TrixieTrue

I also really enjoy this episode. I think this is when Mike is still wearing his tux and the reporter who's observing asks and Amy replies, "Well, it is a formal investigation."

For some reason, I feel like the Waltons was a TV show they were allowed to watch. Maybe that along with Andy Griffith? (Griffiths?) I don't know why, but I feel like they had tapes or something and I vaguely remember them talking about the Waltons.

I'm not a football fan, but I was really impressed with Beck's talent, ability, and drive. I never got the hype back when he was playing, but now I can see why. One thing I was curious about...several of his teammates interviewed, like Gary and Ole were around the same age as him. Did they retire before him, after, long after? In terms of length, how did his career compare to other players?

They also have slumber parties, which right now are covering the Secrets of Playboy, but they mentioned in the last one that they would be doing other topics since the season was coming to an end. They also do an advice column, which I mostly enjoy, but I wish they would prepare the questions and answers ahead of time instead of coming up with answers on the spot. There's also video versions of everything. This is the only Patreon I've ever joined, so I don't have anything else to compare it to. But I enjoy it and feel like there's a lot of content.

Still listening and I even joined their Patreon. They post tons of photos. I really enjoy it. There are some times when they go a little hard on Kendra, but she's not the focus and it's very informative. I've mentioned before that there are also times when they defend Kendra or point out the editing. I know they get criticism that this was a long time ago, why are they still talking about it, they need to move on, and so on. My feeling is E! and Playboy made a lot of money off them for so many years, so they might as well make some money off themselves now. And it seems like a very popular podcast, so good for them. The interest is clearly there.

I was catching up on this thread and just watched this. Interesting to see, now that we know the food shopping trips were likely paid by the show and not JB & M. I'm assuming the bikes were also paid for by the show. Maybe the Walmart trip, too? Did they say at some point, after they built the TTH that they didn't have a Christmas tree with of Jesus? This shows clearly that they did that tradition when the kids were young.

Well, my main take-away from this episode is that Stacey is mean. She seems very unkind. I also felt like she was making fun of Izzy a couple of times, but it wasn't in a gentle teasing sort of way. There was an undercurrent of meanness.

I felt like they looked appropriate together. They seemed like a good match physically. I know that's not what this show is meant to be about, but I feel like they match the other's attractiveness level. I agree, though, that she seemed like she was trying to convince herself that he looked fine.

It's a win for Germany.

I'm in Berlin and yes, the housing issue is very serious. One of my students lives near Stuttgart and she works with interns at her job. It's a fully paid internship, but the rental prices are so high there that a room in a shared flat is about the same as my rent in Berlin. There were several teacher strikes last year here, and I've talked to parents and teachers about that. My accountant just told me that I could get a job in a school if I wanted one because they were so desperate for teachers. I'm a freelance English teacher and have been doing that for years, so I'm not unskilled and have the degrees to back it up. Trace might be able to get a job teaching English online and there are several companies that have English camps in the summer and during school holidays where he could work. As a native speaker, he'd get hired, but he wouldn't be able to try to convert people or even talk about religion. He'd have to plan lessons and teach grammar. Somehow I don't see him doing that.

Yes, that's all true. And yes, if the kids are bilingual, that will serve them well in any country. Also, it's too late for me to correct it, but I called them the Romaine family in my post, not Romeike. It was auto-correct, not me! Anyway. Regardless, the Romeike parents want their kids to have a very specific kind of education that probably wouldn't meet the requirements of any school district. Their kids will be limited to what they're exposed to and won't get much beyond a very basic educational skill set. It's sad to see parents intentionally handicap their children and it will be very difficult for the kids to overcome it.

I'm sure it wasn't meant this way, but the education system in German is fantastic. There are plenty of bilingual schools or even English only schools if they want their kids to have a solid English education. But they want their kids to have a limited education, so they don't have a shot anyway. There are other EU countries that do allow homeschooling, so the Romaine family didn't need to go all the way to the US for that. They could have gone to Austria, Ireland, Belgium, Czech Republic (but kids still have to take national tests), and Hungary. In many of these countries, the curriculum must be equal to the school curriculum, which would be a problem for the Romeikes. I did a bachelors and masters in the US, and truthfully, I wish I had known about schools in Germany and done a masters degree here. It would have been cheaper and I would have received an excellent education, equal to the one I got in the US.

