Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears

[CofCinci]

33 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

Meri spent all day Saturday doing FB live feeds hawking LLR.  Her inventory and assorted LLR crap is taking up the entire main floor of her McMansion including the kitchen.  No kidding - she did it from 10 am - 7:30ish PM.  

some of that stuff...gawd.

My employer has a no social media policy... but I'm so curious to see what her home-home shopping network show looks like. 

[DakotaJustice]

Chaos pretty much.  And some of the stuff she's gotten from LLR...just...fugly.

[xwordfanatik]

2 hours ago, DakotaJustice said:

Meri spent all day Saturday doing FB live feeds hawking LLR.  Her inventory and assorted LLR crap is taking up the entire main floor of her McMansion including the kitchen.  No kidding - she did it from 10 am - 7:30ish PM.  

some of that stuff...gawd.

It's really fugly, and was it on this site I saw the little doggy print leggings?  Sorry, I see people at the grocery store wearing this kind of big print leggings, and I'm thinking, what?  You couldn't even bother to get dressed when you rolled out of bed?  Those "dusters" are gross.  That one Meri wore on the tell-nothing was the weirdest color, and if women think they are going to look less overweight if they wear these, well, no, they don't!  

[ginger90]

10am til around 7:30pm? How does one do that? I can't imagine Meri on for that long.

All of the traveling she does, the organizing etc. is time. Time is money. I really wonder what kind of profit she's making. Even when I have a yard sale, I think about the amount of time and what I made an hour. Yes, I'm weird. 

[ReadMeLattice]

14 hours ago, Swim mom said:

I completely and violently disagree with everyone who says money should be divided based on how many kids you have. If you can't afford six kids, then don't have six kids! Don't make someone like me, who was responsible, and had only one kid, pay for you to babysit all day.

Plus, I didn't have my child until I was 40, so guess who had to work every day surrounding holidays and three day weekends.  Guess who had to take up the slack for people not showing up on time, or leaving early.  It's not like I got compensated more, or that they got less, because we were all salaried,  and the boss was lenient to the parents who wanted to leave early for kids' crap.

Each wife made choices. Some wives CHOSE more children rather than bigger savings accounts. 

Except that that's the opposite of the way Meri sees it. She DIDN'T choose one child, she wanted more, and that's actually the excuse she gave for wanting an equal budget...that she would have had more if she had been able to choose. That's WHY the others agreed to give her the same--because it would have been her choice to have 6 kids too.

Also, we're not talking about a workplace, we're talking about a family that claims to be one.

This is totally different from a work salary. Yes, kids shouldn't dictate your salary at work. But your kids aren't getting paid or allotted funds at work. YOU are making the money. Your spouse or child is irrelevant. This is a family budget. 7 people should get more than 2 people. They're not paying the wives each a salary, they're deciding as a family how much to give each person. It's not fair that each of Janelle's children should be 'paid' less than Meri's one child, especially since Janelle was working full time while Christine wasn't at all and Meri was working only part time.

[ReadMeLattice]

On 2/13/2017 at 4:29 PM, Hockeymom said:

But I don't think Maddie herself made any such remark. It was someone's opinion from another thread that she NEEDED to have loud sex. If she did say it, or something like it, I'm sure it was a joke or taken out of context. In fact, I remember Janelle saying that she wanted to give her Yurt to Maddie and Caleb. There was nothing off or unsavory about it. I would watch it again to see, but no.

I totally agree that the adults are fair game. The kids though, eh. Even if she is an adult now, they made the choice for her to participate when she was a child.

To me, this is stretching to find some reason to dislike her.

I just think we've run out of things to talk about!

She's a married mother who continues to be on the show and get paid. 

And suddenly we don't snark on the kids? People have absolutely reamed Mariah and Mykelti here, repeatedly. Mariah's around the same age as Maddie and Mykelti is younger. Why is Maddie exempt? 

Personally I don't like the girl-- she's unemployed and hasn't followed through on any of her promises for her education, while Mariah goes to college and works full time and Mykelti also works and goes to school. She gives off a classier, less annoying air than Mariah or Mykelti-- Janelle's kids do, I've noticed, more than the other moms' kids-- but she's actually the most full of shit. She'll be a grifter just like her parents, more than any of the others, IMO. We call Mariah and Mykelti spoiled but out of all the adult kids (including Logan and Aspyn) only one isn't working OR getting an education. And she happens to be the one who made the biggest deal out of her "career goals."

