Conflicts between the Maxwell cousins?

[lilith]

If Melanie is truly grateful for the girls she has she will stop actively seeking very high risk pregnancies that leave her on bed rest unable to parent for months on end and could one day terminally limit her ability to parent.

She had three beautiful little girls who need her.

[ricky_ticky]

If Melanie is truly grateful for the girls she has she will stop actively seeking very high risk pregnancies that leave her on bed rest unable to parent for months on end and could one day terminally limit her ability to parent.

She had three beautiful little girls who need her.

I think that the main concern for Melanie's fertility are problems getting pregnant and carrying to term (miscarriage/premature birth.) That's why the progesterone injections and bedrest later in term to prevent early labor. I don't know if this poses risks to her health as much as to her potential offspring. 'Sides, she has many sisters-in-law and grandmothers to help out.

[Guest Anonymous]

I think that the main concern for Melanie's fertility are problems getting pregnant and carrying to term (miscarriage/premature birth.) That's why the progesterone injections and bedrest later in term to prevent early labor. I don't know if this poses risks to her health as much as to her potential offspring. 'Sides, she has many sisters-in-law and grandmothers to help out.

We know from Nathan's posts on the blog that Melanie has struggled with post natal depression as well as with the physical effects of difficult deliveries. And, while she was not on total bed rest last pregnancy, she has spent a significant amount of time in mandatory rest, over the course of 6 pregnancies. Chances are, her existing children will be teenagers at the very least, if she enters menopause on a 'normal' timescale. That's a lot of years for the existing blessings to be babysat by a depressed grandma and the frustrated spinster aunts.

I really hope Melanie and Nathan take a private decision to prevent future pregnancies, for all of their sakes.

[Jana814]

Can't agree more!! Although I have a suspecion that Steve might take Nathan aside and say something along the lines of having a son!

[lilwriter85]

LOL, watch Sarah's next post feature Steve holding baby Christina :lol:

That will probably happen.

[Miggy]

I haven't been following Maxwells for long so can some one fill me in ... Has Steve ever has much of a relationship with his granddaughters? Lots of people are commenting that he favours Joshua over Christina. I just wonder if this is true or whether it is actually due to Melanie keeping her kids a bit further away from Steve than NR Anna does.

I married a "normal" from a fundy family. My eldest SIL is a typical fundy wife who does everything her husband and our in-laws demand. This includes taking the kids to the in-laws regularly so there are lots of photos of in-laws with them. On the other hand, I moved our family away because I knew I couldn't cope living close. I intentionally llimited contact between my children and their grandparents. There are very few photos of my kids with their grandparents. It would be very easy to think my nieces and nephews were favourites but this is due to me rather than the grandparents. I just wonder whether Melanie has taken similar steps. I do think she is quite fundy but I just think she might be trying to maintain her own family space.

[Guest Anonymous]

I haven't been following Maxwells for long so can some one fill me in ... Has Steve ever has much of a relationship with his granddaughters? Lots of people are commenting that he favours Joshua over Christina. I just wonder if this is true or whether it is actually due to Melanie keeping her kids a bit further away from Steve than NR Anna does.

I married a "normal" from a fundy family. My eldest SIL is a typical fundy wife who does everything her husband and our in-laws demand. This includes taking the kids to the in-laws regularly so there are lots of photos of in-laws with them. On the other hand, I moved our family away because I knew I couldn't cope living close. I intentionally llimited contact between my children and their grandparents. There are very few photos of my kids with their grandparents. It would be very easy to think my nieces and nephews were favourites but this is due to me rather than the grandparents. I just wonder whether Melanie has taken similar steps. I do think she is quite fundy but I just think she might be trying to maintain her own family space.

You might be right or the other posters might be right, or it could be something completely different... None of us knows the Maxwells personally, so we just speculate based on what we see on the blog. Most of the speculation here is based on our readings of what they have written over the long term, but it's not something anyone can fill you in on or summarise without a shedload of work and a bucketful of their own personal opinion mixed in. :) If you want to catch up on the back story that is no longer available at titus2, then the wayback machine is a good resource. If you want to catch up on earlier discussions at FJ, I find google to be better than the forum search.

[kpmom]

We do know Steve's plans for Joshua would be much different than his plans for his granddaughters. That much we can gather just from reading what they have written over the years. Boys have one kind of future, and girls another kind, in Maxwell land.

Steve might see it as his duty to pass on his beliefs, knowledge, etc, to grandsons, and leave the training of granddaughters to their mother and Teri.

That's not to say he wouldn't love each of his grandchildren, but he might value an oldest grandson in the hope he would carry on the Maxwell worldview.

Granddaughters would merely be a helpmeet in that endeavor. And if they marry, it would be a helpmeet to another, non-Maxwell, man.

[MamaJunebug]

What's bemused me is that the granddaughters - especially Abby - seem very happy to be with their grandfather Maxwell. Even though Abby has (at age....4?) stopped smiling naturally in favor of a very reserved, respectable, show-no-teeth smile in most photos, her body English and facial expressions in most photos with grandfather indicate that she's delighted to be with him.

More than anything, I hope the cousins have in common an eventual return to the real world beyond the Steviverse, and that they make the move before they're traumatized by the insularity of their grandparents' nonsensical way of life.

[Evilbad]

The pics I've seen of Steve with his grandchildren show him with some of the only genuine smiles he seems to show. I think he truly loves all those kids, even if he is cray cray.

[WonderingInWA]

The pics I've seen of Steve with his grandchildren show him with some of the only genuine smiles he seems to show. I think he truly loves all those kids, even if he is cray cray.

I agree. He's batshit crazy, but I do think he has genuine love for all the grandchildren. And maybe, just MAYBE, the joy he receives from having those babies will start to soften him. One can only hope.

[Evilbad]

There is one pic where he is holding Joshua and the pure joy on his face is quite clear. All their garbage aside, that is what family is all about.

[Jana814]

We do know Steve's plans for Joshua would be much different than his plans for his granddaughters. That much we can gather just from reading what they have written over the years. Boys have one kind of future, and girls another kind, in Maxwell land.

Steve might see it as his duty to pass on his beliefs, knowledge, etc, to grandsons, and leave the training of granddaughters to their mother and Teri.

That's not to say he wouldn't love each of his grandchildren, but he might value an oldest grandson in the hope he would carry on the Maxwell worldview.

Granddaughters would merely be a helpmeet in that endeavor. And if they marry, it would be a helpmeet to another, non-Maxwell, man.

I know this post is older, but I am just seeing this comment now and I have to AGREE!! Steve was probably shouting from the roof top that he had a grandson, and not as much w/ another granddaughter. Also there was even comments on their blog post both of the births about how different the announcements were!

[darkplumaged]

Steve looks happy and relaxed when he's photographed with his grandchildren. Anyone looking at those pictures, with no other knowledge of the Maxwells, would think he is a normal person and loving grandfather. The "loving grandfather" part is almost certainly true, but "normal person"... :(