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

[IReallyAmHopewell]

On 9/27/2017 at 8:36 PM, usedbicycle said:

It must suck being 35 and have to hang out with the "youth group" like a damn teenager. I'm sure in another room, 19 year-old newlyweds are getting treated like important adults. 

Excellent way of putting it. It's about the age the Youth Pastor moves up to be assistant pastor or even just "pastor." Time for her promotion....of course in her case it would be to "Head of Christian Early Childhood Education"--not pastor,...

[mango_fandango]

So that's two posts about fathers spending time with their children. What does Chris do with Ruthie and Lydia? Or do they not matter as much because they're girls? 

[FloraDoraDolly]

29 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

So that's two posts about fathers spending time with their children. What does Chris do with Ruthie and Lydia? Or do they not matter as much because they're girls? 

The post sounds like a plug for Steve's "Preparing Sons" book, but without the actual plug. Maybe they're leading up to it. I've read this book. (Bought used and saved the difference-- thanks for the advice, Jim Bob!) It's all about putting little boys to work alongside Dad and not giving them a lot of time to play. There isn't much about girls, or what they should be doing. Chris's daughters are too young to polish ceiling fans, so hopefully they'll get to play and do kid stuff for a few extra years.

[nastyhobbitses]

While I'm disappointed to see that Chris doesn't seem to acknowledge his very cute, lively little girls as much as he does Golden Boy Joshua, I can't deny that Joshua is pretty darn adorable, and I hope he savors every minute of his dad allowing and encouraging him to pursue his interests. That ain't gonna last, buddy.

[albanuadh_1]

Well, Teri's post has finally seen the light of day. Says it was posted September 11.  Au contraire.

 

[Dark Matters]

Interesting review of Teri's homeschooling book:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nolongerquivering/2017/10/homeschooling-meek-quiet-spirit-reinventing-wheel/
 

Mrs. Maxwell begins with an important trope within homeschooling narratives: “How Schools Injured My Child”.  Now, many parents choose to homeschool to remedy issues within traditional schools – but the trope has a few important characteristics.

The homeschool child’s issues in school are severe enough to merit removal, but vague enough to avoid searching questions.  In this example, the Maxwell son shows a dislike towards reading caused by the class moving too fast.  Honestly, I have no idea what that means.  As a teacher, these are the type of questions I would need answered if it were my son:

How far behind was his reading lagging compared to the average third grader – a month, a semester or a year?  (These questions are to gauge how severe the deficit is and to verify that my expectations are not too high.)

Does he dislike reading across the board – or dislike reading materials that are at too high a level for him?  Does offering a book that is of high interest to him increase the amount of time he tries to read before giving up?  (These questions are trying to determine if the problem is with reading as a skill, frustration at overly hard material, and if a cool book can be used as a reward to help make learning to read less frustrating or boring.)

Does he struggle more when the class is in stations/rotations/lots of small groups?  Do you see any signs that he might have hearing or vision issues?  Does he seem to need more physical activity than most of his classmates?  Does he do better at reading shortly after recess?  Does he seem distracted or daydream more than average?  (Looking for signs of auditory processing issues/attention issues, vision and/or hearing issues, attention issues, attention issues and attention issues respectively.  The last question is especially helpful for students with ADD.)

What in-class remediations have you tried?  How did they go?  (No need to reinvent the wheel if the teacher’s already tried something that didn’t work – or maybe she’s figured out a trick for your kid….)

Do you think my kid needs to be evaluated for more in-depth help like pull-out reading support or a Special Education evaluation?  (Parents can always begin a Special Education evaluation by requesting it – even if the teacher doesn’t believe the kid needs help.  An excellent way to make school much harder for your kid is to refuse a Special Education evaluation when a teacher recommends it; parents can do that, too.  I’ve worked with far too many older teens whose path to dropping out of high school accelerated when a parent refused Special Education services in elementary school – and as a result their student never learned how to read or do math because of severe dyslexia.) 

The bar for fixing the student’s problem is as nebulous as the problem itself.  I can assess accurately if a student is reading at grade-level; there is no standardization for “love of reading”.  Additionally, students can love to read and still be below grade level in reading.

The solution is self-evident: Parents know how to teach their own kids.  Now, Mrs. Maxwell implies that her son’s reading issues were severe – but could be fixed by bringing him home and removing all the pressure to learn how to read.  This plan may work very well if the child’s reading issues are primarily due to anxiety about school or performance – but I don’t understand what the long-term plan is to help him learn to deal with that anxiety.     If the kid’s problems were due to a vision issue or dyslexia, being at home is not going to make much of a difference.

 

[Howl]

Quote

Allowing our adult, unmarried children to live in our home provides accountability for them that they have wanted, and it is economical as well. They are our best friends, and we are delighted that they want to live in our home. Our girls are welcome here until marriage, and if they are never married, they can stay until we are gone, and then the house will belong to them

Interesting choice of words all the way through.   I hope Steve and Terri have stipulated this in their respective wills. 

