Maddie Brown: Seeking a One-Woman Man

[Jeanne222]

What exactly are Evies medical problems?  She's a beautiful baby.

[Sandy W]

13 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

What exactly are Evies medical problems?  She's a beautiful baby.

If you scroll back on this thread to October 23, Lookeloo and Ginger posted the link to Maddie's explanation of the condition,  I don't know how to link it for you or I would.  It's near the bottom of page 25.

Edited December 7, 2019 by Sandy W

[Joan of Argh]

I'm starting to wonder if Axel has serious anger issues.

Almost every day Maddie posts about him throwing a fit.... He DESTROYED (her word) the house and threw a tantrum looking for his binkie, he got angry and tried to smash and shove the TV onto the floor.... another day he saw a candy wrapper in the diaper bag and destroyed everything hurling it around while he screamed and cried.... Now he's sat with a gingerbread kit and all he wants to do is smash it to pieces.

I can understand him being too young to really build it... JMO but the destruction part is a little odd... We've done gingerbread houses since our kids were tiny and no one ever smashed or destroyed anything.

I hope Maddie and Caleb are seeking help for Axel so he can find better ways of dealing with frustration or whatever it is that's pissing him off. 😈

[Kohola3]

15 minutes ago, Joan of Argh said:

I hope Maddie and Caleb are seeking help for Axel so he can find better ways of dealing with frustration or whatever it is that's pissing him off. 😈

I think it's more likely she's just posting and young mothers following her blog are telling her that their kids do the same thing, a little legion of sycophants.  Ranks right up there with people who believe every word on Facebook as statement of fact. 

None of them eddycated dokters needed.  My pals from Dead End Nowhereville think I'm doing just fine.  Their kids take axes to the appliances, too.

[ginger90]

2 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

What exactly are Evies medical problems?  She's a beautiful baby.

 

[DakotaJustice]

Axel just seems to be filled with so much...rage.  Maybe Maddie thinks this is perfectly normal behavior for boys. Remember how her brothers were giving each other bloody noses? 

Have any of the Brown kids experienced punishment when they've misbehaved? I'm not saying spanking - I mean grounding or a time out in the corner. 

I feel sorry for his future teachers.

[Sofa Sloth]

Meh, he’s what two or three years old? It’s still fairly normal for a two or three year old to not have impulse control over his emotions or want to see what happens when he pulls something out or pushes something over. Should she be dealing with that appropriately and correcting that behaviour straight away like saying ‘No, I won’t let you do that!’ Yes abso-freakin-lutely! Is she? No way, she’s too busy taking photos of it happening for Instagram, so she can complain about it for likes later or worrying that he’ll have a tantrum if she corrects the behaviour.

If she’s not an active parent during these foundational years, it will bite her in the bum later, as while his behaviour is developmentally excusable now in the toddler phase, in a few years it may not be. You have to upset your child sometimes to teach correct behaviour. 

[Gramto6]

4 minutes ago, Sofa Sloth said:

Meh, he’s what two or three years old? It’s still fairly normal for a two or three year old to not have impulse control over his emotions or want to see what happens when he pulls something out or pushes something over. Should she be dealing with that appropriately and correcting that behaviour straight away like saying ‘No, I won’t let you do that!’ Yes abso-freakin-lutely! Is she? No way, she’s too busy taking photos of it happening for Instagram, so she can complain about it for likes later or worrying that he’ll have a tantrum if she corrects the behaviour.

If she’s not an active parent during these foundational years, it will bite her in the bum later, as while his behaviour is developmentally excusable now in the toddler phase, in a few years it may not be. You have to upset your child sometimes to teach correct behaviour. 

So very true and I don't think she really has any idea how hard life is going to get for them as Evie begins all her medical treatments/asesments. Maddie is going to need to have that boy somewhat trained behavior wise or her world is going to be so out of control no one is going to benefit.

I get it that he was the spoiled first grandchild/kid and the world revolved around him, but life changes and the adults in his life need to ease him into that knowledge.  I do think he has some anger issues but they can be addressed and worked out if they get on it right now. If not, I fear their lives are going to be agony from all fronts for a long time.

[lookeyloo]

9 hours ago, Sofa Sloth said:

Meh, he’s what two or three years old? It’s still fairly normal for a two or three year old to not have impulse control over his emotions or want to see what happens when he pulls something out or pushes something over. Should she be dealing with that appropriately and correcting that behaviour straight away like saying ‘No, I won’t let you do that!’ Yes abso-freakin-lutely! Is she? No way, she’s too busy taking photos of it happening for Instagram, so she can complain about it for likes later or worrying that he’ll have a tantrum if she corrects the behaviour.

