Maxwell 44: Must We Permit Mephistopheles and Beelzebub to Perform Financial and Performance Audits

[Elegant Mess]

28 minutes ago, Lgirlrocks said:

I hate that Anna refers to her and her sisters as girls. They are grown women. 

I suspect the highly restricted nature of their lifestyle is to blame here.  They're still living under the same roof and doing the same things they did when they were younger, so, in their minds, they're still girls.

[Tangy Bee]

17 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

Especially not the Maxwell style of bean burrito, which is essentially a bean/onion/jalapeño slop inside a homemade tortilla. They don’t sound very appetising. Sarah mentioned ages ago that it’s her favourite meal, I wonder if that’s still the case. 

I bet the Maxwell sons are happy to get a decent Sunday dinner, now that they are married.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Those Indian costumes remind my of my own childhood. It was probably 1989 or 1990 and my class made their own pilgrim and Indian costumes for the day before thanksgiving. We ate turkey and mashed potatoes for school lunch and wore our costumes made out of construction paper. I was an indian likely because I had long brown hair that I wore in two braids. My mom has a few pictures of my outfit. I wouldn’t allow my children to dress up like that now. I am fairly honest about what happened to Indians in the US. And I have ancestors that were actual pilgrims. But I’m still honest with my kids about the wrongs of their ancestors. 

[Black Aliss]

On 12/4/2020 at 9:19 AM, Bethy said:

If he cared about anyone else, he would've figured out a way to deal with his own insecurity rather than tearfully pulling the boys out of sports.

Of all the things Steve did to his children this might be the most WTF of them all. One of the big pluses of having our kids in organized sports (and other extra-curricular activities) was the opportunity to have close relationships with non-family adults, e.g., coaches. Adults whom they could trust and confide in as well as teaching them new skills. Sure, you have to be vigilant about seeing signs of abuse of that trust, and we did switch one kid to a different club because the coach gave off creepy vibes (later at least one of his athletes did go to the national association with charges of sexual abuse so the vibes weren't imagined). But that behavior is quite rare and Steve could always have volunteered to be a coaching assistant if that was his concern. He just couldn't stand the idea that his kids would have other mentors.

Edited December 7, 2020 by Black Aliss

[anachronistic]

It’s 2020, those paper bags and paper crowns are obscene. I remember doing those in kindergarten in the 80s! I thought most people understand by now that making fake regalia is offensive? But what can you expect from a family that after 9 months still doesn’t seem to understand asymptomatic transmission of a deadly virus?

[PennySycamore]

@NoseyNellie, I once read a biography of Baptist missionary Lottie Moon.  Lottie's family did not allow cooking on Sunday.  One Sunday, Lottie feigned illness and cooked a nice Sunday dinner for the family while they were at church.  She got into so much hot water when her parents got back home.  

Lottie was a graduate of the college that is now Hollins University, spoke Latin, Greek, and French and later either Cantonese or Mandarin Chinese and was the first Southern woman to earn a Master's degree.  She also believed that a woman's sex should not be a barrier to her.

@LilMissMetaphor,  I am sometimes so busy cooking a big dinner that forget to take my apron off.  

[BullyJBG]

1 hour ago, Lgirlrocks said:

I hate that Anna refers to her and her sisters as girls. They are grown women. 

Yes! I hate that too, and whenever such families refer to unmarried women as "girls". Though when the Duggar sisters and sisters-in-law had their 5 pregnancies at the same time, Lauren said "all of us pregnant girls" and that was annoying too. 

[fundieundies]

1 hour ago, anachronistic said:

It’s 2020, those paper bags and paper crowns are obscene. I remember doing those in kindergarten in the 80s! I thought most people understand by now that making fake regalia is offensive? But what can you expect from a family that after 9 months still doesn’t seem to understand asymptomatic transmission of a deadly virus?

I did this in school in the early 2000s. It was done to teach who was at the the first Thanksgiving, what happened, how traditions began and introduce that era of history. 

Given the homeschooling projects we've seen Ana do I'll give her my generous benefit of the doubt that this is the case here. It's my understanding that it becomes inappropriate when people steal traditions or cultural elements as their own or use it in a derogatory context (i.e. going to a music festival with a native headdress on to look cool). I'm a minority and do not get offended when people use cultural elements for educational purposes, which MIGHT be the case here and often is in classrooms. 

 

They're still dumb for having Ana over for Thanksgiving - won't disagree on that.

[Bethy]

2 hours ago, Elegant Mess said:

I suspect the highly restricted nature of their lifestyle is to blame here.  They're still living under the same roof and doing the same things they did when they were younger, so, in their minds, they're still girls.

They're not married. In their circles, you achieve adulthood when you get a wedding ring.