[Palimpsest]

41 minutes ago, Dark Matters said:

Interesting review of Teri's homeschooling book:

She is spot on with everything in those articles about Teri and homeschooling.  Mel is the same person who absolutely eviscerated the Botkin sisters when she took "It's Not (That) Complicated" apart.  Enjoy.  http://whencowsandkidscollide.blogspot.com/2016/02/its-not-that-complicated-introduction.html

[IReallyAmHopewell]

17 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

So that's two posts about fathers spending time with their children. What does Chris do with Ruthie and Lydia? Or do they not matter as much because they're girls? 

 

I'm going on record and saying it's pretty damned cool that dad got the kid his own leaf blower!! My son would have sooooooooooo loved that. He always helped me push the lawn mower at that age.

I get it that it's about teaching the boy to do MAN STUFF and be PREPARED to support a family. But it was still cool!!

Now, back to snarking.... I'm sure he teaches the girls to obey and helps prepare them to be a godly helpmeet by making them serve him (I don't mean in any sick-o ways). Probably they might show him how they folded his clean clothes and he praises them--that sort of thing. Likely he DOES do appropriate Dad things with them too. They just emphasize the assigned gender roles. I'm going to give the guy a pass here on anything worse.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

 

5 hours ago, Howl said:

Allowing our adult, unmarried children to live in our home provides accountability for them that they have wanted, and it is economical as well. They are our best friends, and we are delighted that they want to live in our home. Our girls are welcome here until marriage, and if they are never married, they can stay until we are gone, and then the house will belong to them

 

"accountability ...that they wanted" No sex, drugs or rock 'n roll. No lives of their own, choices of their own or CONSEQUENCES of their own. "that they wanted" is a bounded choice--they have been raised to fear everything in the real world.

I would not be surprised if they Maxwell's hold all the  home-bound kids driver's licenses (given out and back to Daddy after each use), birth certificates etc so they cannot "ruin" their lives by leaving.

I agree with the other poster--I hope Sarah's reward of inheriting the house is in their will ,but I sincerely doubt it. Women don't hold property--a brother will inherit it and a daughter may live there with another daughter/niece, widowed sil etc.

 

On the "our" home. Technically, it is. They own it not the kids. Living at home after 18 IS a privilege, not a right, though we rarely spell that out in this county. Enabling kids to do absolutely nothing because they can live at home for free is not a good thing. My kids, at 21 and 23, have been at home for different reasons but are on warning that it will end if they do not get off their duffs and get a full time job or multiple part-time equivalent [and SAVE money for moving out] OR go to school full time and work part-time. The other circumstances have passed and I was fine with it then. Now that they spend half the night bar hopping and running with friends and not working though..........

[FloraKitty35]

6 hours ago, Howl said:

Our girls are welcome here until marriage, and if they are never married, they can stay until we are gone, and then the house will belong to them

Welcome to Hotel Maxhellfornia.  They are prisoners of their own device.  

[SPHASH]

Off topic but I was at a meeting tonight where someone was telling a story about a young boy who came to the grade school youth group and said Halloween is where we celebrate Jesus coming back from the grave.  I immediately thought of the Maxwells and how Coward Steve would have had a stroke over that.

[Dark Matters]

Another forced-birther/anti-choice post by Sarah, with a rerun of Anna's playacting vid and pictures of them at a protest holding signs.  Love Teri's sign "We care about you and your baby".  Uh huh, until after it's born then "Sorry, Mom & kid, you're on your own now.  Hypocrites, all of them.

[SPHASH]

5 hours ago, Dark Matters said:

Another forced-birther/anti-choice post by Sarah, with a rerun of Anna's playacting vid and pictures of them at a protest holding signs.  Love Teri's sign "We care about you and your baby".  Uh huh, until after it's born then "Sorry, Mom & kid, you're on your own now.  Hypocrites, all of them.

FUCK THE MAXWELLS! Every last one of them with the exception of the little ones of course.  I wish I was in Leavenworth on Sunday so I could have driven by there and flip the bird at them.  I do that to pro birthers when they are out protesting abortion.

Oh and read the weekly Seriously email.  Coward Steve bitched about how the National Park Service won't give God credit for creating Carlsbad Caverns and Yellowstone.  He also gets a dig in at the Beast.

[Jana814]

So nuts.  I feel so bad for their grandchildren being dragged to this. 

[BearMom]

5 hours ago, Dark Matters said:

Another forced-birther/anti-choice post by Sarah, with a rerun of Anna's playacting vid and pictures of them at a protest holding signs.  Love Teri's sign "We care about you and your baby".  Uh huh, until after it's born then "Sorry, Mom & kid, you're on your own now.  Hypocrites, all of them.

