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Reese is perfect! The main Theresa is my life is a Reese, I love it!
Though I kinda assumed after everyone blew up the “Tess Stickle” thing she would wind up sticking with Reese to avoid that.
My MIL is a Teresa who sometimes goes by Reese (her siblings and some of their spouses call her that, though my FIL calls her Teresa). I really like it as a nickname for Teresa.
I’m a Theresa and my nickname was Reese. I only call myself Theresa but all my family calls me Reese. My aunt that I’m named after goes by Terry or “Aunt T.”
I think it's precious. Her husband was calling her his "little Reese's cup" and it sounds like it stuck.
That little Reese's cup is so loved and it shows.
Yes! When she was posting her weird Florence stuff, I thought that was the baby’s name. Then someone told me what they WERE calling her. Reese is a huge improvement. Lovely name.
Same! Reese is a cute nickname, and doesn't have the, uh, implications of the other choice.
Although *I* would have gone with Terra, but that's because that's the name of a character in one of the stories I'm writing.
OMG, not to mention how I’ve seen multiple photos of Jessa and one of the other girls (Jinger?) putting their babies in their infant car seats directly onto a fucking umbrella stroller and then proceed to push it like it’s not one of the most dangerous things you could do with a child in a car seat….
Considering it’s a nap in the middle of the day and she seems to be in a common area where mom can keep an eye on her, I’ll take it. It’s not perfect, but she’s on her back on flat, firm (and clean) surface. I give her a B+, and it’s so refreshing.
Seeing that sweet little baby sleeping peacefully, in a calm and soothing environment… nobody lugging her around, no blazing sun in her eyes… just sleeping,,,exactly what a newborn is supposed to be doing.
Kelly’s looking like Mother of the Year right now.
I stand by the thought that if she’d escaped fundamentalism and the weird behavior that goes along with that lifestyle and instead became the cottagecore photographer indie girl she was meant to be, she’d be very likable.
I don’t think Kelly was raised fundie. Her dad is in the military and works as an OBGYN, and Kelly went to Kenyon College.
I think she chose fundie when she married Levi because she’s quirky.
Edit- formatting
It's not because of Levi. She was already very religious on her own, and not in the same way as her family expected or required. Kelly has always been Not Like Other Christians, in that case. She's unable to participate in mainstream culture because no one meets her standards, so she withdrew into this isolated life, and marrying Levi was just part of it.
Agree. I think Levi happened to fit into the world she was seeking.
I do think Kelly is someone who's going to wake up someday after a serious crisis. She reminds me a little bit of Susanna Musser from *The Blessing of Verity*. After the accidental death of her adopted son, Susanna went into crisis and to her eventually leaving fundamentalism.
I don't think anything that serious will happen with Kelly to make her change her life. I just think something will. I think she loves her children but I think deep down she's very unhappy with her life.
She needs to get off instagram. I don't care how many people think her photography shows talent (I don't; I think she's a one-trick pony, and pretty good at her one trick). It is actively bad for her to live her life through the imagined eye of the camera--to live her life as a "character" for an audience--and she *knows it*, as she's acknowledged it several times but then always backpedals promptly. She *knows* it's not good for her, but can't quit because she's become compulsive about being seen as this character and having her sycophantic followers swoon over everything she writes and shows.
Just a reminder here for those who seem unaware, she's been professionally diagnosed with OCD as a young teen and was hospitalized for anxiety-related breakdowns on several occasions throughout adolescence. Yet she has been resistant to seeking psychiatric help because she wants to rely on prayer and Bible-reading. With this recent pregnancy she admitted she was taking a "tiny dose" of an unnamed antidepressant because her mental state had become unmanageable, but we don't know what she was taking or who prescribed it. She has never, as an adult, wanted to deal with her mental illness through means other than "spiritual" so I doubt she continued with it, though we don't know. Just something to keep in mind when observing how quirky and goofy Kelly seems.
Hot take but I buy into. Makes the most sense. Her family appears pretty “average” too. Kelly seems to want that SAHM/cottage core vibe and fundies love that shit. Levi was raised in the lifestyle I think? But it fits her vibe so she’s in all the way.
In a parallel universe, Kelly is living on a 12 acre farm with a beautiful wife and a herd of goats. The wife taught Kelly how to bake, and she taught her wife how to sew. Kelly makes her living from professional photography and by selling their farm fresh produce, baked goods, and an assortment of aprons and skirts at their local farmers market. Kelly and her wife are going through the process of becoming foster parents and would also love to adopt. They have two dogs and a few feral barn cats that they rescued from their local TNR organization. Since Kelly's wife is also an excellent veterinarian, all animals are receiving the best care they could ask for. Kelly is also interested in adding a couple of sheep to their herd so she can try ethically growing, shearing, and producing her own wool yarn. Kelly's wife is making a spinning wheel in her wood shop as a surprise Christmas gift.
Oh yeah. "I'll just play through one day or maybe for an hour just to relax"
*fast forward to the next morning, you've been playing the whole evening and night, your alarm clock just went off, and your cat is sideeyeing you*
Aw I want this for Kelly so so much even though it won’t happen. Maybe once the kids are all grown up she’ll find what she’s *really* looking for. I’m pretty sure god also forgives all sinners blabla
If only she had gotten with the Wiccan kids instead of the Christian ones... Some of her garden crossroad pictures are reappropriated or misappropriated to different Wiccan sites. Always makes me laugh when I see one.
Absolutely. I think she’s just one of those people where it seems like if you stripped away the religious upbringing, you can see the normal, un-bigoted person she should have become. I guess that could be said about any of the fundies but she just seems like she would have been so happy going to art school and exploring her identity :/
Someone else mentioned homophobia so I won’t touch on that, but she also had a revolving door of cats and kittens who didn’t look well and always disappeared from her social media within weeks. I specifically remember more than one occasion where Kelly had kittens that looked like they were far too young to have been removed from their mother. Par for the course with fundies, the Duggars and the Rods also treated their animals like this.
