Maxwell 46: Relegating the Kids' Table to the Vestibule

[PennySycamore]

Just think of the wealth of kiddie lit that the junior set of Maxwells miss out on.   The Little House books and the Anne books would be problematic because their heroines are strong girls/women.  Can't take a chance that our girls will want to emulate Laura Ingalls or Anne Shirley.  And what's this nonsense of Laura not promising to obey Almanzo?  A lot of books which should be totally unobjectionable would not be acceptable to the Maxwells because they aren't spiritual or the characters have the wrong religion.  All of a Kind Family comes to mind where the family is Jewish and their traditions are an integral part of the books.  It makes me very sad to see how much their world is limited.

[mango_fandango]

29 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

Just think of the wealth of kiddie lit that the junior set of Maxwells miss out on.   The Little House books and the Anne books would be problematic because their heroines are strong girls/women.  Can't take a chance that our girls will want to emulate Laura Ingalls or Anne Shirley.  And what's this nonsense of Laura not promising to obey Almanzo?  A lot of books which should be totally unobjectionable would not be acceptable to the Maxwells because they aren't spiritual or the characters have the wrong religion.  All of a Kind Family comes to mind where the family is Jewish and their traditions are an integral part of the books.  It makes me very sad to see how much their world is limited.

Not so familiar with the Little House series. But they would NOT approve of Anne thwacking Gilbert over the head with a slate, nor that she went to college, nor that she socialised with Gilbert alone, with no chaperones, very often. 

[PennySycamore]

Laura was pretty headstrong and frequently got in trouble (the song the school kids sang about Miss Wilder comes immediately to mind), but Laura did not get her bosom friend drunk on currant wine.  Not that Anne meant to get Diana drunk. She thought the drink was raspberry cordial. 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

1 hour ago, PennySycamore said:

Not that Anne meant to get Diana drunk. She thought the drink was raspberry cordial. 

And as Marilla later pointed out, Diana drank so much that even if it had been raspberry cordial, she would have had a stomach ache!

[FloraDoraDolly]

3 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

Just think of the wealth of kiddie lit that the junior set of Maxwells miss out on.   The Little House books and the Anne books would be problematic because their heroines are strong girls/women.  Can't take a chance that our girls will want to emulate Laura Ingalls or Anne Shirley.  And what's this nonsense of Laura not promising to obey Almanzo?  A lot of books which should be totally unobjectionable would not be acceptable to the Maxwells because they aren't spiritual or the characters have the wrong religion.  All of a Kind Family comes to mind where the family is Jewish and their traditions are an integral part of the books.  It makes me very sad to see how much their world is limited.

The Maxwells didn't get beyond "Little House in the Big Woods" because it mentions Jack Frost, Santa Claus, and birthday spankings being necessary in order for a child to grow properly. (I can see some parents having issues with that last one, but not to the point where they would ban the whole book/series.)

In other words, Laura at age five was too much for the Maxwells, let alone Laura as an adolescent or young woman.

[Bluebirdbluebell]

On 2/27/2021 at 8:11 AM, LilMissMetaphor said:

"Three of the favorites for the younger readers are from the “An I Can Read Book” series."

Teri, you fool.  It's not an "An I Can Read Book" series.  It's the "I Can Read" book series.  

Does she go to a restaurant and say "I'll have the 'An Apple Pancake' pancake"?

Actually I looked carefully at the books. They say  "An I Can Read Book".  It's in the white banner above the book. I had no idea they said that.  They also say for grades 2-4. 

[smittykins]

4 hours ago, FloraDoraDolly said:

The Maxwells didn't get beyond "Little House in the Big Woods" because it mentions Jack Frost, Santa Claus, and birthday spankings being necessary in order for a child to grow properly. (I can see some parents having issues with that last one, but not to the point where they would ban the whole book/series.

I’m sure they loved Laura being whipped for slapping Mary though.

(I’m sure it’s my 21st-century perspective talking, but although I don’t believe Laura should have gotten off scot-free, Mary deserved a talking-to for baiting her younger sister.)