Edited February 21, 2017 by Lm2162

[Love2dance]

5 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Even when I have a yard sale, I think about the amount of time and what I made an hour. Yes, I'm weird. 

Which is why I don't have yard sales. I'm too lazy for the amount of profit.

Back on topic: I would go crazy if my entire living area was filled with "for sale" clothes. Also, how can you make a profit with so much inventory?

[Sista Snarky]

By all accounts...they are filming for next season.

Meri is probably trying to keep them all out of her house...(with the big elephant leggings in the room) so they have to film their "all about" segments somewhere else.

She's supposed to be the everything in its place organizing guru. With 5 bedrooms & bonus rooms...there would easily be another way.

They can't address the topic of her LLR biz...so she's doing that on purpose or auditioning for a Hoarders..."reality stars" episode. 

I bet the dog is spooked & hopefully not dragging things off the hangers  & "marking" his territory. ?

Edited February 21, 2017 by Sista Snarky

[DakotaJustice]

To me it looks like Meri has bought into this hook line and sinker. She does pop-up sales where she actually goes to other people's houses and businesses (last week she went all the way to a small town in northern Arizona with a population of just over 4,000 - seems like a waste of time to me...) so I guess it's more practical to keep everything downstairs instead of trucking it up and down. 

It's clear to me that she's bought way too much inventory. I watched for a bit as she was selling $65 dresses (overpriced) in some really ugly patterns and very few people were buying.  While she was wearing a duster that resembled an orange bathrobe. 

[CofCinci]

6 hours ago, Love2dance said:

 Also, how can you make a profit with so much inventory?

Mormon Women are crazy for this LLR stuff. She's making bank. The more inventory you sell, the more profit you make. It looks like she cycles her profit into more inventory. Smart move. 3 months ago I thought she'd be the first to lose a house - now I think she could be the one to keep it. Guess it depends on how much she is paying Maddie to help. 

[Kohola3]

7 hours ago, Love2dance said:

Back on topic: I would go crazy if my entire living area was filled with "for sale" clothes. Also, how can you make a profit with so much inventory?

Since this salesroom seems to spill over into areas off the kitchen shouldn't she be afraid that the clothes would pick up the smell of cooking?  Those cheap fabrics just soak up any odors in the area. 

[ReadMeLattice]

2 hours ago, CofCinci said:

Mormon Women are crazy for this LLR stuff. She's making bank. The more inventory you sell, the more profit you make. It looks like she cycles her profit into more inventory. Smart move. 3 months ago I thought she'd be the first to lose a house - now I think she could be the one to keep it. Guess it depends on how much she is paying Maddie to help. 

Yeah...Their photos have been in Vegas for about a month, so sure seems like Caleb quit his job. Is Maddie "working" for Meri's LLR full time?!?! So many questions. 

[TurtlePower]

2 hours ago, CofCinci said:

Mormon Women are crazy for this LLR stuff. She's making bank. The more inventory you sell, the more profit you make. It looks like she cycles her profit into more inventory. Smart move. 3 months ago I thought she'd be the first to lose a house - now I think she could be the one to keep it. Guess it depends on how much she is paying Maddie to help. 

Any idea why? I saw a LLR-er at the grocery store the other day. I guess her goal was to look like an adult Pippi Longstocking.

Edited February 21, 2017 by Runnergirl

[DakotaJustice]

2 hours ago, CofCinci said:

Mormon Women are crazy for this LLR stuff. She's making bank. The more inventory you sell, the more profit you make. It looks like she cycles her profit into more inventory. Smart move. 3 months ago I thought she'd be the first to lose a house - now I think she could be the one to keep it. Guess it depends on how much she is paying Maddie to help. 

But - Meri isn't LDS. 

I've watched her live sales and seen how much inventory she's purchased. The leggings sell well enough although there are patterns no one will buy. If she stuck to carrying only the most popular LLR items which would be the leggings and some of the tops, while keeping her overhead low, she might do okay as far as mlm's go. However she opted to carry some very expensive (price vs quality wise) dresses which of course she is not permitted to choose patterns. I watched for 45 minutes as she went through an entire rack of these $65 dresses - several dozen of them - and sold maybe two. Even though she has 16k members in her group at most maybe 150 were watching at any one time, that would include me and other looky loos with no intention of buying anything.