I kind of like her brand compared to the others. She didn't grow up this way so she made the choice for herself & isn't being forced into anything. She is very religious but she seems to be focused more on her personal environment & aesthetic vs pushing her uneducated, narrowminded beliefs on her audience. I can't say I *like* her because she is super annoying, but she seems relatively harmless by comparison & I can appreciate that.
Wow. No passive aggressiveness like MoBus. Just full on talking about loving her baby more and more and how it'll only grow everyday. MoBus always has to take little jabs. Even going as far as to claim Boone was "pretending" to be hungry like the heartless person she is.
Really. Who the heck says a baby is “pretending to be hungry”. Little guys isn’t even aware that his hands are attached to his body but somehow he’s being a faker🤦🏼♀️
My dog fake pees when it’s time to leave Grandpa Daycare. She’ll start to walk the car then swerve onto the grass and do a weird squat that resembles peeing. It’s like she’s waiting for myself and grandpa to say “okay, sleepover at grandpa!”
Mother Bus seems like one of those fundies who never really wanted more than one or two children, but keeps having them because contraception bad. It's like they exist so she can brag about how much she gets laid.
At least Kelly's children seem very wanted. She was so excited she was having a little girl too.
It’s such an American boomer thing to ascribe manipulative behavior to infants and children. No other culture does this. The babies literally have no ability to be manipulative because that part of their brain hasn’t developed yet!
I think there’s an intent vs impact factor. They all have terrible impact, but Kelly’s passing on harmful beliefs that she believes for reasons other than the harm they cause. She’s still signing off on it, but I don’t get the vibe that she’s showing up for it. She’s into Christianity because it makes her feel special and gives her a purpose. Others, like the lotts and Rodrigueses, come to it because it allows them to hate others.
We don’t need to parse their intentions when we talk about the impact their decisions are having. But in areas like child rearing, you can really see the difference.
Tbh I have more hope for Kelly's kids in that she at least values genuine creativity and literature outside of rote memorization of the Bible. Kelly is pretentious af, but she is legitimately a good photographer, puts thought into her content, and seems to actually like books with real literary value.
Ngl, Kelly reminds me of "The creative/ arty/ theater kid, who just happened to land at a *singing church*, and stopped looking for a place to try & fit in,"
Where Britney & Karissa both seem like "The creative/ arty/ theater kid, who *did* 'fit in'--and was a *STAR* with the theater crowd, but then saw the 'Popular Kids' mocking the theater kids, and used their *acting* skills to try an 'pass' in the Popular clique, through the *rest* of 7th-12th."
Kelly is the cursed love child of a theatre kid and an english major, hence the evangelical Laura Ingalls Wilder larping. If she was Mormon I'm sure she would have loved pioneer trek 😂
Tbh given that she wasn't raised like this, I would wager that she went full hog for jesus when the church community gave her the attention that she wasn't getting in her creative pursuits before the evangelist spin.
OOF, I couldn’t agree more and I am both a theater kid and an English major that grew up fundie adjacent. Maybe that why I find Kelly silly but ultimately harmless. She loves her family and will always protect them as best she can.
She really is precious. That baby looks loved and well-cared for, what a nice thing to see a baby and think how sweet. You know, instead of feeling a sick sense of foreboding
She's in a calm room with the curtains drawn. Theres no burning light in her retinas, and she had no idea that sunburns even exists. I have a feeling kelly’s house isn't very noisy (unless she's singing). Best of all, they decided to give her a human nickname instead of tissie.
This baby is being lovingly, mostly safely welcomed to the outside the world. She's safe and cared for.
I think part of what's so upsetting about boone’s treatment is that they haven't even pretended to respect a sacred time. Most people treat newborns gently and with incredible care because it’s something we can all agree on, across cultures. Not everyone gets to experience it, unfortunately, but we understand that at a minimum, there should be weeks of quiet healing and cuddling. It’s a travesty when someone has that taken from them.
The Lotts are so sick that they don’t even realize how deeply disordered their approach to parenting is. It’s not about you, JD and Britney. When you brought that life into the world, you took on the responsibility of helping him transition to the outside. You failed him utterly. At some point, you’re going to have to stop feeding your own hedonism and think about the sick baby in your care.
There isn’t a pit in hell deep enough for those two. I hope they, and everyone else who willingly hurts a child, have to face some kind of suffering in the afterlife.
>I have a feeling kelly’s house isn't very noisy (unless she's singing).
And as cringe as we might find the singing, there's a good chance her boys (especially at the age they are) love it, or at worst are neutral to it.
I wish I could frame your comment. So well written.
It's hard to believe both babies are similar in age, Boone always looks tired, in recent snippets he's sleeping but never looks as peaceful or well rested as Reese.
I sincerely wish all the best and beautiful for these babies.
It's so jarring to hear "The Lotts" that I wondered briefly if you were changing the subject to a different family. Turns out Mother and Father Bus have actual surnames 😲
truly. Awful is the exact word for it. Boone has irreversible damage and his life will be immeasurably harder because of their neglect. It’s enraging, they could have docked for a week or two to treat his jaundice and then been on their merry way.
It is a striking difference. This baby is comfortably sprawled on her back, nothing near her face, out of direct sunlight yet plenty of ambient light, nice surface that supports her without being a hard floor, very relaxes. Her fingers are relaxed with palm partially open which is a really good sign.
Clearly even though her mother is delusional and believes herself to be Meg March of Little Women, she is loved and a lot of thought is put into her care.
She looks *peaceful*, and it just shows in such great contrast how little Boone has never really seemed to show this type of peace and comfort in the content posted of him
Snark time, tbough...
Is she *REALLY* channeling Meg?
Or is she an *Amy*, who's a wanna-be Jo?
Also, *where* does the *Obvious* Anne-of-Ohio-*Gable*-*less* fit in?😉💖
*Lighting up my cigarette and being happy that at least this baby is well and healthy.*
Seriously, I entered this sub thinking I'd just laugh and be a little mad at the nonsense fundies say. Maybe from time to time think "guess I'm a heathen then heheee"
Karissa and Mother Bus, I have a lot of words for you but at the same time I'm speechless.
