Schmovies

[YTIG60]

So it's for sure Hannah is coming home. I wonder what type of help they'll hire with almost all the children at home? It seems Tim is depleting the perfect family with everyone at home. My opinion is things at home had improved with four children in school and as far as driving issue, I would be utilizing the school bus. Did the ever say if the twins went to a public or private preschool? I wish I understood the rationale why you homeschool, but it is not my family.

[Tiger27]

So it's for sure Hannah is coming home. I wonder what type of help they'll hire with almost all the children at home? It seems Tim is depleting the perfect family with everyone at home. My opinion is things at home had improved with four children in school and as far as driving issue, I would be utilizing the school bus. Did the ever say if the twins went to a public or private preschool? I wish I understood the rationale why you homeschool, but it is not my family.

I’m pretty sure they went to some sort of church preschool a few hours a day a few times a week. They better have help lined up before Christmas break is over. I swear we’ve heard them talk about getting a nanny 10 times since their last official one left and they have never gotten one (only their date night babysitters). They need one lined up before making all these changes or everyone is going to end up overwhelmed and back to where they all started.

I think Hannah is being pulled back home for selfish reasons. She is the oldest and will be able to help with the little ones and chores and Zeke didn’t like homeschooling alone. It’s a win for everyone but Hannah.


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[WonderfulWorld04]

It feels really sad that Dana needs to constantly convince herself that God is teaching her a lesson by having so many kids. I'm pretty spiritual so in a way I believe it's true but it just bums me out seeing her cry at the end of each video and yammer on about how much God is teaching her. God can teach you things and it doesn't have to be so tough! You can get help! I hope they find a nanny before everyone comes back home.

[Bananasplit]

It feels really sad that Dana needs to constantly convince herself that God is teaching her a lesson by having so many kids. I'm pretty spiritual so in a way I believe it's true but it just bums me out seeing her cry at the end of each video and yammer on about how much God is teaching her. God can teach you things and it doesn't have to be so tough! You can get help! I hope they find a nanny before everyone comes back home.

Yes I agree. I believe in God and although I definitely believe u need to lean on him, he also expects u to get help when it’s needed. The Bible says many things about community and how important it is to work together. She has an idea of what a wife and mother looks like and when she can’t attain that she feels like a failure and blames only herself. It’s so sad, she’s hardly able to enjoy her kids bc she so hard getting through these lessons she believes God is giving her, but maybe he’s lesson is that she needs to ask for me help

[YTIG60]

I must be less spiritual in day to day life and I would be grateful for my physician who helped me recognize what Dana describes as PPD (Postpartum after seven children vlog). I am trying not to judge since I don't understand this concept of lessons from God, but feel this might be how she copes with difficult times. I can't image their children not feeling family stress during this "hardest year" and this is why I thought public school was a positive especially for Hannah.
I also think the picture they took was great and it would look nice over their mantal.

[DoodleBop2]

Dana reminds me of lots of large family women where their religion has told them that to be a good mother and raise godly children they need to homeschool and homebirth and do all the things and when they can't it's some sort of trial and failure on their part. Thankfully, her husband is willing to allow her to have help, I used to be in communities where moms either were encouraged from help or were simply too broke to afford help.

I wish the kids had stayed in school the rest of this school year. This mad rush to get her good enough by Christmas to bring the children back out of school. Sorry mental health doesn't work like that.

[onbreak]

Tim is the team leader.
I believe in God. I also believe a marriage is 50/50.
She looks to him to have all the answers and she knows deep down she needs more. He does too but he's a controlling asshole. If she were my 'irl' friend Id tell her that.

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[DoodleBop2]

Tim needs to have Dana's back more than he wants to live up to these ideals he wants to have. He has the beliefs but she's the one who has to live out this dream barefoot and pregnant while homeschooling he wants.

[Tiger27]

I’ve always felt that one day Livia will look back on the videos and feel sort of bad about how her mom totally rationalized her unplanned pregnancy and eye problems by saying it was all a gift from God to teach Dana all these lessons and make their family stronger. I don’t know, I find the whole outlook sort of dehumanizing. I think you can rely on both faith and modern medicine/therapy to get through struggles, not just God. Maybe that should be the lesson in all this. I’m a moderately faithful person so I can see where Dana is coming from with everything but Livia is a human (that they made a decision not to actively prevent to have), not just a little thing sent here to make your life hard in order to teach you lessons about faith.


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[onbreak]

Tim needs to have Dana's back more than he wants to live up to these ideals he wants to have. He has the beliefs but she's the one who has to live out this dream barefoot and pregnant while homeschooling he wants.

I think Dana is happy to be barefoot pregnant and homeschooling. Right now she's got so much on her plate she can't keep up. He needs to get her help around the house. Bring her parents in for a few weeks.

I thought she looked sad in the family photo.

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[YTIG60]

Tim needs to have Dana's back more than he wants to live up to these ideals he wants to have. He has the beliefs but she's the one who has to live out this dream barefoot and pregnant while homeschooling he wants.

I think Dana is happy to be barefoot pregnant and homeschooling. Right now she's got so much on her plate she can't keep up. He needs to get her help around the house. Bring her parents in for a few weeks.
I thought she looked sad in the family photo. Sent from my LG-M257 using Tapatalk

It seems like a long time since Dana has homeschooled and Tim has been teaching the older children. Do you think she wants more children?
Do you see Dana going back to homeschooling anytime soon?
Having too much on her plate with these age groups/numbers could go on for several years. Wash alone or cooking for nine isn't easy and keeping the home in order which Dana says she wishes is also not an easy task. (How We Balance a Busy Family with Crazy Schedules is a vlog they did a while back. The integration of homeschool, family business, employment and family time to be together is explained by Tim.

[WonderfulWorld04]

I don't think Dana has wanted more kids since before the twins were born if not longer with Toby. I think her religious beliefs as well as Tim's have convinced her not to use birth control and it's led to an overwhelming amount of kids. When they announced Livia's pregnancy she was very overwhelmed about it and they explained on a livestream that they thought their birth control methods had worked but that the methods kept failing them. It sounded from the way she explained it that several of the later kids were unplanned. Dana has also mentioned she never saw herself as someone who had a large family.

As far as home schooling it's been a long time since Dana has home schooled the kids at all. I think I remember seeing her doing a video a long time ago where she taught Hannah some reading lessons from a book but other then that I've always seen Tim doing the home schooling and Dana taking care of the younger kids.

[Tiger27]

They did a big homeschool update today. It was disappointing for the most part. Hannah and the twins are back at home and Halle gets to stay in school but only because it is half day kindergarten and gives Dana a “reason to get out of bed in the morning” and they still get to have her home most of the day. Hannah spent most of her first day back “catching up” on the timberdoodle curriculum to get back on track with Zeke. She aced a months worth of exams and mentioned she was doing division in school but now will be going back to multiplication with Zeke. Homeschooling is clearly holding her back and she’s obviously way beyond whatever they are doing in homeschool if she breezed through a month of the exams with no issue. They hold her back so she can stay on track with Zeke instead of bringing Zeke up to her pace. It’s too bad. The couple positives I heard was that they acknowledged Hannah is getting older and actually needs time with friends (not just Hannah...all the kids) so more efforts would be made for time with friends. They also said the kids would be enrolled in some more activities like music and maybe an art class. While this sounds great and needed, it just sounds like more time, money and energy for them. Still no sign of the nanny they desperately need...

Dana also mentions feeling way better the last few weeks and her thyroid numbers looking better , so she’s going to wean off her thyroid meds. Why is she so keen on getting off all her meds?! She surely has to realize the antidepressants and the thyroid meds are the reasons she feels better? Weaning off them so soon is going to land her right back where she started.


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[Bananasplit]

I don't think Dana has wanted more kids since before the twins were born if not longer with Toby. I think her religious beliefs as well as Tim's have convinced her not to use birth control and it's led to an overwhelming amount of kids. When they announced Livia's pregnancy she was very overwhelmed about it and they explained on a livestream that they thought their birth control methods had worked but that the methods kept failing them. It sounded from the way she explained it that several of the later kids were unplanned. Dana has also mentioned she never saw herself as someone who had a large family.

As far as home schooling it's been a long time since Dana has home schooled the kids at all. I think I remember seeing her doing a video a long time ago where she taught Hannah some reading lessons from a book but other then that I've always seen Tim doing the home schooling and Dana taking care of the younger kids.