Then last week, she drove from that polygamy rally in SLC, picked up her sister (who also sells LLR) and drove to Arizona with an unknown amount of both her and her sister's inventory to do two pop-ups - one on Sunday, the one on Monday again as mentioned in a town with a population of just over 4,000 between noon-2 pm.  Of course she needed time before the pop-up to set up and afterward to break down and put all the unsold inventory back into whatever she was carrying it in, then drive back up to Utah to drop her sister off (she posted about that) before heading back to LV. 

That's a lot of miles and a lot of time and effort for a fad. 

[Ladystardust]

2 minutes ago, Runnergirl said:

Any idea why? I saw a LLR-er at the grocery store the other day. I guess her goal was to look like an adult Pippi Longstocking.

I think it's because they're all "modest" - all the dresses come down to the knees, nothing sleeveless. Although there is at least a dress and a skirt that are skin tight, but I guess they don't have any problems with that. Meri always squishes herself into skintight clothes anyways. 

I believe it was started by a Mormon woman as well.

[DakotaJustice]

1 minute ago, Ladystardust said:

I think it's because they're all "modest" - all the dresses come down to the knees, nothing sleeveless. Although there is at least a dress and a skirt that are skin tight, but I guess they don't have any problems with that. Meri always squishes herself into skintight clothes anyways. 

I believe it was started by a Mormon woman as well.

I don't know if leggings can be considered modest. 

I forgot to mention that LLR is reportedly onboarding new consultants at the rate of 500 a day. Based on my FB I would say the oversaturation combined with quality issues are going to become an issue soon. 

[Absolom]

I can see Meri ending up with a ton of inventory and no way to move except the swap meet after she can't even dump it on ebay.  She seems to be plowing all her profit back into inventory or her closet and if she isn't careful she's going to have a houseful of unmovable items when the bubble on LLR pops and it will. 

[TurtlePower]

Just now, Ladystardust said:

I think it's because they're all "modest" - all the dresses come down to the knees, nothing sleeveless. Although there is at least a dress and a skirt that are skin tight, but I guess they don't have any problems with that. Meri always squishes herself into skintight clothes anyways. 

I believe it was started by a Mormon woman as well.

I did not know that. That makes sense (duh me!).

I get using a piece or two from LLR for some color but I've seen lot of LLR-ers who appear color blind. To each their own, and in Vegas just about anything goes. Even Pippi Longstocking. 

[Hockeymom]

12 hours ago, Lm2162 said:

And suddenly we don't snark on the kids? People have absolutely reamed Mariah and Mykelti here, repeatedly. Mariah's around the same age as Maddie and Mykelti is younger. Why is Maddie exempt? 

I don't know about suddenly, but I've never commented on the kids. If children are spoiled or bratty, look to the parents. I've never met a child yet who spoiled himself. If people have "absolutely reamed" the other kids, then that's on them. If the Brown parents had not put their kids in front of the camera, we wouldn't even know their names, much less care about one offhand remark. Perhaps Maddie is married now, but we came to know her as a child. Children make mistakes. Young adults make mistakes. Imagine having your every word dissected by snarky strangers. Have none of your children ever made a remark they wished to take back? The children were put on display before they were old enough to consent. To mock them for going into what has become the family business seems unfair.

[Ladystardust]

32 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

I don't know if leggings can be considered modest. 

I forgot to mention that LLR is reportedly onboarding new consultants at the rate of 500 a day. Based on my FB I would say the oversaturation combined with quality issues are going to become an issue soon. 

Yeah, I think it's weird that they won't wear sleeveless, but skintight is okay. But I THINK the leggings come in for modesty for wearing them under dresses. If you wear them with a short t-shirt, that's a different story. :) Kind of like how they used to wear those tight long-sleeved t-shirts under tank tops so their arms were covered.

[mamey2422]

3 hours ago, CofCinci said:

Mormon Women are crazy for this LLR stuff. She's making bank. The more inventory you sell, the more profit you make. It looks like she cycles her profit into more inventory. Smart move. 3 months ago I thought she'd be the first to lose a house - now I think she could be the one to keep it. Guess it depends on how much she is paying Maddie to help. 