[Alisamer]

1 hour ago, PennySycamore said:

I once read a biography of Baptist missionary Lottie Moon.  Lottie's family did not allow cooking on Sunday.  One Sunday, Lottie feigned illness and cooked a nice Sunday dinner for the family while they were at church.  She got into so much hot water when her parents got back home.  

Hmm. I wonder if this sort of thing is part of the reason so many people go out to eat after church on Sunday? I know growing up (in a Baptist church) we very rarely went out to eat during the week, but Sunday lunch was often KFC, though I never heard anything about not cooking on Sundays. At my current church there's definitely no prohibition about cooking on Sundays, but still most people go out for lunch (unless there's a potluck or a fund raiser that includes lunch at the church). Most traditions start for a reason of some sort, so I could see that being how they got started.

Still... bean burritos? Every Sunday? Whatever floats their boats, I guess.

[Bethy]

37 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

Hmm. I wonder if this sort of thing is part of the reason so many people go out to eat after church on Sunday? I know growing up (in a Baptist church) we very rarely went out to eat during the week, but Sunday lunch was often KFC, though I never heard anything about not cooking on Sundays. At my current church there's definitely no prohibition about cooking on Sundays, but still most people go out for lunch (unless there's a potluck or a fund raiser that includes lunch at the church). Most traditions start for a reason of some sort, so I could see that being how they got started.

Actually, I would think it would be the opposite if they're truly trying to keep from working on Sunday, because by going to a restaurant, they've necessitated that a whole bunch of other people go to work (host/hostess, server, cook, dishwasher, bussers, manager, maintenance, etc.) Many really strict, legalistic Christians won't even go to the grocery store for a jug of milk after church because they don't believe they should be shopping - so it would follow that these people would NOT go to a restaurant on Sunday even if it did keep THEM personally from working.

[FloraKitty35]

3 hours ago, anachronistic said:

I remember doing those in kindergarten in the 80s! I thought most people understand by now that making fake regalia is offensive?

I remember doing that in elementary school in the 1980's too.  Also, we got to watch one of those black and white educational films from the 50's (on the old fashioned projector).  

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Still doing the grocery bag Indian costume from my 1969 second grade. I applaud them for finding a brown paper bag. Do they ever take different pictures? No. They take exactly the same mediocre pictures for every post. I had no idea there was an upstairs. All this time I thought the FatherShip was  a ranch house.

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 minute ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Still doing the grocery bag Indian costume from my 1969 second grade. I applaud them for finding a brown paper bag. Do they ever take different pictures? No. They take exactly the same mediocre pictures for every post. I had no idea there was an upstairs. All this time I thought the FatherShip was  a ranch house.

Trader Joe’s usually has brown bags. 

[Bethy]

10 minutes ago, FloraKitty35 said:

I remember doing that in elementary school in the 1980's too.  Also, we got to watch one of those black and white educational films from the 50's (on the old fashioned projector).  

The school where I used to teach was still doing this in the early 2000s. Would be curious to know if they still are. 

[Bethy]

40 minutes ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Still doing the grocery bag Indian costume from my 1969 second grade. I applaud them for finding a brown paper bag. Do they ever take different pictures? No. They take exactly the same mediocre pictures for every post. I had no idea there was an upstairs. All this time I thought the FatherShip was  a ranch house.

No, in comparison to my house and others where I live I'd say it borders on McMansion. It's hard to gauge sizes of rooms since cell phone pics tend to skew perspectives but the living room and kitchen/dining area are spacious places. I hadn't really realized how big the front hallway was before, though - big enough to have a piano in it with room to maneuver around it.

ETA to gauge room size, consider the amount of furniture present with copious amounts of floor space still open. Their kitchen table can seat 12 people with no trouble at all. That's way bigger than most people's tables. And consider the number of couches and armchairs in the living room.

Edited December 7, 2020 by Bethy

[Maggie Mae]

37 minutes ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Still doing the grocery bag Indian costume from my 1969 second grade. I applaud them for finding a brown paper bag. Do they ever take different pictures? No. They take exactly the same mediocre pictures for every post. I had no idea there was an upstairs. All this time I thought the FatherShip was  a ranch house.

Native American. The people who lived in the US prior to the arrival of the Spanish colonizers are called Native Americans. 

I think Fred Meyer (Kroger) has brown bags nationwide, they had committed to ditching the plastic ones pre-covid. 

18 hours ago, Tatar-tot said:

If you are entertaining your grown kids make a dinner they would want to drive for and look forward to:  have a roast, potatoes & all the trimmings.  What about spaghetti & meatballs or lasagna?  How about fried chicken (yummy!)!  Or, how about one Sunday have a chili contest & every family bring a crock pot for a friendly family competition?

