Maxwell 19: Life is Still Boring

[LilMissMetaphor]

48 minutes ago, scoutsadie said:

Comic Sanssssssss.... stab me in the eye, please

 

I wonder why she thought Comic Sans was the Godly choice.  Considering the extent to which they overthink everything else, you kinda have to figure there was something wrong with the other options.  How could you let her pick C*mic, Steve? It's way too close to f*n!

Now if only there'd been a font called Joyless Existence...

 

[AllisonWndrland]

1 hour ago, Black Aliss said:

But not just any toy for any child. Boys need toys that teach creativity and construction skills. Girls need toys that teach sewing and following instructions.

Those toys make me a bit ragey. Anna and Mary, and Sarah to a lesser extent, were in the middle of the construction work as the chidults built the house. Why do they believe construction toys are only appropriate for the girls? They have firsthand experience with the success of women builders. 

Comic Sans is the Satan of fonts. I do some graphic design for a church and our businesses. Using that font for something other than a meal calendar at home is an affront to my soul. 

[Lgirlrocks]

Not sure if any of you have watched Jesus Camp but that’s what the maxwells post today reminded me of. Kids that age shouldn’t be expected to grasp religion. Most adults can’t. It’s great that they want to install morals and values into their kids lives but to expect them to witness to other kids? I mean come on. There’s no way they can really understand what they are doing? I blindly followed my parents beliefs as a kid, I was a people pleaser. I always knew the right thing to say and when to say it. I never truly believed any of it.

[sableduck]

3 hours ago, nomoxian said:

New blog post. It's ad ad for the Moody books (again. wonder how much stock they have to sell?)

It's written by Sarah, and she talks about how "As you moms pour yourselves into your children and do the daily tasks—wiping the runny noses, reworking yet another math problem, looking into the eyes of a child who just disobeyed" Because of course everything has to be about how sinful and evil kids are (and the Moody books - and Jesus of course - can solve that issue!) And, despite not being a mother, she knows a lot about raising kids since she had to do the job of Terri!

That’s probably a very accurate statement of how Terri viewed motherhood.

[ophelia]

 

7 hours ago, Hane said:

Ohhhhh, God. Those moms’ comments about their kids are so freaking sad. A little girl going around the playground “witnessing” to people about the Good Person Test? A seven-year-old who’s been an avid reader since age 3.5 being limited to the Moody books because better ones are “not for him”=too sinful?

I could cry. 

I could cry as well. And then again thinking about a little girl "witnessing" to other kids on a playground makes me want to barf. And I'd really love to punch her parents in the face. 

[FloraDoraDolly]

13 hours ago, catlady said:

Sarah, this is twice in about a week that you've used the phrase "reading book."  you do not need to use the word "reading" as an adjective to describe a book. 

In elementary teacher jargon, a "reading book" means a book that is designed specifically for teaching children how to read. The classic Dick and Jane books would be one example. The A Beka reading series (which is used by many Christian homeschoolers) would be another. In the 19th century, such books were referred to simply as "readers", as in The McGuffey Readers. I don't think many schools use these kinds of "reading books" today. I've never heard a teacher or anyone else use the term "reading book" when referring to a chapter book like the ones Sarah writes.

[nastyhobbitses]

9 hours ago, Hane said:

Ohhhhh, God. Those moms’ comments about their kids are so freaking sad. A little girl going around the playground “witnessing” to people about the Good Person Test? A seven-year-old who’s been an avid reader since age 3.5 being limited to the Moody books because better ones are “not for him”=too sinful?

I could cry. 

I know his parents have probably taken a lot of steps to prevent it, but I hope against hope that that little boy has a Mrs. Phelps or a Miss Honey in his life, like Matilda did in Matilda (which I wish I could send him). 

[Hane]

6 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

I know his parents have probably taken a lot of steps to prevent it, but I hope against hope that that little boy has a Mrs. Phelps or a Miss Honey in his life, like Matilda did in Matilda (which I wish I could send him). 

Yes. *sigh* But I bet you my next paycheck these poor kids are homeschooled. I think of all the wonderful books my daughter and grandchild have been able to enjoy—authors like Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary, Lois Lowry, Edward Eager, Lemony Snickett, J.R. Rowlings come to mind—and I consider these reading restrictions flat-out child abuse.