[Austrian Atheist]

I wonder how bad Sarah's head injury really is. She needed help to take down the Christmas lights and obviously didn't participate in the other activities around the house.

Lately I have noticed that they mention friends from church more often. It seems to be a good decision to go back to a real church. Maybe Steve has some regrets about his "lifestyle choices" now that he is older and has health issues?

[SPHASH]

6 hours ago, FloraDoraDolly said:

The Maxwells didn't get beyond "Little House in the Big Woods" because it mentions Jack Frost, Santa Claus, and birthday spankings being necessary in order for a child to grow properly. (I can see some parents having issues with that last one, but not to the point where they would ban the whole book/series.)

In other words, Laura at age five was too much for the Maxwells, let alone Laura as an adolescent or young woman.

Love the Little House books.  A few other naughty Laura moments:

During a heat spell Laura wishes she could go without clothes like the Indians. 

Laura tricks Nellie into wading in a spot in Plum Creek filled with leeches.

A married Laura slaps an Indian when he makes a pass at her.

Cousin Charley cries wolf too many times and gets stung by a swarm of yellow jackets.

Some not naughty moments but would be appalling to the Maxwells:

Laura and Almanzo go on unchaperoned buggy rides.

Laura works outside the home and even leaves home to teach.

Having friends other than your sisters.

Edited March 1, 2021 by SPHASH

[fundiefan]

3 hours ago, Austrian Atheist said:

I wonder how bad Sarah's head injury really is. She needed help to take down the Christmas lights and obviously didn't participate in the other activities around the house.

Lately I have noticed that they mention friends from church more often. It seems to be a good decision to go back to a real church. Maybe Steve has some regrets about his "lifestyle choices" now that he is older and has health issues?

Truthfully, she rarely participates in "projects" around the house. She just hangs around & takes pictures of others doing stuff. 

[kpmom]

4 hours ago, Austrian Atheist said:

I wonder how bad Sarah's head injury really is. She needed help to take down the Christmas lights and obviously didn't participate in the other activities around the house.

 

I thought that post was worded a little strangely, "my Christmas lights", instead of  "our Christmas lights".  Has Steve and Teri already put the house in Sarah's name?  They said the unmarried "girls" would inherit it after they pass.

 

[deborahlynn1979]

1 hour ago, kpmom said:

I thought that post was worded a little strangely, "my Christmas lights", instead of  "our Christmas lights".  Has Steve and Teri already put the house in Sarah's name?  They said the unmarried "girls" would inherit it after they pass.

 

I noticed that as well. Did Sarah mean to write this in Teri's voice but forgot to sign her name to it? 

[Alisamer]

5 hours ago, Austrian Atheist said:

Lately I have noticed that they mention friends from church more often. It seems to be a good decision to go back to a real church. Maybe Steve has some regrets about his "lifestyle choices" now that he is older and has health issues?

I think it's less regrets about his lifestyle choices now and more likely a mild form of damage control. He's got sons who have moved more than a mile away, a daughter in law who occasionally wears PANTS, and his own daughters are still sitting at home following the schedule to the letter day after day. If Steve chooses to attend a real church, then his sons choosing to attend a real church suddenly looks more like toeing the family line than it might otherwise. 

Also, unrelated, but... the Maxwells like hiking, right? They go to Colorado and hike "14ers" or whatever? It seems the only thing they're allowed to enjoy other than Bible time (and maybe coffee). Have any of them done any other hiking, or do they just go do the same trails every year on what some might call a vacation?

It seems like if that was something they were into, one of them would have done one of the major trails or something, right? That would certainly give them something interesting to write about. The daughters have plenty of time to take a few months and go hike the Appalachian Trail, PCT, CDT, whatever. Or Steve could have gone and hiked wherever he wanted. 

Makes me wonder whether they actually LIKE hiking, or if they hate it and it's just another form of self-flaggelation Steve has come up with to ensure no one enjoys life here on earth all that much.