 

37 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

But - Meri isn't LDS. 

I've watched her live sales and seen how much inventory she's purchased. The leggings sell well enough although there are patterns no one will buy. If she stuck to carrying only the most popular LLR items which would be the leggings and some of the tops, while keeping her overhead low, she might do okay as far as mlm's go. However she opted to carry some very expensive (price vs quality wise) dresses which of course she is not permitted to choose patterns. I watched for 45 minutes as she went through an entire rack of these $65 dresses - several dozen of them - and sold maybe two. Even though she has 16k members in her group at most maybe 150 were watching at any one time, that would include me and other looky loos with no intention of buying anything.

Then last week, she drove from that polygamy rally in SLC, picked up her sister (who also sells LLR) and drove to Arizona with an unknown amount of both her and her sister's inventory to do two pop-ups - one on Sunday, the one on Monday again as mentioned in a town with a population of just over 4,000 between noon-2 pm.  Of course she needed time before the pop-up to set up and afterward to break down and put all the unsold inventory back into whatever she was carrying it in, then drive back up to Utah to drop her sister off (she posted about that) before heading back to LV. 

That's a lot of miles and a lot of time and effort for a fad. 

 

34 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

I don't know if leggings can be considered modest. 

I forgot to mention that LLR is reportedly onboarding new consultants at the rate of 500 a day. Based on my FB I would say the oversaturation combined with quality issues are going to become an issue soon. 

I fell into a black hole when someone posted some LLR YouTube videos earlier and buying too much inventory (with no control over patterns) and over saturation of consultants seemed to be the biggest downfalls of those who couldn't succeed with LLR. I give Meri a lot of credit for trying but I don't believe she has the business sense or critical thinking skills to really figure this out. Many consultants who give up end up selling their inventory at a huge discount - often to other consultants. 

[ginger90]

This, from LLR, probably played a part in Meri joining:

I believe in you and you can do it are the basic principles guiding LuLaRoe today. 

[DakotaJustice]

1 minute ago, Hockeymom said:

I don't know about suddenly, but I've never commented on the kids. If children are spoiled or bratty, look to the parents. I've never met a child yet who spoiled himself. If people have "absolutely reamed" the other kids, then that's on them. If the Brown parents had not put their kids in front of the camera, we wouldn't even know their names, much less care about one offhand remark. Perhaps Maddie is married now, but we came to know her as a child. Children make mistakes. Young adults make mistakes. Imagine having your every word dissected by snarky strangers. Have none of your children ever made a remark they wished to take back? The children were put on display before they were old enough to consent. To mock them for going into what has become the family business seems unfair.

She's not a child now though. She's an adult, as are a good many of the kids - most of Janelle's, two of Christine's, and of course Mariah. 

If Maddie wants to escape scrutiny and criticism that's easy enough. Do what she said she was going to do, and move away with Caleb to live a private life, as Logan pretty much has. He stays off the radar for the most part. 

Maddie made her decision to remain suckling on the TLC teat, as an adult, well aware that the majority of viewers are critical and snark on the family. 

So in exchange she has to deal with the snark. 

1 minute ago, ginger90 said:

This, from LLR, probably played a part in Meri joining:

I believe in you and you can do it are the basic principles guiding LuLaRoe today. 

I think she joined because of her sister, mostly. 

[Hockeymom]

1 minute ago, DakotaJustice said:

Maddie made her decision to remain suckling on the TLC teat, as an adult, well aware that the majority of viewers are critical and snark on the family. 

So in exchange she has to deal with the snark. 

Or maybe she just wants to be with her family while she's expecting. Why does she have to do what she said she was going to do? Plans change, life happens. If I kept to the life plan I made as a teenager, I'd be an aging pop star now.

[DakotaJustice]

2 minutes ago, Hockeymom said:

Or maybe she just wants to be with her family while she's expecting. Why does she have to do what she said she was going to do? Plans change, life happens. If I kept to the life plan I made as a teenager, I'd be an aging pop star now.

That may be partially true, but I'm guessing we will be seeing Maddie give birth on the show, since she's reportedly opted for a home birth. Cos it's all about those ratings you know. 

I wonder if Kody will position himself in a chair with a birds eye view of Maddie's crotch like Robyn's step dad did? 

[Normades]

9 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

I wonder if Kody will position himself in a chair with a birds eye view of Maddie's crotch like Robyn's step dad did? 

Seriously, is there any question AT ALL??

Who else could tell her the proper way to push, etc.?

[ReadMeLattice]

39 minutes ago, Hockeymom said:

I don't know about suddenly, but I've never commented on the kids. If children are spoiled or bratty, look to the parents. I've never met a child yet who spoiled himself. If people have "absolutely reamed" the other kids, then that's on them. If the Brown parents had not put their kids in front of the camera, we wouldn't even know their names, much less care about one offhand remark. Perhaps Maddie is married now, but we came to know her as a child. Children make mistakes. Young adults make mistakes. Imagine having your every word dissected by snarky strangers. Have none of your children ever made a remark they wished to take back? The children were put on display before they were old enough to consent. To mock them for going into what has become the family business seems unfair.

It's happened with every Brown adult child, so Maddie should not be a special exception. 

At this point I believe she is an adult making her own choices. She's 21? And married with a child. And choosing to be on the show. And moving back to be on it even more. 

At what point does she become an adult if not now? 30? 35? 50? Or will she never be responsible for her own choices?

[ReadMeLattice]

28 minutes ago, Hockeymom said:

Or maybe she just wants to be with her family while she's expecting. Why does she have to do what she said she was going to do? Plans change, life happens. If I kept to the life plan I made as a teenager, I'd be an aging pop star now.

She doesn't have to do the same thing, but she was going to do something and is now doing nothing. A lack of work ethic is a Brown family trait, though the other adult children have seemingly managed to escape it. 

I guess I just don't get why she deserves special treatment. Nobody ever defended the other "kids" this vehemently. 

[CofCinci]

47 minutes ago, Hockeymom said:

I don't know about suddenly, but I've never commented on the kids. If children are spoiled or bratty, look to the parents. I've never met a child yet who spoiled himself. If people have "absolutely reamed" the other kids, then that's on them. If the Brown parents had not put their kids in front of the camera, we wouldn't even know their names, much less care about one offhand remark. Perhaps Maddie is married now, but we came to know her as a child. Children make mistakes. Young adults make mistakes. Imagine having your every word dissected by snarky strangers. Have none of your children ever made a remark they wished to take back? The children were put on display before they were old enough to consent. To mock them for going into what has become the family business seems unfair.

When you're old enough to cash your own TLC check and deposit into your own account, you're an adult open to the criticism that befalls reality tv stars. 

Maddie is a true Brown.  Caleb too.  Game on, motherfuckers. Don't like the criticism? Then go back to Montana or whatever and don't be reality tv stars with People magazine wedding photo spreads. 

Edited February 21, 2017 by CofCinci

[Galloway Cave]

19 minutes ago, Lm2162 said:

Or will she never be responsible for her own choices?

In true Brown fashion, no.

[Hockeymom]

8 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

 

 

Just now, Lm2162 said:

I guess I just don't get why she deserves special treatment. Nobody ever defended the other "kids" this vehemently. 

I have not read all the other threads. This one was about Meri, and seemed juicy, so I checked it out. I don't know why no one ever defended the other kids - or felt the need to insult them.  I have had my unkind thoughts about some of the other children. But then I look to the environment that created them, and keep my thoughts to myself.

Maddie does not deserve special treatment. None of the kids should be a target. Clearly, I am the minority here. That's ok. Maddie may be an adult, but she is a young adult. If she's 21, it's just barely.  I just don't get the animosity. What is her big crime? She married someone she loved, got pregnant, and took some time off from school. It seemed they were intent on starting a family right away. Yes, she had other plans. Now she has a new one. I would have rather seen her stay in school as well, but she didn't ask me.

[DakotaJustice]

Two words: 

Josh Duggar. 

Someone who grew up as a TLC child star but then outed as a sex predator. Should he have gotten a ticket out? 

I'm not saying that Maddie or any of the brown kids are sexual deviants, or doing anything illegal. 

I'm simply saying if they reach the age of majority and choose to remain in the public eye and on this hot mess of a reality show, then they need to accept that there will be criticism for that decision.

