The Smyth Family Homesteaders

[formergothardite]

17 hours ago, So-Virgin-It-Hurts said:

I've never seen him smile. While it's true that I wouldn't be smiling if I were in his situation, I find myself worried/wondering.

He seems to be very uncomfortable being filmed. Especially when they are forcing him to perform by spouting character quality stuff. I worry about him too. I don't get the impression that the parents are respectful of any of their children's wishes for privacy. The ability to say "I don't want to do this" probably isn't there with this family. 

[OGEmoji]

On 10/25/2018 at 12:18 PM, EowynW said:

Insurance is expensive. We have it through Mr EW's  work but it STILL hits us hard. A lot of people can't afford much if any insurance in this country. If we didn't get it through work we wouldn't be able to afford it. 

Insurance, as well as all other basic needs, can be afforded more easily if BOTH parents work.

I'm all for whatever arrangement works for each family, but if they can't afford to get their kids medical care when needed, then she can't afford to be a SAHM. If she would work too, they could provide their kids with a much better quality of life. Of course, then Kip couldn't be the controlling central figure in their lives that they worship and idolize.

[So-Virgin-It-Hurts]

5 hours ago, OGEmoji said:

Insurance, as well as all other basic needs, can be afforded more easily if BOTH parents work.

I'm all for whatever arrangement works for each family, but if they can't afford to get their kids medical care when needed, then she can't afford to be a SAHM. If she would work too, they could provide their kids with a much better quality of life. Of course, then Kip couldn't be the controlling central figure in their lives that they worship and idolize.

I don't want to turn this discussion to the political (i.e. the need for the US to have some form of national healthcare at least for basics) but I mostly agree @OGEmoji. A huge part of caring for your kids is provision of basic healthcare. Parents do what they have to for their kids. Perhaps the answer for some is one parent works longer hours or the stay-at-home parent makes $ some way in order to purchase insurance.

When kids are out of the picture - true in my case - many of us are working at a level which we'd rather not any more for health insurance; either job-provided or to purchase privately. Sadly, we don't have national healthcare in the US . . . another topic.

[Lisafer]

On 11/20/2018 at 6:50 AM, OGEmoji said:

Insurance, as well as all other basic needs, can be afforded more easily if BOTH parents work.

I'm all for whatever arrangement works for each family, but if they can't afford to get their kids medical care when needed, then she can't afford to be a SAHM. If she would work too, they could provide their kids with a much better quality of life. Of course, then Kip couldn't be the controlling central figure in their lives that they worship and idolize.

The sad thing is, with their income level and number of children, they would absolutely qualify for Missouri Medicaid for the kids. Free healthcare, checkups, er visits, etc. 

The crazy thing is, because my family (also in Missouri) is two-income, we have to pay a high premium for my kids to be on the CHIP program, and we can't afford health insurance for me. (And I'm the one with the worst health and most chronic conditions). If I quit my job and stayed home, my children's insurance would be free. Sometimes I wonder if that would be a better option...

U.S. healthcare sucks allll around. But these folks have chosen to make it worse by not accepting the offered assistance. 

[So-Virgin-It-Hurts]

2 hours ago, Lisafer said:

But these folks have chosen to make it worse by not accepting the offered assistance. 

Do we know this for sure? I haven't seen this in vids or read this but I also haven't gone through everything they put out there. Last night I watched the video of  Joseph getting his cast removed and the aftermath of him having to "relearn" how to walk. Now, kids break bones - we all know - but that was pretty heart-breaking to watch (no pun intended). He was so weak afterwards. I think typically a child in that type of contraption would have been referred for a physical therapy consultation - maybe someone here can comment knowledgeably - as far as I know PT was never mentioned.

Edited November 21, 2018 by So-Virgin-It-Hurts
an extra word

[Lisafer]

58 minutes ago, So-Virgin-It-Hurts said:

Do we know this for sure? I haven't seen this in vids or read this but I also haven't gone through everything they put out there. Last night I watched the video of  Joseph getting his cast removed and the aftermath of him having to "relearn" how to walk. Now, kids break bones - we all know - but that was pretty heart-breaking to watch (no pun intended). He was so weak afterwards. I think typically a child in that type of contraption would have been referred for a physical therapy consultation - maybe someone here can comment knowledgeably - as far as I know PT was never mentioned.

Possibly they do accept Medicaid--I went back through the thread and couldn't find anything definite, and I don't want to listen to all his videos! He seems pretty anti-government, so I think that's where I got the impression.  Of course, it wouldn't sound very self-sufficient if they admitted to using government assistance!

[formergothardite]

54 minutes ago, Lisafer said:

Of course, it wouldn't sound very self-sufficient if they admitted to using government assistance!

He is only self-sufficient in his mind! But he does seem to be rabidly anti-government. Hopefully he would accept government help for the sake of his children but men like that often won't. 

[Dandruff]

On 11/21/2018 at 3:07 PM, formergothardite said:

But he does seem to be rabidly anti-government.

I think he's just rabid.  Recent video, on the eve of the beginning of Hanukkah, has him explaining to his sons that the religious leaders in the time of Jesus wouldn't help someone because of their "legalism".

[EowynW]

4 hours ago, Dandruff said:

I think he's just rabid.  Recent video, on the eve of the beginning of Hanukkah, has him explaining to his sons that the religious leaders in the time of Jesus wouldn't help someone because of their "legalism".

But that's partly true. They were prideful, hard hearted and legalistic. 

