NR Anna Baby #4 -Daniel has been born

[kpmom]

3 hours ago, Queen Of Hearts said:

I don't know, I'd take anything Stevie/Sarah writes on the blog with a grain of salt.  I wouldn't be surprised if there is a lot of embellishment going on to fit their agenda (i.e., sell their crapola).  We've seen enough examples of Melanie and Nathan marching to a slightly different drummer, not to mention lots of pics of truly happy and relaxed looking kids, that I suspect the ABCD kids have a much more relaxed upbringing than their aunts and uncles had growing up.  

Oh, and kudos to NR Anna and Chris for NOT naming the baby Steve!

Hopefully you are correct and Melanie and Nathan are not quite as rigid as Teri and Steve.

Also, Abigail was her first child (that lived).  Parents tend to be much more relaxed with the younger children.

I'd be surprised if Melanie was adhering to such a rigid schedule now that she has 4.

[SolomonFundy]

I've lived a decidedly non-Maxwellian life, so the words "Daddy Tape" conjured up all sorts of things in my mind.

But still, really Steve??

Quote

To help with this planning part of the “Daddy Tape,” I suggest that you think about shortcomings you are observing in the child’s life and ask your wife for her input.

You and Teri sat down and thought about the shortcomings of your infant children because you wanted to whisper your disappointment over their failings in their ears as they slept? This is just messed up in new and special ways. There are a lot of adults in my life that are complete assholes, but I can't think of a single one that deserves to listen to a tape of me muttering over their personal struggles every night.

 

On a lighter note, it sounds like he basically made one tape per child (except poor Anna, the Maxwell's answer to Jan Brady), and that the tapes were made when they were extremely young. Then, he didn't get around to updating them with all of their new failings to his great regret. So the Maxwell kids have been listening to Daddy Tapes on a daily basis for 30+ years that probably include things like "please remember that it's a sin to take off your diaper and throw it."

[Melissa1977]

13 hours ago, kpmom said:

Hopefully you are correct and Melanie and Nathan are not quite as rigid as Teri and Steve.

Also, Abigail was her first child (that lived).  Parents tend to be much more relaxed with the younger children.

I'd be surprised if Melanie was adhering to such a rigid schedule now that she has 4.

 

The more kids, schedules are more important in families. Even in non fundie ones. So I suspect that things only are getting worse for ABCD. This said, they are probably spoiled comparing with their cousins.

About parents being more relaxed with little ones, yes it happens sometimes. But when children are very close in age and there's a lot of work and a lot of kids demanding attention, most parents become more strict. I can't talk about Melanie,, but I'm pretty sure it happened in Bates, Duggars families: from being regular parents with the older 2-3, then starting to feel overwhelmed and being more rigid, blanket training and so on , and after 15 kids  yes, being relaxed because someone else (sistermoms)  are raising these kids and parents can be kinda granparents.

17 hours ago, Queen Of Hearts said:

Do you think Maxwells married brothers are competing in a  "who is godlier parent" contest? I think Melanie and Nathan seem confortable with themselves, but I can see Christopher/NR Anna trying to appear as the brightest couple (and training kids heavily so they are perfect). And the smug Reversal, I don't remember his name, but I see him also very rigid and blaming Elissa if Calia is not perfect. 

I thnk maybe Steve dreams on having a wife as NR Anna. Not saying he desires her in a lust way, but she's everything he wants in a woman, specially with no depression nor a sign of disconfort, and probably better housekeeper than Teri.

[Melissa1977]

if Melanie is pregnant, they'll pick an E name. So... Esther or Elijah? Or twins. Mothers over 40 have more chances to have twins.

 

[uber frau]

If it's a boy,will they have a (biblical) 'B' name with an 'E' nickname?

Unless they do some hyphenation/name combining like Chris &NR Anna did with Ruthanne, I think it might be difficult.

[Foudeb]

Beelzebub, shortened to "Evil"? If nothing else, it would be biblical.

 

(just joking, not hinting at anything about the baby)

[RoseWilder]

I don't have a problem with Abigail having jobs to do when she was two. I watch my two-year-old niece several days a week, and she helps put things on the table before meals and clear things off afterwards. She has to clean up her toys in one room before going to another room (she has toys in the living room, the bedroom and the playroom.) This keeps the house from looking like a toy tornado ripped through. And we're working now on learning to make the bed.  I have no idea why, but she's fascinated with bed making.

