Alyssa & John 5: She's Raising Fashion Conscious Girls

[Seculardaisy]

16 minutes ago, HideousGreenShirt said:

Ugh I always forget how badly they came across on those specials @rebeccawriter01 mentioned.

https://youtu.be/Eh_njlNFEls

This one shows 18 year old Lawson shopping (doesn't talk about him paying) but it does say that he goes to the store almost every other day and the bill. In this episode is $258.

They also make "snow ice-cream" with the reporter which appears to horrifyingly be literal snow from the ground outside mixed with something. 

Erin, Alyssa and Tori are asked about privacy (6 min 38 seconds in), Erin insists that they get privacy when they want and Alyssa looks less than thrilled. 

It's obvious that Alyssa escaped the second she was able to, wasn't there some talk of the families waiting to allow them to court until she turned 18? According to fundi wiki, the couple met when she was 17-18 and helping with his dad's campaign. John proposed courtship days before her 19th birthday, then they were engaged 2 months later and married 4 months after that. 

That being said, I think John is one of the better fundie husbands (in that he values her health, appears supportive and involved with the kids) and they seem well matched as a couple.

Making Snow ice cream with your kids for fun is pretty common in MI where I’m from. We’ve not done it really but it’s a relatively normal thing to do right after a fresh snow fall around here.

[HideousGreenShirt]

Thanks @Seculardaisy I'd never heard of it before. I think it is probably a fun thing, but in that video they are gathering snow from right next to their vehicles and there is a dog hanging out with them. It just didn't seem super hygienic to me! 

[GuineaPigCourtship]

That reminds me of how much I loved the first good snowfall when I was a kid - we'd do sugar on snow.  I'm from New England and we have a lot of sugar maples here, so my family would make maple syrup and we'd always have a good supply.  Drizzle it over fresh powder- mmm!  We avoided areas near cars or animals, though.

[haroldtheyrefundies]

Where i live we rarely get snow, but when we do we always make frozen cokes with the snow. Or most times we will just get the snow that is on the cars and just eat it on its own. 

[rebeccawriter01]

On 1/4/2020 at 2:34 PM, HideousGreenShirt said:

Ugh I always forget how badly they came across on those specials @rebeccawriter01 mentioned.

https://youtu.be/Eh_njlNFEls

This one shows 18 year old Lawson shopping (doesn't talk about him paying) but it does say that he goes to the store almost every other day and the bill. In this episode is $258.

 

They used the same footage for several of the specials - just different hosts or reporters thrown in for something different. The Extraordinary Family one is on Amazon for like $1.99. This one on Youtube shows a male reporter who shows that they had/have cctv cameras to monitor everyone from the parents' bedroom. In the Extraordinary Family one they don't show the cameras but show Lawson shopping, talking about paying for things (loan) and going shopping at Walmart with JuJu Chang to pick out something "modest" for her to wear to the hotel pool where she has invited the kids over to swim. There is also an interview with Kelly about the miscarriage between Jeb and Judson, as well as the road trip to ATI. JuJu does ask why the boys get to do things like repelling down a wall while the girls leaned songs about cleaning up and doing laundry/dishes. Kelly Jo brushes it off and says that they should suggest the girls get to do more outdoor things in the future. 

The same footage (with some added) was used for the story that Alyssa's wedding and a brief overview of her life in Florida as a newlywed.

As for the snow ice cream. We did that here in Georgia and when I visited Anderson County near the Bates to see my family. We were very picky about where we picked up the snow (wanting to avoid snow directly on dirt or where other things might be mixed in with it). My family in TN who are somewhat similar in some beliefs to the Bates would say, "God made dirt so dirt don't hurt." I'm not sure I buy that, but it's a rare thing to have.  

[HereticHick]

On 1/4/2020 at 2:34 PM, HideousGreenShirt said:

 

They also make "snow ice-cream" with the reporter which appears to horrifyingly be literal snow from the ground outside mixed with something. 

 

Ummm, horrifying? How else do you make snow ice-cream?

I'm sure I'm not the only FJer who has fond childhood memories of snow cream.

[Seculardaisy]

20 hours ago, haroldtheyrefundies said:

Where i live we rarely get snow, but when we do we always make frozen cokes with the snow. Or most times we will just get the snow that is on the cars and just eat it on its own. 

I have never heard of frozen cokes from snow but oh my gosh I love that idea! How did this Michigander child miss out on that delight?!