I can answer this! Because I was working at an elementary school at that time. (American in Berlin). The school I worked at had teachers preparing all the lessons and teaching online, much like US schools. The parents weren't considered teachers, but rather supervising the work and making sure their kids attended the lessons. At some point, the kids were coming back to school, either two or three days per week. The school I worked at was a bilingual school and each class is divided into two groups, English mother tongue and English partner tongue. For many classes, like art, music, and math, everyone is together. But for reading, the kids stay with their mother tongue group. The assumption is that kids who speak English at home will need extra help when learning to read in German, and vice versa. When the kids came back to school, they were with their native tongue group. So for one week, that group would come on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and the next week, they would come Tuesday and Thursday. They also had to wear masks unless they were sitting at their desks and they had to do a covid test each morning before entering the school. Germany has plenty of English schools and bilingual schools. I think I have a higher quality of life than I would in the US. Being married to a German citizen means Trace won't have a difficult visa process and as a native English speaker, he could probably get a decent job, even though he's probably an idiot. Does he have a university degree? If not, that would limit him some, but not completely.

I finished Jinger's book. It's very Jesus-y. Like she's preaching and trying to convert people. Which maybe she is! She references TWOP and the website Free Jinger, and that (to me) clearly influenced the name Becoming Free Indeed. I mentioned this on Jill's page, but Jinger explains what Gothard said about a parent's authority after marriage. Basically, the husband is the head of the household, but the couple is under the council of all of their parents. It does seem like JB thinks his authority should count more than anyone else's, but Jinger doesn't go into that. It's not a tell-all, but she gives examples of Gothard's teachings that I feel refer to her family. In one example, she writes about a young couple, not using birth control, living in a small apartment. After a few years, several kids, and the husband working long hours to support everyone, the wife is overwhelmed. She still has to keep her husband satisfied, the house has to be clean, and the kids well-behaved. She's not able to maintain her looks, so her husband may start desiring other women. And she has to be joyfully available to his physical needs. She could be describing her mother. In the same chapter, she writes about women who remain single and feel like life is passing them by. Because a man isn't interested in them, they're not filling their purpose in life, which is to get married and have children. They can't go to school or have a career because they have to care for the home and stay under their parent's authority, which includes submitting to their father's leadership and control, no matter their age. I mean...Jana, anyone? Jinger also writes about how socially stunted she was when she moved to Laredo. She had trouble with basic conversations and small talk. She says she had a performative mindset and had trouble connecting on a genuine level. She was able to talk at places like Big Sandy, because she never had real conversations with people there, but once she was away from her family, the lack of socialization she had as a child really affected her. Toward the end of her book, she says that Gothard is a false prophet and that he misrepresents the Bible and god to suit his purposes. She uses the word dangerous to describe him. She also talks about Gothard's girls. Was Jana ever one? I don't remember. She does write about the lawsuit against him, but doesn't get into the details of what his victims claimed. She briefly writes about IBLP, women, and sex. Basically, she says that IBLP doesn't talk about sex (beyond being joyfully available) and it's seen as shameful and taboo. She also says that IBLP views don't treat women in a healthy way. By pretending that everything is great and that a successful marriage depends solely on the woman, men can do whatever they want and there's no consequences for their actions. She writes a little about Josh, calling him a hypocrite. One thing I didn't like was that she referred to his crimes as sins. Yes, they are sins, but I feel like that kind of down-grades them. Call it a crime. She says now the IBLP organization only has a few events each year with only a few thousand attending. The budgets are significantly smaller and many young people are leaving. One thing that I thought as I was reading was that Jinger went from one, very conservative, culty type of Christianity to another, still very conservative, but more palatable to the masses type. She went from being a judge the sinner type to a love the sinner, hate the sin type. I doubt that her views on abortion, gay marriage, health care, or anything else have changed. It just has a nicer veneer on it. It's still growth. Learning to question the belief you held as absolute truth is hard, but inside, she's still probably not that different.

I'm reading Jinger's book right now and she mentions this several times. She says that Gothard came up with his own system where adult children still have to listen to their parents and obey them. Even after marriage, the parents still have authority. It also ignores the parents of whomever is married to a Duggar. What if Derrick's mom had a different idea than JB and M? I guess only the IBLP parent's wishes counted.