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Maxwell 12: Eleven years of blogging, still got nothing to say


samurai_sarah

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Teri's "Gather Your Supplies" post has decent (and obvious) advice. Also, I now know the source of Sarah's sophisticated writing style:

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Is there anything you are procrastinating concerning?

 

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Taking a month to sew on a button?? FFS, Teri, I've got a free-from-a-hotel tiny sewing kit here in my office desk drawer.  And another in my travel kit. And another in my emergency evacuation bag. And a sewing basket at home.

Please, tell me more about how to be a good homemaker. :pb_rollseyes:

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Just read this today and the blogger used John as an example of non-socialization by homeschoolers. http://whencowsandkidscollide.blogspot.com/2017/08/homeschooling-badly-other-socialization.html

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This topic caught my attention when I was looking into the Maxwell Family who have a tidy income from books promoting homeschooling and educating sons to be single-income breadwinners for a family. They promote having sons leave high school early (age 15-16) and use that time on career training - but not any training that would expose them to bad influences like working in an industry or going to college.  Needless to say, the Maxwell Family LOVES any certification that can be earned through self-study.  Since four of their sons are income-earning age,  I thought I'd see what everyone is doing. &

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I'm fairly sure that one can socialise being a homeschooler. I'm not so sure about socialising as a Maxwell.

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8 minutes ago, samurai_sarah said:

I'm fairly sure that one can socialise being a homeschooler. I'm not so sure about socialising as a Maxwell.

I don't think the Maxwell's did much if any socializing. Steve has scared them about about the outside world.  

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Excellent find, @Dark Matters.

Unlike most good homeschoolers who put a lot of energy into socializing, the purpose of Maxwell homeschooling is indeed separation.  They are taught to parrot rote phrases instead of natural conversation in "Making Great Conversationalists" or whatever that silly book was called.

The author goes on to give John some good advice:

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The fix for this is quite simple; Kansas State University has a horticulture degree that would give John plenty of contact time with professors and students who are in the agricultural system.  By choosing his electives sensibly, he would have an even stronger basis for being hired into an irrigation company as a designer.   Best of all, someone would explain to him why his business plan won't work.

http://whencowsandkidscollide.blogspot.com/2017/08/homeschooling-badly-other-socialization.html

So his business plan makes no sense.  No wonder he isn't getting work in irrigation.  Also, the author missed the rather pathetic attempt by John on LinkedIn to connect with other professionals.  A couple of them responded politely, but treated him like a wet behind the ears puppy.  Which he is.

So as his irrigation business isn't going anywhere, poor John decided to go into real estate.  Although that market seems dead for him too now.  

Probably because he lacks conversational skills as well as those all important contacts and networking abilities.

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2 hours ago, molecule said:

Teri's "Gather Your Supplies" post has decent (and obvious) advice. Also, I now know the source of Sarah's sophisticated writing style:

"Is there anything you are procrastinating concerning?"

 

I think I'm going to be physically ill. Srsly. 

ETA: I have a recurring nightmare that I'm responsible for producing a monthly magazine, am on deadline and have Not One Article.  It's puzzled me until Poor Sarah's recent post: I'm getting her nightmare by mistake!  Or, one of her nightmares. Don't even want to speculate what the others might be.

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1 hour ago, Dark Matters said:

Just read this today and the blogger used John as an example of non-socialization by homeschoolers.

Oh My Rufus - so Stud John has been hobbled, too?!  He was always my hope as Moses Max, leading his people-siblings into the promised land of real life.

Sadness. 

And once more, I go on a Maxbreak. Goodness, I've only been "back" for a few hours. It seems I'm hardly able to spend any time at all thinking about the weird, truncated, tragic waste of potential that is this family. 

So sad.

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I think they have so little to do of their days they genuinely don't know how to organise themselves. It's not a choice between sewing a button or doing actual work, it's a choice between mending that button or sitting on the sofa gazing into the distance, chillaxing - sorry, "Bible time" - so of course the button doesn't get mended.

