Maxwell 32: Wearing Your Vest in 15 Minute Increments

[Giraffe]

19 minutes ago, anachronistic said:

The oldest - Abby, I think - is so bored. The next exciting thing in her life is her marriage, for goodness sakes.

Does she have outside friends? I feel so sad for her. As she gets older she looks more sad. It’s one thing to only have same age cousins but she doesn’t even have that! At her age even someone (Bethany) only a couple years younger is still a big gap and I hope it’s just not shared on the blog. 

[Jana814]

1 hour ago, Giraffe said:

Does she have outside friends? I feel so sad for her. As she gets older she looks more sad. It’s one thing to only have same age cousins but she doesn’t even have that! At her age even someone (Bethany) only a couple years younger is still a big gap and I hope it’s just not shared on the blog. 

I highly doubt that she has outside friends. Poor kid. I don’t even think their are any kids at their church that are her age. 

[NancyDrewFan1989]

2 hours ago, anachronistic said:

The oldest - Abby, I think - is so bored. The next exciting thing in her life is her marriage, for goodness sakes.

The only problem I foresee with this is Nathan taking the same route as Steve did with Sarah when prospective suitors came knocking. I do hope that Melanie isn't like Teri and protect cut off any chance for them to live out side the home and stand up to Nathan when the time comes. I can only imagine what Sarah, Anna and Mary (if they aren't married by this point) will feel if Abby walks down the aisle.

[Lgirlrocks]

I couldn’t imagine not being able to hang out with people my own age. I’m an introvert but I do like spending time with friends. The thing I hated the most about being home schooled was not being around people my own age. 

[mastercleaner]

Ok, so I have a question for Mary and Anna..  in regards to their face painting and balloon making..

What if a child comes and says they want their face painted like spiderman? or wanted a pokemon balloon, or a captain america face or iron man or something with movies or tv.  I can imagine lots of kids would want paw patrol face paint?

So do they just say they dont offer that?   Or do they admit they dont know what that is?

[IReallyAmHopewell]

3 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

olating them in their rooms as consequences. 

1

Wait--"Go to your room?" No way! Well, now that I think about it, I'm sure they'd have to leave the door wide open. No napping or reading. And certainly no music or internet.

[Palimpsest]

2 minutes ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Wait--"Go to your room?" No way! Well, now that I think about it, I'm sure they'd have to leave the door wide open. No napping or reading. And certainly no music or internet.

No, the "go to your room" stuff was even nastier than that.

It goes back to when Teri was seriously depressed and could not cope with the three children she already had.  Steve was still working outside the home.   By their own account, Steve and Teri isolated Nathan, Christopher, and Sarah in their own rooms during the day so they could not quarrel and upset Teri (AKA behave like normal kids),  Steve made "Daddy tapes" for them to listen to, set them homeschooling tasks, and checked their work in the evenings. 

The "Daddy tapes" continued into the Reversal era.  They were focused on each child's character flaws.  But one child missed out.  He or she had to listen to one of the other Daddy tapes because Steve lacked the time to make a special one for that little sinner.

 

 

[zee_four]

On 9/3/2019 at 11:40 PM, Maggie Mae said:

They don't seem to be doing a lot of technical hiking, and at least in this last one, they started above the tree line. In my area, which is not colorado, the biggest concern would be alders and cow parsnip, which is easily avoidable. Most of the time. The thing with hiking is that you are moving around, uphill, and it's exercise. Exercise makes you warm. Then the weather changes. It could be sunny and warm when we start, but once I get up to 3,500 ft, the wind might pick up, there might be snow, etc. For a 14er, they wouldn't start at 0 elevation, but it's still going to be chilly at the summit. Which is why they have packs that likely have tights for the girls to put under their skirts and coats and maybe a hat and gloves. 

They are wearing socks. They are also wearing trail running shoes, instead of hiking boots. Which is all fine, there's good tread and they are in good physical health. Terry's post was much more interesting than Sarah's, she should do more of the blogging.

They also seem to know people in Colorado which is probably why they go back. We go to Hawaii most years, our friends parent's live there and a bunch of people I know go for the same event. We also go elsewhere, but I just love Hawaii so much and hate missing the trip if we can't fit it in. So I totally get it. They probably feel at home in the mountains like I do on the beach.  

I just don't care about the grandkids. I don't even know which one goes to which maxwell son, nor do I care. I know that one SIL is still dressing like it's 1980 and i find it weird. They will be brainwashed, it will be sad, and they will have a close knit family with lots of aunts and uncles to make sure they don't stray from their pre-determined path. 