If she’s not an active parent during these foundational years, it will bite her in the bum later, as while his behaviour is developmentally excusable now in the toddler phase, in a few years it may not be. You have to upset your child sometimes to teach correct behaviour. 

so true.  Even as a young mother way back in the way back days, I just knew that some behaviors could be "cute" or "acceptable" at 2 or 3 but I sure as heck didn't want to be dealing with them at 11 or 12, or teenage years.  It took consistency.  I learned a lot back then from women's magazines with child rearing articles.  There wasn't much more back then.

[Sandy W]

9 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

so true.  Even as a young mother way back in the way back days, I just knew that some behaviors could be "cute" or "acceptable" at 2 or 3 but I sure as heck didn't want to be dealing with them at 11 or 12, or teenage years.  It took consistency.  I learned a lot back then from women's magazines with child rearing articles.  There wasn't much more back then.

My 3 kidlets were born in 1960, '61 and '62.  I remember days when I had an infant in one hand and Dr. Spock in the other.  My husband traveled for work all week, only home weekends and my mother worked full time but I did have my MIL exhorting me that babies thrive on a schedule and that they should all be potty trained by one year old. LOL!  I never did introduce a pacifier to any of them, breast fed them all for as long as they wanted and as long as I could.  Some found their thumbs but I don't recall that lasting for more than a few months.  Somehow, we all survived and they turned out to be healthy well-adjusted adults, who in turn raised healthy well-adjusted adults and to this day, are each others best friends.  What more could a parent ask.

[Kohola3]

10 hours ago, Sofa Sloth said:

...she’s too busy taking photos of it happening for Instagram, so she can complain about it for likes later or worrying that he’ll have a tantrum if she corrects the behaviour.

That's one (of the myriad) problems with posting every piece of minutia on SM.  She posts this crap so that her adoring followers can give her likes and validate that she's justified in her action or non-action.  And if someone dares to contradict her she just blocks them so she only sees what she wants to see - "I'm doing it right because all of my fans say so".

[Joan of Argh]

I understand him being a toddler and acting up but Maddie has posted videos of him all sweaty and screaming as he throws things and hits anything in his path which seems a bit extreme to me and my granny COL sensibilities.  🤔

His other form of acting out is exposing his penis and playing with it while ignoring instruction to put it away.

I watched a documentary a few months back and there was a little boy not much older than Axel (IIRC he was almost 4 yrs old) and he reminded me of Axel... He was sour and kind of withdrawn unless he was center of attention.... He dealt with everyday frustration the same way Axel does, with anger and destruction and inappropriate words etc..... He was diagnosed with what the parents described as "mild autism" 

Evie has obvious medical issues that are visible but maybe little Axel was also born with issues ... I guess I'm asking because I don't know a lot about autism but have heard people talk about being "on the spectrum" etc like there is mild and more severe cases.

How early are they able to diagnose autism or other problems of that nature?

Axel seems to have an unhappy outlook, rarely smiles, in pics he usually looks frustrated and sour unless whatever is going on is ALL about Axel just like the little boy in the documentary.

JMO and I'm rambling here but I feel sorry for Maddie she's only 23 herself and she has a lot to deal with and I'm not sure how much help she gets... I hope she finds a way to deal with everything that's coming her way.... Ugh. 🙁

I don't think she gets much support..... Janelle is a sack sack blob totally obsessed with her gut, meanwhile Kootie is all about Robyn and his golden children King Sol 👑 and Princess Arrieola 👸 

[DakotaJustice]

I've never been a parent so I appreciate the wisdom of the Experienced Moms here! 

I was thinking spectrum as well, but I'm far from an SME on the topic. 

I do think, though, that Maddie would serve her children much better by putting the damn phone away for a day or two. 

(The phone seems to be her version of a penis...)

[Joan of Argh]

4 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

I've never been a parent so I appreciate the wisdom of the Experienced Moms here! 

I was thinking spectrum as well, but I'm far from an SME on the topic. 

I do think, though, that Maddie would serve her children much better by putting the damn phone away for a day or two. 

(The phone seems to be her version of a penis...)

Same here i don't know enough about it to make any judgements and I'm just going on the documentary which might not have anything to do with this situation but it made me wonder and I'd love to know more if anyone could add to the discussion.

[Pickleinthemiddle]

One of my sister's boys was just like Axel growing up.  They delayed getting him any help until teachers demanded they do something about his behavior.  He was diagnosed with ADHD, he never smiled much and never learned to control his behavior or outbursts until he got older.  Even now he still suffers from low self esteem and can be verbal when things don't go his way.  They put him on Adderall and he was cool as a cucumber when on it, almost sluggish.  But it was a struggle to get him to take it.  

