Dear Aleea --
Thanks so much for your response. I am desperately struggling to understand this young woman's stance.
Although, to my knowledge, her husband has never been physically violent with her or baby, his entire family regaled her, even before marriage, with tales of his historical temper. (A warning that she failed to pick up on? We don't know).
I appreciate your honesty about how Russian women are often mistreated, and yet respond with utter passivity.
She strikes me as frightened -- frightened that he'll take the baby, frightened that he'll throw her and baby out before her mother gets here in January (although what the mother could do, speaking not one word of English, is beyond me).
If your family has any other advice or insights, I would love to hear them.