Anna and her ridiculous video are so many ways of horrible, from the message to her pitiful poor acting.  I can't believe they posted that crap again.

If the Maxwell's sincerely gave a shit about the babies, what are they doing to help the mothers after the birth?  Why don't they share their "mission" in this area, and encourage their sheeple to do the same.  Are Anna and Mary going over to the home of a local single parent and cleaning, cooking meals, grocery shopping, babysitting, taking the kids to a park to play? I'm going to guess a big "NO".  The Maxwell's love an unborn baby until it's born and then it's someone else's problem.

Let me add, I wonder how they feel about gun control? Do they care about all the people being killed through gun violence?  Do they give two shits about the 59 in Las Vegas, or even the children in Sandy Hook?  I doubt it as they only care about an unborn baby, in the womb, not a living breathing one outside the womb. (Vented a bit here-my niece and her boyfriend were at the concert Sunday.) The only thing they probably discussed, as a family of course, was to wonder how many of them knew where they were going when they died.  The Maxwell's are twisted sick people with their twisted biblical interpretations. 

 

 

 

 

 

1 minute ago, Jana814 said:

So nuts.  I feel so bad for their grandchildren being dragged to this. 

I agree.  Personally I think Chris's children are much to young to even know about abortion and what it is, what it means, how's it's performed, why it's done.  How can they comprehend all this. Have they actually told these children they believe the  women choosing to have an abortion are murderers, and explained what a murder is?  

[Jana814]

6 minutes ago, BearMom said:

 

I agree.  Personally I think Chris's children are much to young to even know about abortion and what it is, what it means, how's it's performed, why it's done.  How can they comprehend all this. Have they actually told these children they believe the  women choosing to have an abortion are murderers, and explained what a murder is?  

Exactly. They are to young. 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I think teaching children about standing up for your beliefs and peacefully protesting is fine. Whether i agree with the cause is another thing entirely.  I do think most of the Maxwell kids are not really old enough for this issue. What do they say to them: "It's killing babies, " most likely. SInce Abby etc know (I assume they know) they had another sister they might get this all very confused. I think it would be best for the adults to do this and make the "older children" (Sarah, Mary, Anna and the other unmarrieds take care of the littles) so their parents can protest.

 

 

[Foudeb]

The poet Patricia Lockwood wrote about her childhood in the abortion protester crowd in her memoir. It's a really moving piece, on how she got scared on her baby brothers behalf - if the bad people kill babies, why on earth did her parents bring their own baby along? How could she protect her brother ? 

Shame those stunted kidults will never read it. 

[FloraDoraDolly]

9 hours ago, Dark Matters said:

Another forced-birther/anti-choice post by Sarah, with a rerun of Anna's playacting vid and pictures of them at a protest holding signs.  Love Teri's sign "We care about you and your baby".  Uh huh, until after it's born then "Sorry, Mom & kid, you're on your own now.  Hypocrites, all of them.

Let's say one of these single moms who "chooses life" manages to move into the Maxwells' neighborhood by renting someone's basement or whatever. The Maxwells' first order of business would be to make damn sure that the kid doesn't get anywhere near the precious grandchildren and that the chidult girls don't start hanging around with "that fallen woman." Sure, it's great that she didn't have an abortion. But she wasn't supposed to KEEP her baby! Oh, no. She's supposed to give it away to a "nice, Christian family with TWO parents. Every child needs a father." If she wanted to keep the baby, she should have married the baby's father. Because it's ALWAYS the single mom's fault that she's on her own. 

[kpmom]

ITA with you @FloraDoraDolly

One of the protestors held a sign saying Choose Adoption.

But how about a sign saying "If You Choose to Keep Your Baby We Will help You With Money and Child Care"?

That would truly be a pro-life statement.

[fundiefan]

The last several Maxwell ramblings I've read have come close to making my blood boil. 

Their pro birth shit I won't touch. I have no control of my anger on the issue. 

If their adult offspring feel the need to stay in their parents home for 'accountability' they haven't been raised right and don't trust themselves; nor does Steve trust the way he chose to raise them. 

I grew up in the city. I went to city public schools. One of my long time friends through all those years had a pretty strict, religious upbringing. She wasn't sheltered, she was taught. She went to the same schools I did all the way through. She went to college at a state school. She lived in dorms & apartments while in college. She worked from the time she was 16. She went to school dances and football games and was in clubs and the whole damn shebang. 

She was a virgin until she was 27 and engaged. She never smoked a cigarette or had a drink until her first glass of champagne during a mutual friend's wedding shower when she was like 25. She never drank regularly and one was enough if she ever did. 

We teased the hell out of her, calling her "Mother Superior" through our young adult years. It was never malicious, just a ton of girls with different lives and choices & experiences who were friends and did their own thing. 

