.

I'll give Cathy this--the kids seem to get decent homeschooling educations. I'm pretty sure they go to school until 17 or 18.

There was a video in which one of the Arndt manboys was doing a tour of the house and Wizzy was at the dining room table doing her schoolwork. She would have been 15 or 16 and was working out of an Economics textbook, which suggested to me that they do real high-school level work. Also from their blog, it's clear that their writing skills are far above those of the Duggars or even the Maxwells. 

It's just another weird piece in the Arndt family puzzle--they have decent educations and could certainly get through entry level college classes if they wanted to. And yet, they stay.

[anjulibai]

Jude turned 30 on the 23rd. Nothing on their FB page, other then that they Skyped him because he was out of town. They also photographed/videoed them talking to him on Skype...odd....

 

There are now 5 Arndts "children" over the age of 30 still "safe at home". 

[MarblesMom]

I get the Fam Team updates on FB and .... so boring.  They should provide a relationship status OFF the "safe at home" field lines.  

(Can I wish for more than just one update?)

[Carm_88]

10 hours ago, anjulibai said:

Jude turned 30 on the 23rd. Nothing on their FB page, other then that they Skyped him because he was out of town. They also photographed/videoed them talking to him on Skype...odd....

 

There are now 5 Arndts "children" over the age of 30 still "safe at home". 

Wow  I get sad for them and wonder if they're happy. They have to realize they're missing out right? 

[Chicken bones]

I wonder why they haven't just build a prison block, i mean, dormitory for all the adult males. They have the land and could connect it to the cell block tower, correction- main house.

[Dark Matters]

How will they survive when Mommy and Daddy leave this mortal coil?  I mean, I know they can work and take care of themselves financially but how will they handle not having their parents around anymore?  Will they stay just as insular or more than they are now?  Or will they go a little crazy when faced with making decisions for themselves?

[Palimpsest]

I think it is more a case of what will Mommy and Daddy do when one or more of the man-boys finally flees the coop.  It might start a stampede and then how will they support themselves or finish Vine Valley.

Some of the man-boys leave the house to work as court reporters, and others really get around with all the wedding and engagement shoots.  They have good enough business and social skills to get glowing reviews - and the photos are really good.

It is a real pity Rick and Cathy seem to have implanted homing devices in them all.

[picklepizzas]

11 hours ago, MarblesMom said:

I get the Fam Team updates on FB and .... so boring.  They should provide a relationship status OFF the "safe at home" field lines.  

(Can I wish for more than just one update?)

I checked out the fam team fb page for the first time...WOW is that cover photo creepy.  Something about actually seeing them all together like that, these clearly grown men who are all living in their parents' house....the visual really shocked me. it's one thing to think about this family academically and be like yes, i suppose that is weird to imagine, but when you SEE it like that....geez. 

[Black Aliss]

So, am I the only one here who sees every unmarried adult fundie and thinks, that's at least 10 fewer fundies in the next generation, and at least 100 fewer fundies in the generation after that, and at least 1000 fewer fundies in the generation after that. . .

Stay safe at home, kids. Especially all you young ladies; stay safe at home until you are at least 45.

[SolomonFundy]

I agree that it's somewhat of a relief that they "Arndt" marrying and having eleventy billion little Arndtlings. But a part of me is sad. Not just for the loss in potential snark material, but also for the guys themselves. 

The Arndts have a lot of creepy traditions and a decidedly weird and codependent familial dynamic, but they also clearly LOVE their family. Koolaid or not, the Arndt sons (and Whizzy) seem to cherish their siblings, their parents, and the bond that they share. These are guys who genuinely love having a family to belong to. In the alternate universe where their childhood ended right around the time they became eligible to vote, I could see every one of these dudes having a romantic partner and a cluster of kids of their own. Coaching their own softball teams (hell, they could have a bloody Arndt LEAGUE), running their own businesses, and occasionally skyping their parents from the "safety" of independent homes.

Some would probably be more fundy, some less, and some a whole lot less, depending on birth order and where they ended up in the world. But ultimately, for better or worse, they would be living their OWN lives (fuck "unique stories"), not merely a glorified extension of Rick and Cathy's. So, while I guess they are doing the world a favor by not spreading Rick's genes around, I still mourn on their behalf for the lives and loves that they will never have.

[nokidsmom]

10 hours ago, SolomonFundy said:

The Arndts have a lot of creepy traditions and a decidedly weird and codependent familial dynamic, but they also clearly LOVE their family. Koolaid or not, the Arndt sons (and Whizzy) seem to cherish their siblings, their parents, and the bond that they share. These are guys who genuinely love having a family to belong to. In the alternate universe where their childhood ended right around the time they became eligible to vote, I could see every one of these dudes having a romantic partner and a cluster of kids of their own. Coaching their own softball teams (hell, they could have a bloody Arndt LEAGUE), running their own businesses, and occasionally skyping their parents from the "safety" of independent homes.

This is what is so sad.  The guys clearly are capable of a close loving bond, they would make excellent husbands and fathers.  But instead of that expending that emotional capability towards building their own close, loving families, it's been used, perhaps unconsciously, into keeping it all within Rick and Cathy's orbit.  

And another thing that is sad: it seems that Rick and Cathy do not realize that their grown children can move out so they can build their own safe homes.  That their children will not love them any less because they have other people (spouse, SO, children) in their lives.  That the loving bond can be carried on to the next generation. something that they, meaning Rick and Cathy, can also bask in.   There's definitely some weird voodoo going on in that family. 

 

[Carm_88]

I think that you can be happy that they aren't reproducing but also sad that because of their parents, they are so emotionally stunted. 

[nokidsmom]

11 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

I think that you can be happy that they aren't reproducing but also sad that because of their parents, they are so emotionally stunted. 

Agree that whatever weirdness is happening, that also won't be passed along to the next generation.  

This made me think about my last post.  They are capable of a loving bond, but not outside their family.   Not to say they are awful to other people, they seem polite enough, it's just they don't get close to anyone as far as we can tell.  Maybe they have tried and are just too weird and stunted.  

But in order to have a family of their own, they have to start with forging a bond with someone on the "outside".    I can't help but think that they have been raised to think that having a relationship out of the family is an act of being disloyal or something like that.  This whole "bestest family in the whole world" suggests to me that something like this might be going on.

[choralcrusader8613]

New thread here: