Fight For Together / Crawford Family

[Anonymousguest]

2 hours ago, Howl said:

The parallel example would be that you got in your car and never used seat belts.

Mmmm, maybe. I don't think it's that drastic. It's not illegal to drink the water, just ill advised. I was going to compare it to speeding, but even that is illegal, but almost everyone does it. So I can't think of a car related corollary. 

[Black Aliss]

On 5/18/2018 at 5:19 PM, Curious said:

I have read this whole thread.  I have not watched any videos.  My major complaint is "fight for together" is driving me mad.  Shouldn't it be "fight for togetherness?"

It's like "Be Best"

[Trying to understand]

They finished the Trail yesterday!!! The state park that the the last mountain is in has a rule that anyone under the age of five can not go to the summit of that mountain.  They decided as a family that if the two year old couldn't go to the top, no one would. They didn't hike the last mile which was the summit, but did the whole thing in the time frame they gave themselves. I am proud of them especially the kids!

[Howl]

Yes, that is pretty amazing.  What's next?

[chaotic life]

Not even going to delve into where my instincts come from as getting specific at what I see and why I know what it indicates would be dangerous for me.

But....to the point. He is an abusive, narcissistic sex addict who has cheated on her with more women then he can ever remember and continues to mask his indiscretions as far less than they actually were, possibly as a porn addiction which is considered more palatable. He is completely objectified her and she goes along because she sees no other choice and has not yet learned the truth of coercive control. She is likely a loving and devoted mother and has likely had it threatened he will take her children, and if she left them when she left him then it will be a huge undercurrent of fear used to control her. She has also been well groomed to accept learned helplessness and believe it was all her idea.

One day she will be unable to do it again and he will attempt to smear her and paint her as a bad mother, will cut off the finances and will try to take her children from her.

The picture ANY woman paints after sex addiction is exposed is often o rely supportive and presents as fully participatory in the increasingly voyueristic and inappropriate sexual behaviors. It’s about survival. Deep inside it’s not real. True sec addicts have such low rates of recovery it essentially does not exist. But after the first betrayal she will cling to the promise it does until she cannot any longer.

If she is smart she will gather all of her evidence as she fights to survive now and store it where it is it accessible to him. If she does, she will get herself and her kids out relatively safely. If not when she can no longer mask it will be a long and dangerous journey to get herself and her kids safe and free.

[Palimpsest]

On 8/10/2018 at 8:23 AM, Trying to understand said:

They finished the Trail yesterday!!! The state park that the the last mountain is in has a rule that anyone under the age of five can not go to the summit of that mountain.  They decided as a family that if the two year old couldn't go to the top, no one would. They didn't hike the last mile which was the summit, but did the whole thing in the time frame they gave themselves. I am proud of them especially the kids!

I'm very proud of the kids, especially the 7 year-old.  Not so much the parents.  Yes, it is an achievement, and well planned, but from what I can see the parents moaned the entire length of the trip.  And they had hugely generous help from Trail Angels.

They were pretty nasty to the Baxter Park Rangers on Facebook on August 10.  Sorry Ben, rules are rules.  Two year-olds in back packs are not allowed to summit, even if they are Crawfords.  

Quote

 

Yo Baxter. Thanks for the beautiful park and kind words on social media and such. Sorry we weren’t able to meet your ranger that was waiting for us on the summit. Gonna have to get that $250 somewhere else. Also, sorry that our sign looks better than your sign. You’re free to look at it but we only allow ages 6 and under to stand on it. I’m sure you understand. 
Much love, 
- The Crawfords

 

https://www.facebook.com/fightfortogether/

Well, now they are smoking cigars and waiting for the sleeping bags to dry.  The parents, that is, not the kids.  The kids finished the AT in time to go to camp, which was their goal not their parents' goal.  I hope they enjoy camp.  I expect they will be glad of the rest and of getting away from Ben.

After that I hope they go home and catch up on their homeschooling.  I certainly think the AT is educational, but they probably need to catch up on a lot of reading, writing and arithmetic.  Still, good for the kids!

[AliceInFundyland]

So. Many. Trail Angels. If I had the inclination to such things I would have tried to calculate how many. There were a lot! Plus the first set of shoes for everyone. Then the review of said shoes with the unsubtle grift for another set. (That was about when I quit watching as much).

In the video where they said they couldn't summit they called the Baxter people cult-like. Then they blathered about that being a recurrent theme in their lives.

Wouldn't you find that sort of thing out in your research of an exhaustive 2000 mile hike? Really? It would not shock me if they conveniently ignored it thinking they could just 'figure it out when/if they got to the end.'

I hope they can get their pets back.

[Lurky]

8 hours ago, AliceInFundyland said:

Wouldn't you find that sort of thing out in your research of an exhaustive 2000 mile hike? Really? It would not shock me if they conveniently ignored it thinking they could just 'figure it out when/if they got to the end.'

I think they assumed that they are so damn special, the rules would be changed for them.  I just hope they'd managed their children's expectations about it, so the kids weren't disappointed.

[AliceInFundyland]

Ben Crawford is quite possibly one of the ultimate “speshul snowflakes.” 

[DangerNoodle]

Caught up with this family....

*The oldest daughter, Dove, is doing an apprenticeship with a photographer in Nashville. She's been studying photography styles and now she's ready to learn editing. She recently got her learner's permit.

*They are paying $30,000 to have someone to ghost write a book about their Appalachian Trail story. 

*This family has a shit ton of money. (no hate) They spent little over $25,000 on the Appalachian Trail. Their budget was $50, 000. Trail Angels saved them money by getting them meals and places to stay at no charge. Ben casually mentions he bought himself some $350 headphones. Lots of electronic toys. This is no Rod family situation. They eat well, often and usually at restaurants. Over the past 10 years they have driven across the country five times. 

*Rainer had painted fingers and toenails. That was unexpected. I'm glad they aren't super rigid parents.

*They don't spend too much time at home it seems. They mostly travel around visiting family and friends. 

[Mozzie]

I just came across them today*: as well as one of the kids sharing a bed with a parent, I heard there was a vlog where the parents bought one of the daughters a gift pack full of lube, tissues and other masturbatory aids and then they vlogged about it. Such odd behaviour! 

They really must be trolls if they're doing stuff like this.

*I was looking at forums about more mainstream YouTube vloggers on Tattle.life and there was a link to a Livejournal entry that referenced the particular vloggers I was reading about (the Ingham Family) that also mentioned the weird bed-sharing vlog on the Crawford's channel.

[AliceInFundyland]

Oh they are still weird. I checked in with them recently.

Ben isn't OK unless he's having a life crisis.

Recent changes:

No Rules!  This has had the outcomes you might expect in a house full of teenagers.

Monetizing the VLOG. Ben has spent all his time responding and reaching out to the world for four years. What is in it for him? Plus, this might give the teens some income and promote real life skills (they aren't big on college)

Ben is writing books.

Basically it's still all about reconfiguring things to keep everyone involved and at home.

In the one clip I saw of Dove she admitted that she was having a hard time doing stuff for the family and being involved. I may be projecting but girlfriend looked depressed.

[AliceInFundyland]

Necro'ing this. I wanted to see what they might be up to in light of the COPPA ruling. They are uber kid friendly. The kids were taught to run the "business."

There are a lot of videos I want to investigate. The year of no rules appears to have had some interesting rebellions.

But! Now the three eldest kids have been handed a house of their own and $45,000 as a fixer-upper project.

Meanwhile, Ben and Kami have a podcast, a faith series. I sense the manipulatory attempts of an overlord to divert his followers.

"Follow Those Kids" (Possibly in their own, separate, spin-off series, while still being under Dad's reign)

Interesting.

ETA:

They are never happy with themselves. I know it's part of the cultural pressure they experienced as young adults.

In Ben's school of life - he thinks this is "no strings attached." AHAHAHAHA.  They aren't anti-college. But they are SO anti-college that they've given them an up-scale Dugger version of debt-free living. Do what you want with this money and property. Anything. Sell it. But we get right of first refusal if you sell it.  And only one of them, Dove is legally able to have it in her name. So it's her problem.

I will make the obligatory, "yes, avoiding student loan debt until you're sure you want it is a responsible choice," statement. Having life choices thrust upon us by our parents in order to experience new things - like, running marathons - or hiking the Applachian Trail, also - sounds ok.

But "Ben Crawford is some sort of libertarian version of Steven Anderson." Seriously. Little man syndrome.

He and Kami have also tried the Pearls child training methods and spoken about them on cute little Rainier. They have horrible stories about fighting and general gender dysfunction at the beginning of their marriage. She gets depression. They have indicated fights with the teenagers.

