Maxwell 37: The Moody Family Buys Matching Vests to Wear to Jesse's Wedding

[usmcmom]

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

I like to think it's a result of a come to Jesus meeting where she lost her shit on S and T and told them, "Look, I already raised your children.  I'm done." and held her ground and wasn't sorry.

I think we all know whatever the reason it's not that, but it would be nice.

That is kind of why I give her a pass. It is the only bit of autonomy she has, if she has chosen to do nothing around the house. 

She raised her siblings.  She has been robbed of a chance to marry and have a family of her own. I think she kind of deserves to sit around all day if she wants. Steve and Teri stole her life from her.  She owes them nothing. 

Edited May 6, 2020 by usmcmom
Typo

[mango_fandango]

24 minutes ago, usmcmom said:

That is kind of why I give her a pass. It is the only  it of autonomy she has, if she has chosen to do nothing around the house. 

She raised her siblings.  She has been robbed of a chance to marry and have a family of her own. I think she kind of deserves to sit around all day if she wants. Steve and Teri stole her life from her.  She owes them nothing. 

I think she also really values her own space. In the past she’s mentioned writing Moody books whilst sat in Uriah or in Joseph’s house (before he married, that is). Considering the way Steve has raised his family, where being seen as an individual is not a good thing, that’s maybe one of the only ways she can get time on her own, if it’s to write a book which will provide income for the family/is part of the ministry and she needs space and quiet to be able to concentrate. (Run on sentence alert)

[PennySycamore]

@freejugar,  JRR Tolkien had the advantage of being married to Edith , having children that, IIRC, for whom he wrote the beginnings of The Hobbit (I do know that he wrote the Father Christmas letters for the kids), and the friendship of The Inklings at Oxford to whom her read his stories.  The Inklings met on Thursday evenings in CS Lewis' room at Oxford and on Tuesday afternoons at The Eagle and Child aka The Bird and Baby a pub in Oxford.  Tolkien had also studied widely in Old English, Norse and Germanic literature.

Sarah has had none of that:  no marriage, no children, no deep friendship with others who can critique her writing, no deep study of lit and the wide reading it requires.

[Caroline]

9 hours ago, allyisyourpally5 said:

Hang on, I’ve just reread A day in the life of Anna - 

She sits down to work twice in the day. The morning mentions a phone call plus 1 hour 30 minutes of task.

She then heads over to Melanie’s for an hour, during which she prepares lunch and does a couple of other things.

Then she has a long enough lunch break to eat and bake cookies for “a dad” - that would be a brother I guess.

Then back to work - and she finishes before 4, because 4pm is Aunties playtime.

My head is spinning in disbelief here that this is what’s deemed a busy hardworking life with a schedule so complicated that it takes that much planning. 
 

I used to finish work at 4pm sometimes. But I started at 7am! So I left my home at 6:15am! And I didn’t stop! I for sure didn’t have enough lunch break to make cookies! 
 

I am sorry but for Steve to have the nerve to call other young people working in grocery stores or just, you know, people who haven’t been raised like his lazy and unmotivated- he needs a damn reality check! That schedule is ridiculous for someone in their twenties with no children. She should be working properly. And Sarah’s isn’t any better. 
 

Get over yourselves Maxwells! I would much rather and be prouder of my son or daughter be working full time in a supermarket or cleaning or anything then doing what seems like barely 3 hours of work a day. I think it’s disgusting personally.

 

I'm 62 and I've been teaching full-time for the last 38 years.  It's hard work, but has always been rewarding.  In this spring of Covid, and as challenging as it is, I'm so glad to be teaching from home.  I have a schedule every day and work hard in a different kind of way.  I've realized that some of my students really appreciate the daily interaction with someone outside of their family, even if I am expecting them to be productive. I exercise at the end of my work day, as usual, eat dinner with my family and fall asleep easily knowing I've accomplished something.  I feel bad for anyone who's been laid off and doesn't have that structure to their life (if that's what they need).  I'm lucky to have a salary, and I've learned a lot about technology that I never thought I'd need to know.  About the Maxwells (and those like them) I always wonder if they miss learning new things and feeling like they're important to people - not just the 'elderly - who aren't their family members.  Life is short, and if I had had the misfortune of being born into that lifestyle I think I'd always be looking for a deeper purpose for my life.  I wonder if that realization has led to what some consider Terri's depression. 

[Caroline]

58 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

@freejugar,  JRR Tolkien had the advantage of being married to Edith , having children that, IIRC, for whom he wrote the beginnings of The Hobbit (I do know that he wrote the Father Christmas letters for the kids), and the friendship of The Inklings at Oxford to whom her read his stories.  The Inklings met on Thursday evenings in CS Lewis' room at Oxford and on Tuesday afternoons at The Eagle and Child aka The Bird and Baby a pub in Oxford.  Tolkien had also studied widely in Old English, Norse and Germanic literature.

Sarah has had none of that:  no marriage, no children, no deep friendship with others who can critique her writing, no deep study of lit and the wide reading it requires.

