Karen Brewer: Brat or ADHD Poster Child?

[mimithemuse]

A few months ago I swapped some books at the local used book store I frequent and the owner gave me a half off price on the BSC, Little Sister and some Sweet Valley Twins books. So, for reasons I will never understand, but probably because I needed a laugh after a tough week...I have read tweleve Little Sister books in about five days

Comments

[3_foot_6]

I think it's both! I can forgive a character (or real kid, of course) with attention problems, hyperactivity, and impulse control, because, yanno, they can't help it, but that doesn't excuse her parents' complete lack of discipline. Her parents and particularly her babysitters have this whole, "Aw, look at Karen's imagination, isn't it SO CUTE?" thing down, and in the meantime she uses it to lie and bully other kids without consequence. The most she ever gets is a Minor Talking To, which is a completely ineffective punishment for her. I just can't stand reading about her for the same reason everybody hates badly behaved children in real life; you just want to smack the parents for letting it go on.

[sistergrimmel]

Well, Watson has never been a great Dad, and all the changes he made in their lives had to be hard. The divorce, a new kid, the Thomases moving in... Karen must have felt very overwhelmed and ignored for a time.

[3_foot_6]

I honestly never liked that excuse even if it makes a degree of sense. I was exactly the same age as Karen when my parents got remarried and I got a stepbrother the same age as me and it SUCKED, but nobody let us get away with lying or terrorizing each other. We went to family counseling, we got time outs, we got grounded, whatever it took, but nobody went, "Aww, well, this is a trying time for them, so we'll let them be little shits." Because that's how you turn into an adult shit.

[mimithemuse]

The Brewer-Thomas clan definitely could've stood some family consueling for sure, imo.

[sistergrimmel]

I never got the idea that Karen was any more a brat than any other child in a situation as bad as hers was. All the fandom hate weirds me out. That said, as to whether she's ADHD? She's seven. If she didn't seem ADHD, I'd be worried. I always wondered about Andrew myself. Is there something seriously wrong with him?

[mimithemuse]

Divorce can be very difficult for children, as can getting new siblings, etc. BUT considering she never in the series was shown to have suffered physical, mental or sexual abuse nor was she bullied mercilessly in school...yeah...it could've been alot worse.

Well, I don't base the ADHD on the hyperactivity, per se. I base it more on things like these grand delusions she has, very poor impulse control, peer issues and that OCD streak we see in her, like in Karen's Nanny. It doesn't make her bad, per se, her parents just don't seem to be doing much to help her with it, if she had it.

[sistergrimmel]

Eh. Maybe. That kind of behavior still sounds to me like every seven-year-old ever (or at least, I wouldn't make a prediction or a diagnosis until she's ten or twelve), but the OCD is a little weird, though she could just be imaginative.

[lovinewan]

Lol I never thought about something being wrong with Andrew. What made you think so?

[littlelatte]

I think Karen is just a brat, straight up. It's not completely her fault - she rarely gets punished or faces any consequences for her behaviour, so she really doesn't know any better. She gets away with bratty behaviour because the adults (and the sitters) find her endearing or just don't bother to punish her.

[luxken27]

This. It doesn't help matters that Ann obviously thought she was darling and thus, gave her (comparatively) a lot of attention in the main series at the beginning.

[frankdbunny]

Agreed. Karen would probably be a lot more entertaining if Ann recognized the fact that she was a brat, instead of trying to make her someone we're supposed to like.

[corduroyspocket]

I thought Ann based Karen on what she wished she would have been like as a child. from interviews I've garnered the impression that Ann is painfully shy and somewhat awkward, so it would kind of make sense that her dream-self would swing way too far in the opposite direction.

[lauren5678]

I don't think she's ADHD like us. She does lack focus at times and get into situations, but the reasons for it seem to lie elsewhere. I dont know maybe its just because I dont like her, but I see her more as just a brat.

[queenhyprshadow]

[mimithemuse]

Delusional behavior...like delusions of grandear and some paranoia, like when the Reindeer showed up and she was certain Santa sent it to spy on her...I just found that really odd, lol. Also, I think she's got some OCD tendencies...like the "naughty chart" in the same book and her routine to stop newness in "Karen's Nanny".

I do agree that she does seem to try to make ammends...and at least half of the time her bratty behavior is because she has good intentions, just no clue what to do with them. I think she does have some good qualities, and with a little discipline and maybe some different startegides she could be a decent kid.

[lovinewan]

Haha I never read "Karen's secret valentine". I remember her spending a dollar on those plastic multi colored bracelets lol.

[mimithemuse]

That was a bratty move purposely getting Pamela a crap gift BUT Hannie and Nancy were going to do the same, only their parents stopped them. Why didn't Lisa? My parents would have been embarrased to let me go to a birthday party looking sloppy and with a dollar store present, lol. I often had to get the kids who bullied me presents, and my parents never let me use that as an excuse.

Parenting...it works! :P