Yes you’re right I remember Dana being very surprised and overwhelmed when she announced the twins pregnancy and Livia. One of them she was crying, she was so upset. I think she would have been happy with 3-4 kids.

I haven’t seen her homeschool either. She’s mentioned liking to homeschool like kindergarten age but hasn’t had the time to do that in a long time.

[WonderfulWorld04]

The Hannah being home schooled video was very telling. It sounded like Hannah probably would have preferred to stay in school, but her parents wanted the opposite. I wish they would stop comparing Hannah and Zeke to each other so directly and let them do their own things.

Also I'm still worried for Dana. Seeing those four kids sitting at the table while she tries to clean and "school them" just seemed absurd. They couldn't even film a small clip of Dana actually teaching to include in the vlog? It seems like the littles will just be given activities to keep them busy.

I'm actually pretty pro-home schooling being a middle school teacher myself. I know how bad the system can be and the influences but I fear those five littles education will suffer and they will mostly end up doing ABC Mouse. Just keeping five kids entertained is a massive chore, let alone trying to teach them all at their own individual skill levels.

[YTIG60]

Hannah's answer to her favoring homeschool was the half a day aspect compared to a longer day in public school. I would expect this answer from a child and does this mean you do have more instruction time in public school which I would believe is beneficial. What does Hannah do the rest of the day when she isn't being homeschooled? I agree with the details in the messages above and I still go back to if it was working, especially for Dana, why go back to what wasn't working.
I simply don't have an understanding with the family team concept which includes having your children's sole influence be the immediate family or "best for the family" is not looked at best for each individual child. Teachers were among my favorite people who were part of my children's lives. Hannah appeared happy with seeing her peers everyday at school and liked her teachers which would be a reason I would have favored remaining in public school. Hannah being with Zeke is nice, but at school age, you really like being with your friends at recess and lunch everyday. I thought it was nice her music teacher suggested after school music lessons and using YouTube as technology learning was disappointing since there is so much more to this subject. But I still go back to I'm not the parent so it is a difference in how we raise children and I'm sure there are parts of homeschooling which are better than public school.
My other question is when does Tim work? I image you would need to work a forty hour week to provide for a larger family?

[DoodleBop2]

I think the bigger kids help with chores\care of the younger kids when they're not homeschooling.

[Bananasplit]

I think Tim struggles with jealousy of his kids friendships or something. That the kids friends will replace him in some weird way. Hannah is desperate for friendship, she says it in her own way in the video. She needs girl friends or boy friends. Most parents encourage friendships, Not Tim though. They’re competition to him. It’s very bizarre.

[WonderfulWorld04]

Hannah's answer to her favoring homeschool was the half a day aspect compared to a longer day in public school. I would expect this answer from a child and does this mean you do have more instruction time in public school which I would believe is beneficial. What does Hannah do the rest of the day when she isn't being homeschooled? I agree with the details in the messages above and I still go back to if it was working, especially for Dana, why go back to what wasn't working.
I simply don't have an understanding with the family team concept which includes having your children's sole influence be the immediate family or "best for the family" is not looked at best for each individual child. Teachers were among my favorite people who were part of my children's lives. Hannah appeared happy with seeing her peers everyday at school and liked her teachers which would be a reason I would have favored remaining in public school. Hannah being with Zeke is nice, but at school age, you really like being with your friends at recess and lunch everyday. I thought it was nice her music teacher suggested after school music lessons and using YouTube as technology learning was disappointing since there is so much more to this subject. But I still go back to I'm not the parent so it is a difference in how we raise children and I'm sure there are parts of homeschooling which are better than public school.
My other question is when does Tim work? I image you would need to work a forty hour week to provide for a larger family?

Tim has an online business where he helps people with their Youtube channels. I have no idea what he makes but he has mentioned in podcasts and videos that he has a six figure business. I think it's decently lucrative for him, but why he doesn't arrange his schedule to help Dana more is beyond me.

[thenightowl]

You can tell that Hannah wanted to stay in school and struggled to make her parents happy. I wish she would have spoken up but at that age, if my parents were pressuring me, it would have been hard for me to speak up. I also don't get Tim's whole "family team" concept, it sounds good in theory but Hannah NEEDS friends that aren't just her brothers and sisters, it's not fair for her. She probably does school for a few hours then she takes care of the little ones/chores the rest of the day.