They likely don't do anything after the hike. They go back to their cabin (which looks lovely) and eat dinner and have bible time and fellowship. Then they go to bed early because they are exhausted and don't drink. 

Non fundies go out to the local craft breweries, get a bite to eat and a beer, talk about the hike, maybe go back to the VRBO or to a local place for entertainment and then go to bed. Or they play board games/cards/whatever. 

This. Im from where they hike. They start anywhere between 6,000-8,000 feet for their hikes. Last year at Mt. of the Holy Cross which is near Leadville (this is the closest theyve been to my stomping grounds like 20 min from where I grew up which is close in CO Rockies terms haha) they were closer to 9,000-10,000 ft.

I know the Maxwells would never go to the local dispensary, go get local craft beers, hang out at the local bars, etc. but there are enough Christian camps in Colorado where Christians of various flavors including fundie come every summer from across the country. They horseback ride, raft, fish, take Jeep tours, go target shooting, do outdoor crafts. There's tons of food  and craft festivals and farmer's markets in the mountain towns. All Christian, even fundie, approved.

They could do all of that.

But they don't because they're Maxwells.

[Giraffe]

26 minutes ago, mastercleaner said:

Ok, so I have a question for Mary and Anna..  in regards to their face painting and balloon making..

What if a child comes and says they want their face painted like spiderman? or wanted a pokemon balloon, or a captain america face or iron man or something with movies or tv.  I can imagine lots of kids would want paw patrol face paint?

So do they just say they dont offer that?   Or do they admit they dont know what that is?

Knowing them, they probably have a couple sheets of paper with designs the kids can choose from. 

[Jana814]

4 minutes ago, Giraffe said:

Knowing them, they probably have a couple sheets of paper with designs the kids can choose from. 

I think they do. I think Sarah wrote in on the blog once or was a response to a comment. 

[Giraffe]

It’s not a bad idea because the painter knows they can make the picture, but for them it has the added “protection” of making sure somebody doesn’t get [insert anything Stevie finds objectionable]. 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

40 minutes ago, Palimpsest said:

No, the "go to your room" stuff was even nastier than that.

It goes back to when Teri was seriously depressed and could not cope with the three children she already had.  Steve was still working outside the home.   By their own account, Steve and Teri isolated Nathan, Christopher, and Sarah in their own rooms during the day so they could not quarrel and upset Teri (AKA behave like normal kids), 

 

I grew up having to tip-toe around my Dad's depression. I feel for them. Thank God I had a loving and creative Mom who kept us happy but quiet.

[kpmom]

4 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

Actually, I don't think they were ever friends.  They may have run in the same circles for a while.  They certainly overlap in the Venn diagram of Fundamentalism, but I'm don't think they were friends.

I think rivals for followers better describes it.  Pearl has taken public swipes at Maxwell for oversheltering his children (not naming Steve, but it was clear who he was talking about.) 

 

I always assumed they were friends once upon a time.  At least Debi Pearl wrote some guest articles for Teri's Mom's Corners in the late 1990's.  They're still there (last I looked anyway) on the Maxwell's Corners section.

Yeah, Michael sure did take a swipe at the Maxwells and their sheltering.  I remember reading that on Pearl's site and it was so obvious who he was talking about. 

[Fun-Dee]

1 hour ago, Palimpsest said:

No, the "go to your room" stuff was even nastier than that.

It goes back to when Teri was seriously depressed and could not cope with the three children she already had.  Steve was still working outside the home.   By their own account, Steve and Teri isolated Nathan, Christopher, and Sarah in their own rooms during the day so they could not quarrel and upset Teri (AKA behave like normal kids),  Steve made "Daddy tapes" for them to listen to, set them homeschooling tasks, and checked their work in the evenings. 

The "Daddy tapes" continued into the Reversal era.  They were focused on each child's character flaws.  But one child missed out.  He or she had to listen to one of the other Daddy tapes because Steve lacked the time to make a special one for that little sinner.

 

 

Awhile back, I started reading through the old 'Mom's Corners' and Dad's Corners.  They go back before Mary was born.  I couldn't find it recently, but I remember reading, probably a Dad's corner, where Steve says that Terri was having a hard time homeschooling, and wanted to quit.  He told her to shut the kids in their rooms all day and he would take care of the schooling when he got home.  After a short time of this, Terri felt guilty and decided she could homeschool after all.  Chalk up another win for Steve.  That was my take on it anyway.  

[Palimpsest]

50 minutes ago, kpmom said:

I always assumed they were friends once upon a time. 

My take on that is "sputniks."  Fellow travelers, "spouses,"and companions in Fundie dysfunction.  But their teachings diverged.  Quite significantly.