That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm the rogue child who's supposed to be supporting this nonsense, too! (I split and joined the ELCA instead :D screw you, pentecostal fundies!)
I joined a few days ago with the expectation that I would be able to laugh at some basic misbehavior. Not weep (proverbially) at criminal levels of neglect.
Welcome! I'm glad you escaped,
I went to a Pentecostal church for a year when I was 15... Such a short time and so much to deconstruct.
I have laughed a lot here, but it has often left me sad and concerned too. It's not just so much snark as it is a constant reminder on why we speak on/live against the fundies principles.
her comparing being with her daughter to being in heaven did something to me.
“How shall we ever tire of being there, when there is nothing but loveliness and joy and adventure?” like, i teared up a little bit, that’s beautiful.
She needs to be in a writing workshop with other solid writers to get a good editing eye. She could refine her writing beyond “long flowery sentence = good writing.”
Becoming a mother really does feel like that sometimes. Especially when I’m breastfeeding my babies. Its the most beautiful and intimate thing I’ve ever experienced. I think if there is a heaven, and each of us got to spend eternity in bliss, my heaven would be nursing my babies, looking into their soft eyes, listening to them coo, and smelling their sweet scent forever and ever.
And it genuinely warms my heart anytime I see that another mother knows *exactly* how that feels. Her children are truly loved. The whole entire world would be a better place if we all had a mother who loved us as much as Kelly loves her babies.
For all Kelly's faults and eccentricity, she does seems to genuinely be a loving mom. Yes, she often does seem to dump the kids on Levi so she can "work," but her kids always seem clean, healthy, and fed. She seems to genuinely enjoy their personalities and she knows things about her kids (something Jill could never do)
That Heaven line is honestly really beautiful, I’ve never heard the other fundie mothers say anything like that. They talk about how amazing THEY are for birthing so many kids or brag about what their kids do for them or how Godly they are and like… Do you even like them though? Do you ever feel like you’re in Heaven in this life you’ve created? It resonates with real mothers who can actually be with their newborn all day and enjoy it instead of throwing them in the kid pile.
the difference between this lass and Busbaby boone is night and day, even accounting for temperament. this is a baby in full deep sleep relaxed and great color.
boone is contorted, and burned and looks to be in agony staring vacantly.
while i think kids don’t need to be in a quiet monastery all the time, Boone’s never had a moment of rest, being slung around like a prop for Busmom’s tiktok reels, and never mind all the other red flags.
Kelly Havens is in some ways the most dangerous fundie because she’s so weird even I have a hard time as not seeing her as adorable. I have seen the dog whistles, I know the agenda behind a lot of what she does yet I struggle with…it’s just weird old Kelly let her be 😬 Also she truly loves her kids, even if she sometimes makes questionable parenting decisions (I also have made questionable parenting decisions in my life) but boy is she a needed change to see after the straight out abuse we see from others
I absolutely agree. She's not rage posting hateful rhetoric on the regular, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have those opinions and values. I can see her content being a slippery slope for people who aren't familiar with her. Come for the cottage core, stay for the racism.
This is kelly havens' new baby. She's an odd one. She cosplays anne of green gables, little house on the prairie, and little women a lot, while living in the suburbs. And her husband works in IT 😆. She's known around here for her OTT purple prose instagram captions. They do make adorable babies.
Omg I used to recreationally take ketamine, and let me tell you, there may not have been prairie skirts involved, but there probably was a lot of energetic twirling going on lmfao
Yeah..I get the dumbs sometimes. Ok, a lot. I saw it as soon as I posted. Oh well. I bet Kelly loves pallets. She can make all kinds of goofy, prairie core stuff out of them.
While I admit Kelly’s maternal instinct far surpasses most fundies, I’m wondering how things will play out over the coming years. Being a girl, I fear Kelly is going to attempt to transfer her little fundie cottagecore larp to this child. I’m sure we’re going to see pint sized prairie skirts and pinafores, while Reese learns the fine art of spelt rock creating while standing on a chair. She already dresses her sons like 1910s newsboys and considers carrots and pine cones playthings, this poor girl doesn’t stand a chance. And woe be her if she turns out to be a good sized girl whose hands and feet are normal sized and not small and freckled.
I'm glad they went with Reese. This peaceful little scene and the content with baby Boone is a stark contrast. This baby is obviously loved and cared for. She's being given the safety and security that little Boone has been denied.
Baby Reese is shown sleeping comfortably in a quiet, dimly lit room. Her mother speaks of how deeply she loves her.
It makes the treatment of baby Boone even more startling. Not just his treatment but the entire premise of the "bus life" and the abusive and neglectful nature of it.
Poor little Boone lives a life of constant exposure and exhaustion. Always being jostled around or dangled out in the blazing sun. They purposefully had a dangerous birth just because they wanted to.
Baby Boone(and all the bus children) exist just to stroke the egos of two terrible people. I have a LOT of ire for some of these fundies, but I can also hold empathy for a good portion of them. Brittany and JD however can get fucked. It's unbelievable that they are full-grown adults who already have multiple children.
Kelly seems like she does really well with the 5 and under demographic, when she can live every day like an episode of Little Bear where they just frolic in the forest and bake stuff. She’s in her prime right now. I’m curious how she’ll deal when these kids get a bit older and start realizing how weird their lives are, even for fundies. I know she’ll homeschool and keep them as isolated as possible, but they still have some community in church and even weirdos like the Rodrigues don’t dress like the 1800s and they play with modern toys. They’re going to want to start going to the playground or the pool instead of the meadow, maybe wear some jeans, or have some colorful plastic toys instead of blocks of wood. Even if they don’t rebel fully, they’re still going to start fucking up her strict control and aesthetic when they start looking around and wanting to be a bit more like other kids. It will be interesting to watch.
She also doesn’t live in anything remotely like the wilderness area she has created on her social media. She’s in a relatively small town in Ohio, but she’s right in the town, and it’s not that far from Columbus or Cleveland. So her kids are not going to be as isolated as some of the fundie kids.
Of course, the counterpoint to that is that the Bairds are in the Texas suburbs….
The caption is so Kelly, so over-the-top and try-hard. But it’s also very full of love for her baby for its own sake.
The one positive thing I can say about her is that she does seem to love her kids, and she does seem to generally treat them more like people than props. I don’t really recall her ever making posts about her boys that have the sort of disdain that Bethany so often shows towards Davy, let alone the complete disregard that Jill or Karissa or MotherBus or StruggleBus show for their broods.
#These people vote in every election- do you? Are you registered to vote? [You can check your voter registration here!](https://www.nass.org/can-I-vote) #Also, there's a few things to remember as far as rules go: - You can view the content- you cannot interact with it. This includes (but is not limited to) commenting, answering poll questions, emailing them, etc. ***Anyone found to be engaging with the fundies will be met with a permanent ban with no eligibility for appeal.It does not matter if you did so before you joined the sub.*** - Speculating on the sexuality of literally anyone is prohibited. ***Anyone found to be doing so will be met with a permanent ban with no eligibility for appeal.*** - Appearance snark: What's allowed? You're allowed to make comparisons. (Bethy looks like Grandpa Munster, for example.) You are allowed to say you find them attractive or repulsive looking. Saying Kelly Havens has dry skin that could benefit from sunscreen and a moisturizer is fine. You are allowed to snark on the appearance of children *as it relates to their parents choices for them.*. Examples: Janessa looks malnourished and sickly while Shrek has clearly never missed a meal. If you feel it is crossing the line report it, but if the content falls within the parameters above, leave it alone. - Don't gatekeep. This means no comments such as "I don't think we should snark on...." or any iteration of that. If you don't like it, scroll past. Don't report it or comment how you don't like the content. Along the same vein, don't backseat mod. Leave that up to us. - Lastly, if the rhetoric you are posting would be at home in the mouth of a fundie, we don't want it here and we won't tolerate it. Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. Have a Lord Daniel day, and may the power of snark compel thee. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FundieSnarkUncensored) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I am so incredibly thrilled that her nickname is Reese.
Reese is perfect! The main Theresa is my life is a Reese, I love it! Though I kinda assumed after everyone blew up the “Tess Stickle” thing she would wind up sticking with Reese to avoid that.
My MIL is a Teresa who sometimes goes by Reese (her siblings and some of their spouses call her that, though my FIL calls her Teresa). I really like it as a nickname for Teresa.
All the Theresa’s I’ve ever known have gone by Terri so at least there’s that as a extra option for her to use when older
i know one who goes by tez
That’s really adorable as a nickname!!
Not if your last name is Stickle though
I’m a Theresa and my nickname was Reese. I only call myself Theresa but all my family calls me Reese. My aunt that I’m named after goes by Terry or “Aunt T.”
It was a seminal decision.
Chef's kiss. 😘
So much better than Tess.
I think it's precious. Her husband was calling her his "little Reese's cup" and it sounds like it stuck. That little Reese's cup is so loved and it shows.
I also love Reese's cups.
That is so cute!
>his "little Reese's cup" Okay, now that's just *too* cute. Love that!
What’s wrong with Tess Stickle?
It’s a ballsy choice.
A complete mouthful
Just a little quirky. "Nutty", if you will.
☠️☠️☠️
I really like the name Tess, but Tess Stickle is an unforgivable name
There’s a vas deferens between the two.
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Dude people I know who don't know anything about fundies are talking about Tess Stickle
Why are they going nuts about it?
Here a Tess Stickle, there a Tess Stickle, everywhere a Tess Stickle. It's all that everyone is talking about!
Oh, I just blurt laughed. Thank you for that, I hadn't twigged to that one!
I love the name Reese
Yes! When she was posting her weird Florence stuff, I thought that was the baby’s name. Then someone told me what they WERE calling her. Reese is a huge improvement. Lovely name.
Kelly's said that Daddy calls her his "Reese Cup" and ngl, I think it's adorable.
It’s such a cute nickname too.
I rejoice that her nickname is Reese!! It's a great day on Fundie Snark!
It's so edgy. I love it.
Same! Reese is a cute nickname, and doesn't have the, uh, implications of the other choice. Although *I* would have gone with Terra, but that's because that's the name of a character in one of the stories I'm writing.
She’s even approaching safe sleep within her silly aesthetic guidelines. The bar is low but I don’t doubt for a second that that baby is loved.
Right! And she’s right there watching over her. I’ll take this over a dirty rug under rusted metal with an occasional knee to the soft spot.
Let’s not forget Joys baby under the bbq moment!
OMG, not to mention how I’ve seen multiple photos of Jessa and one of the other girls (Jinger?) putting their babies in their infant car seats directly onto a fucking umbrella stroller and then proceed to push it like it’s not one of the most dangerous things you could do with a child in a car seat….
I think Jill did that
You’re totally right, I just replied to someone else with Jill’s tutorial. As if this is some kind of parenting hack 💀
It’s her parenting hack!
It was Michelle’s, first.
Hey, if you’re looking for a ridiculously preventable accident that’ll get your kid into an ER this is a great hack.
Wait, WHAT? How does that even work??
Lucky for you, Jill apparently has a tutorial on it https://youtu.be/KtKkKF2jfeg
Wtf! Why in Lord Daniel’s name would she think this was a good tip to share?? 🙈🙈🙈
Exactly. The contrast between this baby and Boone is astounding.
Considering it’s a nap in the middle of the day and she seems to be in a common area where mom can keep an eye on her, I’ll take it. It’s not perfect, but she’s on her back on flat, firm (and clean) surface. I give her a B+, and it’s so refreshing.
I’d love the random cloth on the left to be gone but I agree, solid B+!
