supprazz
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,106
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Post by supprazz on Feb 4, 2013 3:30:51 GMT -5
I prefer Mary Anne over Dawn, but I sympathized with Dawn more in this book for a long time though she could have been less selfish too.
The rose and chicken bone scare was so funny but also really mean.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,263
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Post by oldhickory on Feb 5, 2013 12:37:42 GMT -5
And as for the subplot, seriously, Mrs. Pike? You've got eight kids laid up at home and you've still got time to play tennis? There were some funny moments of the Pike Plague, but I do have to agree that having all of them sick at once is slightly on the side of unlikely. the older i get, the less i like the pike parents. i understand she has a bunch of sick kids and is probably dying to get a break, but why would she spend her valuable free time doing something so exhausting? why not spend that time getting a manicure or seeing a movie? by the time she gets home to all those poor kids who need her attention, she will be too tired to do anything.
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Post by zoar3 on Feb 5, 2013 15:34:26 GMT -5
^That is an interesting question, Oldhickory. I never thought of that. We know Dee loved tennis so maybe she had missed out on a scheduled lesson or even "game," or two and that was why she was so adamant on not skipping out again? It definitely does come across as odd though. She could have even hired a sitter to just help out with some of the house-work while she caught up on some rest. I am wondering now if I like the idea of the Pike parents better than the "real" Dee and John? I do love individual moments such as in Abby in Wonderland when Dee gets her sons with the super soaker. I still get a warm feeling when I read the Thanksgiving parts of "Get Well Soon, Mallory," and the Secret Santa scenes in "Christmas Chiller," and "Christmas Wish." A long while back someone had mentioned that Dee often is racing to help out someone or somewhere (library for example) in need. It's too bad we never got to read about any of those times live (sort of like Nannie and her various volunteer work or even bowling). To me it is also very sad that we rarely got to listen in on the Pikes or really any of the girls families spending time together just as a family. I will always be a fan of Dee and John in the sense that I think (would like to believe) they truly did love and care for their large family. Maybe we just weren't always shown the best examples of them doing so.
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Post by ashley868 on Jan 12, 2014 7:50:33 GMT -5
If Mallory could get the chicken pox a second time, I wonder why she didn't catch them when her younger siblings had them. I thought maybe she'd had them when the other Pike kids got them. The book (Kristy and the Snobs) said: "They weren't in any danger of catching the chicken pox themselves since they'd both had it." So when did Mallory have it for the first time, and if she was capable of catching it a second time then why wasn't it then? She was living with all of her siblings who had them. Why would she just catch is so easily from Jamie and Lucy? That kind of bothered me when I read it. Unless she'd already had them and recovered from them right before her brothers and sisters had them, and they had caught them from her.
I found both Mary-Anne and Dawn at fault in this book, but Dawn was probably more bitchy. And why didn't Mary-Anne keep Tigger in another room when they were moving things? In my family, whenever we moved (which was a lot) we made sure our cats were in a separate room we weren't using, like the bathroom. We'd give them their toys, their food and litter box until we had everything moved in. We've always had indoor cats and we didn't want them running outside, and we didn't want to trip over them. It was just easier to lock them up for a bit until we were done, and then let them out. I did that when I moved from apartment to apartment. I'd rather have them locked up for a bit then to lose them.
The only way I can believe Sharon is that scatterbrained is if she is extremely tired all the time. I work shift work, so sometimes I am exhausted enough that I put juice or something in the cupboards instead of the fridge. I've never put a shoe in the fridge though. I can understand someone being disorganized all the time, I know plenty of people like that. I just find Sharon to be extremely exaggerated in these books. The strangest thing I've ever done is put my keys in the bathroom, and I don't remember how they ended up there. I was just tired and basically dropped everything everywhere. The next day, I spent the day looking for the keys and finally found them by the bathroom sink. Usually I just throw them on the table or back in my purse. Also when I lived with my old room mate, she came home so tired that when she unloaded the dishwasher, she threw the clean dishes back in the sink instead of away. Other then that, I can't really think of why someone would do what Sharon does unless they're very distracted by something.
This was my first read through for both Mary-Anne and the Great Romance and Dawns Wicked Step-Sister and I found the subplots in the books more interesting than the actual stories. I liked the fight between the Arnold twins and the Pike plague. I also found Karen to be a little brat to Emily Michelle.
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scrounge
Sitter-In-Training
Boo and bullfrogs!