And it is push come to shove as to whose teachings are more destructive,  Pearl's teachings have caused horrible deaths, maimed children, and produced countless children who are trying to overcome their physical and emotional abuse.  I will never ignore that.

Maxwell's teachings have caused indefinite servitude and entrapment of his children, and other people's children, in his controlling beliefs.  His teachings are gentler but more insidious.

Pearl is easier to call out.  He preaches overt abuse.

Maxwell's gentler teachings are so less easy to nail.  For the general public at least.  I wonder who is more destructive in the long run.  It might be Maxwell.

 

Edited September 9, 2019 by Palimpsest

[FloraDoraDolly]

10 hours ago, SPHASH said:

Random Life post up.  I pray to God Grandma isn't doing blanket training with Axton.

That was my first thought as well. If I didn't know better, I'd think this was just an ordinary photo of a baby playing on a blanket. But I can't make that assumption about any fundie family.

[RosyDaisy]

Why can't these people just get a playpen? It's much safer than assuming blanket training will work.

[dripcurl]

“Neat part was it was nearly given to us from their 4H frequent flyers.”

This is a sentence. This is a sentence written by a woman who is an author. I think she means that the 4H kids got them a big discount on the ice cream, as in “nearly given” means “almost free” here in this context. That is, assuming “4H frequent flyers” means 4H kids who frequented the Maxwell’s booth. However it’s hard to get past the “was it was”.

Also, they should have blurred out the name that was labeled on the walker the one kid was goofing around with. 

 

CHRIS’ OUTFIT. He is in his 40’s and still dresses like a 12 year old Gothardite in 1999. I am dying. Interestingly enough, my fundie-lite MIL inflicted such attire, often matching like triplets, for a brief time on her 3 sons - my husband being the oldest. He confessed to me that as soon as he started working at 14, he blew most of his money on trendier clothes, and he has way too many to this day. He has more accessories than me too, he is not shy about making up for lost time. The first time we ever “met” was when he was 14, and I recall him dressing kind of “homeschooled” but not fundie enough to where you couldn’t tell the difference between that and an outfit a typical small town public school kid would wear. Anyway, lucky for my husband and siblings-in-law, they never adhered to Gothardism, but the khakis, ugly white oversized sneakers, and t-shirt tucked into pants is a trademark look I saw among many boys who did grow up in that shit. 

Edited September 10, 2019 by dripcurl

[mango_fandango]

I think one year Sarah mentioned that quite a few kids requested Kansas City Royals-related face designs. 

I feel sorry for Abby too. She must be able to notice that her aunts aren’t married. I’m sure if she asked why they weren’t she’d just be told that God hadn’t provided the right guy, but she must also wonder why not. I hope to God she gets married. There are more granddaughters than grandsons at this point so hopefully they will get married. 

[purjolok84]

Awhile back, I started reading through the old 'Mom's Corners' and Dad's Corners.  They go back before Mary was born.  I couldn't find it recently, but I remember reading, probably a Dad's corner, where Steve says that Terri was having a hard time homeschooling, and wanted to quit.  He told her to shut the kids in their rooms all day and he would take care of the schooling when he got home.  After a short time of this, Terri felt guilty and decided she could homeschool after all.  Chalk up another win for Steve.  That was my take on it anyway.  

Pretty much: 'Do as I say or I'll make everyone suffer.'

Steve is living proof you don't have to physically assault someone to be a monster. He's just very smart and knows what he can get away with.

[JillyO]

2 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

I think one year Sarah mentioned that quite a few kids requested Kansas City Royals-related face designs.

Organized sports?

Surely Anna and Mary dutifully informed all of those little sinners where they're going when they die?!?

[Jinderella]

14 hours ago, dripcurl said:

“Neat part was it was nearly given to us from their 4H frequent flyers.”

This is a sentence. This is a sentence written by a woman who is an author. I think she means that the 4H kids got them a big discount on the ice cream, as in “nearly given” means “almost free” here in this context. That is, assuming “4H frequent flyers” means 4H kids who frequented the Maxwell’s booth. However it’s hard to get past the “was it was”.

Wow. I read it like this: they bought some ice cream themselves, but most of them were a gift from the kids that were handing out flyers for 4H...

[PennySycamore]

However you interpret what Sarah wrote, it is word salad.  

[WineGlass]

21 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

I hope to God she gets married.

I hope to FSM that she gets out and lives her best life on her own terms. But your hope is more likely. 

[Markie]

We don’t see what happens beyond Maxwell World. I hope Abby has some friends of cousins from Melanie’s family that are her age. She seems too old for her years but kept having to play and read infantile games and books.