She likes to help with other things around the house too. When I fold laundry, I put it in the laundry basket and she likes to push it to whatever room it needs to go and then she helps me put it away. She helps with cooking (I measure things, then she dumps it into the bowl and then stirs things.) She likes to dust. She likes to sweep. She likes to help put groceries away in the pantry. 

She loves doing all of those things. She thinks it's fun. And it makes her feel useful. She's proud of herself for it and she likes to go around telling other people about the things she helped with. I think it's good for kids to feel useful, even when they're toddlers. I think it boosts their self-esteem and gets them into good habits early. I don't see anything mean or wrong about this. 

But scheduling playtime with Mom, so she won't expect it at other times, and the blanket training is disturbing. It's kind of amazing to me that people in their cult are always talking about how they have a greater love of children than people who limit their family size and yet they don't appear to even like their kids. 

[nausicaa]

You know, Jim Jones had daddy tapes.

That he played over the loudspeakers at the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project. 

[sparkles]

1 hour ago, RoseWilder said:

<snip>It's kind of amazing to me that people in their cult are always talking about how they have a greater love of children than people who limit their family size and yet they don't appear to even like their kids. 

I think a lot of fundies feel it's their godly duty to have kids. Liking or loving them isn't necessarily part of the equation. Somehow, they expect their offspring to emerge from the womb as fully functioning adults and seem disappointed and angry when they act like the infants and children they are. The Maxwells in particular seem to be intent on indoctrinating their children right out of their childhoods in an effort to save their souls. Those Daddy tapes are chilling…

[Elegant Mess]

2 hours ago, sparkles said:

I think a lot of fundies feel it's their godly duty to have kids. Liking or loving them isn't necessarily part of the equation.

Yep!  This is also seen in the Duggar family, where quantity over quality reigns supreme.  How often have we here at FJ commented on Michelle's vague descriptions of her kids' personalities and her inability to remember their ages half the time?

[princessmahina]

On July 11, 2016 at 1:13 PM, sparkles said:

Or, he could be like his father, who's also a second son and is as bad, if not worse than Steve when it comes to self-righteous prigishness.

That just isn't possible. For someone to have a stick further up their ass than Christopher, they'd have to be literally impaled on it with the stick coming back out their mouth. 

A little graphic perhaps, but I'm just not sure someone could be more uptight than C. Maxwell. 

[Snarfblatt]

I'm still not over the Daddy Tapes. Since Anna didn't get her own Daddy Tape that means she got to listen to tapes of her brother's shortcomings for years? That's really screwed up. 

[Jana814]

9 minutes ago, Snarfblatt said:

I'm still not over the Daddy Tapes. Since Anna didn't get her own Daddy Tape that means she got to listen to tapes of her brother's shortcomings for years? That's really screwed up. 

I think the whole idea of Daddy Tapes is screwed up. 

[CyborgKin]

On 11/07/2016 at 3:30 PM, Melissa1977 said:

So Melanie struggled with infertility for 4 years, then had a very sick  baby who died, and when she finally had a healthy baby she scheduled cuddling time? It's not only sad, it's more than that. It shows how this family is brainwashed and ignore feelings. A pschycologist could write a thesis on these people.

Not just could: should!

[Melissa1977]

6 hours ago, Jana814 said:

I think the whole idea of Daddy Tapes is screwed up. 

And they say it's a 30 minutes tape. So these kids had been listening the same 30 minutes tape, every single day, at the scheduled time, with no distraction around, FOR YEARS? If you do something like that to a prisoner, you'll be accused of torture.

I LOVE Vivaldi 4 seasons, but if I'm forced to listen it every single day at the scheduled time, no matter my mood or if I want to do another thing, I would hate this music! Maybe in the bottom of their hearts, Maxwell children hate this tapes?

[nastyhobbitses]

On 7/12/2016 at 6:24 AM, SolomonFundy said:

I've lived a decidedly non-Maxwellian life, so the words "Daddy Tape" conjured up all sorts of things in my mind.

But still, really Steve??

You and Teri sat down and thought about the shortcomings of your infant children because you wanted to whisper your disappointment over their failings in their ears as they slept? This is just messed up in new and special ways. There are a lot of adults in my life that are complete assholes, but I can't think of a single one that deserves to listen to a tape of me muttering over their personal struggles every night.

