Maxwell 46: Relegating the Kids' Table to the Vestibule

[MamaJunebug]

Wow...remember when Maxblog posts would mention Anna Marie’s varicose veins & we felt badly for her? Vein problems, cancer, hernia — Girlfriend’s gone through it!!! 
 

He hair looks so cute and thick and curly. If she wants to, I hope she keeps it short. It’s got to be easier to care for than the long ‘do she had before.  But I’m a proud voice for choice, so if she lets it grow, good for her, too. 
 

And Sarah writing to ask readers to “be in prayer for her.”  Huh. Certainly the first time I’ve heard it and if it’s a Sarah-ism, good for her, for being inventive. If it’s something others have said / written, then goid for Sarah for incorporating it, clunky though it may sound to most FJ’ers. At least we know she’s reading and/or listening to something besides Steve reading the KJV, because I’d bet my favorite hat that phrase is not found there! 

[SassyPants]

5 minutes ago, MamaJunebug said:

Wow...remember when Maxblog posts would mention Anna Marie’s varicose veins & we felt badly for her? Vein problems, cancer, hernia — Girlfriend’s gone through it!!! 
 

He hair looks so cute and thick and curly. If she wants to, I hope she keeps it short. It’s got to be easier to care for than the long ‘do she had before.  But I’m a proud voice for choice, so if she lets it grow, good for her, too. 
 

And Sarah writing to ask readers to “be in prayer for her.”  Huh. Certainly the first time I’ve heard it and if it’s a Sarah-ism, good for her, for being inventive. If it’s something others have said / written, then goid for Sarah for incorporating it, clunky though it may sound to most FJ’ers. At least we know she’s reading and/or listening to something besides Steve reading the KJV, because I’d bet my favorite hat that phrase is not found there! 

Anna Marie needs to start putting herself first. 6 healthy kids and a healthy, able bodied  spouse. They should call their family complete and focus on maintaining AM’s health-

[Austrian Atheist]

2 hours ago, ElizaB said:

A long time ago Steve said the only "acceptable" form of birth control is complete abstinence. This is not natural family planning, which would require abstinence for only a few days a month, but complete abstinence. So technically, the "right" thing would be for them to completely abstain. 

I hope her headship prays and fasts and decides for themselves and not for Steve.

I know that Christopher seems to be the strictest fundi of the sons but he also seems to really really love his wife. I don't think he would endanger her health.

[Austrian Atheist]

Well, maybe we should stop snarking about Terri's prosaic posts or curt answers or Sarah's writing - because all of that is still better than this over the top comment from their reader (How many times can you actually mention "THE LORD" in one paragraph?)

Quote

Thank you immensely for sharing this news. I appreciate your health update and will be praying for the Lord’s wisdom to guide the surgeon’s hand in your surgery, and for HIS PERFECT PEACE for you and your family’s hearts. What a BLESSING that your own Mom is coming to Nevada to help you out so much, while your Kansas family will be tended to and cared for by your relatives there. The Lord’s loving-kindness is deeper and wider than our needs :). Just now when I asked the Lord which verse I should share with you, He brought to mind one of my favorites that has been a huge help to me in my life, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; *whom shall I fear?* The LORD is the strength of my life; *of whom shall I be afraid?*” (Psalm 27:1)
What heartwarming news to hear of you being cancer free! “GREAT is the LORD, and GREATLY to be PRAISED.” ~ Psalm 48:1. What a beautiful photo! Your hair is gorgeous, truly a gift from the Lord, your Saviour!
With love in Christ and Thankful to be washed in the precious Blood of the Lamb,

(If I needed surgery I wouldn't be overly happy with the phrase "washed in precious blood".... )

[Giraffe]

On 3/10/2021 at 3:48 AM, byzant said:

Wtf! Please pray for her , please keep her in your prayers are both sentences that make grammatical sense. She strikes me as writing like a pretentious 13 year old(no shade I was a pretentious 13 year old) who thinks the more uncommon/awquard the sentence the brighter they are 

This is why she reminds me of a child writing. I used to do the same thing but fortunately I had teachers who valued reading and would actually encourage me to grow! 

9 hours ago, MaryatHome said:

I wonder why she has to go all the way to Nevada for this.

They probably still use Scamaritan and shopped around. This sounds like the same extra work they did to find just the right cancer treatment center for her. Yeah, maybe they just found the best of the best and good for them if that’s the case but it’s strange to me, too, that they go so far away for things that can be done closer to home. 

[byzant]

@Giraffe totally. I remember an excellent  teacher telling me to look at the turn of phrase and think- compared to the simplier usage does it -add meaning, give the same meaning or less meaning? And you only got to keep it if it added something substantial.  

 

Which i hated,  as i love a twiddley phrase,  but its true 

[crawfishgirl]

I agree with the poster above who stated that having the procedure done in Nevada might be related to Scamaritan insurance.  The nearby hospital may not have been willing to negotiate, and I read that negotiation is required before Scamaritan will kick in.  It is amazing that these people will accept such low quality coverage, instead of choosing real insurance, in order to feel more holier-than-thou.