I've been watching the series "Mrs. America" about the ERA and Phyllis Schlafly. It's really good, and would be an interesting thing for someone like Sarah to watch, although I'm not sure she'd understand a lot of what's happening if she lacks knowledge of even recent history.  It's hard to believe that there are still people (women! Lori A!) who think like Schlafly and don't get that every human deserves a choice about their own destiny.  (Side note:  I just finished reading "The Testaments", Margaret Atwood's sequel to "The Handmaid's Tale".  In the novel the Aunts frequently take tea at the Schlafly Café ! )

[Dru]

Well shit, I lose myself in "shelter in place" depression and missed the news of the last Maxwell (of said generation) engagement.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Jesse is getting married????? Where is this posted??

[Palimpsest]

12 minutes ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Jesse is getting married????? Where is this posted??

The Maxwells have not announced it officially yet, AFAIK.  Of course they haven't.  Silly secretive twits. 

But an excellent sleuth found their wedding registry.   It was posted here somewhere ... got it! 

They are also registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  The registries look legit as many items have been purchased.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

3 minutes ago, Palimpsest said:

 

Imagine my shock! lol

Jesse Maxwell

Adam Cole

Jan 8, 2020

Kinsale, VA

 

 

 

The Maxwells have not announced it officially yet, AFAIK.  Of course they haven't.  Silly secretive twits. 

But an excellent sleuth found their wedding registry.   It was posted here somewhere ... got it! 

They are also registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  The registries look legit as many items have been purchased.

 

2 minutes ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

 

 

http://archive.is/hVs8i

Her family's old website---Dad wears a vest!

https://www.heritagehillmusic.com/family.html  

[Black Aliss]

On 5/8/2020 at 9:02 AM, IReallyAmHopewell said:

http://archive.is/hVs8i

Her family's old website---Dad wears a vest!

https://www.heritagehillmusic.com/family.html  

Oh, the irony!

Quote

George is a mechanical engineer and works for a pharmaceutical company in Wilmington, Ohio. Laura spends her time managing the home and teaching the children the skills they will need in life.

I certainly hope that includes homeschooling them in Physics and AP Calculus.  Well, not the girls, of course. They only need to know how to dust, polish, and make a month's supply of bean burritos at one go.

[Sops2]

Shilohphotography was mentioned across in Every sperm is sacred by Hortense.

This blog has photos of families doing the 100 mile challenge over a couple of months.  Anna is doing it with her sister Rachel- I thought I recognised their photos

[Jasmar]

Seeing the never-to-be-realized potential of those young women breaks my heart. Those smiling faces are capable of so much, and they’ll never know it.

[SPHASH]

New post up. Happy Mother's Day to Teri, WME (worst mother ever).

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Quote

You faithfully loved and supported Dad, a beautiful example of a true Proverbs 31 helpmeet.

Something my children will never say about me for $400, Alex.

[Jana814]

16 minutes ago, SPHASH said:

Happy Mother's Day to Teri, WME (worst mother ever).

Love this!!  I can’t agree more! 

[fundiefan]

You took the prime years of your life and gave them up to educate us. Time that you’d never get back for yourself

In a nutshell, the Maxwell view of what motherhood is and what women exist to do.

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

36 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

You took the prime years of your life and gave them up to educate us. Time that you’d never get back for yourself

In a nutshell, the Maxwell view of what motherhood is and what women exist to do.

 

Exactly.  I spent those same years raising my kids (actually raising them as I didn’t gave a first set on which to pawn the younger) and i in no way considering that giving up my life.  That was what I wanted to do with my life and wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

The kids have clearly absorbed the message that they were a burden to their mother just by being born.  What a terrible thing to impart to your children.

[Caroline]

21 hours ago, Jasmar said:

Seeing the never-to-be-realized potential of those young women breaks my heart. Those smiling faces are capable of so much, and they’ll never know it.

My daughter and I are binge watching Westworld starting with season 1.  Maxwell women remind me of the hosts in Westworld - they too are capable of so much and unaware of it.  (Except that there is definitely rebellion in the air among the Westworld hosts, something that will never happen  among the women hosts of Maxwell World.)

[ignorantobserver]

It's really depressing how the younger generation feels the need to publicly praise their parents to the skies. That way of communicating seems so weird to me. I love my parents, they are good parents and good people and worked very hard to give us children a good start in life - but I would never feel compelled to gush about them on social media, and I definetely wouldn't share personal details with strangers to "prove" what great parents I have. What a strange world. Judging by how much they publicly adore their parents, they must secretly hate them. They just have to. I can't see how adult women can be this submissive to their aging, tyrannical father without spending every night thinking about how to poison him.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

9 minutes ago, ignorantobserver said:

It's really depressing how the younger generation feels the need to publicly praise their parents to the skies. That way of communicating seems so weird to me. I love my parents, they are good parents and good people and worked very hard to give us children a good start in life - but I would never feel compelled to gush about them on social media, and I definetely wouldn't share personal details with strangers to "prove" what great parents I have. What a strange world. Judging by how much they publicly adore their parents, they must secretly hate them. They just have to. I can't see how adult women can be this submissive to their aging, tyrannical father without spending every night thinking about how to poison him.