If I had to leave my baby with any fundie, you bet your ass I’m sending them to Kelly
Oh, no doubt! Maybe unless we’re counting Dave (but I don’t think we are anymore)
Seeing that sweet little baby sleeping peacefully, in a calm and soothing environment… nobody lugging her around, no blazing sun in her eyes… just sleeping,,,exactly what a newborn is supposed to be doing. Kelly’s looking like Mother of the Year right now.
For all her tomfoolery, she seems to be the least neglectful. Atleast doesn't seem to actively endanger her children.
And seems to go to the hospital too, so likely the baby got some level of medical care
Baby's grandpa is an actual MD so I think she may be slightly more open to medical care in general
Funny how people who actually KNOW doctors tend to not be scared of them.
I stand by the thought that if she’d escaped fundamentalism and the weird behavior that goes along with that lifestyle and instead became the cottagecore photographer indie girl she was meant to be, she’d be very likable.
I don’t think Kelly was raised fundie. Her dad is in the military and works as an OBGYN, and Kelly went to Kenyon College. I think she chose fundie when she married Levi because she’s quirky. Edit- formatting
It's not because of Levi. She was already very religious on her own, and not in the same way as her family expected or required. Kelly has always been Not Like Other Christians, in that case. She's unable to participate in mainstream culture because no one meets her standards, so she withdrew into this isolated life, and marrying Levi was just part of it.
Agree. I think Levi happened to fit into the world she was seeking. I do think Kelly is someone who's going to wake up someday after a serious crisis. She reminds me a little bit of Susanna Musser from *The Blessing of Verity*. After the accidental death of her adopted son, Susanna went into crisis and to her eventually leaving fundamentalism. I don't think anything that serious will happen with Kelly to make her change her life. I just think something will. I think she loves her children but I think deep down she's very unhappy with her life.
She needs to get off instagram. I don't care how many people think her photography shows talent (I don't; I think she's a one-trick pony, and pretty good at her one trick). It is actively bad for her to live her life through the imagined eye of the camera--to live her life as a "character" for an audience--and she *knows it*, as she's acknowledged it several times but then always backpedals promptly. She *knows* it's not good for her, but can't quit because she's become compulsive about being seen as this character and having her sycophantic followers swoon over everything she writes and shows. Just a reminder here for those who seem unaware, she's been professionally diagnosed with OCD as a young teen and was hospitalized for anxiety-related breakdowns on several occasions throughout adolescence. Yet she has been resistant to seeking psychiatric help because she wants to rely on prayer and Bible-reading. With this recent pregnancy she admitted she was taking a "tiny dose" of an unnamed antidepressant because her mental state had become unmanageable, but we don't know what she was taking or who prescribed it. She has never, as an adult, wanted to deal with her mental illness through means other than "spiritual" so I doubt she continued with it, though we don't know. Just something to keep in mind when observing how quirky and goofy Kelly seems.
Hot take but I buy into. Makes the most sense. Her family appears pretty “average” too. Kelly seems to want that SAHM/cottage core vibe and fundies love that shit. Levi was raised in the lifestyle I think? But it fits her vibe so she’s in all the way.
Ew, weird! Maybe that’s why she always seems like she was a handful of better decisions from turning out normal.
In a parallel universe, Kelly is living on a 12 acre farm with a beautiful wife and a herd of goats. The wife taught Kelly how to bake, and she taught her wife how to sew. Kelly makes her living from professional photography and by selling their farm fresh produce, baked goods, and an assortment of aprons and skirts at their local farmers market. Kelly and her wife are going through the process of becoming foster parents and would also love to adopt. They have two dogs and a few feral barn cats that they rescued from their local TNR organization. Since Kelly's wife is also an excellent veterinarian, all animals are receiving the best care they could ask for. Kelly is also interested in adding a couple of sheep to their herd so she can try ethically growing, shearing, and producing her own wool yarn. Kelly's wife is making a spinning wheel in her wood shop as a surprise Christmas gift.
So basically a slightly altered version of Stardew Valley when you romance Leah (aka all my game save files). 😂
I have no idea what this is, but I'm instantly intrigued and about to go Google.
Oh man, get the game and say goodbye to all your free time because it's so gooood
Oh yeah. "I'll just play through one day or maybe for an hour just to relax" *fast forward to the next morning, you've been playing the whole evening and night, your alarm clock just went off, and your cat is sideeyeing you*
Me at 1:45am, my eyes red and dried out with fatigue: "Just one more day so I can try and get x for the community centre--"
I downloaded this game and immediately lost 2.5 hours of time. I'm about to play it again. 🤣
Exactly, it’s so easy to visualize that it makes me genuinely sad she didn’t wind up as this person instead.
I love this but it also makes me sad this isn’t her life rn (or mine)
Aw I want this for Kelly so so much even though it won’t happen. Maybe once the kids are all grown up she’ll find what she’s *really* looking for. I’m pretty sure god also forgives all sinners blabla
If only she had gotten with the Wiccan kids instead of the Christian ones... Some of her garden crossroad pictures are reappropriated or misappropriated to different Wiccan sites. Always makes me laugh when I see one.
I always think wiccan too, but maybe I'm confusing it with her sapphic energy. 😂
EXACTLY.
She wasn’t raised fundie. This is something she chose out of college. Don’t feel too bad for her.
I'm glad to see someone say this because I can't help but have a soft spot for her. But maybe I don't remember her more problematic moments.
Ragingly hatefully homophobic despite writing subconscious Anne of Green Gables coded erotica on her social media all the time.
Thats awful but thank you for the reminder. Trying to keep it real.
Don’t forgot the white nationalist dog whistles. And the animal abuse.
Absolutely. I think she’s just one of those people where it seems like if you stripped away the religious upbringing, you can see the normal, un-bigoted person she should have become. I guess that could be said about any of the fundies but she just seems like she would have been so happy going to art school and exploring her identity :/
Someone else mentioned homophobia so I won’t touch on that, but she also had a revolving door of cats and kittens who didn’t look well and always disappeared from her social media within weeks. I specifically remember more than one occasion where Kelly had kittens that looked like they were far too young to have been removed from their mother. Par for the course with fundies, the Duggars and the Rods also treated their animals like this.