If they are just there to be "close to the family" during her pregnancy, its simple enough to choose not to be on the show. Example: The Osbournes. Only two of their three children opted in. Their third daughter didn't want to be on the show, and she was permitted to opt out. 

I'm sure that there was financial pressure applied by Kody and TLC to be featured since the first grandchild is a big deal. But still, Maddie and Caleb are adults and made the decision to be on the show. 

Edited February 21, 2017 by DakotaJustice

[CofCinci]

24 minutes ago, Lm2162 said:

I guess I just don't get why she deserves special treatment. Nobody ever defended the other "kids" this vehemently. 

I'm lost as to why some believe that Maddie should be absolved of criticism.

In fact, I believe she is the most worthy of criticism because she went on and on about her goals. Now she has none. 

[Roslyn]

1 minute ago, Hockeymom said:

 

I have not read all the other threads. This one was about Meri, and seemed juicy, so I checked it out. I don't know why no one ever defended the other kids - or felt the need to insult them.  I have had my unkind thoughts about some of the other children. But then I look to the environment that created them, and keep my thoughts to myself.

Maddie does not deserve special treatment. None of the kids should be a target. Clearly, I am the minority here. That's ok. Maddie may be an adult, but she is a young adult. If she's 21, it's just barely.  I just don't get the animosity. What is her big crime? She married someone she loved, got pregnant, and took some time off from school. It seemed they were intent on starting a family right away. Yes, she had other plans. Now she has a new one. I would have rather seen her stay in school as well, but she didn't ask me.

Honestly...I think it might be because Maddie.....let us down?  I'm not sure how else to put it.  She was from the beginning an independent and free spirit.  She spoke up, and spoke out and had no fear to clearly state that she loved her big family, but in no way would she share her chosen man and their lifestyle was NOT for her.  My heart broke for those kids when they yanked them out of their world and took them to Las Vegas.  Maddie seemed broken, but then a bit of her inner strength returned when she stated quite clearly that HER world was back in Utah and that is EXACTLY where she was going as soon as she was 18.  She got it together in LV and did very well in school.  We all saw what a fabulous strong woman she was destined to be.  I don't think anyone in any way would have anything bad to say about that Maddie.

But...then she did exactly what she said she would.  She graduated and got the hell out.  It was obvious that she wanted to be on her own and making her own decisions.   The problem was, that didn't last at all.  Before we knew it her education driven goals melted away and she chased a man much older than her.  Instead of making a relationship work while she knuckled down and finished school she gave it all up in the blink of an eye to have the man.  And now it's quite disappointing if she has given up her independent life with a husband and soon to be baby to just film for telly and live off of reality tv.  Caleb was very clear that he would NEVER move to Las Vegas...but that was before the wedding and pregnancy.  I do suspect that Maddie wants to be with family for the baby to be born.  We won't know if she moves on with her life or not afterwards.  But that's why I think people feel this way.  She had gumption, and now she seems to just have settled for reality telly life.

[Hockeymom]

2 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

But that's why I think people feel this way.  She had gumption, and now she seems to just have settled for reality telly life.

I can see that and I certainly understand. It is so frustrating to watch potential dissipate. She did have fire and gumption. I liked her and still do. When I look at her I don't see a lazy grifter. I see a girl who got waylaid by hormones. She got all dewy eyed over playing house and that ambition just fizzled. Right now, she's riding high. New wife, new mom, center of the universe. I just hope she enjoys the reality of her choices a few years down the road.

I wish her mother had told her to just have sex, get it out of her system, and finish school. Kody would have exploded from apoplexy, but Maddie would have a degree!

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, CofCinci said:

When you're old enough to cash your own TLC check and deposit into your own account, you're an adult open to the criticism that befalls reality tv stars. 

I'd love to be a fly on the wall to see if they even GET their own TLC check.  Understanding has been that the money from TLC for the show all goes to "Brown Family Enterprises" and then Kody metes it out.  If Maddie and Caleb have their own income from the show they would have had to go against Kody and negotiated their own deal with TLC.

[Normades]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

If Maddie and Caleb have their own income from the show they would have had to go against Kody and negotiated their own deal with TLC.

