#47 Mallory on Strike, Chapters 6-10

[ilovejunk]

Mallory on Strike, Part Deux

Chapters 1-5

Recap: Last time, on All My Children, we learned that St. Mallory the Martyr was being overburdened by chores and homework, and was struggling to write her prizewinning Hardy Boys yaoi lemon short story for Young Authors Day. And awaaay we go!

Comments

[glitterberrys]

it's not as if an eight-year-old would already know the rule about wearing shoes outside, right? None of this could have possibly been Buddy's fault at all. Nope.

Seriously. I see that attitude a lot, though. Kid gets hurt, parents immediately blame a teacher/caregiver. Kids are smart enough to know the rules when they're told the rules, and should get in trouble for breaking them even if they get mildly hurt. Not anyone's fault but theirs.

And she was going to fucking call 911 for that! The kid has a little cut on his foot! OMG!

Mrs. Barrett seems like the most reasonable parent some days, I gotta say. Who CARES if your house isn't pristine or your kids get rowdy? They're kids. And the Barretts never behaved like real monsters. The BSC just can't stand any kid who's not their perfect little robotic ideal of a child. And unlike Watson, who blamed KRISTY for "letting" Karen and Andrew Brillo-pad his car, or Kristy herself, who blamed Mallory for Nicky's broken finger, Mrs. Barrett at least seemed to get that shit like this happens sometimes.

Claire and Margo's play sounded really funny. And Kristy not letting David Michael go over to play with a friend seemed kind of uptight. I mean, the kid was there, so obviously they had permission to play together, and obviously his parents were going to be there, so...eh. In the chaos of the day I doubt Elizabeth and Watson would have really cared.

[ilovejunk]

I agree, I really like Mrs. Barrett. It seems like the more lax parents in Stoneybrook (I almost put Springfield, I'm mixing up my fictional towns here!) are the most reasonable. Actually, I think if there's one thing AMM did well in this series, it was portraying a lot of different parenting styles. Some of the parents, like Claudia's, are really authoritarian and controlling, while the Pikes and Barretts are more lasseiz-faire. (I just took child development, which makes this series extra fun to snark ;D)

[lozbabie]

I can't remember exact deails, but if Kristy was the one watching Karen and Andrew, she should have known what they were doing. The kids should never have been NEAR the car, especiy with brillo pads. Something like that is something you supervise.

[glitterberrys]

She had an emergency, though - Louie cut his foot open and ripped part of the pad off, so she was calling the vet, and was running around trying to keep him from bleeding and to keep David Michael from freaking out. Meanwhile, Karen snuck inside and took the Brillo without asking. The kids DID have permission to wash the car, but she decided the sponges weren't working well enough.

I thought it was really obnoxious for Watson to blame her - I mean, she's thirteen first of all, and secondly, he ACKNOWLEDGED that it was an emergency and her energy was focused there for a few minutes, but it was still her fault for...not having eyes in the back of her head, I guess.

[lozbabie]

I stand corrected than. Poor Louie. Obnoxious Karen.

[corduroyspocket]

Didn't Kristy get all melodramatic and say "don't ever let kids wash a car, this should be a BSC Rule"? I think she later contradicted herself by organizing a Stoneybrook Kiddie Carwash...does anybody else remember this?