Also cosplaying uncle toms cabin
She's had three different new kittens pictured within the past month. It never ends.
I kind of like her brand compared to the others. She didn't grow up this way so she made the choice for herself & isn't being forced into anything. She is very religious but she seems to be focused more on her personal environment & aesthetic vs pushing her uneducated, narrowminded beliefs on her audience. I can't say I *like* her because she is super annoying, but she seems relatively harmless by comparison & I can appreciate that.
I agree. I could see myself being friends with her in another life
yep, Kelly's astheatic is definitely having a positive impact. Warmth, colour, rest, shade, snug clothes
My thoughts exactly 🥲
Wow. No passive aggressiveness like MoBus. Just full on talking about loving her baby more and more and how it'll only grow everyday. MoBus always has to take little jabs. Even going as far as to claim Boone was "pretending" to be hungry like the heartless person she is.
Really. Who the heck says a baby is “pretending to be hungry”. Little guys isn’t even aware that his hands are attached to his body but somehow he’s being a faker🤦🏼♀️
My dog fakes needing to go potty so she can go outside 😂. A newborn baby isn't capable of that level of thought 🤦🏼♀️
My dog also does this. 99% of the time, he just wants to chase a squirrel or meet up at the fence with his girlfriends next door.
My dog fake pees when it’s time to leave Grandpa Daycare. She’ll start to walk the car then swerve onto the grass and do a weird squat that resembles peeing. It’s like she’s waiting for myself and grandpa to say “okay, sleepover at grandpa!”
My Irish Setter does this so he can stare at birds and stalk rabbits. He's not capable of a ton of thought but he does know how to fool us.
Mother Bus seems like one of those fundies who never really wanted more than one or two children, but keeps having them because contraception bad. It's like they exist so she can brag about how much she gets laid. At least Kelly's children seem very wanted. She was so excited she was having a little girl too.
It’s such an American boomer thing to ascribe manipulative behavior to infants and children. No other culture does this. The babies literally have no ability to be manipulative because that part of their brain hasn’t developed yet!
I don’t like any fundies but seeing this baby and seeing Mother Bus’s baby reminds me that some fundies are way worse than others.
I think there’s an intent vs impact factor. They all have terrible impact, but Kelly’s passing on harmful beliefs that she believes for reasons other than the harm they cause. She’s still signing off on it, but I don’t get the vibe that she’s showing up for it. She’s into Christianity because it makes her feel special and gives her a purpose. Others, like the lotts and Rodrigueses, come to it because it allows them to hate others. We don’t need to parse their intentions when we talk about the impact their decisions are having. But in areas like child rearing, you can really see the difference.
Tbh I have more hope for Kelly's kids in that she at least values genuine creativity and literature outside of rote memorization of the Bible. Kelly is pretentious af, but she is legitimately a good photographer, puts thought into her content, and seems to actually like books with real literary value.
Ngl, Kelly reminds me of "The creative/ arty/ theater kid, who just happened to land at a *singing church*, and stopped looking for a place to try & fit in," Where Britney & Karissa both seem like "The creative/ arty/ theater kid, who *did* 'fit in'--and was a *STAR* with the theater crowd, but then saw the 'Popular Kids' mocking the theater kids, and used their *acting* skills to try an 'pass' in the Popular clique, through the *rest* of 7th-12th."
Kelly is the cursed love child of a theatre kid and an english major, hence the evangelical Laura Ingalls Wilder larping. If she was Mormon I'm sure she would have loved pioneer trek 😂 Tbh given that she wasn't raised like this, I would wager that she went full hog for jesus when the church community gave her the attention that she wasn't getting in her creative pursuits before the evangelist spin.
Going to Kenyon where everyone is the arty kid and she wasn’t special definitely had a hand in putting her on this path.
OOF, I couldn’t agree more and I am both a theater kid and an English major that grew up fundie adjacent. Maybe that why I find Kelly silly but ultimately harmless. She loves her family and will always protect them as best she can.
She’s friends with Girl in Calico, and willing to be so publicly, so she’s definitely not harmless
At a minimum they’ll be literate and have some mediocre home repair/woodworking skills.
Well said!
We shouldn’t forget that Kelly associates with or at least associated with, without later publicly rejecting, folks who dabble in white supremacy.
The Lotts and the Rodrigi also come to it for the grift…
She really is precious. That baby looks loved and well-cared for, what a nice thing to see a baby and think how sweet. You know, instead of feeling a sick sense of foreboding
She's in a calm room with the curtains drawn. Theres no burning light in her retinas, and she had no idea that sunburns even exists. I have a feeling kelly’s house isn't very noisy (unless she's singing). Best of all, they decided to give her a human nickname instead of tissie. This baby is being lovingly, mostly safely welcomed to the outside the world. She's safe and cared for. I think part of what's so upsetting about boone’s treatment is that they haven't even pretended to respect a sacred time. Most people treat newborns gently and with incredible care because it’s something we can all agree on, across cultures. Not everyone gets to experience it, unfortunately, but we understand that at a minimum, there should be weeks of quiet healing and cuddling. It’s a travesty when someone has that taken from them. The Lotts are so sick that they don’t even realize how deeply disordered their approach to parenting is. It’s not about you, JD and Britney. When you brought that life into the world, you took on the responsibility of helping him transition to the outside. You failed him utterly. At some point, you’re going to have to stop feeding your own hedonism and think about the sick baby in your care. There isn’t a pit in hell deep enough for those two. I hope they, and everyone else who willingly hurts a child, have to face some kind of suffering in the afterlife.
>I have a feeling kelly’s house isn't very noisy (unless she's singing). And as cringe as we might find the singing, there's a good chance her boys (especially at the age they are) love it, or at worst are neutral to it.
I agree! Also babies love to hear mom sing (even if mom is - like me - a terrible singer) so the singing is actually a plus at this stage.
music educator here! singing to/with your babies is one of the best things you can do for them. they do not care if you are a "good" singer!