 

On a lighter note, it sounds like he basically made one tape per child (except poor Anna, the Maxwell's answer to Jan Brady), and that the tapes were made when they were extremely young. Then, he didn't get around to updating them with all of their new failings to his great regret. So the Maxwell kids have been listening to Daddy Tapes on a daily basis for 30+ years that probably include things like "please remember that it's a sin to take off your diaper and throw it."

This just reminds of that Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job sketch where a guy is ordering a birthday greeting for his son that consists of the words "Happy Birthday, Spray (short for Spraynard). I'm disappointed in you." formed out of bees on a blank white wall.

[AuntCloud]

On 13/07/2016 at 3:19 AM, Melissa1977 said:

And they say it's a 30 minutes tape. So these kids had been listening the same 30 minutes tape, every single day, at the scheduled time, with no distraction around, FOR YEARS? If you do something like that to a prisoner, you'll be accused of torture.

I LOVE Vivaldi 4 seasons, but if I'm forced to listen it every single day at the scheduled time, no matter my mood or if I want to do another thing, I would hate this music! Maybe in the bottom of their hearts, Maxwell children hate this tapes?

My lovely yoga instructor doesn't switch up her playlist very often. I don't mind the same classical tune for Savasana, but there are cloyingly sweet covers of "Imagine" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" that I've developed a severe allergy to. And that's a 3-minute song, played once a week. Now replace 3 minutes with 30, weekly with daily, and my sweet yoga instrucor with Steve and Terry, and you have a homemade version of hell. 

[nastyhobbitses]

On 7/14/2016 at 7:05 PM, AuntCloud said:

My lovely yoga instructor doesn't switch up her playlist very often. I don't mind the same classical tune for Savasana, but there are cloyingly sweet covers of "Imagine" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" that I've developed a severe allergy to. And that's a 3-minute song, played once a week. Now replace 3 minutes with 30, weekly with daily, and my sweet yoga instrucor with Steve and Terry, and you have a homemade version of hell. 

The gym I used to go to in Shanghai had a set playlist they'd play EVERY. GODDAMN. NIGHT. If I heard that shitty remix of Boom Clap one more goddamn time, I was going to go to Sweden or wherever the hell the remixer DJ guy was from and punch him in the dick so hard it would retroactively wipe out his family's male line. On the bright side, my annoyance with the playlist could be harnessed into Hulking the hell out during deadlifts.

[Burpies]

The baby pictures are up!

I totally love that picture of NR Anna and Daniel- so, so sweet!

As for most of the other pictures, I think there is too much white.

[Coconut Flan]

There is quite a bit of discussion in the general Maxhell thread. 

[Mela99]

On 7/11/2016 at 1:30 AM, Melissa1977 said:

So Melanie struggled with infertility for 4 years, then had a very sick  baby who died, and when she finally had a healthy baby she scheduled cuddling time? It's not only sad, it's more than that. It shows how this family is brainwashed and ignore feelings. A pschycologist could write a thesis on these people.

As an infertile of 22+ months this makes me RAGE. Absolutely RAGE. 

[mango_fandango]

Oh lawdy. Those matching outfits. Kinda cute though, I guess. 

 

[Melissa1977]

1 hour ago, Mela99 said:

As an infertile of 22+ months this makes me RAGE. Absolutely RAGE. 

I'm so sorry. Hope you'll be lucky and get pregnant soon or at least that doctors can help you! 

[Melissa1977]

5 hours ago, Burpies said:

The baby pictures are up!

I totally love that picture of NR Anna and Daniel- so, so sweet!

As for most of the other pictures, I think there is too much white.

Beautiful kids, but those outfits!!! Even my mom dressed more modern in her 1950s childhood! 

I don't like white bright pictures, it's like people among clouds, or when they want to show the heaven in a movie.

I said Melanie seemed pregnant, but in 4th July she was absolutely flat. So I doubt now. Melanie and kids are the happier Maxwells, I know it's not a big deal, but still.

[Jatalie1996]

I know people have commented on here about Joshua being creepy/odd-looking, but I think he's such a handsome little guy! Surprised nobody's commented yet on the fact that Sarah is in two of the pictures...