Maxwell 48: The Maxwellhood of the Traveling Vest

[Jana814]

42 minutes ago, SPHASH said:

Maybe Aunt Tami's husband doesn't know where he's going when he dies so that's why Sarah won't call him Uncle.

I thought of that. I think one time they were over & the guy wouldn’t participate in Bible time.  

[Austrian Atheist]

3 hours ago, SPHASH said:

Maybe Aunt Tami's husband doesn't know where he's going when he dies so that's why Sarah won't call him Uncle.

She called him uncle in the past: https://blog.titus2.com/2009/01/19/a-weekend-visit-and-on-to-florida/ 
The aunt used to comment regularly on their blog and sent gifts for birthdays and so on. 

They don't seem to be very close anymore, but who knows what's really going on. As always it just could be their awkward way of writing. 

 

[theologygeek]

6 hours ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Please tell me that Sarah TRIES to write in the most awkward manner possible:

"Our aunt and her husband (so Gigi’s daughter and my mom’s sister)"

Good grief.

Now, if Gigi wants to share that goodie box, I'm in--that looked delicious.

What's sad is that she can't write, and what's sadder is that they make her think she can because she's not married yet and they convinced her that writing is her life's purpose.  

[Bluebirdbluebell]

I think Sarah was trying to inform the readers that the aunt was mom's sister and the uncle was her husband. Probably to keep people from asking, "So is the uncle who was there Teri's brother, or her sister's husband, etc.?" It is awkwardly written.

[usmcmom]

I would have written something like “Aunt Tammy and Uncle (?) joined us for the party. Aunt Tammy is Mom’s sister and it was very nice to see both of them again.” 

*Not at all sure about names and spellings. 

[Black Aliss]

22 hours ago, usedbicycle said:

I'm pretty crunchy in many regards but I just can't with the amber necklaces either. There is zero scientific reasoning behind them. Not to mention that babies 4-10 months are most bothered by teething, and that age is also the worst for suffocation hazard from the beads or the necklace itself. By the time they're Axton and Debbie's age, they have most of their teeth and the discomfort is minimal, so the necklace is totally a status symbol to signal that the parent is into natural remedies.

At least Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets (the amber necklace of my kids' teething years) had an immediate and visible effect. Put a ball of sugar on a baby's tongue and they do stop fussing for a bit. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

9 hours ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

I think Sarah was trying to inform the readers that the aunt was mom's sister and the uncle was her husband. Probably to keep people from asking, "So is the uncle who was there Teri's brother, or her sister's husband, etc.?" It is awkwardly written.

This should be their disclaimer in every post, email they send, and book they write.  

59 minutes ago, Black Aliss said:

At least Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets (the amber necklace of my kids' teething years) had an immediate and visible effect. Put a ball of sugar on a baby's tongue and they do stop fussing for a bit. 

That would work with me today.

[SassyPants]

1 hour ago, Black Aliss said:

At least Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets (the amber necklace of my kids' teething years) had an immediate and visible effect. Put a ball of sugar on a baby's tongue and they do stop fussing for a bit. 

I remember my daughter giving those to my GD, ONCE. We were on a long road trip and that baby had the biggest, shittiest blowout ever. It necessitated a roadside diaper and clothing change in the trunk of the car-?

[ClareDeLune]

So the brothers made a "extra special effort" to drive a whole 45 minutes for the grandma who loved them all their lives and survived a pandemic to turn 89 this summer. Three cheers for the manly men brothers and that treacherous journey to the party.???

I'm glad Gigi had a lovely party and that both her daughters were there. I hope the other daughter whisked her away for a trip once the Max children left for the long journey home. ?

[Black Aliss]

42 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

I remember my daughter giving those to my GD, ONCE. We were on a long road trip and that baby had the biggest, shittiest blowout ever. It necessitated a roadside diaper and clothing change in the trunk of the car-?

Yeah, I think the sugar in question is manitol, which is also the agent of choice when cutting pure heroin. All of the sugar alcohols have that effect on me, [don't say you weren't warned]

Spoiler

which is how I spent one hike years ago, squatting in the woods with one of my dog's poop sacks clutched to my backside, after drinking water with a particular brand of electrolyte replacer in it

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Those pics of Gigi have genuine smiles which always takes me aback as they are so rare in Maxhell.  She seems so warm and vibrant, it's such a shame that her own daughter lives a life so devoid of either.

I'd like to join in with @ClareDeLune and congratulate the Max boys for their bravery in the long and dangerous journey to a birthday party.  I hope they all come through it okay.

Oh, and I have the same pink table cloth, but the shorter version.  I'm practically a Maxwell.

[allyisyourpally5]

I love the 45 minutes being special. I’m guessing that’s how far away the brothers are? My daily trip to work can easily be 45 minutes door to door, and a lot of people travel that distance frequently to see friends and family, sarah, that’s really not that special.

I think that’s another example of the !axwells believing they are such an exceptional family, and believing they are the only family out there who love each other and are willing to make an effort for each other. What a bubble.

 

[ClareDeLune]

Also hahahahaha at the shortness in the comments. This sent me ???