I'm kind of surprised he never hauled the entire family out on a months-long hiking trip with him, actually. They'd be completely protected from "the world", totally under his control, and he could preach at them all day every day.

[church_of_dog]

To be fair, there are over 50 "14ers" in Colorado, so even if they did two different ones each year they wouldn't run out of new terrain for decades.

And plenty of people enjoy this as a goal/hobby, including hiking repeat trails they've been on before.*

Of course, you are right that we have no idea if any of the Maxes, the kidults least of all, actually enjoy it and would choose hiking from an array of activity options.

 

*said as one of those weirdos whose pleasure from most activities comes from the familiarity of it.

[PennySycamore]

@SPHASH, not only did Laura teach school before she married, but her mom did as well.  I wonder if Caroline would have kept teaching after she was married if she had been allowed to.  Women teachers were expected to be unmarried.  

[Alisamer]

1 hour ago, church_of_dog said:

To be fair, there are over 50 "14ers" in Colorado, so even if they did two different ones each year they wouldn't run out of new terrain for decades.

And plenty of people enjoy this as a goal/hobby, including hiking repeat trails they've been on before.*

Of course, you are right that we have no idea if any of the Maxes, the kidults least of all, actually enjoy it and would choose hiking from an array of activity options.

Yeah, I get that - it's just... odd. To me. I mean it just seems like if that was a hobby or something they really enjoy, it might not be just a once-a-year thing. It just seems a little odd. They enjoy hiking... so they stroll around their neighborhood sidewalks and then once a year go hike a 14er. 

Maybe that's a normal thing? IDK. But to ME, what that looks like is "Oh, I like painting. So I do a paint-by-numbers book with crayola watercolors a couple times a week, but then once a year I paint a world-class museum worthy masterpiece oil painting." or "Oh, I enjoy running, so I jog one mile on a treadmill three times a week... but then once a year I go run a 3-hour marathon." 

It seems like a pretty big jump, from Kansas sidewalks to a Colorado mountain, with no other hiking at all.

It's probably just Maxwell curation editing out what they show their public, I guess - whether it's to preserve their privacy/mystery or just make their lives look as boring as possible, I don't know. 

[theologygeek]

12 hours ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

Actually I looked carefully at the books. They say  "An I Can Read Book".  It's in the white banner above the book. I had no idea they said that.  They also say for grades 2-4. 

The series is called "I Can Read!" and is from HarperCollins.  The series has been around since my kids were young.  They are all adults now.  Not sure how Teri missed that because it was and still is on the cover of lots of children's books.  Parents who read to their kids saw it on the cover.  The cover on some of the books have changed, but the name of the series never did.  I don't think she read to her kids that much when they were young, because if she did, she would have remembered that.  By the time my kids finished first grade, they grew out of the books.  

[Bluebirdbluebell]

9 minutes ago, theologygeek said:

The series is called "I Can Read!" and is from HarperCollins.  The series has been around since my kids were young.  They are all adults now.  Not sure how Teri missed that because it was and still is on the cover of lots of children's books.  Parents who read to their kids saw it on the cover.  The cover on some of the books have changed, but the name of the series never did.  I don't think she read to her kids that much when they were young, because if she did, she would have remembered that.  By the time my kids finished first grade, they grew out of the books.  

Well, I can't blame Teri for getting wrong, because it says "An I Can Read" book on the cover. I linked to the picture, because I don't know how to post the picture in the thread. Teri was obviously going by what it said on the cover. 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

5 minutes ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

Well, I can't blame Teri for getting wrong, because it says "An I Can Read" book on the cover. I linked to the picture, because I don't know how to post the picture in the thread. Teri was obviously going by what it said on the cover. 

I'm not sure how old Teri's copies are, but modern editions say "I Can Read".

Teri's picture (from your link):

Spoiler

Modern copies:

Spoiler

Minor thing. I wonder when the publisher changed the phrasing?