Since Kody is in such a bromance with Caleb, I'm sure he and Maddie could get whatever they want from dear old dad. 

Personally, I don't feel one way or the other about Maddie, but the overt favoritism gets to me and makes it harder for me to like her.  It's not right because it isn't her fault that Kody does this, but it bothers me, so I guess I'm petty.  I can understand plans changing, being young and wanting to be near your mother while pregnant (although what possible help would Janelle be? --- she seems so checked out), but they have seemed to jump into the deep end of the Kody dog and pony show.  I understand taking advantage of the money coming in when possible, but I don't like the idea of selling your soul for it.  It's a fine line and I doubt everyone would agree on where that line might be crossed.  It just seems to me that Caleb not working, them moving to LV, working for Meri and giving up independence and aspirations crosses that line.  I hope they end up getting their coins and taking off with the baby and living a nice life, but for me the line has been crossed.  YMMV

[ReadMeLattice]

Exactly. A few years ago I'd have pinned Maddie as most likely to be successful, hands down. Now all of her siblings have far surpassed her and even her husband seems willing to throw in with the LV Browns in order to be able to quit working. 

And I agree, @Normades, the overt undeserved favoritism gets to me too. Makes it harder to back it up when clearly in her family she can do no wrong. 

[CofCinci]

Maddie is a big phony. Just like her mother. Just like her father (if he's even on her birth certificate). That's why I can't stand her. 

[Tabbygirl521]

On 2/20/2017 at 3:42 AM, Swim mom said:

I completely and violently disagree with everyone who says money should be divided based on how many kids you have. If you can't afford six kids, then don't have six kids! Don't make someone like me, who was responsible, and had only one kid, pay for you to babysit all day.

Plus, I didn't have my child until I was 40, so guess who had to work every day surrounding holidays and three day weekends.  Guess who had to take up the slack for people not showing up on time, or leaving early.  It's not like I got compensated more, or that they got less, because we were all salaried,  and the boss was lenient to the parents who wanted to leave early for kids' crap.

Each wife made choices. Some wives CHOSE more children rather than bigger savings accounts. 

But Meri didn't choose to have only one child. She wanted more. And in their arrangement, supposedly all the women are moms to all the kids. In that world, I think each child should be treated equally . And even if they weren't one big happy (ha!), they are all KODY'S kids, and he chose to have them (presumably). So I feel they should all be treated and funded equally. 

Edited February 22, 2017 by Tabbygirl521

[Sista Snarky]

16 hours ago, DakotaJustice said:

To me it looks like Meri has bought into this hook line and sinker. She does pop-up sales where she actually goes to other people's houses and businesses (last week she went all the way to a small town in northern Arizona with a population of just over 4,000 - seems like a waste of time to me...) so I guess it's more practical to keep everything downstairs instead of trucking it up and down. 

It's clear to me that she's bought way too much inventory. I watched for a bit as she was selling $65 dresses (overpriced) in some really ugly patterns and very few people were buying.  While she was wearing a duster that resembled an orange bathrobe. 

Meri should avoid the color orange at all times. ??

[DakotaJustice]

20 hours ago, DakotaJustice said:

But - Meri isn't LDS. 

I've watched her live sales and seen how much inventory she's purchased. The leggings sell well enough although there are patterns no one will buy. If she stuck to carrying only the most popular LLR items which would be the leggings and some of the tops, while keeping her overhead low, she might do okay as far as mlm's go. However she opted to carry some very expensive (price vs quality wise) dresses which of course she is not permitted to choose patterns. I watched for 45 minutes as she went through an entire rack of these $65 dresses - several dozen of them - and sold maybe two. Even though she has 16k members in her group at most maybe 150 were watching at any one time, that would include me and other looky loos with no intention of buying anything.

Then last week, she drove from that polygamy rally in SLC, picked up her sister (who also sells LLR) and drove to Arizona with an unknown amount of both her and her sister's inventory to do two pop-ups - one on Sunday, the one on Monday again as mentioned in a town (ETA - Lakeside, 3.5 hour drive away from Phoenix) with a population of just over 4,000 between noon-2 pm.  Of course she needed time before the pop-up to set up and afterward to break down and put all the unsold inventory back into whatever she was carrying it in, then drive back up to Utah to drop her sister off (she posted about that) before heading back to LV. 