I won't snark on the four weeks, it might take me longer than that - the garment would be thrown on my "to mend" pile, and then when I have a moment I do it all at once, then put the sewing stuff back where it belongs. Economy of scale.

But then, the evil outside-the-home job and even more evil social life take out big chunks of my time so I try to streamline the chores.

I bet I could single-handedly run that house of theirs on top of my job (barring baby-sitting the kids, er, sorry, chaperoning the adult children). Grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning and laundry. And without a schedule too. But that's not the point of the schedule, it's meant to give the inmates a sense of accomplishment so they don't ponder too long on where their life is going. And to provide the cult leader with a revenue stream....

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It's all very well setting up your own business, but potential customers aren't gonna hire you just because you set up your own business. Nope. They're gonna want to see that you're qualified for the job, and will probably regard a degree as better than just being self-taught from a couple of books. Experience is of course a bonus, but even a fairly recent graduate will have likely picked up experience through their degree. 

Even if setting up a business just meant opening a shop to sell your homemade blankets/trinkets/modest swimsuits, you need to get yourself out there and use social media to promote your stuff. I couldn't see the Maxwell women setting up a business like Gracious May/Snugars (the headband company they've touted) that's separate from the family business. They've said they're scared of Facebook so that's gonna affect things, and they probably wouldn't like Instagram either. They could well set up a website and promote it through their blog, but the blog reaches a very, very limited audience. They aren't gonna make much money if anything.

I also think of what skills the Maxwell women even have. They have even less than the guys. Sarah "could" be a writer - yeah no that is never going to happen. Anna "could" be a nutritionist cos she makes smoothies and bean burritos. Nope, she hasn't got a degree or any legit experience. Mary "could" be an artist. Again, nope. Whenever her art is mentioned it's been produced because she's been told to, whether it's illustrating the latest Moody saga or designing a poster with a Bible verse. She's not allowed to just have free roam or do a doodle, her art has to serve some kind of purpose. And what about the phrase "starving artist"? They hardly make any money let alone enough to live off. Most artists again will have been to some kind of school where they can learn different styles and be exposed to people/instructors/whoever who will critique their work and give them pointers.

Basically, the Maxwell lifestyle is full of pitfalls. I can't really believe the Maxwell men make that much money. Steve probably has a wad somewhere and helps out. The whole family will be fucked when Steve dies.

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Probably the only Maxwell who could have her own small business is Mary.  I don't think much of her illustrations and artwork but she has a definite knack for painting kiddie faces.

She could probably get face-painting gigs at children's parties just by handing out business cards instead of tracts at the state fair and word-of-mouth recommendations.  If Steve would let her ... 

It probably wouldn't be enough to support herself but it might be a sideline.

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The Maxwell women and kidults would probably faint at my sewing stuff. Pin cushion made of PVC (don't ask what compelled me to make that!), fabric with skulls and lots of black materials.

But I have stuff like buttons, thread, needles, pins and measuring tape, all in one place. Any time I have a shirt or some other thing that requires care, I put it into a canvass box from Ikea, so I can work on it whenever.

Somehow I'm a better homemaker than experterri! :omg:

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@nomoxian, I don't think it is hard to be a better homemaker, or cook, than Teri.  By her own report.

I suppose we can now deduce what Steve and Teri were doing while the siblings were climbing Mount Missouri.  Steve was encouraging Teri as she wandered around laboriously "gathering the supplies" to sew on a single button.  

She couldn't complete this gigantic project until Sarah had returned from the hike, however.  Someone had to take the photo of Teri sewing on a button - and that was a project in itself!