[Dandruff]

2 hours ago, EowynW said:

But that's partly true. They were prideful, hard hearted and legalistic. 

That depends on what one wants to believe and spread.  I wasn't there, were you?  There are multiple interpretations of the Good Samaritan parable. 

The dad can teach his children what he wants but he chose to put his critical view on video at a time when there's rising anti-semitism in the US and elsewhere...not that I'd be OK with it if anti-semitism wasn't rising. 

[zcccrv]

I just want to share my updated impression on the Smyths. My original opinion on Kip still holds but I don't really enjoy their videos anymore, which I used to do. I think they were more relaxed and earnest in their early days of vlogging. Nowadays they seem much more image conscious and uptight about things. Even the kids (not the really young ones but those from Esther up) seem  more aware of how they will be perceived on camera and what their viewers want to see. Kip now seems to have a need to justify cross promotion or selling stuff by bending through some mental loops. The "vlogging lifestyle" is just not very compatible with the "from scratch/modest/no self promotion" lifestyle that they were striving for and I think it shows.

[closetcagebaby]

They’re now expecting their seventh child and they’ve added another homestead family onto their property - a couple with three kids, one a very new newborn. Carrie just looks...tired. I’m weirdly compelled by this family. 

[Triplet3]

39 minutes ago, closetcagebaby said:

They’re now expecting their seventh child and they’ve added another homestead family onto their property - a couple with three kids, one a very new newborn. Carrie just looks...tired. I’m weirdly compelled by this family. 

What are their children's names?

[closetcagebaby]

13 minutes ago, Triplet3 said:

What are their children's names?

They have Esther, Joshua, Joseph, Nathan, Caleb and I am not certain of the littlest one’s name. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, closetcagebaby said:

They’re now expecting their seventh child and they’ve added another homestead family onto their property - a couple with three kids, one a very new newborn. Carrie just looks...tired. I’m weirdly compelled by this family. 

Do you know anything about the other family? How long have they known them? Have they ever homesteaded before?

[Wolf in Sheeples’ Clothing]

32 minutes ago, closetcagebaby said:

They have Esther, Joshua, Joseph, Nathan, Caleb and I am not certain of the littlest one’s name. 

The youngest is Naomi. 

[closetcagebaby]

40 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Do you know anything about the other family? How long have they known them? Have they ever homesteaded before?

I was just coming back to post about them! They are the Kellogg family and their blog is Our Yurtiful Life. I've been doing some reading and they are fascinating in a much different way to me than the Smyth family. Sarah, the mother/wife, is a midwife - she links to her old blog from the new one and let me warn everyone that the second or third post includes extremely graphic photos of her miscarried seven week old embryo (not sure what the correct term is exactly).

They seem to be same flavor of Christian mixed with random Judaism as the Smyth family - they mention Purim on their blog. Sarah wears a head covering. They live in a traditional Mongolian yurt, although it recently was washed away in a flash flood so they are currently building a platform and trying to get it back up. Their last child was an unassisted, at home, water birth. All of their children's names start with Fire-.

I don't think they've homesteaded before. It seems like before they achieved their yurt dreams they lived on Sarah's family farm. I think she may have been raised sort of fundie although she and Keagan met in college.

Edited September 28, 2019 by closetcagebaby
grammar

[llucie]

5 minutes ago, closetcagebaby said:

I was just coming back to post about them! They are the Kellogg family and their blog is Our Yurtiful Life. I've been doing some reading and they are fascinating in a much different way to me than the Smyth family. Sarah, the mother/wife, is a midwife - she links to her old blog from the new one and let me warn everyone that the second or third post includes extremely graphic photos of her miscarried seven week old embryo (not sure what the correct term is exactly).

They seem to be same flavor of Christian mixed with random Judaism as the Smyth family - they mention Purim on their blog. Sarah wears a head covering. They live in a traditional Mongolian yurt, although it recently was washed away in a flash flood so they are currently building a platform and trying to get it back up. Their last child was an unassisted, at home, water birth. All of their children's names start with Fire-.

I don't think they're homesteaded before. It seems like before they achieved their yurt dreams they lived on Sarah's family farm. I think she may have been raised sort of fundie although she and Keagan met in college.

If someone is curious they are Firefly, Firenew and Firestone. What a dificult naming theme to choose when you are planing to have a large brood (i asume they are, since the children are so close together in age, all 3 and under, and they have join the Smyth compound).  I suggest Firence for the next one.

[closetcagebaby]

They actually have a third family as well! Dang. I think they're the Knowltons? But they are back in Maine "doing paperwork" for the time being.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Oh those names are bad. I have a hippie side but that’s too damn hippie for me. 

Future names:

Firebird

Fireplace

Firehose

Firestarter

Firering

Firealarm

Firedoor

Fireball

Firewater

Firecrotch

[closetcagebaby]

@JermajestyDuggar they named the child they miscarried Firecracker so you’re not too far off...

[Kailash]

They are nicknames, I believe. Here’s a screenshot from one of her blog posts. I don’t know how to link to it, sorry. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I’m relieved they are just nick names!

[llucie]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I’m relieved they are just nick names!

Me too! i wonder why they are saying those are the names on their website though, there is no mention they are nicknames. Like dont get me wrong respecting the privacy of the kids is great if thats the reason but if they are really worried about their privacy then maybe having both a blog with pictures of them and moving to live with a family that vlogs for youtube maybe not the smartest idea.

[dripcurl]

Well, even if they did have a kid named Fireball on their rural homestead, it would probably not be the first time in American history that has happened.