[Melissa1977]

11 hours ago, HereticHick said:

Ummm, horrifying? How else do you make snow ice-cream?

I'm sure I'm not the only FJer who has fond childhood memories of snow cream.

With clean snow, I guess. The white, just fallen one, not the dirty one.

[therulesofjinx]

18 hours ago, HereticHick said:

I'm sure I'm not the only FJer who has fond childhood memories of snow cream.

Or sugar on snow! Anyone else????

[lumpentheologie]

In this post Alyssa replied to a comment and said that she does get overwhelmed and depressed sometimes. With a serious health concern and three small children, I'm not surprised.  I really hope she can delay #4 for a while longer. 

Spoiler

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by lumpentheologie

[Vivi_music]

13 hours ago, therulesofjinx said:

Or sugar on snow! Anyone else????

Tire d'érable where I am from.   And it is délicieux!

The snow is always just snow from around. As the spring comes and it starts to warm up, I know a lot of sugar shack even prepare some buckets of snow and keep them in their freezer so they can extend the sugaring season a bit.

[therulesofjinx]

8 hours ago, Vivi_music said:

Tire d'érable where I am from.

How is that pronounced? It looks like it sounds beautiful! I live about 45 minutes from my state's border with Quebec, but my knowledge of French is not so great. I opted to take Spanish in school for 9 years instead.

[c_star916]

On 1/8/2020 at 3:41 AM, therulesofjinx said:

How is that pronounced? It looks like it sounds beautiful! I live about 45 minutes from my state's border with Quebec, but my knowledge of French is not so great. I opted to take Spanish in school for 9 years instead.

It’s like “teer dair ab luh”.


 

Edited January 12, 2020 by hoipolloi
Removed signature

[SassyPants]

On 1/7/2020 at 4:36 PM, lumpentheologie said:

In this post Alyssa replied to a comment and said that she does get overwhelmed and depressed sometimes. With a serious health concern and three small children, I'm not surprised.  I really hope she can delay #4 for a while longer. 

  Hide contents

Or how about forever? 3 is enough. They’ve already replaced themselves, and with known cardiac issues, she clearly doesn’t need to stress her body anymore.

[HereticHick]

Good gravy, I find it so creepy that this random woman keeps sending Alyssa outfits for the girls every damn week. When will this end?

When the lady kidnaps one of the girls out of the buggy at the grocery store? : )

[nausicaa]

45 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

Good gravy, I find it so creepy that this random woman keeps sending Alyssa outfits for the girls every damn week. When will this end?

When the lady kidnaps one of the girls out of the buggy at the grocery store? : )

I also don't understand how this works for her as a promotional tactic (if that's what it is). A few outfits a year would do the trick for that. Now not only is the cost outweighing the publicity, I'd argue it's becoming bad publicity, with people generally getting a bit creeped out (fundie and non-fundie alike I suspect). 

I'm also surprised it doesn't annoy Alyssa more. She's girly and into fashion, and I would imagine would like to dress her girls in dresses she has in mind (I certainly would). But she's stuck often with poorly fitting, out of season outfits because this woman keeps sending them. 

The whole thing is so weird. 

[Melissa1977]

14 hours ago, nausicaa said:

I also don't understand how this works for her as a promotional tactic (if that's what it is). A few outfits a year would do the trick for that. Now not only is the cost outweighing the publicity, I'd argue it's becoming bad publicity, with people generally getting a bit creeped out (fundie and non-fundie alike I suspect). 

I'm also surprised it doesn't annoy Alyssa more. She's girly and into fashion, and I would imagine would like to dress her girls in dresses she has in mind (I certainly would). But she's stuck often with poorly fitting, out of season outfits because this woman keeps sending them. 

The whole thing is so weird. 

It's not for publicity. That woman seems to rejoice in watching Alyssa and her girls matching up. It's very wierd. If Alyssa wasn't that vain, she would realise that it may lead to a dangerous (maybe not physically, but mentally) situation. Also I don't get why Websters say nothing... Some people on their circle/church must be mocking on that outfits thing!

The same woman sent outfits to Josie, too. But it is possible that she's not joining the game or is keeping it as a private matter. I really hope she just put an end to it, because it would mean she is protecting her privacy and Willow. 

