Happy Birthday, Anna Maxwell

[library_youth]

Reversal Anna is 19 years old today. Gasp! Her birthday is on Halloween!

 

I wonder if the family ever celebrated Halloween at all before they went off the deep end, or if they were too fundie even back in the 80s to acknowledge it.

 

Anyway, here's hoping that Anna won't end up in the same boat as her older sister, still at home under her parents' thumb at age 30. But I could totally see Sarah, Anna, and Mary never getting out of there, while the boys get married and move out (as soon as a house on their street becomes available! ).

[lilwriter85]

I'm still learning more and more about the Maxwells, but i'm curious if they ever celebrated Halloween in the past and I wonder if they are freaked out about Anna's b-day being on Halloween.

[luckylibrarian]

Poor Anna. She won't even get a cake for a birthday. She'll be lucky to get some homemade presents.

[tehgoobster]

I'm still learning more and more about the Maxwells, but i'm curious if they ever celebrated Halloween in the past and I wonder if they are freaked out about Anna's b-day being on Halloween.

They used to celebrate Halloween when Nathan, Christopher, and Sarah were little. They wrote about their feelings regarding Halloween in their October 2004 Corners.

Here's an excerpt from Teri's Corner:

As a young mother, I wanted my children to enjoy the same positive Halloween experiences and memories that I treasured from my past. However, since accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior toward the end of my college days, there were some doubts that had begun to creep into my mind as I viewed Halloween decorations with a new perspective. I discounted those doubts, though, being sure we could keep our children dressed appropriately and put our own values on this particular night.

The first Halloween our little ones were of an age to trick-or-treat, back in the early 1980s, I had made them very cute costumes. Out we trooped on Halloween night to the "safe" close neighbors, determined to make memories as we went. It wasn't long before I had one child in my arms and two more clinging to my leg begging to return home. The lure of free candy did not overpower the fear in their hearts as they looked at the other trick-or-treaters.

Here are the links:

web.archive.org/web/20060611224203/http://www.titus2.com/corners/10-04-m.htm

web.archive.org/web/20060904051128/http://www.titus2.com/corners/10-04-d.htm

Gotta love the Wayback Machine! I'm slowly working my way through all their old Corners. :lol:

[allyisyourpally5]

I don't think you even need to use the Wayback Machine (though I agree it is awesome :) )

Yep, I bet as we speak, Anna is doing her extra birthday chores, or reading her bible in total silence completely alone, preparing for the extra long Bible and Prayer time later with her friends.....oh sorry her siblings and parents. or else she is probably unwrapping a Moody Book or a book about her moms depression, though there may be no time on the schedule for presents....maybe she got to sleep in beyond 5 am today?

check out the birthday corner if you havn't already done so

http://www.titus2.com/corners/4-09-m.htm

[tehgoobster]

I don't think you even need to use the Wayback Machine (though I agree it is awesome :) )

Yep, I bet as we speak, Anna is doing her extra birthday chores, or reading her bible in total silence completely alone, preparing for the extra long Bible and Prayer time later with her friends.....oh sorry her siblings and parents. or else she is probably unwrapping a Moody Book or a book about her moms depression, though there may be no time on the schedule for presents....maybe she got to sleep in beyond 5 am today?

check out the birthday corner if you havn't already done so

http://www.titus2.com/corners/4-09-m.htm

You're right; I don't think you need it for the Corners from the 2000s, though I think they removed some Corners from 2003 or 2004 or so, which is why I usually just use the Wayback Machine. The really old Corners from the 1990s are only readable through the Wayback Machine, though. I'm currently up to early 2006 in my journey through the bleak Maxwellian landscape. :lol:

[library_youth]

From the birthday Corner:

Usually the birthday child chooses a birthday breakfast from a choice of two or three favorite breakfast meals. He also picks his preferred lunch from our weekly lunch menu.

This is just one of the things I disagree with them on re: birthdays, but they have to pick what breakfast and lunch they're eating from their regular menu choices? How boring to have to choose from the same old crap you usually eat.

Birthday dinner description from the Corner:

For dinner, he decides on both a main dish and dessert. We invite Grandad and Grandma, who live right around the corner, and our married son with his family for the birthday dinner and party.

My husband's not much of a cook, so on my birthday we go out to eat at one of my many favorite restaurants, so I can get something I wouldn't normally have on a regular basis. They probably have to pick out their dinner and dessert from the same old rotation, too. Bean burritos, anyone?

[tehgoobster]

From the birthday Corner:

This is just one of the things I disagree with them on re: birthdays, but they have to pick what breakfast and lunch they're eating from their regular menu choices? How boring to have to choose from the same old crap you usually eat.

Birthday dinner description from the Corner:

My husband's not much of a cook, so on my birthday we go out to eat at one of my many favorite restaurants, so I can get something I wouldn't normally have on a regular basis. They probably have to pick out their dinner and dessert from the same old rotation, too. Bean burritos, anyone?

I wish they'd treat RA to a nice birthday dinner at the restaurant of her choice this year.

[skankbiscuit]

I wish they'd treat RA to a nice birthday dinner at the restaurant of her choice this year.

Last year, a very generous conference attendee gave Anna a bunch of money to take "everyone" out to dinner at the Olive Garden last year. Of course she had to have EVERYONE there so it was soup and breadsticks for everyone :roll: It would have been nice if she could have a nice dinner instead of bread and salad but whatev...