 

Maybe it's a nostalgia type thing. I wouldn't look forward to any of those meals - especially if my mom made them - but it might be less about the food and more about reliving some fond memories of their childhood. However, as they are exposed to more things, those bean burrito Sundays seem sadder and sadder. 

I find it so odd that they premake and roll the burritos. In all those years they never stopped to think about how much better they would be if people could customize them? Rice, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, guac, onions, jalopenos, peppers, etc. It's bizarre. It wouldn't be that much more work to chopp the veggies and steam the tortillas, start a rice cooker, and just put all that out for people to serve themselves. 

[sableduck]

1 hour ago, Bethy said:

The school where I used to teach was still doing this in the early 2000s. Would be curious to know if they still are. 

My kids’ public school has done something similar every year I’ve had a child in younger grades(preK-3) up until last year. I don’t know about this year, because I am homeschooling and don’t have kids in the public school right now.

[NancyDrewFan1989]

20 hours ago, Tatar-tot said:

If you are entertaining your grown kids make a dinner they would want to drive for and look forward to:  have a roast, potatoes & all the trimmings.  What about spaghetti & meatballs or lasagna?  How about fried chicken (yummy!)!  Or, how about one Sunday have a chili contest & every family bring a crock pot for a friendly family competition?

 The other down and dirty meal I make that everyone loves is chicken & rice:  Get two Costco chickens & debone.   In the stock pot sauté 2 onions & 1 celery head chopped in butter.  Add one of the bag of Costco baby carrots, garlic, salt, paprika, basil & garlic.  Throw in 2 32 Oz of chicken broth, 2 cups of rice and the chopped of chicken.  (You can stretch the meal by adding another cup of rice and a box of chicken broth) Let it cook until the rice is cooked.  Yummy!  Feeds a lot of people, tastes good & everyone leaves satisfied.  

There are tons of great meals out there to serve a crowd that are at every price point imaginable.  

The plain bean burritos: Yuk!  

Very true, I pointed that out in the end with the Maxwell's switching things up. But, this is the Maxwell family and they are as dull and boring as ever. The bean burritos comes across as a family favorite meal. Considering Teri comes off as a terrible cook, the bean burritos were probably one of the more appetizing meals in the house. I wonder if anyone had ever suggested the idea to Steve and Teri to switch it up.

Also, the Maxwell's are probably trying to make a meal that feeds many that is accommodating to Steve's vegan diet. Knowing Teri, she is probably just sticking to the bland burritos because they can be made vegan and she knows everyone likes them. But, yes, they could do something like a chili contest or another dish. Also, I kind of doubt Steve and Teri even bothered picking up a vegan cookbook that would give them recipes to try. 

[fundiewatch]

I actually don’t think they pre-make the burritos, just the beans. I actually adore bean burritos but I’ve been a vegetarian for 29 years. 

[NancyDrewFan1989]

So, saw the Thanksgiving post. Yup, the whole caring about Anna Marie's health came off as hypocritical to me as there was no social distancing and mask wearing around her or Gigi. Dear Maxwells, just because you don't have a cold and/or are not symptomatic does not mean you do not have mean you do not have COVID!

[Lgirlrocks]

1 hour ago, fundiewatch said:

I actually don’t think they pre-make the burritos, just the beans. I actually adore bean burritos but I’ve been a vegetarian for 29 years. 

Their bean burritos are the problem. They lack flavor, based on their description not by actually tasting them. 

[louannems]

13 hours ago, NoseyNellie said:

Bean burritos- I have always assumed the Maxwells kept this meal on Sundays to do as little work as possible- Keeping the Sabbath Holy.  They have this food prepped and it requires the bare minimum of effort to prepare at meal time.  Make it the same, make it in bulk, no thought process needed. 

But then they go to the trouble of making burrito size tortillas from scratch!

Edited December 8, 2020 by louannems

[socalrules]

Did they have any vegetables for Thanksgiving? I didn’t see any and usually Thanksgiving entails two to three different vegetables.  

A Bean and cheese burrito with sour cream is sounding really good right now. 

[OhNoNike]

I learned in the last few years that some prefer not to be called “Native Americans”, but it seems “American Indian” is more preferred. (Ultimately their tribal name would be best). 

I do try to follow what culture feels is most acceptable, and I was surprised. Anyway, here is my source:

https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/faq/did-you-know
 

Spoiler

My daughter is virtual this , but has a teacher from the district. The teacher actually talked a lot about how the thanksgiving celebration as we know it isn’t how it went down.  She also didn’t focus at all on Columbus Day and mentioned he was a terrible guy (with general facts).  I was happy with that. I prefer this to my kid coming home with drawings of the ships and the hero Columbus who discovered America, as has happened before.  (forget he never stepped on continental North America).