 

[SassyPants]

7 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

It's not for publicity. That woman seems to rejoice in watching Alyssa and her girls matching up. It's very wierd. If Alyssa wasn't that vain, she would realise that it may lead to a dangerous (maybe not physically, but mentally) situation. Also I don't get why Websters say nothing... Some people on their circle/church must be mocking on that outfits thing!

The same woman sent outfits to Josie, too. But it is possible that she's not joining the game or is keeping it as a private matter. I really hope she just put an end to it, because it would mean she is protecting her privacy and Willow. 

 

Something just occurred to me. The things we ( non fundies). find unhealthy, alarming and rather odd about the Bates and others, as an example, limiting education, isolation, selling away their kids’ private moments and anonymity for easy cash and gifts, are not seen as problematic or alarming at all to those families doing such. OTOH, most practices that those of us who are not fundie find acceptable: education, work, limiting family size to maximize time and energy spent to raising and nurturing each child, community, getting to know someone before marrying and having a family, scare the hell out of fundies.

TL;DR, getting free stuff from a fan is SOP in the fundie world. Public school and working  to buy your own clothing is far more scary for them.

[neuroticcat]

Agree. If you are raised with no boundaries why would you say no to freebies???

[Johannah]

Don’t they think this is God’s way of rewarding them? I seem to recall both Gil and Jim Bob saying things like their van broke down, they prayed about it, and then a church member gave them a new bus. And didn’t Kelly Jo always talk about a woman who would constantly mail them things on their old original Bates family blog? I think her name was Kay something or other? Alyssa probably thinks randomly giving shit to people is not only completely normal, but an answer to prayer, a sign of her godliness and faithfulness. There is no thought given to motivation, or consequences, or fairness. 

[SassyPants]

54 minutes ago, Johannah said:

Don’t they think this is God’s way of rewarding them? I seem to recall both Gil and Jim Bob saying things like their van broke down, they prayed about it, and then a church member gave them a new bus. And didn’t Kelly Jo always talk about a woman who would constantly mail them things on their old original Bates family blog? I think her name was Kay something or other? Alyssa probably thinks randomly giving shit to people is not only completely normal, but an answer to prayer, a sign of her godliness and faithfulness. There is no thought given to motivation, or consequences, or fairness. 

I was thinking, and did the church eventually want the van back, but then I recalled that my memory was about an episode in the sitcom, The Middle, LOL!

[lumpentheologie]

On 1/14/2020 at 7:32 AM, Melissa1977 said:

It's not for publicity. That woman seems to rejoice in watching Alyssa and her girls matching up. It's very wierd. If Alyssa wasn't that vain, she would realise that it may lead to a dangerous (maybe not physically, but mentally) situation. Also I don't get why Websters say nothing... Some people on their circle/church must be mocking on that outfits thing!

The same woman sent outfits to Josie, too. But it is possible that she's not joining the game or is keeping it as a private matter. I really hope she just put an end to it, because it would mean she is protecting her privacy and Willow. 

 

I agree it's not for publicity.  Her insta is private.  Unfortunately there seems to be a large number of people who think giving gifts/money to these "godly" families is a pious act.  Maybe they're hoping the godliness rubs off on them? It seems pretty low-key prosperity gospel to me. 

[Melissa1977]

1 hour ago, lumpentheologie said:

I agree it's not for publicity.  Her insta is private.  Unfortunately there seems to be a large number of people who think giving gifts/money to these "godly" families is a pious act.  Maybe they're hoping the godliness rubs off on them? It seems pretty low-key prosperity gospel to me. 

I'm mot sure about the intentions of that woman. She only sends items to Alyssa (and a bit to Josie). If she was pious, why to send the items to the less preaching Bates? 

I have a very weird vibe about this issue. I don't see it remotely religious. In my opinion, that woman gets some kind of satisfaction watching the Websters wearing the outfits she choose. She even sends clothes for John sometimes! 

Even if she was just a good, generous friend, I don't see dressing up an adult woman every.single.week something healthy.

[Deleorean88mph]

Alyssa has become so used to the fan donating outfits every week that to her (Alyssa) its normal. But for others who can see from an outsiders perspective, its very odd. It seems to be obsessive for a fan to spend hundreds on $ a month with nothing in return except feeling like she's dressing up her favortie celebrity. 

[HereticHick]

Some of Alyssa's comments on her latest Insta to the ridiculous "When are you going to have another baby" questions are interesting.  She's ditched the fundy "We've leaving it up to God" and "As many as God will give us" lines altogether