[JermajestyDuggar]

I sometimes wonder if Steve just doesn’t have the energy to exert his need for control over everyone anymore. He still controls the girls for the most part. But there’s no way he can control his sons’ every move like when they lived at home. 

[PennySycamore]

The daughter who wrote her name in our copy of Green Eggs and Ham called me a few minutes ago or else I would have already posted this.  

Anyway, I pulled out our copy of the book off the shelf and there's a figure of the Cat in the Hat with "I Can Read It All By Myself" in the halo around him in the right hand upper corner.  Our copy dates from the '80s.  

And If you've never seen Jesse Jackson reading Green Eggs and Ham on SNL, here's a taste of what it was like:

I was lucky enough to see that when it was first aired.

[treemom]

5 hours ago, Alisamer said:

I think it's less regrets about his lifestyle choices now and more likely a mild form of damage control. He's got sons who have moved more than a mile away, a daughter in law who occasionally wears PANTS, and his own daughters are still sitting at home following the schedule to the letter day after day. If Steve chooses to attend a real church, then his sons choosing to attend a real church suddenly looks more like toeing the family line than it might otherwise. 

Also, unrelated, but... the Maxwells like hiking, right? They go to Colorado and hike "14ers" or whatever? It seems the only thing they're allowed to enjoy other than Bible time (and maybe coffee). Have any of them done any other hiking, or do they just go do the same trails every year on what some might call a vacation?

It seems like if that was something they were into, one of them would have done one of the major trails or something, right? That would certainly give them something interesting to write about. The daughters have plenty of time to take a few months and go hike the Appalachian Trail, PCT, CDT, whatever. Or Steve could have gone and hiked wherever he wanted. 

Makes me wonder whether they actually LIKE hiking, or if they hate it and it's just another form of self-flaggelation Steve has come up with to ensure no one enjoys life here on earth all that much.

I'm kind of surprised he never hauled the entire family out on a months-long hiking trip with him, actually. They'd be completely protected from "the world", totally under his control, and he could preach at them all day every day.

So there is a pretty big toxic masculinity problem in hiking, and it stretches from just irritatingly condescending to assault.  A thru hike would be amazing for anyone who is up for it, but I would never want the Maxwell women to do it alone.

I won’t thru hike or backcountry camp by myself, even though I have years of doing it with my ex and my son because, well men don’t always represent themselves well to me.

 

ETA: I know women who have solo thru hiked, so I’m not saying women aren’t capable.  I just wouldn’t do it because I simply couldn’t deal with the issues and I have had experiences where I just no longer feel safe.  And I can’t imagine the Maxwell women are prepared for those things more than I am.

Edited March 1, 2021 by treemom

[theologygeek]

1 hour ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

I'm not sure how old Teri's copies are, but modern editions say "I Can Read".

Teri's picture (from your link):

  Hide contents

Modern copies:

  Hide contents

Minor thing. I wonder when the publisher changed the phrasing?

I think they just switch it up every now and again on some books, but Teri's common sense should have kicked in that "An I Can Read Book" was not the name of the series.  LOL  I'm still getting silly over what she wrote.  lol  

[tabitha2]

I suppose The Maxwells would approve of Elsie Dinsmore, Pollyanna, the Five little peppers and the rest of the syrupy  angelic maudlin Victorian children’s literature that Alcott was  vehemently against and determined not to write. 

[theologygeek]

6 minutes ago, treemom said:

So there is a pretty big toxic masculinity problem in hiking, and it stretches from just irritatingly condescending to assault.  A thru hike would be amazing for anyone who is up for it, but I would never want the Maxwell women to do it alone.

I won’t thru hike or backcountry camp by myself, even though I have years of doing it with my ex and my son because, well men don’t always represent themselves well to me.

 

ETA: I know women who have solo thru hiked, so I’m not saying women aren’t capable.  I just wouldn’t do it because I simply couldn’t deal with the issues and I have had experiences where I just no longer feel safe.  And I can’t imagine the Maxwell women are prepared for those things more than I am.

It's so good to see you!  How have you been?