There's no doubt in my mind that he's a spoiled egomaniac control-freak,

 

Edited January 18, 2020 by AliceInFundyland
mentioning the bad shit to catch people up

[AliceInFundyland]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owet9pwfSdU&list=PL34xHw8SldTZjcAaxt9ukTQRtVW-L_jG-

Oh, this is perfect.

Four years after starting on the internet, and with a lot of introspection - they cut to the chase.

This link here and (I assume what comes next) explains where these morons got started.

Ben's parents were Plymouth of Brethren in a small offshoot somewhere in the PNW. It was restrictive. His mother was more into it then his Dad. Always a man who likes rules, you'll learn how this fucks up his life. Porn addiction, Church addiction. Gambling addiction. Pretty much emotionally and psychologically abusive husband and father who needs to GTFOTI,

Kami was a pastor's kid. Dad ran a megachurch.

They met at Multnomah Bible College here in Portland.

(All of this comes from the podcast. If you read this thread and want to jump in, start now with the podcast then go back through some of their curated playlists. Ben's goal in life is to be famous. He edits himself ruthlessly. They are still annoying and are cringeworthy. But, he's...working his grift. Their channel numbers are up since they started vlogging.

This is what's insidious. Part of what's interesting about these two is what made them so fucked up. I've wondered.

If I understand this COPPA ruling correctly based on what I know from the Andrea Mills thread, everything on their thread should be in violation as well. This family does everything together. They're most definitely trying to profit from it. I fail to see how other children wouldn't enjoy it. Especially the Appalachian trail series.

I'm still looking around but I think he'll encourage the kids to start their own channel.

He's negging her so hard in the podcast. It can be hard to take. They have a dynamic where they've come to remember their shared past as equally painful. As long as Ben's narrative is dominant.

Next up: They joined Mars Hill w/ Mark Driscoll

[socksandsandlewood]

Hi y'all! I just made an account here to vent because Ben Crawford wrote and published a book during the pandemic and I've been suckered into reading it. (Basically my hubs followed their AT trek on instagram and liked it and thought any ideas for making life with kids during covid less crazy might be worth checking out. He admits the book was a bit disappointing but asked me to read it anyway.)

Anyway after 3 chapters (3/7ths of a very short book) I had to stop and look up the backstory because this guy is nutzo. Anyone interested in a synopsis? Because snark is the only way I'm going to get through this thing.

[Pecansforeveryone]

@socksandsandlewood, welcome to FJ! Sure, I would enjoy a synopsis.

[socksandsandlewood]

Ok! Here we go! I'll discuss the structure of the book, Ben's preface to the second edition, and the introduction.

The book "Unleash Your Family: From Chaos to Creativity in One Week" is meant to be read in "less than 60 minutes. " 

This is fitting given that Ben says he wrote the book in 4 days and published the "first edition" as an unedited e-book. This second edition exisits in paperback form, and consists of 9 chapters and 102 numbered pages. 

Spoiler alert: page 102 consists solely of the following italicized words "Let's go!" 

 

Anyway, each chapter is named for a day of the week. The book, however, starts on a Saturday and ends on a Sunday, which means it technically covers a 9 day timespan. At this point I'm somewhat concerned about Ben's ability to homeschool anything more sentient than a potted plant. 

"Number 1 Best Seller" is plastered on the cover and in the preface.  He claims this because after a week as an ebook 2700 people downloaded it from Google docs and it rocketed to the top of categories like "#1 New Release in Two-Hour Parenting and Short Reads." 

To be fair he also says that it was a #1 Best Seller in Personal Transformation and in Parenting. There is of course no way to easily verify any of these claims given that he doesn't say when he first published it. I'm guessing some time in April 2020? 

 

On to the "Intro." Because typing out the word "introduction" might push a writer in a 5th day of effort. 

In the intro he talks about living life with purpose rather than responding to panic, which so far seems to be the theme of the book. Covid and lockdown make us panic so we should fill our lives with purpose as an antidote. 

He then goes on to mention their unconventional lifestyle and that they've been on welfare and have also been Millionaires. He also mentions that they have a nursing degree they never used which I glossed over initially but now see as a barb towards Kami. 

The intro ends with the same italicized "Let's go!" At least it doesn't get it's own page at this point. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trying to understand]

The book they wrote/ ghost wrote about the Appalachian Trail is published. Since I am a backpacking person I got the ebook while it was on sale. Honestly it was pretty good. It doesn't dive to deep into parenting philosophy, but it's there. It focuses a lot on the over all adventure. If you like to read books about backpacking I would recommend it. Also he didn't shy away from the controversy that he got online, but honestly I think that's because he thought it would sell better- CPS coming for you on top of a mountain? Who wouldn't want to read that? Lol 

 

 

[Bethella]

Bumping the thread to note that the family is facing criticism after bribing the 6-year-old (who was struggling) to finish running a marathon. 