[HermioneSparrow]

I feel so sorry for fundie kids.. I can't imagine my childhood without Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling and Laura Ingalls... I just can't.

[FundamentallyShocked]

15 hours ago, scoutsadie said:

Comic Sanssssssss.... stab me in the eye, please

 

Soul Mate! Nice to meet you. As the top of the picture scrolled by, the Comic Sans font assailed my eyes! I was going to comment on it and continued scrolling to see that you had beaten me to the punch. Love typography!!

[bertnee]

Based on how the Maxwells describe it, I don't know why any woman would want to have a gaggle of children. They sure don't seem like they believe children are a blessing.

[scoutsadie]

52 minutes ago, FundamentallyShocked said:

Soul Mate! Nice to meet you. As the top of the picture scrolled by, the Comic Sans font assailed my eyes! I was going to comment on it and continued scrolling to see that you had beaten me to the punch. Love typography!!

I do, too; and I will admit that I recently heard a report on NPR about the development of and intention for Comic Sans, which made me appreciate it a little bit. I guess my main opposition - as perhaps is that of many folks - is misuse of it, in inappropriate contexts... It was a great report, and I'm bummed that I can't recall what it was from (sorry, I googled and searched NPR's website, too, and cannot find that story).

So yeah, I appreciate the aesthetics and artistry of typography, and also learning and thinking about the design and functionality of typefaces, too.

[theologygeek]

23 hours ago, JemimaPuddle-Duck said:

After reading their blog for years and having mutual friends AND seeing things that people dig up on them here, it’s my opinion that the Maxwells don’t exert nearly the amount of control over the adult children that we think they do. I just can’t entirely figure out why they present themselves so oddly on their blog. Sigh. 

Because it's their livelihood.  It's how they pay their bills and feed their families.  Marketing.  The Maxwells are no different from anyone else with a business.  They're marketing. 

[theologygeek]

On 3/8/2018 at 4:21 PM, FloraKitty35 said:

I don't think Stevehovah would correspond with Prince John.  John might would attempt to grift off Steve and a quick look at John's social media shows how lazy he is (and the Maxwell's do not appear to be lazy).  Dammit, I said something borderline complimentary of Steve, I'll see myself off to the prayer closet.

To me, they're lazy.  One day the Maxwell adult children "blessed" their parents by cleaning the mess in the yard.  Not here.  It's expected.  If you're going to live in my house rent free, then you had better pull your weight.  I would have had a fit if it even got to the point of that mess in the first place.  https://blog.titus2.com/2015/09/02/initiative-every-parents-dream  There's no excuse for that. 

Those girls should have full time jobs.  Bunch of lazy moochers asking for donations right on their website.  Doing the conferences and side jobs here and there is not full time work.  Something is wrong when healthy, able bodied people who have not experienced a hardship have a permanent donation request on their website.  Look how sneaky they are about donations too.  They're standing in front of a church.  They don't even attend a regular church on Sundays.  https://www.titus2.com/support-titus2.html

[JemimaPuddle-Duck]

1 hour ago, theologygeek said:

Because it's their livelihood.  It's how they pay their bills and feed their families.  Marketing.  The Maxwells are no different from anyone else with a business.  They're marketing. 

But they’re marketing so poorly!! The children are grown adults now, there’s no reason why they couldn’t show them doing more. I’m fairly positive they hold back even more than what I actually know. Now, they certainly have a right to do that, but I don’t think it is helping people’s opinions of them or their sales. 

[nomoxian]

Quote

 For both our church and Titus2

(quote from their begging donation page) Why are they standing in front of an actual church and not the entrance to an Elders Home?

[theologygeek]

1 hour ago, nomoxian said:

(quote from their begging donation page) Why are they standing in front of an actual church and not the entrance to an Elders Home?

It's very deceiving. 

[Ivycoveredtower]

I had to laugh at the $35 free shipping being their blessing to everyone.