Doubtful Axel is autistic, possible ADHD and no consistent discipline.  Plus kids need to learn coping skills to deal with their anger.

[Sofa Sloth]

I think it would be incredibly difficult to armchair diagnose him as being on the spectrum at this age, especially given we only see a snapshot of his life.

I think he looks like a fairly normal toddler boy, they have big feelings they can’t control at that age and rage tantrums are not out of the realm of normal in my experience - they can struggle to learn how to control emotions, it’s just developmental. May just be personality too, my younger brother was very definitely a difficult strong-willed and rage-filled, tantrum thrower toddler, but is a normal well-adjusted and mannered young adult now. My eldest son had epic fits and meltdowns (and isn’t on the spectrum) and with active parenting learnt we don’t behave that way by 4 or 5.

I think Axel’s main issue is he was an idolised only grandchild and he’s had another steal his thunder that has special needs, so he’s out for attention, combined with the fact Maddie appears incapable of dealing with his tantrum behaviour effectively, by setting boundaries and following through on them (the giving back of the pacifier after the tantrum instead of riding it out - all he learns from this? I scream long and loud enough they give it back- excellent I’ll repeat this behaviour!)  

Edited December 9, 2019 by Sofa Sloth

[neh]

14 hours ago, Joan of Argh said:

I understand him being a toddler and acting up but Maddie has posted videos of him all sweaty and screaming as he throws things and hits anything in his path which seems a bit extreme to me and my granny COL sensibilities.  🤔

His other form of acting out is exposing his penis and playing with it while ignoring instruction to put it away.

I watched a documentary a few months back and there was a little boy not much older than Axel (IIRC he was almost 4 yrs old) and he reminded me of Axel... He was sour and kind of withdrawn unless he was center of attention.... He dealt with everyday frustration the same way Axel does, with anger and destruction and inappropriate words etc..... He was diagnosed with what the parents described as "mild autism" 

Evie has obvious medical issues that are visible but maybe little Axel was also born with issues ... I guess I'm asking because I don't know a lot about autism but have heard people talk about being "on the spectrum" etc like there is mild and more severe cases.

How early are they able to diagnose autism or other problems of that nature?

Axel seems to have an unhappy outlook, rarely smiles, in pics he usually looks frustrated and sour unless whatever is going on is ALL about Axel just like the little boy in the documentary.

JMO and I'm rambling here but I feel sorry for Maddie she's only 23 herself and she has a lot to deal with and I'm not sure how much help she gets... I hope she finds a way to deal with everything that's coming her way.... Ugh. 🙁

I don't think she gets much support..... Janelle is a sack sack blob totally obsessed with her gut, meanwhile Kootie is all about Robyn and his golden children King Sol 👑 and Princess Arrieola 👸 

As a special educator, I can say that typically by the age of three less severe forms of autism may be identified. Maddie's posts, like Janelle's run so negative that it is hard for me to figure out what their daily lives are truly like. I can't tell if Axel is just a handful or seriously impairec.

[Juliegirlj]

Adhd, autism spectrum, oppositional defiant disorder, or perhaps he is just a run of the mill brat?! Maddie has been around enough little kids to have a decent idea of how to parent. She seems to have inherited Janelle’s low energy and woe is me attitude. 

With having so  many sisters and multiple mothers it would be nice if Maddie had more support - however many  young mothers manage on their own just fine ( including myself- 4 kids in 9 years). 

[DakotaJustice]

Even though I've never been a mom, I think this - Maddie has ONE job. She's fortunate enough to be a SAHM. I know plenty of mothers who would LOVE to not have to work outside the home and be full time parents. 
 

IMO she needs to get TF off Insta so much and focus on her Real Life Community. Join a church. Get on Meetup and find a mom group. 
This past weekend was one of our serve weekends, we had a kit build at church on Saturday which I participated in - making hygiene kits for homeless youth - even the toddlers got involved making cards to put in the bags. 

[laurakaye]

36 minutes ago, Juliegirlj said:

With having so  many sisters and multiple mothers it would be nice if Maddie had more support - however many  young mothers manage on their own just fine ( including myself- 4 kids in 9 years). 

I was just thinking that if Kodork hadn't packed up the fam and moved to Flagstaff, Maddie and Caleb hypothetically could've had all kinds of help with their kids.  Having a temper-tantrum prone toddler and now a baby with significant health issues would be overwhelming to a mother of any age.  And if I'm not mistaken, Maddie and Caleb moved to LV to be near the fam.  But then, Robyn decided to tell Kody that it was now time to move to Flagstaff, and I remember a talking head from Maddie saying that she'd moved to be near her family and now that her family was up and moving again, she would not be following them.  And that's too bad, because now Maddie could probably really use some help from her slug of a mom, her bonus mom Christine, or one of her passel of sisters/half-sisters.

