Today is Jesse Maxwell's birthday - he is 17.

[NurseNell]

It's a sad way to raise kids. :(

I think it constitutes child neglect.

Nell

[NurseNell]

How did Steve and Teri grow up? I think I read that Steve's parents were divorced. And Teri's parents, or maybe both sets, weren't Christian. Their definition of not Christian is so narrow that the parents may well have been church goers: Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, etc. Steve went to college, did Teri? How did they meet and how long married.

Nell

[doggie]

they are not raising children but godly warriors.

[justlurking]

titus2.com/corners/4-09-m.htm

Wow, the reversal kids never got a chance to attend a birthday party, or have friends over for their own birthday celebration. :( OK, and then this....

Looks to me like the "no birthday party" rule is more about Steve being cheap than it is about the family being "godly". Family-only birthday celebrations mean they won't have to spend money trying to entertain the children's friends and they won't have to worry about buying presents for the heathen celebrations their children would get invited to.

[FloraDoraDolly]

I think it constitutes child neglect.

Nell

I'd call it abuse rather than neglect, because it's the result of a conscious parental choice. There is something very wrong with people who are so selfish, possessive, and paranoid that they don't want their children to have ANY friends outside the family or ANY adult teachers/role models other than the parents.

OK, I understand wanting to shelter one's children. I'm sure every parent has a mental list of houses where their kids aren't allowed to play. No normal parent would send their kid to play in a crack house, for example, or at a home where the mom's live-in boyfriend is a registered sex offender. Sometimes there's an issue involving the child-- one of my friends has a little girl with very severe food allergies and they can only let her go to a friend's house if the parents understand that this kid can't be anywhere anything with even a teensy bit of peanuts in it. On a more extreme level, there are people who only allow their children to play with kids whose families are the same religion, race, or whatever. I don't agree with this, but at least those kids get to have fun with some friends once in awhile. But the Maxwells can't even make friends with other fundie kids.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

In her testimony, Sarah wrote that she was allowed to play with neighborhood children when she was younger and that she'd even attended a sleepover. But she said she has negative memories of these experiences and she's glad that her younger siblings have never done sleepovers or played with neighborhood friends.

Out of pure curiosity, did she go into details about what she remembers negatively about it?

[gardenvarietycitizen]

The extreme sheltering reminds me of some stuff I read by Jonathan Lindvall (via his fans) way back in the day on USENET. I think he let his kids meet with other kids, but never alone. The idea was that two kids together constitute "foolishness" because “foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child†and so there must always be an adult present.

[Sydney Fox]

The Maxwells talk about raising children who deny themselves. Doesn't this lead the kids to lie to themselves and their parents about what is important to them? They mustn't get too attached to anything (burritos, guitars, birthdays, getting married, etc.) or the parents will take them away. I think it would be easier to pretend disinterest in order to get what you want, rather than deny yourself all the time.

What do you think? Are the Maxwells raising a household of liars?

[Chrystal-J]

How to suck the joy out of life 101, by the Maxwell parents.

[MamaJunebug]

Hi, guys - I decided to use my mad mod skilz and merge these two Jesse birthday posts. I hope I did it right, if not, yell at me!!!