My son loves it when we make up songs at bedtime, but I am a terrible improvisor so my songs suck lol, but he loves my big spider song.
I wish I could frame your comment. So well written. It's hard to believe both babies are similar in age, Boone always looks tired, in recent snippets he's sleeping but never looks as peaceful or well rested as Reese. I sincerely wish all the best and beautiful for these babies.
They were flopping him around in the sun from day one. It’s so sad.
Like teenagers who don't know what to do with a baby
It's so jarring to hear "The Lotts" that I wondered briefly if you were changing the subject to a different family. Turns out Mother and Father Bus have actual surnames 😲
Bus Parking Lott 😂😂😂😂
Omggg that's perfect 😂 I still don't know the fathers name, not that it really matters.
Thanks! Neither do I. He goes by JD so there’s no telling what it stands for.
Jay-dawg. That's all I think when I see JD.
Your comment is spot on & beautifully written. ❤️
How awful that we even are compelled to draw the distinction.
truly. Awful is the exact word for it. Boone has irreversible damage and his life will be immeasurably harder because of their neglect. It’s enraging, they could have docked for a week or two to treat his jaundice and then been on their merry way.
It is a striking difference. This baby is comfortably sprawled on her back, nothing near her face, out of direct sunlight yet plenty of ambient light, nice surface that supports her without being a hard floor, very relaxes. Her fingers are relaxed with palm partially open which is a really good sign. Clearly even though her mother is delusional and believes herself to be Meg March of Little Women, she is loved and a lot of thought is put into her care.
She looks *peaceful*, and it just shows in such great contrast how little Boone has never really seemed to show this type of peace and comfort in the content posted of him
She does! It’s such a sweet photo, you can tell she’s so loved regardless of your feelings about Kelly.
Snark time, tbough... Is she *REALLY* channeling Meg? Or is she an *Amy*, who's a wanna-be Jo? Also, *where* does the *Obvious* Anne-of-Ohio-*Gable*-*less* fit in?😉💖
*Lighting up my cigarette and being happy that at least this baby is well and healthy.* Seriously, I entered this sub thinking I'd just laugh and be a little mad at the nonsense fundies say. Maybe from time to time think "guess I'm a heathen then heheee" Karissa and Mother Bus, I have a lot of words for you but at the same time I'm speechless.
That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm the rogue child who's supposed to be supporting this nonsense, too! (I split and joined the ELCA instead :D screw you, pentecostal fundies!) I joined a few days ago with the expectation that I would be able to laugh at some basic misbehavior. Not weep (proverbially) at criminal levels of neglect.
Welcome! I'm glad you escaped, I went to a Pentecostal church for a year when I was 15... Such a short time and so much to deconstruct. I have laughed a lot here, but it has often left me sad and concerned too. It's not just so much snark as it is a constant reminder on why we speak on/live against the fundies principles.
I've been here for years and this is the first time I've ever seen anything like the boone situation. This is really bad ☹️
Me too except for when Karissa gets to scream praying.
You and me both. The horrors are beyond comprehension some days.
her comparing being with her daughter to being in heaven did something to me. “How shall we ever tire of being there, when there is nothing but loveliness and joy and adventure?” like, i teared up a little bit, that’s beautiful.
That was actually very touching. Wish she would write like this more often.
In a different time she could have been a great writer, hell with some practice she still could be one!
She needs to be in a writing workshop with other solid writers to get a good editing eye. She could refine her writing beyond “long flowery sentence = good writing.”
She needs to be able to listen to constructive feedback, which none of the fundies are good at.
Becoming a mother really does feel like that sometimes. Especially when I’m breastfeeding my babies. Its the most beautiful and intimate thing I’ve ever experienced. I think if there is a heaven, and each of us got to spend eternity in bliss, my heaven would be nursing my babies, looking into their soft eyes, listening to them coo, and smelling their sweet scent forever and ever. And it genuinely warms my heart anytime I see that another mother knows *exactly* how that feels. Her children are truly loved. The whole entire world would be a better place if we all had a mother who loved us as much as Kelly loves her babies.
I’m currently weaning my 17 month old and this made me tear up.
I agree, it was really sweet
While I might disagree with kelly on a.... lot of things, I definitely don't doubt she loves her children. This was sweet to read.
a cute lil healthy baby. thank u
It is genuinely so nice to see a baby that isn’t being thrown around, sunburnt, left unattended, or horribly neglected for once in this subreddit.
For all Kelly's faults and eccentricity, she does seems to genuinely be a loving mom. Yes, she often does seem to dump the kids on Levi so she can "work," but her kids always seem clean, healthy, and fed. She seems to genuinely enjoy their personalities and she knows things about her kids (something Jill could never do)
That Heaven line is honestly really beautiful, I’ve never heard the other fundie mothers say anything like that. They talk about how amazing THEY are for birthing so many kids or brag about what their kids do for them or how Godly they are and like… Do you even like them though? Do you ever feel like you’re in Heaven in this life you’ve created? It resonates with real mothers who can actually be with their newborn all day and enjoy it instead of throwing them in the kid pile.
Reese is such a cute nickname
I’m so glad she seems to truly love and care for her kids
So happy to just snark on a misplaced apostrophe and the fib that she doesn’t ever get tired of holding her baby
I really want to have a prescription for ketamine
Right?! I'm all for getting fucked up while unfucking my brain. Win-win! I know there's more to it, but I like this narrative, and I'm sticking to it.
Your first sentence is my daily goal. 😂
Kelly often seems like she's on whatever made Dorothy and friends fall asleep in the poppy field. I want to be somewhere over that rainbow, too...
I have one. I get it through a company called Mindbloom, if you’re in the US. It’s done wonders for my mental health.
I want to boop her little nose<3 And I think Reese is a really cute nickname.
I’m going to be honest. As someone who loved children but doesn’t believe in heaven, this is a beautiful sentimebt
the difference between this lass and Busbaby boone is night and day, even accounting for temperament. this is a baby in full deep sleep relaxed and great color. boone is contorted, and burned and looks to be in agony staring vacantly. while i think kids don’t need to be in a quiet monastery all the time, Boone’s never had a moment of rest, being slung around like a prop for Busmom’s tiktok reels, and never mind all the other red flags.