Quote

Organizers of an Ohio marathon and the family of a 6-year-old boy who was allowed to race are receiving heavy criticism from the running community, including some Olympians.

Kami and Ben Crawford, of Bellevue, Kentucky, say their 6-year-old son joined their family of eight in the Flying Pig Marathon, held Sunday, May 1, in Cincinnati. The boy’s inclusion in the 26.2-mile race was allowed despite marathon participants needing to be at least 18 years old.

The family crossed the finish line together at just over 8 hours, 36 minutes. Children in the Crawford family have raced in at least 33 marathons, but it’s the latest one that is drawing complaints.

One social media post by the parents said the boy was “struggling physically” around the 20th mile and needed to sit every three minutes. But the boy was promised two sleeves of Pringles, which the family said helped push him to the finish line.

https://news.yahoo.com/struggling-6-old-completes-marathon-164857696.html

[JermajestyDuggar]

6 minutes ago, Bethella said:

Bumping the thread to note that the family is facing criticism after bribing the 6-year-old (who was struggling) to finish running a marathon. 

https://news.yahoo.com/struggling-6-old-completes-marathon-164857696.html

They deserve the criticism. And he shouldn’t have been allowed in the race if he wasn’t old enough. Fundies always find a way around the rules. They think they are above the rules because god. 

[zee_four]

Eek that kind of heavy running for kids that young is NOT healthy. I was on the USATF junior national team as a jumper and CO state championship and got a D1 scholarship. My high school team had some of the best distance runners in the nation at that point, a few went on to race professionally after D1 college careers. 

Anyway there was a sister combination who were all stars, they were 3 and 1 years ahead of me. The younger sister started at the end of middle school when the older sister got into it and they all did on average 100 mile weeks for (century) training. The younger sister went of the UNC Chapel Hill on a full ride but only competed 2 years. She was very short and under 100 lbs. Her body was just wrecked. She didn't start her normal period until after she started running and because she never had the hormones that come with puberty, she had osteoporosis like a postmenopausal woman. She had hip and spine fractures. She is married and has 2 kids now but her body was just destroyed.

She was a highly monitored elite athlete through high school and college, and the coaches she had were really great and caring, some were our head coaches in high school. She didn't overtrain the thing was she had started young and because of that her body hadn't had a chance to develop in a way that could handle that type of elite workout regimine. Her older sister started in high school not 8th grade and the difference was pretty profound. She was also small for her age. 

The point is to have children that young running that type of distance and that type of eegimine is child abuse pure and simple. I shudder to think what that poor boys body will be like when he is older.

5K fun runs, family jogs? When monitored and done physically and mentally healthy with the family is great. Marathon training at 6 years old? No. No. I know marathons are super trendy and there's a lot of people who don't know what they're doing but this takes the cake and no coach, trainer or expert would ever allow this. I wonder what his pediatrician says or even if they even take their kids to a pet.

This really really bothers me.

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by zee_four

[socksandsandlewood]

Ha. I started this thread then couldn't bring myself to pick up the stupid book again because it was so bad and it was 2020. 🤣 I saw the Instagram post. I don't think it's fair of them to flour rules like that- they are there for a lot of safety reasons and often driven by the race's insurance! 

Aso stopping every 3 minutes after mile 20 sounds excruciatingly unpleasant for everyone involved- they had more than 6 miles to go at that point! Just quit! Don't make your 6 year old suffer and don't make your big kids wait hours for you- they must have been mortified!

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, socksandsandlewood said:

Ha. I started this thread then couldn't bring myself to pick up the stupid book again because it was so bad and it was 2020. 🤣 I saw the Instagram post. I don't think it's fair of them to flour rules like that- they are there for a lot of safety reasons and often driven by the race's insurance! 

Aso stopping every 3 minutes after mile 20 sounds excruciatingly unpleasant for everyone involved- they had more than 6 miles to go at that point! Just quit! Don't make your 6 year old suffer and don't make your big kids wait hours for you- they must have been mortified!

They seem like Tiger parent fundies. I don’t know what’s worse. Tiger parent fundies or neglectful parent fundies. They both will cause harm.