The long winded point here is this - she was taught by her family to be accountable for her actions; to consider consequences; to consider the impact of her choices on the future she wanted. She chose her young adult life within the frame of her upbringing. 

Unlike Steve, her parents didn't keep her wrapped in a bubble to keep her just like them. They raised her to be a human being and trusted both their choices as parents and her choices as an individual. 

Individuals not trusted to be accountable to themselves for their actions are not adults. Period. The Maxwell offspring are not adults; even the married ones who are pro-creating are not trusted, by their parents or themselves, to act without fucking up. 

That's a massive burden to carry throughout your life and it's even worse when your parents intentionally put that burden on your shoulders. 

 

[nastyhobbitses]

6 hours ago, SPHASH said:

FUCK THE MAXWELLS! Every last one of them with the exception of the little ones of course.  I wish I was in Leavenworth on Sunday so I could have driven by there and flip the bird at them.  I do that to pro birthers when they are out protesting abortion.

Oh and read the weekly Seriously email.  Coward Steve bitched about how the National Park Service won't give God credit for creating Carlsbad Caverns and Yellowstone.  He also gets a dig in at the Beast.

Seconding the first paragraph.

And does Steve understand that whole "Congress shall make no law..." thing in the First Amendment? Though if I were an NPS official who got wind of his bitching, I'd just credit different natural wonders to different deities. Yellowstone? Totally Izanagi. Carlsbad Caverns? That's so Ra.

[Alicepooh]

7 hours ago, fundiefan said:

The last several Maxwell ramblings I've read have come close to making my blood boil. 

Their pro birth shit I won't touch. I have no control of my anger on the issue. 

If their adult offspring feel the need to stay in their parents home for 'accountability' they haven't been raised right and don't trust themselves; nor does Steve trust the way he chose to raise them. 

I grew up in the city. I went to city public schools. One of my long time friends through all those years had a pretty strict, religious upbringing. She wasn't sheltered, she was taught. She went to the same schools I did all the way through. She went to college at a state school. She lived in dorms & apartments while in college. She worked from the time she was 16. She went to school dances and football games and was in clubs and the whole damn shebang. 

She was a virgin until she was 27 and engaged. She never smoked a cigarette or had a drink until her first glass of champagne during a mutual friend's wedding shower when she was like 25. She never drank regularly and one was enough if she ever did. 

We teased the hell out of her, calling her "Mother Superior" through our young adult years. It was never malicious, just a ton of girls with different lives and choices & experiences who were friends and did their own thing. 

The long winded point here is this - she was taught by her family to be accountable for her actions; to consider consequences; to consider the impact of her choices on the future she wanted. She chose her young adult life within the frame of her upbringing. 

Unlike Steve, her parents didn't keep her wrapped in a bubble to keep her just like them. They raised her to be a human being and trusted both their choices as parents and her choices as an individual. 

Individuals not trusted to be accountable to themselves for their actions are not adults. Period. The Maxwell offspring are not adults; even the married ones who are pro-creating are not trusted, by their parents or themselves, to act without fucking up. 

That's a massive burden to carry throughout your life and it's even worse when your parents intentionally put that burden on your shoulders. 

 

Oh, I so agree with everything you wrote! Worded really well. 

You can be a conservative person or have wholesome views on life according to your and your family's standards. But imposing a pre-made, pre-selected, chorepack-driven, schedule-abiding life on your children, under the pretense of "sheltering" them from all that's bad in the world according to you is just plain mean.

I would consider my parents to be quite strict and conservative. But they never, ever prevented me from going places, hanging out with people, travel on my own, make my own experiences and they surely never robbed me of the freedom for making my own choices.

The Maxwell children, who still call themselves children even when they're 35 just because they are not married, haven't been equipped for life in the real world. They are being kept in a bubble-wrapped idyllic universe (that is, idyllic according to Steve) where they are the only righteous ones, and evil is everywhere around them. I feel very sad for the Maxwell grandchildren, who are going to live their lives in the same way their parents did... just because they don't know any other reality and therefore can't teach their children anything else besides what they have experienced themselves.

One recurring thought for me is the one about homeschooling. I personally had a very difficult time in school, especially in primary school. I got bullied and teased A LOT. I remember crying my eyes out and dreading having to go back the next day. If I would have been homeschooled, I would have been surely sheltered from all of that pain, all of those tears and some very dreadful experiences. But now I wouldn't be the strong and determined person I am. I wouldn't be the teacher I now am, able to look at my students and empathise with them if they are going through a rough moment.

Sorry about the long and rambling post... the Maxwell educational model gives me the creeps.

[HereticHick]

What did that poor nail salon ever do to you, Maxwells? It looks like you are picketing it. Stop harrassing small businesses.