I have to wonder if Janelle has any serious resentment towards Kody for moving to Flagstaff, as much as Janelle has any passionate feelings about anything.  She's got two grandkids across the country and a daughter and son-in-law that face an uphill battle with their baby, and she's in Flagstaff because Robyn said so.  Even if Maddie lived down the street from Janelle, let's face it - Janelle would probably still be of limited help, but at least Maddie would be near other family and could potentially ask Aurora or Christine to take Axel to the park or something for a couple of hours to let him run off some energy.

I didn't mean to turn this into a dissertation.  But basically, Robyn got her way and now the small subsection of the family that really could use some assistance is clear across the country.  I hope this keeps Kody and Janelle up at night, but I highly doubt that it does.

[ginger90]

3 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

Maddie saying that she'd moved to be near her family and now that her family was up and moving again, she would not be following them.  

Maddie and Caleb ended up moving to North Carolina.

[DakotaJustice]

13 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Maddie and Caleb ended up moving to North Carolina.

That was a choice they made, and my opinion is that it was a good one. My own parents moved from the East Coast to the West Coast shortly after I was born.  The rest of their family - parents, sibs, cousins, aunts, uncles etc - stayed back east. 

My parents did alright. They found a church, and mom became active in the PTA, Block Parents, the Welcome Wagon, and so on.  Maddie has so many opportunities to make new REAL LIFE friends, not just stay home and try to be an influencer while only interfacing with people remotely.

I understand that a main reason for the move was job opportunities.  Not knocking Home Depot, but if that was the best Caleb could do in Vegas, and he had an opportunity to do better across the country, then he had to do the right thing for his family. 

And there's worse places to live than North Carolina. 

Edited December 9, 2019 by DakotaJustice

[aimlessbird]

Somebody should have clued Maddie in about the terrible twos.   Hopefully, she is building her tribe in North Carolina.  Friends, church, groups etc.  I think Maddie probably learned years ago that she couldn't depend on Kody for anything.  I think she learned the negativity from Janelle.  I just hope that Maddie and Caleb are better parents than Kody and Janelle have been.

[DakotaJustice]

2 minutes ago, aimlessbird said:

Somebody should have clued Maddie in about the terrible twos.   Hopefully, she is building her tribe in North Carolina.  Friends, church, groups etc.  I think Maddie probably learned years ago that she couldn't depend on Kody for anything.  I think she learned the negativity from Janelle.  I just hope that Maddie and Caleb are better parents than Kody and Janelle have been.

Shouldn't she already have been aware of the way toddlers behave? She's one of the oldest of the kids so must remember how the younger ones behaved, unless of course she was so wrapped up in herself that she couldn't be bothered to notice.

[Sandy W]

6 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

Shouldn't she already have been aware of the way toddlers behave? She's one of the oldest of the kids so must remember how the younger ones behaved, unless of course she was so wrapped up in herself that she couldn't be bothered to notice.

Maddie is absolutely wrapped up in herself.  I'll never forget her sitting at the kitchen table munching on an apple and playing with her phone while right in the next room, the rest of the family were viewing Ysabel's x-rays.  I also notice in group settings, when she doesn't think the camera is on her, she has a 1000 yard stare.  As soon as she realizes she is on camera range, out comes the animation and toothy grin.

[DakotaJustice]

18 minutes ago, Sandy W said:

Maddie is absolutely wrapped up in herself.  I'll never forget her sitting at the kitchen table munching on an apple and playing with her phone while right in the next room, the rest of the family were viewing Ysabel's x-rays.  I also notice in group settings, when she doesn't think the camera is on her, she has a 1000 yard stare.  As soon as she realizes she is on camera range, out comes the animation and toothy grin.

Or when she moved to college, and into her apartment, she promptly kicked out Kody and Janelle who had helped her with the move almost as soon as they arrived, if memory serves. I mean, I get that you want to be independent, but at least give them a little time. 

[Fig Newton]

On 12/4/2019 at 11:22 AM, DakotaJustice said:

Ok. I seriously thought you were kidding but I just checked and there it is big as life!

Quick! Screenshot before she reads here and deletes it!!

Saved for posterity. Or something.

I guess in the grand scheme of things, we should be thankful that the #theamountoftimesihavesaidputthepenisaway hashtag was not applied to a picture of Caleb. 🥵 

[Sandy W]

15 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

Or when she moved to college, and into her apartment, she promptly kicked out Kody and Janelle who had helped her with the move almost as soon as they arrived, if memory serves. I mean, I get that you want to be independent, but at least give them a little time. 