[kpmom]

6 hours ago, Austrian Atheist said:

Well, maybe we should stop snarking about Terri's prosaic posts or curt answers or Sarah's writing - because all of that is still better than this over the top comment from their reader (How many times can you actually mention "THE LORD" in one paragraph?)

 

But wasn't it nice of THE LORD to gift Anna with nice curly hair??? ?

[fundiefan]

7 minutes ago, kpmom said:

But wasn't it nice of THE LORD to gift Anna with nice curly hair??? ?

The same LORD who gifted her with breast cancer, varicose veins and a hernia. Such a great guy, that LORD. 

[Alisamer]

5 hours ago, byzant said:

@Giraffe totally. I remember an excellent  teacher telling me to look at the turn of phrase and think- compared to the simplier usage does it -add meaning, give the same meaning or less meaning? And you only got to keep it if it added something substantial.  

 

Which i hated,  as i love a twiddley phrase,  but its true 

I also tend to love a twiddley phrase, but I do think this is the best way to look at writing most of the time.

It works for words, too. One word I'm coming to hate lately is "utilize". Everybody everywhere seems to be "utilizing" everything all the time.

USE, people, you can use things. Sometimes "use" makes more sense than "utilize", and it's definitely less pretentious sounding most of the time. Utilize your option to use simpler words when they work better, and save the fancier ones for when they really are a better choice!

[JermajestyDuggar]

Ruthie and Lydia are 7 and almost 6 and wearing those fucking bibs. I will never let this pet peeve go. 

[Coconut Flan]

While we're at simplifying, please let's quit curating unless working at a museum or something similar.  

[fundiewatch]

Agreed on the bibs. TBH I LOVED those bibs with my son, and they were actually on the spendy side at the time. But they’re weirdly old to be using them. 
 

random question: has anyone done a close read of any of Sarah’s Moody/Hilltop books? @Hane’s review of Serena’s Serenity was just a treasure trove of Rodrigues insight. I’m reading the blog due to COVID, some for the first time, and it really strikes me how much Sarah belabors the writing process, and talks so highly about getting ideas from the Lord— but then carries over these limited plot devices and details from her own very limited life. In book two of Hilltop, the dog is an English Cream Golden Retriever. Her insistence of staging photos for the artist (dog chasing a cat up a tree, a pie making pic with one of the nieces) is because she doesn’t have a vivid imagination and she cannot imagine other people do. 
 

I feel really badly for Sarah. She worked for the family business all of her young years, spent about a decade I think, traveling via van or bus for up to three months per year. She seemed suited for it; she updated the blog on their travels and upcoming conferences, did play at least some of the time in the family band. She got the forms ready for border crossings and was a really vital part of the team. Terri seemed very at ease too, and Sarah was her right hand woman. Then they sold Uriah and had one or two more short conferences— the year before was three months on the road. That’s so much being hosted, meals out, so much to document. She was publishing Moody books and it was basically a fundie press junket— cards and kids wanting pictures. That hadn’t completely gone away, she does get letters and blog comments, but it’s nothing compared to them, and she really seemed to enjoy it. Then the reversal brothers started getting married and they’re at home full time, still desperately clinging to the notion that they are still very busy and living in a whirlwind. That could make anyone depressed and I feel badly for her. 

Edited March 11, 2021 by fundiewatch
Three months per year, not three months at a time.

[SassyPants]

17 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Ruthie and Lydia are 7 and almost 6 and wearing those fucking bibs. I will never let this pet peeve go. 

Nooooo. Putting a bib on a child that age, unless they specifically request it, is just lazy parenting. I hate when parents refuse to treat kids at the appropriate developmental age. Dollars to donuts they force those girls to perform household chores though. 

[fundiefan]

Not having raised kids, I don't know any general take on when bibs can be done with. 

But, no one I've ever known, who has raised kids, puts bibs on their kids past maybe pre-school, and even then, it's situational. 

In general, those freaking bibs on 6 & 7 year old's, & older, irritate the crap outta' me too. And I agree it's sheer laziness. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, SassyPants said:

Nooooo. Putting a bib on a child that age, unless they specifically request it, is just lazy parenting. I hate when parents refuse to treat kids at the appropriate developmental age. Dollars to donuts they force those girls to perform household chores though. 

My boys are 8 and 6. They would throw a fit if I had them wear those things. They would say they were for babies. And they would be right. Anna Marie loves to sew. I honestly don’t understand why she doesn’t just make them each a cute little apron. 

[Alisamer]

12 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

Not having raised kids, I don't know any general take on when bibs can be done with. 

But, no one I've ever known, who has raised kids, puts bibs on their kids past maybe pre-school, and even then, it's situational. 