[skankbiscuit]

check out Anna's 18th birthday post from last year. She was up at the asscrack of dawn doing bible study, and tracking down fabric from JoAnne's to make matching frumpers for NRA and Melanie for pictures. Sarah did make muffins and an ultimate turtle cheesecake.

[YPestis]

The Maxwells have said they used to celebrate Halloween by having "godly" custumes (i.e no demon/scary monster costumes). Terri and Steve Maxwells both celebrated Halloween growing up so they had no issues with the holiday when the three older ones were young. When they went super fundie, they started "agonizing" over what to do during the month of Oct. They said they wanted to shield their kids from the custumes and themes so they started avoiding stores during Oct when Halloween decorations are up. Once, Steve mentioned when he and another family went out to a restaurant to do their own celebrations to counteract the Halloween festivals, the waiter was dressed up as a witch (!!) so he put kaboosh on that idea. Terri and Steve wrote that they tried giving out tracts with candy, they tried participating in Church sponsored activities during this time. However, they felt any celebration or acknowledgement of the date was bad. They wanted to do nothing on Halloween but were concerned that their kids would feel left out watching kids dress up and getting candy. Finally, they said the Lord gave them an answer by having Anna born on Oct 31st. So now, each year, they shut the lights off, and celebrate Anna's bday when everyone's out trick-or-treating.

[liltwinstar]

That birthday corner made me sad. Some of the activities seem sweet - like the streamers and having the siblings take over the birthday kid's chores. That's nice. And I can totally see how some birthday parties are a bit over the top these days...but still, I would think there's a balance one could strike! I've heard of families who have "family only" parties on the odd years and "friend" parties on the even years, people who let their kids invite the number of people as the age they're turning (so a 12 year old gets 12 friends), etc. Also, if a kid's being a brat about his birthday, it seems there would be a way to solve that, at that time, rather than denying him and all his siblings future birthdays!

Also, as an adult, their low-key celebration seems fine - family dinner, useful presents (says the girl who asked for pajamas for her most recent birthday!). That's cool when you're turning 31 or whatever. But for a child? Not so much.

[Justme]

They used to celebrate Halloween when Nathan, Christopher, and Sarah were little. They wrote about their feelings regarding Halloween in their October 2004 Corners.

Here's an excerpt from Teri's Corner:

Here are the links:

web.archive.org/web/20060611224203/http://www.titus2.com/corners/10-04-m.htm

web.archive.org/web/20060904051128/http://www.titus2.com/corners/10-04-d.htm

Gotta love the Wayback Machine! I'm slowly working my way through all their old Corners. :lol:

humm, I though Teri was raised in a Christian family. She said she wasn't saved until the end of college. I wonder what her upbringing was like. Maybe she was the "town slut".... :shifty:

[Lillybee]

I am surprised that Teri didn't hold that baby in until 11-1.

[Markie]

Happy Birthday, Anna. Maybe you'll get a Pepsi..

[gardenvarietycitizen]

It's entirely possible that Teri was raised in some mainstream American Christian denomination, maybe even regularly attending church. Thing is, with so many groups of fundies, that doesn't even count as really knowing Jesus or really being saved. Only having the born-again full on evangelical re-accepting with hard right turn to fundiedom really gets you all the way in.

The fact that the kids are allowed to visit with the grandparents makes me think they have to be at least nominally Christian (though I suppose they could have been born again at some point themselves).

Of course, Steve has a brother who is so corrupt as to hold Easter Egg hunts on Easter, so I guess that's one example of "Christian, but not quite Christian enough" in the family. The kids don't visit that family anymore I don't think?

[skankbiscuit]

It's entirely possible that Teri was raised in some mainstream American Christian denomination, maybe even regularly attending church. Thing is, with so many groups of fundies, that doesn't even count as really knowing Jesus or really being saved. Only having the born-again full on evangelical re-accepting with hard right turn to fundiedom really gets you all the way in.

The fact that the kids are allowed to visit with the grandparents makes me think they have to be at least nominally Christian (though I suppose they could have been born again at some point themselves).

Of course, Steve has a brother who is so corrupt as to hold Easter Egg hunts on Easter, so I guess that's one example of "Christian, but not quite Christian enough" in the family. The kids don't visit that family anymore I don't think?

Her parents seem to have become hard-core as well. Grandma also wears the manditory frumpers. The fact that they have so much interaction with the family makes me think they have had to have drunk (or at least pretended to have drunk) the cool-aid.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Agreed. I'd love to know just how that all happened...

Speaking of which I'd love to know if any of their farther-flung relatives have an internet presence. I'm intrigued by Aunt Tami, now...

(Why yes, I AM sadly obsessed...)

[luv2laugh]

humm, I though Teri was raised in a Christian family. She said she wasn't saved until the end of college. I wonder what her upbringing was like. Maybe she was the "town slut".... :shifty:

Haha! What you said completely cracked me up! :D

[NurseNell]

That was sad reading. The Maxwells just suck the fun right out of birthdays life.

[alikat]

Error Message 1100

[lilwriter85]

They used to celebrate Halloween when Nathan, Christopher, and Sarah were little. They wrote about their feelings regarding Halloween in their October 2004 Corners.

Here's an excerpt from Teri's Corner:

Here are the links:

web.archive.org/web/20060611224203/http://www.titus2.com/corners/10-04-m.htm

web.archive.org/web/20060904051128/http://www.titus2.com/corners/10-04-d.htm

Gotta love the Wayback Machine! I'm slowly working my way through all their old Corners. :lol:

Thank you for posting those links to the Wayback Machine. I will have to check them out.