I think the reason she hustled them out the door ASAP was because Caleb was hovering around the corner with his moving truck ready to move in as soon as they were out.  On second thought, that may not have been when she enrolled in college, but I do remember her having a place of her own and the rest of the family seemed willfully blind to the fact that they were sharing living quarters.

[Roslyn]

I am a mother of two that were born 3 1/2 years apart.  1st born son, 2nd born daughter. I have lived through my share of tantrums but nothing in my memory comes close to what is described with Axel's behavior. I come from a rough upbringing and am very sensitive to voice tone and word choices, so I was on top of how my kids were spoken to with age appropriate reasoning etc. Robyn's baby talk on the show makes me gnash my teeth. I HATE baby talk. Both of my kids communicate very differently and so I recognized early on that I had to communicate differently to each of them...as well as I had to intervene and teach THEM to communicate with each other.  The #1 thing a parent MUST do is have a really good structured schedule.  It is easier for a toddler to learn patience when they know that their time is coming...and their time comes with consistency.  NOT "later...later....later" when later never comes.  In my experience, training a young toddler and training a dog are very very similar as to the consistent structure and positive behavior reinforcement.

I get rage tho.  I was rage filled in my late teens and early 20s.  If it doesn't have a medical cause he is a frustrated little kid.  I have seen in my husband's family the young cousins don't have structure in their homes and those little ones were prone to progressively more destructive and negative behavior simply because they really got zero attention from their parents.  Basically a "keep them from death" kind of parenting.  The kids were only really noticed or given attention to be screamed at etc.  We have little or no contact with that leg of the family.  It's just too difficult(and insanely stressful) to have to visit in that negative environment.

I agree with others that Maddie is one of the older kids, she should at least get toddlers/babies etc.  But. She wasn't one of the nurturing kids.  Logan and Aspyn are the two who were the helpers and child minders.  She is one of the kids who was cared for by the slightly older kids and then while the older ones were helping with the younger ones...she just blended in and maybe helped in a "second string" kind of way. Logan going to uni affected her greatly because she was losing as she said her "best friend" but in reality he was more of a father to her than Kody.

Maddie once said on camera aways back...when the subject was Robyn's kids being picked on by the Brown kids, that her take on it was HER siblings were expected to keep themselves entertained with each other and deal with their own issues instead of bothering the adults constantly.  She grew up surrounded with similar age kids in the same house/family. Constant noise, constant distractions. Based on Christine and Janelle's comments at the time about "don't bother us unless bones are broken", and Christine saying "oh...a sign that my kids accept your kids is the fact that they are picking on them...(when her Paedon was one of the ones really picking hard on Robyn's kids)" tells me that Maddies young life was siblings together and working out the pecking order etc on their own. She is most likely honestly clueless about what one Mum does with one toddler let alone one Mum having to handle a toddler AND infant (and a growing medical needs infant). I don't remember the exact timeline of her posting about this negative behavior and her moving/family moving etc. When she was in LV, Axel would have probably been around the big family group a lot and being a baby would get a lot of attention.  After moving that ends and it's just him with Maddie and now just mum/baby and dad when he gets home.

My experience in my youth life is with animals.  My original university degree is in animal behaviorism. As a clueless young mother I did what I already knew, animal training. The description of his behavior of looking for a binkie and raging when he can't find it, but continuing to escalate that rage as he searches, makes me wonder if her "weaning" him off the binkie was take it when he isn't looking and hiding it, instead of gradual reduction with structure and rules.   Then he comes along and wants it, gets stressed when he can't find it, as a toddler he can't articulate these feelings and his frustration grows into panic. Maybe it's found and he calms down, maybe parents don't want him stressed and cave in and return it to him.  But along the way he has learned that for him to be given what he wants he must escalate to a certain level. The more the parents want him to "just give it up..." then they take it more, hide it more....the more he escalated and then they cave.  So basically they trained him to this behavior. The overuse of his binkie we have seen recently is his reaction the opposite direction. He is NOT letting go of something precious because losing it in the past has been negative and very stressful. 

In my armchair keyboard surfing opinion, this kind of little thing leads to bigger things.  Broken trust isn't easily repaired, especially from such a young age.  Instead of structure and teaching, its closer to being like a mean kind of teasing.  Take something and hide it. Wait until someone gets really stressed and return it. Ha Ha. 🙄

My daughter (now 24) and I were talking about the new thing of mother's her age (ish) who put everything out there on social media.  She said that probably in 20 years time there will be stories just like the life of Judy Garland or Joan Crawford of children raised by mum's on blogs/social media and what it was like from their perspective.

