Erin and Chad Paine 2: The higher the hair...

[Coconut Flan]

That is so true.  They are pulling it all together to get the photo for instagram.  We did it with daughter's children so they could have some cute photos for the family.  I took care of baby and sibling for the second one including getting them dressed while daughter showered and did hair and make up.  All it would take is Kelly or a sibling to come over for an hour and help out.

[HarleyQuinn]

I'm sure that photo took time, we all know how perfect Erin's IG must be!

[Seculardaisy]

On 1/18/2018 at 5:23 PM, VelociRapture said:

I asked something like this a while back. Other parents on here pointed out that the Bateses don’t post everyday and what they do post gives only the best image of their lives. It’s pretty likely that they don’t always look that put together; we just don’t see much of it. Some of them probably have family help as well - Whit very likely does because she’s working for a real estate company now and that can be pretty demanding. She may also need to look more put together in order to come across as professional as well.

So don’t compare your life to their’s. It’s so easy to do that, but you can’t get a fair comparison to these people because you don’t see the full picture of what their lives are like. If you and your baby are healthy and relatively happy that’s all that matters.  

Also some of them could be like me: I grew up in a large (for my area) home of six kids. The house wasn’t dirty but it was cluttered and untidy. 

Now I’m an adult with four kids (we also just started homeschooling them this year) but my house is clean every day and I usually do at least a tiny bit of makeup and my hair. It’s not because I’m trying to project any sort of look to the world but because clutter and feeling unkempt triggers my anxiety. It brings me back to being a kid in a cluttered home full of kids and minor chaos. 

Even if I have to stay up after everyone has gone to sleep, I will clean my home. It is the only way for me to start my day feeling like I have a handle on things. That doesn’t mean the kids don’t play and make messes or that we never have dishes in the sink but I will clean it as soon as I have a moment. i wouldn’t doubt some of these grown Bates women share my attitude on this.

That said, the one difference for us is my husband cleans around the house when he is home from work as well and he is the one who cooks almost every dinner for our family. And we share our parenting duties equally when we aren’t at work. 

[Hisey]

19 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

That is so true.  They are pulling it all together to get the photo for instagram.  We did it with daughter's children so they could have some cute photos for the family.  I took care of baby and sibling for the second one including getting them dressed while daughter showered and did hair and make up.  All it would take is Kelly or a sibling to come over for an hour and help out.

That's what I think happened. I think most of the time, Erin looks like your typical mom of two babies (wth a third on the way). Then her publicity manager reminds her she needs to post on IG to keep people interested in the show. Or she just decides to post.

She calls her mom and has a sister come over to watch the kids. While the sister is watching the kids, Erin showers and makes herself up. When she is done, the sister puts the kids in clean clothes. Then they take the pic, and act likes it's just an ordinary day in Paineville.

[LMDinHarlem]

I think since Erin lives so close to her parents and siblings, she may not even have to ask (probably sisters) to come over and babysit, help with house chores, etc. they probably drop by frequently to get a break from the cacophony of the big Bates house. 

[VelociRapture]

New post:

 

[Mela99]

Oh my. Those antenna pigtails and that expression. [emoji23] Really cute.

[just_ordinary]

2 hours ago, Mela99 said:

Oh my. Those antenna pigtails and that expression. Really cute.

But also a bit creepy. Could be from a horror movie...

Love it!

[rainbowbabycakes]

she looks like Cindy Lou Who, lol

[Hisey]

I'm a little disturbed by a comment to Erin's IG post. It goes something like "Cheetos are fine till you can get home and deal with that attitude." Does this poster think that Brooklyn is even going to remember the incident by the time she gets home? She's 1! The kid looks tired and probably just needs a nap.

[VelociRapture]

2 hours ago, Hisey said:

I'm a little disturbed by a comment to Erin's IG post. It goes something like "Cheetos are fine till you can get home and deal with that attitude." Does this poster think that Brooklyn is even going to remember the incident by the time she gets home? She's 1! The kid looks tired and probably just needs a nap.

I didn’t see that one. I did find this winner though:

If by “doesn’t look like an easy child to raise,” this person means, “looks like a completely normal kid who was just too tired and over everything,” then I completely agree. If they actually meant, “I’m an insufferable ass making rude comments about an innocent kid,” then I also completely agree. 

Seriously. What parent hasn’t experienced a full on meltdown in public? And what parent hasn’t broken some sort of “rule” they had about how they’d raise their kids? It’s normal and it happens.

[ophelia]

15 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

New post:

 

She is a cutie. And I absolutely prefer those pigtails over this gigantic flower headbands a lot of fundie mothers put on their little girls. She is looking so much like Chad!

[Hisey]

On 1/21/2018 at 2:01 PM, VelociRapture said:

I didn’t see that one. I did find this winner though:

If by “doesn’t look like an easy child to raise,” this person means, “looks like a completely normal kid who was just too tired and over everything,” then I completely agree. If they actually meant, “I’m an insufferable ass making rude comments about an innocent kid,” then I also completely agree. 

Seriously. What parent hasn’t experienced a full on meltdown in public? And what parent hasn’t broken some sort of “rule” they had about how they’d raise their kids? It’s normal and it happens.

Actually, I think it's great that Erin gave her a bag of Cheetos, instead of taking her out to the car for a "teaching moment" with a piece of PVC pipe.

[Seculardaisy]

On 1/21/2018 at 11:07 AM, VelociRapture said:

New post:

 

That pony on top and bow combo is a bit silly but she’s a ridiculously cute little kid. Love that mischievous look on her face.