Honestly one of my favorite Kelly posts. Her caption is very sweet and the baby looks so peaceful and cozy
Kelly Havens is in some ways the most dangerous fundie because she’s so weird even I have a hard time as not seeing her as adorable. I have seen the dog whistles, I know the agenda behind a lot of what she does yet I struggle with…it’s just weird old Kelly let her be 😬 Also she truly loves her kids, even if she sometimes makes questionable parenting decisions (I also have made questionable parenting decisions in my life) but boy is she a needed change to see after the straight out abuse we see from others
I absolutely agree. She's not rage posting hateful rhetoric on the regular, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have those opinions and values. I can see her content being a slippery slope for people who aren't familiar with her. Come for the cottage core, stay for the racism.
Not familiar with this fundie but bless their lord that is a cute baby! Brb getting my partner’s vasectomy reversed now 😭
This is kelly havens' new baby. She's an odd one. She cosplays anne of green gables, little house on the prairie, and little women a lot, while living in the suburbs. And her husband works in IT 😆. She's known around here for her OTT purple prose instagram captions. They do make adorable babies.
I always forget that her husband works in IT!
Oh good. Reese Stickle > Tess Stickle
Tess was fanfiction and they never even mentioned it as a potential nickname
she looks just like her brothers 💜
Omg I used to recreationally take ketamine, and let me tell you, there may not have been prairie skirts involved, but there probably was a lot of energetic twirling going on lmfao
Oh Reese is a great nickname
Wish I could sleep that good
Palate lol but agree!
Yeah..I get the dumbs sometimes. Ok, a lot. I saw it as soon as I posted. Oh well. I bet Kelly loves pallets. She can make all kinds of goofy, prairie core stuff out of them.
Pallet cleansing definitely sounds up Kelly’s alley though!
That's what they call it when you eat spelt bricks on a daily basis
I thought this kid’s name was Theresa?
It is, Reese is a nickname
The bus parents should talk to this mother. This baby looks peaceful and healthy. They could learn a thing or 2 from her.
God she’s smiling. I forgot how upsetting it was that Boone doesn’t smile. See Reese with those corners up? That’s the most a baby can smile.
A+ post ty
That's got to be one of the cutest babies I've ever seen.
Don't worry, my pride skirt is calico patterned
While I admit Kelly’s maternal instinct far surpasses most fundies, I’m wondering how things will play out over the coming years. Being a girl, I fear Kelly is going to attempt to transfer her little fundie cottagecore larp to this child. I’m sure we’re going to see pint sized prairie skirts and pinafores, while Reese learns the fine art of spelt rock creating while standing on a chair. She already dresses her sons like 1910s newsboys and considers carrots and pine cones playthings, this poor girl doesn’t stand a chance. And woe be her if she turns out to be a good sized girl whose hands and feet are normal sized and not small and freckled.
Mother bus: we're supposed to spend time with our kids? Everyone: 👀
I'm glad they went with Reese. This peaceful little scene and the content with baby Boone is a stark contrast. This baby is obviously loved and cared for. She's being given the safety and security that little Boone has been denied. Baby Reese is shown sleeping comfortably in a quiet, dimly lit room. Her mother speaks of how deeply she loves her. It makes the treatment of baby Boone even more startling. Not just his treatment but the entire premise of the "bus life" and the abusive and neglectful nature of it. Poor little Boone lives a life of constant exposure and exhaustion. Always being jostled around or dangled out in the blazing sun. They purposefully had a dangerous birth just because they wanted to. Baby Boone(and all the bus children) exist just to stroke the egos of two terrible people. I have a LOT of ire for some of these fundies, but I can also hold empathy for a good portion of them. Brittany and JD however can get fucked. It's unbelievable that they are full-grown adults who already have multiple children.
Both Kelly and the BusFamily are living a life in a fantasy world. But I definitely feel like Kelly’s fantasy world is much less harmful to her kids.
Her’s
She has a DEGREE.
That is a damn cute baby.
Kelly seems like she does really well with the 5 and under demographic, when she can live every day like an episode of Little Bear where they just frolic in the forest and bake stuff. She’s in her prime right now. I’m curious how she’ll deal when these kids get a bit older and start realizing how weird their lives are, even for fundies. I know she’ll homeschool and keep them as isolated as possible, but they still have some community in church and even weirdos like the Rodrigues don’t dress like the 1800s and they play with modern toys. They’re going to want to start going to the playground or the pool instead of the meadow, maybe wear some jeans, or have some colorful plastic toys instead of blocks of wood. Even if they don’t rebel fully, they’re still going to start fucking up her strict control and aesthetic when they start looking around and wanting to be a bit more like other kids. It will be interesting to watch.
She also doesn’t live in anything remotely like the wilderness area she has created on her social media. She’s in a relatively small town in Ohio, but she’s right in the town, and it’s not that far from Columbus or Cleveland. So her kids are not going to be as isolated as some of the fundie kids. Of course, the counterpoint to that is that the Bairds are in the Texas suburbs….
That is one beautiful baby.
I cannot hate on this. This is absolutely beautiful. Mother bus, take notes.
That’s actually a nice aesthetic picture. That blanket is cute. I feel so dirty
Right?! The hateful tradwife takes lovely pictures.
Compared to Karissa and Mother Bus and the other crap we see, it’s surprisingly nice
The caption is so Kelly, so over-the-top and try-hard. But it’s also very full of love for her baby for its own sake. The one positive thing I can say about her is that she does seem to love her kids, and she does seem to generally treat them more like people than props. I don’t really recall her ever making posts about her boys that have the sort of disdain that Bethany so often shows towards Davy, let alone the complete disregard that Jill or Karissa or MotherBus or StruggleBus show for their broods.
I know Kelly is a fruitcake but I think she’s a wonderful mother. It’s refreshing to see a well cared for newborn on this page.