[HerNameIsBuffy]

33 minutes ago, ClareDeLune said:

Also hahahahaha at the shortness in the comments. This sent me ???

Wow - her communication skills are amazing.  She should write a book about that!

[freejugar]

What is Grandma Moody like?

[browngrl]

6 hours ago, usmcmom said:

I would have written something like “Aunt Tammy and Uncle (?) joined us for the party. Aunt Tammy is Mom’s sister and it was very nice to see both of them again.” 

Sure it sounds better but I have no doubt you are just the sort of person who  reads for fun! Horrors! How do you sleep at night? Probably after reading even more!?

[LilMissMetaphor]

33 minutes ago, freejugar said:

What is Grandma Moody like?

Not like Gigi.

[Jana814]

I read the Moody books. I thought the grandparent characters were based on Teri’s parents. Although in the books they are the father’s parents.  

[fundiefan]

Teri can say the grandparents Sarah wrote about are not based on Gigi & Rex, but what other grandparent experience does Sarah have? She didn't hang out with Steve's mother in the nursing home. She didn't have neighborhood or school friends whose houses she visited & families she met. I remember my BFF's grandmother almost as well as my own; I spent a lot of time with cousins and knew their grandparents on the other side of their family; I grew up with my grandmother's sisters, who were grandparents to their own grandkids. Basically, I had a whole bunch of grandparents in my life and if I were a writer, I could write a random grandparent combining all the different things about the many I knew, and say - nope, not based on my grandma/anyone in particular that I now. 

Sarah? She knows Gigi. That's it. Who the hell else is she going to base grandparents on? She can't read fiction, so she doesn't have any imaginary grandparents. She can't even read LHOTP to see what their grandparents/older people were like. 

Sarah has one frame of reference for grandparents. The ones who lived next door most of her life. 

Just as mom Moody, who spends all her time in her bedroom, is based on Teri and just as dad Moody who is basically a twat is based on Steve, the Moody grandparents are most assuredly based on Gigi & Rex.

 

[Jana814]

I knew several of my friends grandmother’s. I wouldn’t base a book character on any of them but I would base a character on my own grandmother (the only grandparent I knew).  

[Myfanwy]

How? How can any human person think that that is an acceptable response to anyone?  No. Sarah made her up. Would have been more polite and a nicer answer, and only 4 more words. How exacting is this schedule of her’s that there isn’t time for 5 word answers?  It would have been a giant, fat boldfaced lie, still; politer. 

On that note. Manners really don’t seem to be a fundy  thing. Not in the 10 commandments so they don’t care maybe?  They’re so busy not worshipping idols and not coveting asses that they can’t manage manners?
 

[theologygeek]

19 hours ago, ClareDeLune said:

So the brothers made a "extra special effort" to drive a whole 45 minutes for the grandma who loved them all their lives and survived a pandemic to turn 89 this summer. Three cheers for the manly men brothers and that treacherous journey to the party.???

 

She probably doesn't drive much, a couple of miles here and there, and thinks that 45 minutes is far away. My sister lives 45 minutes away.  She's always around here, or we're over there.  It's not far.  

[Hane]

On 6/14/2021 at 12:43 PM, danvillebelle said:

Yep.  The only person I know IRL who did that is a former acquaintance who put them on all 3 of her kids.  They've already had the mumps, who knows what else they'll get before they grow up.

I had the mumps at 11, and still remember how miserable I was.

I dunno, Teri: A recent post mentioned that Gigi was “saved” when she was pretty far along in years, and the same happened to the Moody grandparents. (This comment about Gigi burns me up: It’s obvious that she’s always had a religious and spiritual life, but it was written that she “became a Christian” at some later point. Stevehovah wrote that his parents “weren’t Christians,” when their obituaries mentioned their church membership and their years of service there at length.)

[SassyPants]

4 hours ago, Myfanwy said:

How? How can any human person think that that is an acceptable response to anyone?  No. Sarah made her up. Would have been more polite and a nicer answer, and only 4 more words. How exacting is this schedule of her’s that there isn’t time for 5 word answers?  It would have been a giant, fat boldfaced lie, still; politer. 

On that note. Manners really don’t seem to be a fundy  thing. Not in the 10 commandments so they don’t care maybe?  They’re so busy not worshipping idols and not coveting asses that they can’t manage manners?
 

Last year at the start of Zoom school for my GD, I helped out as her parents were both working. She was in K at the time, and the literature/literacy teacher required all answers and responses to be submitted in the form of a sentence. Kindergarten, Teri. There is zero wonder as to the educational level of the kids Teri homeschooled.

[ElizaB]

14 hours ago, Jana814 said:

I read the Moody books. I thought the grandparent characters were based on Teri’s parents. Although in the books they are the father’s parents.  

I always thought the Moody books were a figment of Sarah imagining herself married with children. I always thought she pictured herself as the mom. It makes sense in that there is an "Aunt Melanie" in one of the books and one of the boys is names "Maxwell" and that is said to be a family name. 

This is the life she wanted (or thought she wanted) to have.