[Casserole]

On 1/23/2018 at 2:05 PM, Seculardaisy said:

That pony on top and bow combo is a bit silly but she’s a ridiculously cute little kid. Love that mischievous look on her face.

I saw that and thought it looked a little crazy, but then I decided she probably has some littler hairs that didn't fit into the pig tails yet. Plus, I'm a sucker for little kid pigtails, as long as those are the ouchless rubber bands that slide out like butter and don't pull her hair. 

[elliha]

Love the pig tails and yes, so much better than the giant bows. My daughter never really liked pigtails but likes pony tails and braids (both one and two braids). Her hair is hard to style though. She has thin but long hair and it is quite soft and easily affected by static even when you conditioner so most of the time both braids and pigtails will fall out regardless of what type of rubber band you use. She is five now so thin hair unfortunately seems to be something she got from me. I hoped she would at least get some fullness from her father who has really nice thick hair but no. My thin hair genes seem strong, my son has slightly thicker hair from the looks of it (he is only one) but seems to also have much less hair than his father. 

[HarleyQuinn]

I love pigtails. Way better than the bow headbands.

I keep forgetting Erin is pregnant with #3. 

[LegHumperBibleThumper]

So I just watched this weeks episode and Erin “surprises” Chad with the baby news. How can he POSSIBLY be so shocked over this? 

[JemimaPuddle-Duck]

Erin has always sorta reminded me of young Barbra Streisand, but especially so in that photo that Chad posted! 

I try to post #keepinitreal kinds of posts semi-regularly on social media, just so I’m not coming off as fake. Most of the time I have my hair and makeup done and at least nice-looking legging/tunic ensembles for home, but my house gets so messy. I’m a neat-freak at heart and it drives me nuts. 

FJ is the only place I’ve ever heard so many people say that mushy gushy SM posts are over-compensating. I’ll go ahead and admit, that I gush over my husband on SM. I’m not trying to convince myself he’s great; I already know he is. He’s basically perfect and I’m basically obsessed with him and we’re ridiculously happy and in love. I’ve got the fundie wife stare and everything. (At least it’s mutual.) So FJ always makes me wonder which “friends” and followers think we’re full of crap lol. We’ve received so much lovely feedback from people, I hope it wasn’t BS ;-D

[just_ordinary]

I am well on board with people saying that too gushy SM posts cannot be taken for the truth. Like every other post too. I only post seldom and even more rare are personal posts (about feelings and relationships). If I post about my family I will only ever post the good stuff. I don’t owe strangers an insight in my family. I don’t talk to strangers on the train about a bad phase in my marriage. Why do people on the internet think they have a right to know? I think it is completely normal only to open up to close friends or family members when you have a hard time. If someone wants to do it publicly fine but this cannot be made a rule for all to follow to keep it real. I don’t care if it would help a stranger if I post publicly about my ongoing struggles about loosing a parent (going to be 9 years). This is my story and I get to decide what to tell. Even if I were an internet sensation and got millions out of my SM.

It is true hat people get blinded by shiny SM but sorry that is just something that our have to learn. Parents need to teach their children and most people realise it along the way of growing up.

It is also very interesting to me that this criticism in general it mostly happens to the SM of women and that women seem to be the ones who get more invested in strangers SM.

With all that, I do raise eyebrows about people gushing all over their feed when I know them personally and know that there are indeed problems. But in that case it is no different as if they would gush in a conversation I am part of. As long as I don’t know anyone personally I can only take their stories (online and real life) with a grain of salt. Everything might be perfect or not I will never know. Question is- do I have to? Do I think I have a right to know? Do I put the same pressure on people I meet in real life as the ones I follow online? 

I find their constant gushing annoying and laughable because it doesn’t matches with my personality. But apart from this it doesn’t affect me in the long run.

 

Sorry for the long rant. This topic hit home today.

[lizzybee]

On 2/3/2018 at 10:38 AM, LegHumperBibleThumper said:

So I just watched this weeks episode and Erin “surprises” Chad with the baby news. How can he POSSIBLY be so shocked over this? 

I think it was because she initially told him the test was inconclusive or that it was a no. There's a part where he goes, "you little liar," and they laughed. So he was thinking she wasn't and she was. 

[LegHumperBibleThumper]

@lizzybee Good point. I did hear that but I guess I didn't connect the dots. 

[Carm_88]

Erin and Alyssa are in their third trimester! 

[LegHumperBibleThumper]

I start my third trimester tomorrow and I am due May first. Definitely carrying more like Erin than Alyssa though. And honestly - fun being pregnant?! Me and my two best friends are all pregnant right now. I know some women love it, but I assure you, we are not them 

[Melissa1977]

29 minutes ago, LegHumperBibleThumper said:

I start my third trimester tomorrow and I am due May first. Definitely carrying more like Erin than Alyssa though. And honestly - fun being pregnant?! Me and my two best friends are all pregnant right now. I know some women love it, but I assure you, we are not them 

My first pregnancy was fun, comfortable, not a single bad day.

Nine years later, second pregnancy wasn't such fun. It was beautiful to feel my baby inside me, but pregnancy was a bit rough sometimes.

Despite I know pregnancy can actually be fun, as a mother sorrounded by other mothers, and having met lots of families, I doubt you can have a sweet, fun, relaxed pregnancy if you're raising 2 toddlers and working part time. All women I know who are in this situation, are having a hard time. I know Bates make pregnancy an idol, so I'm not sure if they're really sincere about their feelings. But maybe Erin is strong and can cope with everything. I wouldn't be.