That's a lot of miles and a lot of time and effort for a fad. 

Edited February 22, 2017 by DakotaJustice
Hit quote instead of edit - added the name of the town she went to, my bad

[DakotaJustice]

So there was one point on Saturday, in the last couple hours or so when she finally decided to start selling leggings (just ripped open the plastic bag and held them up while sitting down in front of the phone) and asked Robyn's mom (who was watching and commenting - don't know if she bought anything) to text Brianna and have her come "help out".  When Brianna showed up she couldn't wait to get in the view of the FB live video where she could be seen eating peanut butter off a spoon and pistachio nuts while handling leggings and being admonished by Meri not to get the shells in the leggings. ??

[mamey2422]

1 hour ago, DakotaJustice said:

So there was one point on Saturday, in the last couple hours or so when she finally decided to start selling leggings (just ripped open the plastic bag and held them up while sitting down in front of the phone) and asked Robyn's mom (who was watching and commenting - don't know if she bought anything) to text Brianna and have her come "help out".  When Brianna showed up she couldn't wait to get in the view of the FB live video where she could be seen eating peanut butter off a spoon and pistachio nuts while handling leggings and being admonished by Meri not to get the shells in the leggings. ??

 This description is so epic. Maybe you could keep a running play by play for the next live sale you watch for those of us not on Facebook.  I, for one, would eat it up. It looks like Meri's LLR business is being as well run as My Sisterwife's Closet. 

[CofCinci]

8 hours ago, DakotaJustice said:

So there was one point on Saturday, in the last couple hours or so when she finally decided to start selling leggings (just ripped open the plastic bag and held them up while sitting down in front of the phone) and asked Robyn's mom (who was watching and commenting - don't know if she bought anything) to text Brianna and have her come "help out".  When Brianna showed up she couldn't wait to get in the view of the FB live video where she could be seen eating peanut butter off a spoon and pistachio nuts while handling leggings and being admonished by Meri not to get the shells in the leggings. ??

Can you record these live shows?

[DakotaJustice]

4 hours ago, CofCinci said:

Can you record these live shows?

No - and she doesn't save her FB Lives afterward.  they just poof :(

[ginger90]

Is this a picture of Meri, or the sign.......

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ1ajUkD-AD/

[MrSmith]

@ginger90 Maybe that's the wall in her house with the least amount of clutter? Though, if that's the case, they should have taken the sign down and kept it out of the picture. LOL. Bad amateur photographers.

[MrSmith]

On 2/20/2017 at 6:20 PM, ginger90 said:

10am til around 7:30pm? How does one do that? I can't imagine Meri on for that long.

All of the traveling she does, the organizing etc. is time. Time is money. I really wonder what kind of profit she's making. Even when I have a yard sale, I think about the amount of time and what I made an hour. Yes, I'm weird. 

This is why I don't have yard sales. It's not enough compensation for the time I'm spending doing it. My wife used to want to do yard sales, but that's been years. I think she's in agreement with my (and your) rationale. I'll have to ask her tonight. LOL

[MrSmith]

On 2/21/2017 at 11:50 AM, CofCinci said:

I'm lost as to why some believe that Maddie should be absolved of criticism.

In fact, I believe she is the most worthy of criticism because she went on and on about her goals. Now she has none. 

I'm not sure she has none. She may be taking time away from advancing her goals to raise her child. The first couple of years of a child's life are the most critical, anyway. My wife babysat our nephew every day for the first two years of his life and did nothing but focus on teaching him while entertaining him. He's in first grade and doing the school work of a third (and sometimes) fourth grader. In fact, when he took the test they give before going into kindergarten:
1. he could already count to 100,
2. do addition and subtraction of numbers with one or two digits (i.e., 88 - 7, or 56 + 13, etc),
3. already knew the alphabet and, in fact, had a vocabulary of at least a 3rd grader, and
4. when they showed him a picture of a farm, he decided it was a picture of a combine because the combine was in the foreground and the farmhouse, barn, and everything else was in the distant background. (Yes, he already knew the difference between tractors, combines, and other farm machinery.)

So, maybe Maddie will be busy unlocking her child's potential for the first couple of years. I hope so, anyway, and I would argue that is a better use of her time than anything else she could be doing.