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I don't know how Terri does it.  Every time I visit one daughter and SIL who have the grandkids, there is a stack of mending.  I get the sewing box out of the closet after dinner and sew while the grandkids sit beside me on the sofa watching their evening TV show.  I'm usually done before their show ends.  It doesn't need to be on a list or scheduled.  I have usually put a load of laundry in to be moved to the dryer before reading the bedtime story to the kids.  Multi-tasking is where it's at, Terri.  

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21 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

Multi-tasking is where it's at, Terri.  

True, but I suspect the real problem is that Teri just doesn't want to do the mending or whatever "project" is on the agenda.

I can sympathize with not wanting to sew (hate it myself), but the idea that you can't sew a button back on for a month because you need to gather supplies is pathetic.

 

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I'm the worst seamstress on Earth but I can manage to sew on a button in about ten minutes. I think Teri is just so not the homemaker/homeschooling/huge family type that everything is an ordeal. 

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Oiy, where to start! So much to snark on!

1. Only a Maxwell would make a post out of sewing on a button. Sucking the joy right out of ordinary mending!

2. 11 years and --oh the sheer horror of it!! I've been a reader since the beginning, though I've taken extended (multi-year) breaks, pre- FJ.

3. Poor John--at least he got that trip to a scary almost third-world country to be named later. And, unlike his sisters, I'm sure a bride will be bought found for him.

4.  John, the Arndts, the Staddons and many more who are living  at home at 27 or 30 or whatever are all part of that generation who claim "Companies are lining up to hire such young men because of their character..." sadly without the real world credentials to go with their character, a Mommy-made merit badge earned at home from a second-hand Boy Scout Badge Manual doesn't translate into success. Nor a degree thru CLEP tests via Bill Gothard's Edison State college arrangement. By contrast Steve went to college, served in the Air Force, traveled, picked his own wife. I always want to ask "What went so wrong that you are inflicting this hell on your kids???" Imagine one of this uber-sheltered group being told to "put a sock in it" at work for speaking about their faith? Or being forced to answer to a woman in spaghetti straps!

5. The daughters will be the unpaid nannies, maids and home health aides for the whole family. I'm sure no man could be found who was godly enough to marry one of them. So sad.

6.  THE LAST MOODY BOOK!!!! The loss on printing costs must be too great.

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Wow. I'm not much of a seamstress, but it takes me about five minutes to sew on a button, including finding all the supplies.  I'm not much of a homemaker either, but I'm starting to think I'm better than Teri!  And I really seriously think she has undiagnosed depression or something and could really benefit from therapy.  I'm sure there are Christian therapists out there.

It's so funny/sad - they seem to want to portray themselves as all "Little House on the Prairie" wholesome and busy and sweet, but then they just...aren't.  They don't do anything.  What do they even have that's worth blogging about?

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6 minutes ago, meee said:

And I really seriously think she has undiagnosed depression or something and could really benefit from therapy.  I'm sure there are Christian therapists out there.

 

Terri has suffered for years. They used to talk about it. I doubt she's ever seen any kind of therapist and certainly hasn't had any Rx. Not even Pepsi.

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25 minutes ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Terri has suffered for years. They used to talk about it. I doubt she's ever seen any kind of therapist and certainly hasn't had any Rx. Not even Pepsi.

I doubt she did. She probably needed help and because Steve is an ass he probably didn't care. All he cared about was having more kids.  

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Ok, I confess to taking a few weeks to sew a button onto my husband's shorts recently...but only because I had to go buy a button (somehow he managed to break it and I couldn't turn up another one even by looking for those spares sometimes included in the seams of pants...). Then when I finally had the chance, I made the mistake of going to Michael's, which had very limited options, and the ones I chose ended up being too big; but I was not going to another store just for a damn button, so velcro it is.

The difference between my story and Teri's is that a.) my husband doesn't expect me to do that sort of thing, but I like mending and offered to do it; b.) I've only subjected you guys to that fascinating tale and not published it on a blog or Fbk; and c.) I've never claimed to be a Godly Homemaker© who has written books about organizing and time management and shit like that.

The end.

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