Maggie Jayne is the littlest Schwandt
in the Lakeview Schwandt pond.
Maggie Jayne, girl, the boys won’t dare
to be pummeled by thirty fists.
Loved by an army,
she’s the last twinkle in her daddy’s eye.
Will she be free-wheelin’ on an ATV
or baking apple pies in an apron?
Wearing camo or curls?
Curtsying or climbing trees?
On November 4, 2020, Maggie Jayne Schwandt was born. She is the first baby girl to be born to Mr. & Mrs. Schwandt after the couple had 14 other children, all boys. The family lives in Lakeview, MI, a suburb of Grand Rapids which isn’t far from here. The family are outdoorsmen and recently started a local cable TV show about it.
Learn more about them here.
Peter Frankis is today’s host of dVerse‘ Poetics. Peter says:
So tonight poets, let’s bear witness in our local neighbourhood. Look at your local paper (if you still have such a thing), find a publicly reported event, a tree planting or a tree felling, a dam opening or a landslide. Perhaps something you witnessed personally – whatever inspires.
Tao Talk 
I one heard that it’s more common for mothers to have another child if she only had boys before in the hope of getting a girl… I think the little sister will be spoiled by all those brothers.
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Loved this question: “wearing camo or curls”! What a heartening poem for disheartening times! ❤️
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<3 Glad you enjoyed it, Dora.
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I love how you found us some good news other than world politics, Lisa – what a relief! I can’t imagine having fifteen children, one was enough of a challenge for me!
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I came from a family of 7 kids (blended family) and my best from had 16 in her family. Big families used to be the norm back then I think. Having such a big family is sure not the norm nowadays!
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Such a heartfelt piece, and to imagine all the possibilities in place for this child.
“Will she be free-wheelin’ on an ATV
or baking apple pies in an apron?
Wearing camo or curls?
Curtsying or climbing trees?”
Whichever path she goes, I bet she will be spoiled rotten by her family! :D And what a cutie she is.
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:)
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Wow! Thats awesome! <3
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:)
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a girl? God help them.
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LOL!
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Ohh she is absolutely adorable! :D Love this. The poem is not only heart-stirring but intriguing as well as we take a deeper look into the life of the Schwandt family. Look at all those boys! 💝
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They feel like an anomaly but they look like a happy family.
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Wouldn’t we all like to have a magic wand so we could see this little lady as an adult! Poor Mama. Imagine having a baby every 2 years for 28 years!
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Mama is choosing this path, so I don’t feel too sorry for her!
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oh my goodness, 15 kids! Someone should tell them …
nice poem indicating she could go either way but I’m guessing she will grow up a tomboy with so many brothers to lead her astray :)
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Fantastic – and hilarious. All those boys too (I keep thinking farts at the dinner table) – more power to her. A brilliant and cheering write. Thanks it made my morning.
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Yes there is a sort of devil-may-care attitude to their unbridled breeding that might be considered humorous. Maybe I should have written this one under the folly topic? LOL on the farts. That’s enough methane to raise the roof.
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(we have a friend who lives on a rural property with husband and three partly-feral boys – the look of weary affection on her face came to mind reading your piece)
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Kudos for reporting actual neighborhood news. You rocked the prompt, touched our hearts, and tickled our funny bones.
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Thank you very much, Glenn. Glad to have hit the trifecta.
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I read about this -wow! That is one big busy family. Good news to share!
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In looking for a story I also found an article they did in 2018 when the 14th boy was born. At that time they said they were done ;)
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Hello, Maggie Jayne! <3
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:)
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Amazing! Lovely local story in a poem ☺️🥰
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:) Glad you enjoyed it, Christine.
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I heard about this in the news, Lisa! That is one busy family and that adorable little girl will have a lot of big brothers.
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I bet every day is a new adventure in their family.
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Cute poem Li
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:) Thank you!
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You’re welcome li
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Oh lordy…I can hardly handle one wife, kid, and a dog lol.
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I know what you mean!
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Gotta love this family’s story…thanks for sharing some of the details, Lisa!
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You are very welcome, Lynn!
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:)
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What a remarkable family and a cute baby! At least she shouldn’t be tied down by gender stereotypes…
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I hope not…
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My parents had Mormon friends who had many many boys–I can’t remember the exact number–before a girl finally arrived. When I saw this news story I was 8mmediately reminded of them. (K)
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Back in the earlier generations big families were the norm. We had 7. I was the oldest and my sister was the youngest, with 5 boys in between. A big family brings a house to life.
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It does. I must say raising my own children was a multi family effort, producing at times a similar effect. I don’t think mothers band together like that now.
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I’m sure she’ll be treasured. Fifteen wouldn’t be my idea of fun, but it takes all sorts.
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I’m sure she will also. I don’t think our planet could support a population if every family had 15 kids. At the same time, these kids appear to be raised in a more outdoorsy way. Then again, in MI outdoorsman means killing wildlife, which means at least 14 more humans killing wildlife. Then it means 14 less people supporting factory farms. This and that go on forever.
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You mean they don’t ever buy any animal products from the supermarket, butter, cheese, bacon, sausages? I bet they do even if they eat elk steaks instead of beef. That way of life isn’t sustainable either. It’s a conundrum and I’m hoping a finer mind than mine will find an answer to it!
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Okay- WOW. I barely made it raising one, much less 14! Well done Lisa.
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I hear you! Thanks, Linda.
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Make that 15! LOL, but who’s counting?
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LOL
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Wonderful choice of subject for your witness piece! 14 — then Maggie Jayne joins the party, cool!
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Hopefully they don’t have a thing about odd numbers or they will keep going ;)
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I love this! I saw it on the news the other day! Such an interesting story. Might as well go for fifteen while they are at it!! LOL Will she be a princess or Tom Boy… only time will tell!
Great post.
Dwight
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Thanks much, Dwight :)
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I’ll bet she wears camo and curls and fights anyone who says she can’t.
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:) I hope so!
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That’s going more than the extra mile. Prospective boyfriends better watch out. Delightful witness.
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Paul, thank you, and yes!
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;)
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I read about this! The first thought that came into my head was eeeeegads! That woman must have lived in maternity clothes!! The second thought was, well this is the penultimate definition of persistence! Fun to see you write a post about it!
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LOL on the maternity clothes. Imagining the stretch marks and stretching in general. The children definitely look well-adjusted. Glad you enjoyed the post, Lillian, thank you!
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