Not just the younger generation.  I've done it.  I've done it here...this is the first of two where I get sappy about my mom.

 

Now if she were alive I'd probably just send this to her personally, but sometimes you think something and you blog it.  It resonates with some readers and others will wonder why you're posting.  

If the Maxwells are doing it sincerely that's wonderful.  If it's some unspoken rule to do it to promote their brand...then not so much.

[ignorantobserver]

Sorry, I meant the younger Maxwells. That's a beautiful obituary you wrote to your mother ! I hope I wasn't too insensitive, I obviously didn't want to demean adults who publicly write about their parents. In the case of the Maxwells, the praise heaped upon the parents strikes me as very wrong because socially, those young women are teenagers : entirely dependant on their parents for food, housing and healthcare. Teenagers are rarely fully aware of the things their parents to for them, and might seem ungrateful at times, but they are fundamentally right : they didn't ask to be born, their parents owe them decent treatment and an education, and they are supposed to criticize the older generation, gain an identity of their own, and live their lifes differently. Typically, once they move out and live in the adult world for a few years, they gain a more realistic idea of their origins and homelife. In the case of the Maxwell daughters, they are basically groveling in front of their bosses. Steve is their employer, landlord and pastor. Teri is a distant divinity they have been taught to worship, and a fragile, delicate flower they are supposed to protect. I don't believe there can be any sincerity in the mom- and dad-worship under these circumstances of extreme dependence. It strikes me as inappropriate to ask for public compliments from your children who depend on you for everything.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

3 minutes ago, ignorantobserver said:

Sorry, I meant the younger Maxwells. That's a beautiful obituary you wrote to your mother ! I hope I wasn't too insensitive, I obviously didn't want to demean adults who publicly write about their parents. In the case of the Maxwells, the praise heaped upon the parents strikes me as very wrong because socially, those young women are teenagers : entirely dependant on their parents for food, housing and healthcare. Teenagers are rarely fully aware of the things their parents to for them, and might seem ungrateful at times, but they are fundamentally right : they didn't ask to be born, their parents owe them decent treatment and an education, and they are supposed to criticize the older generation, gain an identity of their own, and live their lifes differently. Typically, once they move out and live in the adult world for a few years, they gain a more realistic idea of their origins and homelife. In the case of the Maxwell daughters, they are basically groveling in front of their bosses. Steve is their employer, landlord and pastor. Teri is a distant divinity they have been taught to worship, and a fragile, delicate flower they are supposed to protect. I don't believe there can be any sincerity in the mom- and dad-worship under these circumstances of extreme dependence. It strikes me as inappropriate to ask for public compliments from your children who depend on you for everything.

You weren't insensitive at all ...I agree in this case, and that of Jill Rodrigues, courting public praise from your kids is just PR.  Your comparion to their parents as bosses is dead on.

What fascinates (and scares) me the most is...how.  I loved my parents but I was a rebellious kid and certainly never met a rule I didn't try to defy.  When I think of these families with universal obedience well into adulthood (Arndts are another example) I just wonder how.  How did Steve and Teri raise 8 kids to tow the line (at least not openly defy it.)  Three daughters willing to sacrifice their youth waiting for permission to become adults, fall in love...to live.  I cannot imagine living that life and not being a raging nightmare every day bucking against the system....and frankly feeling trapped enough to find the first guy I could cling to to get the hell out of there.  Not a healthy choice, but it's where I'd have gone at that age with no education or prospects.

How you maintain that level of control?  I'm afraid of how dark the answer to that might be.

[freejugar]

Quote

To those of you sweet ladies with empty arms, please know we care about you and are sorry for your pain.

I don't get who is she talking about here, is it childless women, or women who've lost their mothers?

[ignorantobserver]

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

How you maintain that level of control?  I'm afraid of how dark the answer to that might be.

I have no idea whatsoever. If I had to get that level of absolute control over my children, I would raise them somewhere in a remote location and teach them that there is an ongoing zombie apocalypse outside and we are the only humans left. I recently saw The Village and liked it very much, especially the young adult's innocence. Their love for games that we would find childish is something that several posters here have observed in young adults in fundie families.

Absolute control over every information the children are exposed to seems to be the best bet - but the Maxwells are not living in an isolated cult, they are aware of the existence of an outside world. The best explanation I can come up with is that the Maxwell parents got a lucky break with their children's personality. In mainstream society, some young people, given the option, are quite happy to spend their life with their parents without ever venturing outside their social circle or place of birth. Today, this behaviour is often ridiculed, or economically unfeasible, so it's not as common as it used to be. But in a differently structured society - and the Maxwells certainly are one - you might find quite a few adults who are willing to stay dependent on their parents.

[nvmbr02]

4 minutes ago, freejugar said:

I don't get who is she talking about here, is it childless women, or women who've lost their mothers?

I take it to mean women who have lost children or that are infertile. But it could mean childless women or women who experienced loss in general.