We have a tiny window to instill SO much into our children.  To pull a quote from my long ago animal training world...if it takes 6 months to train an animal, it will take 6 years to retrain them. 

[DakotaJustice]

1 hour ago, Sandy W said:

I think the reason she hustled them out the door ASAP was because Caleb was hovering around the corner with his moving truck ready to move in as soon as they were out.  On second thought, that may not have been when she enrolled in college, but I do remember her having a place of her own and the rest of the family seemed willfully blind to the fact that they were sharing living quarters.

I don't think she was romantically involved with Caleb until after her first (and final) year of college.  I do remember on her Twitter she posted a photo of her and her dance date.

[DakotaJustice]

@Roslyn I just flashed on my horse riding days when all the horses KNEW exactly when it was feeding time and all the heads would pop out of the stall doors and swivel towards the door of the feed room! 

Actually my cats do the same - they know at 630 pm is when they get their FFF (fancy feast fix). ☺️

ETA I keep reading articles that reference "influencer burnout". I used to follow a lot of fitness instas but I pared it down to just a select few, and earlier this year privatized my IG so that now anyone who wants to follow me has to send a request. I get numerous follow requests from wannabe fitness or dating "experts" which I just decline. 

Edited December 9, 2019 by DakotaJustice

[Absolom]

28 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

The description of his behavior of looking for a binkie and raging when he can't find it, but continuing to escalate that rage as he searches, makes me wonder if her "weaning" him off the binkie was take it when he isn't looking and hiding it, instead of gradual reduction with structure and rules.   Then he comes along and wants it, gets stressed when he can't find it, as a toddler he can't articulate these feelings and his frustration grows into panic. Maybe it's found and he calms down, maybe parents don't want him stressed and cave in and return it to him.  But along the way he has learned that for him to be given what he wants he must escalate to a certain level. The more the parents want him to "just give it up..." then they take it more, hide it more....the more he escalated and then they cave.  So basically they trained him to this behavior. The overuse of his binkie we have seen recently is his reaction the opposite direction. He is NOT letting go of something precious because losing it in the past has been negative and very stressful. 

You could have nailed it.  They seem to have very little insight into the behavior and thinking of toddlers.

[Teafortwo]

14 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

@Roslyn I just flashed on my horse riding days when all the horses KNEW exactly when it was feeding time and all the heads would like out of the stall doors and swivel towards the door of the feed room! 
 

Actually my cats do the same - they know at 630 pm is when they get their FFF (fancy feast fix).

My geriatric cat gets treats every 12 hours (each bit has a different pill inside). If I lose track of time she "reminds" me by meowing and sitting in the spot where I usually give her the treats. Or if I am not paying attention she approaches me and meows. It's so cute! 

As to Axel, it's impossible to know how much of Maddie's posts are true or just exaggeration/showing the worst moments. But I agree that structure and setting boundaries is key, whether with a small child or an animal. Hiding something he relies on, like the pacifier, is cruel, whether intentional or not.

Furthermore, Axel may have picked up on the stress his parents are undoubtedly feeling since Evie's birth, and could be acting out as a result. They would have been stressed with any new baby - sleep deprivation etc. - but a new baby with such challenges would be infinitely more stress-inducing.

Edited December 9, 2019 by Teafortwo

[DakotaJustice]

14 minutes ago, Absolom said:

You could have nailed it.  They seem to have very little insight into the behavior and thinking of toddlers.

Nor do they care to learn! And that goes for their "mom's" as well. 
It's clear that Janelle couldn't wait to get back to the office and away from child raising. And when they moved to LV and she left her job with the state of Utah she had to find another excuse to not parent. 
Remember when Logan graduated from high school and was so very adamant that he was going to move out and live in the dorms? Because he knew that if he stayed, he'd still be expected to parent his sibs, and Robyn's kids along with being Mr FixIt in place of his useless dad. Janelle was close to freaking out and even made sure that the McMansion included a room for Logan as an attempt to coax him to stay. Good for Logan that he decided he'd had enough.

[Roslyn]

1 hour ago, DakotaJustice said:

@Roslyn I just flashed on my horse riding days when all the horses KNEW exactly when it was feeding time and all the heads would pop out of the stall doors and swivel towards the door of the feed room! 

Actually my cats do the same - they know at 630 pm is when they get their FFF (fancy feast fix). ☺️

ETA I keep reading articles that reference "influencer burnout". I used to follow a lot of fitness instas but I pared it down to just a select few, and earlier this year privatized my IG so that now anyone who wants to follow me has to send a request. I get numerous follow requests from wannabe fitness or dating "experts" which I just decline. 

OH yes. Horses are creatures of habit.  There are plenty of stories about working horses that after retiring, will still go through the motions of working.  It's all they know at that point.