[FloraDoraDolly]

7 hours ago, JemimaPuddle-Duck said:

But they’re marketing so poorly!! The children are grown adults now, there’s no reason why they couldn’t show them doing more. I’m fairly positive they hold back even more than what I actually know. Now, they certainly have a right to do that, but I don’t think it is helping people’s opinions of them or their sales. 

"My grown daughters spend their days cleaning a house that's already clean and babysitting kids who already have a stay-at-home mom" doesn't speak well for the Maxwells' brand. Sarah has her books. But Anna and Mary do what, exactly? The same goes for Jesse.

At one time, when the Maxwells were touring around in Uriah and doing all those conferences, I could believe that the grown kids really were working full-time in the family business. But now? Do they really get so many orders that is takes six people (four chidults plus Steve and Teri) to process all the payments, pack up the books, and ship them? 

[Black Aliss]

11 hours ago, HermioneSparrow said:

I feel so sorry for fundie kids.. I can't imagine my childhood without Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling and Laura Ingalls... I just can't.

Or Dick King Smith, Lynn Reid Banks, Robin McKinley, Brian Jacques, E.B. White. . .

[theologygeek]

2 hours ago, FloraDoraDolly said:

"My grown daughters spend their days cleaning a house that's already clean and babysitting kids who already have a stay-at-home mom" doesn't speak well for the Maxwells' brand.

It does speak well for their brand though.  They have a specific target audience that they market to.  There are people out there who want what they have.  They don't really care about anyone else but their customers.  It's no different from any other business.  If you sold eggs, you wouldn't market your product to people who owned hens.  They market themselves as the perfect close knit Christian family.  Why do you think they wiped the failed courtships off the blog?  It's not good for business. 

[FloraDoraDolly]

33 minutes ago, theologygeek said:

It does speak well for their brand though.  They have a specific target audience that they market to.  There are people out there who want what they have.  They don't really care about anyone else but their customers.  It's no different from any other business.  If you sold eggs, you wouldn't market your product to people who owned hens.  They market themselves as the perfect close knit Christian family.  Why do you think they wiped the failed courtships off the blog?  It's not good for business. 

True, but I think most of these homeschooling parents would rather see their daughters turn out like the Bates girls, where they spend a few semesters at a Crown College type institution and then get married to the nice-looking young Christian men they meet there.

[anjulibai]

For the record, Anna, Mary and Sarah all have jobs. They work for their brothers doing various mundane office duties, like book keeping and invoices. I think does some graphic design for them and Anna does some programming, and probably is the one that speaks with female customers. Someone mentioned a while back hearing that Anna went to some software conference with her brothers. I doubt these jobs pay much and I bet Steve controls their money. They probably also don't work for many hours. But likely, these jobs fill a few hours each day when they aren't babysitting their nieces and nephews, polishing the ceiling fans and reading through the Bible for the umpteenth time. 

I also think those jobs are at least part of why the girls will never marry. Not just because Steve likes them at home (and that's the main reason), but because they are free labor for their brothers, both as cheap office workers and domestic help. The brothers are all "too busy" to do simple office tasks and probably think they are above such things, but they aren't going to want to have to try to hire outside their small sphere. 

[Lgirlrocks]

I don’t understand them. Why wouldn’t they want to promote their daughter as wonderful Christian women who became successful a successful homemaker wife and mother? Isn’t that the point to being a fundie? 

[Captain Obvious]

4 hours ago, FloraDoraDolly said:

At one time, when the Maxwells were touring around in Uriah and doing all those conferences, I could believe that the grown kids really were working full-time in the family business. But now? Do they really get so many orders that is takes six people (four chidults plus Steve and Teri) to process all the payments, pack up the books, and ship them? 

I think the book sales is only a small fragment of what they do, since Sarah is doing bookkeeping, Mary graphic design  and Anna IT stuff for the brothers’ companies.

How the brothers are doing well enough to need the support I have no idea - but then again, we only found out through the Bontragers that John’s irrigation business is successful enough for him to travel overseas regularly, so who the fuck knows?

What I really want to know is what the hell Teri and Steve do all day, since all the chores appear scheduled for the girls. It can’t be all Bible time, praying and gnashing of teeth, surely?