In general, those freaking bibs on 6 & 7 year old's, & older, irritate the crap outta' me too. And I agree it's sheer laziness. 

Same, but having worked in daycare for a few years and also having seen younger cousins grow up, I agree with you. 

Bibs for eating went away before preschool for all the kids I have experience with, unless there's another reason for it (spaghetti, or a kid with developmental delays and reduced motor skills, for example). 

We'd put aprons or adult button-up shirts or something on kids for things like painting or dying Easter eggs far past that, but for eating? Usually no. 

Heck even in the baby room at the daycare we didn't always use a bib for the toddlers. For something especially messy we might just sit them in the high chair in only their diaper! 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

5 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Ruthie and Lydia are 7 and almost 6 and wearing those fucking bibs. I will never let this pet peeve go. 

Amen. Since they are so big on chores, have them check their own clothing for stains and dab some liquid detergent on them. A bib is humiliating at their age. Under 3 or so --sure. But these two also help cook!

[PennySycamore]

@Alisamer's and @Coconut Flan's irritation at the overuse of utilize and curate reminds me that I'd like to see the use of gift as a verb disappear.  When did we stop using the verb to give and its appropriate tenses?

Edited March 11, 2021 by PennySycamore
remove unneeded asterisk

[LilMissMetaphor]

On 3/9/2021 at 1:13 AM, Bluebirdbluebell said:

 Teri would be a good writer if she knew what to write about. 

 

No.

[GreenBeans]

13 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

@Alisamer's and @Coconut Flan's irritation at the overuse of utilize and curate reminds me that I'd like to see the use of gift as a verb disappear.  When did we stop using the verb to give and its appropriate tenses?

Overuse? Overutilization you mean!

My pet peeve is “waiting for” vs. “waiting on”. It’s not the same thing.

We are waiting for this pandemic to be over.

In Texas, servers in restaurants are waiting on maskless patrons.

[MamaJunebug]

4 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

My boys are 8 and 6. They would throw a fit if I had them wear those things. They would say they were for babies. And they would be right. Anna Marie loves to sew. I honestly don’t understand why she doesn’t just make them each a cute little apron. 

FWIW this is one I can’t get worked up about, unless there’s clear evidence that the girls hate the crumb catchers. 
None of the older kids In a mega family get to be a baby very long, and the girls might choose the bibs out of a sense of playing baby. Or they may be responsible for their own laundry and thus have an incentive to keep their outfits clean. Or Anna may still do all the laundry and thus asks any child who still dribbles or spills to wear a bib, and the molded ones are as good as any. 
About 6-year-olds doing their own laundry. Junior JB 2.0 was 4 when she requested a certain outfit to wear. I said it was in the dirty wash and I’d get to it ASA I could. Five minutes later, I rounded the corner to see her atop the washing machine; she’d thrown in a load then climbed up to measure out the detergent. She had the lid closed and was on her tummy, twisting the knob to “ON” - her legs & feet kicking in the air.  She glanced at me, pushed the knob in, and pushed herself neatly off the appliance. 
Junior 1.0, age 8, was behind me, observing.  I turned to them and said, “Good times are over, kiddo! If she can, YOU can!” — and from that day forward, if they wanted a special wash or just wanted to chip in a little help for their dear ole MJB, wash they did!! Yeah I’m proud. 
ETA: I fished the damp laundry out at the end of the cycle until they both could reach in safely. No use encouraging a deep dive into the Maytag!  But for starting a load, then carrying it thru the drying, those kids were and remain gold standard. LOL

Edited March 11, 2021 by MamaJunebug

[Bluebirdbluebell]

This may seem overly harsh, but I think it's weird that Anna Marie is travelling out of state for medical treatment. She's done this three times now and it's questionable to me if there's any real advantage to not using the local doctors. It seems likely that she is looking for people who tell what she wants to hear. At least it seems to be real medical care, but that's a good way to find a licensed quack.  

I hope she's getting the medical care she needs. I also hope that the hernia problem is resolved and doesn't reoccur. There is a higher risk of reoccurance without the mesh. 

[Caroline]

On 3/9/2021 at 11:27 PM, Bluebirdbluebell said:

I think the dining room table post was topic someone had brought up. I liked that post. Do you remember any specific posts people wanted to hear about?

Yeah it sounds like you're really lucky. I'm not sure where you live, but head lice are quite common here. I never had head lice, but we had several cases growing up and they checked my head for head lice several times in school. All the teachers knew about it. I thought Anna Marie seemed out of touch that she had never heard of them, but maybe it only happens in several regions. (I was going to say the east coast and then I remembered the Maxwells live in Kansas.)

I live in New England. I've heard of head lice, but luckily have had no experience with them.  I asked my husband who has six sisters, and he said they were not a problem in his family either.  He grew up in western NY state.  Our families were super lucky evidently.  I'm ok with that

[Jana814]

I had head lice once in my life. I was 7. I am now 40. I haven’t had a problem since.