As for Instagram...I don't blame you for going private, it is filled with scammers, hackers and creeps.  I thought being a woman in online video game platforms put you out there for weirdos...but wow....Instagram is filled with gift card scams, romance scams and hacking scams.

1 hour ago, Teafortwo said:

My geriatric cat gets treats every 12 hours (each bit has a different pill inside). If I lose track of time she "reminds" me by meowing and sitting in the spot where I usually give her the treats. Or if I am not paying attention she approaches me and meows. It's so cute! 

As to Axel, it's impossible to know how much of Maddie's posts are true or just exaggeration/showing the worst moments. But I agree that structure and setting boundaries is key, whether with a small child or an animal. Hiding something he relies on, like the pacifier, is cruel, whether intentional or not.

Furthermore, Axel may have picked up on the stress his parents are undoubtedly feeling since Evie's birth, and could be acting out as a result. They would have been stressed with any new baby - sleep deprivation etc. - but a new baby with such challenges would be infinitely more stress-inducing.

I have lived the "every 12 hour" life for many years now.  It started when my Pug was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Disease and spent the last 4 years of his life on a very strict routine schedule/diet and meds every 12 hours.  Naturally my other dog thought the pug was getting a treat and HE wasn't. So...every 12 hour treat time for the good boys became the routine.  The cat quickly caught on that the dogs were getting treats and SHE wasn't.  So she was then included with a little kitty treat. My pug passed a year and a half ago, but the treats still continue.  While my Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog) knows full well the treat is coming and will watch closely and wait patiently, my cat will NOT be patient and waltzes up to me and stabs me in the leg if I am "behind schedule".

And yes, who knows if Maddie is exaggerating Axel's behavior for her captive online audience, but her description of what he did after finding an empty candy wrapper in the diaper bag and the violent rage that followed (demanding a piece of non existent candy) led me to believe that he has used rage and violence to get what he wants(more than just the binkie wars).  Escalate to rage over binkie and get back binkie.  His reaction to demanding candy is the same, but there is no candy to be had...so he then takes it up a notch now "trashing" the living room and trying to flip the television etc. The whole penis thing is essentially the same.  Axel wants attention and tries a....then tries b.....then c etc etc.  Those don't work.  Either on purpose or just by living his random life...whip out penis and play about and BAM...attention and fast.  So...next time he wants attention he just skips what doesn't work a, b, and c and skips straight to the penis again.  Instant attention(negative attention is still attention). The ramifications can be seen by us older folks 😉 If Axel thinks attention is received after he exposes himself he will more than likely try that technique in public or in school. etc

Axel most certainly went through considerable stress after they moved to NC. His whole life is surrounded by the family.  Even tho Maddie/Caleb moved to just a half block away from the LV cul-de-sac I'm sure they co-mingled with regularity. So they move and now he just has mum and sometimes Dad, not sure of when Maddie gave up the LuLastuff or if she has replaced it with something else to keep her occupied, but I doubt he had her full attention after the move and then she's pregnant again and now an angry and frustrated toddler and a newborn keeps her busy.

I know all these years that Maddie has seemed to be a more mature person, mostly because she spoke her mind and kinda "seemed" more mature.  But she is only older than Mykelti by months and as Sandy W mentioned above, Maddie plays to the cameras.  Even Janelle has casually mentioned on camera about her fear that Maddie would get sidetracked in college over "some boy" and the adults first question when she said she wanted to be baptized into the LDS church was "is it because of some boy".  She is honestly quite young to be a mother of 2 and very far away from a family support system she has always been able to depend on.

Just an afterthought...I'm sure it goes deeper and more complex by people who know way more on the subject than me, but negative reinforcement can last a lifetime and can instantly erase all the positive that came before it.

[deirdra]

2 hours ago, DakotaJustice said:

ETA I keep reading articles that reference "influencer burnout". 

I would imagine that "influencer burnout" comes from trying to be perfect and live your ideals all the time.  Not something that any of the Browns do.

[DakotaJustice]

36 minutes ago, deirdra said:

I would imagine that "influencer burnout" comes from trying to be perfect and live your ideals all the time.  Not something that any of the Browns do.

I was thinking more about people just being tired of all the influencers - like the ice cream guy who got tired of being asked for freebies in exchange for a shout-out and declared that henceforth influencers would pay double - but I just went down the old Google rabbit hole and saw article after article about people spending hours a day and lots of money climbing the influencer ladder. A couple remarked that it would just have been easier to have a regular 9-to-5 job, rather than paying for likes and followers as well as makeup and products, tagging the manufacturers hoping that they'll take the bait and pay them some money (example - Mariah tagging Nike, Lululemon, vitamin water). Or doing the affiliate gig - like for FitFabFun hoping that someone will use their promo link so they'll get a kickback...kinda reminds me of MLM.

Edited December 9, 2019 by DakotaJustice

[Kohola3]

55 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

...people spending hours a day and lots of money climbing the influencer ladder.

I honestly fear for humanity.

CBS Sunday Morning did a story last week on MUKBANG (shame on them  they are normally better than that) featuring a woman who has made MILLIONS posting pictures of herself stuffing her face with food.  Apparently, it's a "thing" that started in Korea.  All these posters do is eat and hundreds of thousands of followers sit and watch this on YouTube.  Tens of thousands of (apparently) lonely losers sit every day and watch this.  And the popular ones make millions with ads which is how this woman that they featured makes her living.  She has long talon nails (which always prompt me to think of the gazillions of bacteria under them) and literally rams large quantities of food into her mouth for our viewing pleasure.  It was absolutely nauseating.

So this COL will go to her grave bemoaning the fate of a world run by such insanity.

Edited December 9, 2019 by Kohola3
statistic update

[Joan of Argh]

1 hour ago, Kohola3 said:

I honestly fear for humanity.

CBS Sunday Morning did a story last week on MUKBANG (shame on them  they are normally better than that) featuring a woman who has made MILLIONS posting pictures of herself stuffing her face with food.  Apparently, it's a "thing" that started in Korea.  All these posters do is eat and hundreds of thousands of followers sit and watch this on YouTube.  Tens of thousands of (apparently) lonely losers sit every day and watch this.  And the popular ones make millions with ads which is how this woman that they featured makes her living.  She has long talon nails (which always prompt me to think of the gazillions of bacteria under them) and literally rams large quantities of food into her mouth for our viewing pleasure.  It was absolutely nauseating.

So this COL will go to her grave bemoaning the fate of a world run by such insanity.

There's also "Squashers" 😧

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2440241/Men-pay-squash-The-supersize-stuffers-fat-cash--rolls-internet.html

[Kohola3]

8 minutes ago, Joan of Argh said:

There's also "Squashers"

Excuse me. I am off to take a Valium.

[MonicaM]

1 hour ago, Joan of Argh said:

There's also "Squashers" 😧

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2440241/Men-pay-squash-The-supersize-stuffers-fat-cash--rolls-internet.html

🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢

[Juliegirlj]

Maddie’s parenting is a self fulfilled prophecy- she has labeled her own son as being difficult, and believe me, he will stop at nothing to prove her right. Everyone in Axle’s life will take their cues from his Mommy, and will treat him accordingly. 

Hopefully the same thing won’t happen with their baby. Children with physical challenges usually do best when their parents don’t coddle them, but, support them and believe in their ability to overcome. Doesn’t exactly sound like something in Maddie’s wheelhouse. 

[ShaNaeNae]

Sad, losing fur babies is the worst.  But, I've never heard somebody say "yesterday night".  LAST NIGHT Maddie. 

[Teafortwo]

The Brush family must be having a tough time - no Instagram posts from Madison since Dec. 4. Either that or she's taking the lead from Aspyn and staying off social media. 

[Juliegirlj]

I hope Maddie’s break from social media is because she is busy being mom. There wasn’t any internet or social media when my kids were babies but it wouldn’t have mattered ~ I barely had time to brush my teeth....All these vlogging mothers on YouTube have perfect hair, makeup, nails, etc. It’s gross. 

[ginger90]

 

[xwordfanatik]

Axel looking like he's going to cry?  Mommy must have taken away the binky.  😞

 

[Kohola3]

19 minutes ago, xwordfanatik said:

Axel looking like he's going to cry?  Mommy must have taken away the binky.  😞

 

Or he's covering it with his hand.

And before we get comments about kids and their fear of Santa, remember that Maddie chose to post these pictures so she deserves any criticism she gets. Otherwise, keep your kids off of social media. They are unlikely to appreciate the fact that you posted their every single foible for the world to see.

Edited December 29, 2019 by Kohola3

[DakotaJustice]

5 hours ago, xwordfanatik said:

Axel looking like he's going to cry?  Mommy must have taken away the binky.  😞

 

You guys keep making me flash on movie scenes like this one from Overboard. "Wasn't I EVER happy???" 

That'd be Axel in 15 years.

[Pickleinthemiddle]

6 hours ago, xwordfanatik said:

Axel looking like he's going to cry?  Mommy must have taken away the binky.  😞

 

He was scared.  My daughter refused to have anything to do with Santa.  The first time and second time she screamed and cried.  I decided to let her decide if she ever wanted to.  She never did.