Posts: 414
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Post by scrounge on Jan 15, 2014 5:21:03 GMT -5
I agree, Mary Anne should definitely have kept Tigger confined until they were done moving. I know that my cat doesn't want to be around when people are moving things and making noise, so he'd really prefer to have a safe space to hide in instead of trying to get settled while people were still moving boxes and furniture.
About the subplot, on the day that Jessi and Kristy go to the Pike house to help out because everyone is down for the count, a couple of things stick out to me. First off, Mallory announces that she and Nicky and Vanessa will be going back to school on Monday. Which is great, except that Nicky's injury was some broken fingers. Why did he have to miss any school in the first place? And then they have to serve breakfast in bed to the rest of the family. Including Mr. Pike. Whose injury was a burned hand. And then he stays in bed all day while the sitters do a ton of laundry and care for the other sick members of the household. I guess I understand why Nicky needed to miss school for a broken finger, when he is learning coping skills from a man who stays in bed all day with a burned hand.
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supprazz
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,106
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Post by supprazz on Jan 15, 2014 12:54:00 GMT -5
If Mallory could get the chicken pox a second time, I wonder why she didn't catch them when her younger siblings had them. I thought maybe she'd had them when the other Pike kids got them. The book (Kristy and the Snobs) said: "They weren't in any danger of catching the chicken pox themselves since they'd both had it." So when did Mallory have it for the first time, and if she was capable of catching it a second time then why wasn't it then? She was living with all of her siblings who had them. Why would she just catch is so easily from Jamie and Lucy? That kind of bothered me when I read it. Unless she'd already had them and recovered from them right before her brothers and sisters had them, and they had caught them from her. I found both Mary-Anne and Dawn at fault in this book, but Dawn was probably more bitchy. And why didn't Mary-Anne keep Tigger in another room when they were moving things? In my family, whenever we moved (which was a lot) we made sure our cats were in a separate room we weren't using, like the bathroom. We'd give them their toys, their food and litter box until we had everything moved in. We've always had indoor cats and we didn't want them running outside, and we didn't want to trip over them. It was just easier to lock them up for a bit until we were done, and then let them out. I did that when I moved from apartment to apartment. I'd rather have them locked up for a bit then to lose them. The only way I can believe Sharon is that scatterbrained is if she is extremely tired all the time. I work shift work, so sometimes I am exhausted enough that I put juice or something in the cupboards instead of the fridge. I've never put a shoe in the fridge though. I can understand someone being disorganized all the time, I know plenty of people like that. I just find Sharon to be extremely exaggerated in these books. The strangest thing I've ever done is put my keys in the bathroom, and I don't remember how they ended up there. I was just tired and basically dropped everything everywhere. The next day, I spent the day looking for the keys and finally found them by the bathroom sink. Usually I just throw them on the table or back in my purse. Also when I lived with my old room mate, she came home so tired that when she unloaded the dishwasher, she threw the clean dishes back in the sink instead of away. Other then that, I can't really think of why someone would do what Sharon does unless they're very distracted by something. This was my first read through for both Mary-Anne and the Great Romance and Dawns Wicked Step-Sister and I found the subplots in the books more interesting than the actual stories. I liked the fight between the Arnold twins and the Pike plague. I also found Karen to be a little brat to Emily Michelle. I don't know how true this is, but I heard a long time ago that if anyone has gotten chicken pox twice, the first time might have been undiagnosed German measles aka rubella. There are red spots for 2-3 days with fever and all that, so maybe for Mallory, that's what had happened. If she was contained properly, it's not very far fetched that no one else would get it. My uncle got chicken pox when I was about 4, but he stayed in in his room, didn't leave once, and I never got it. I found it weird my mom didn't catch it from him though cause I think she was the one bringing him meals, she got it a few years later. It's worse getting it in adulthood than childhood, so I got immunized right away after I heard the news my sister got it from a friend, there was no chicken pox vaccine in the 80's.
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Post by ashley868 on Jan 17, 2014 22:16:47 GMT -5
^ That could be what it is. I don't know too much about chicken pox. My sister and I got them when we were little and I think my mom had us interact with other kids who had them so we could get them at a young age. I don't remember too much about having them except that I got them the last two days of first grade. I was upset about missing the last two days of the school year. Other then that, I don't really remember much. And then when I was in eighth grade, my neighbours that I baby-sat for got them. We were paranoid I'd get them again because my grade 8 graduation was coming up. We were worried I'd miss my graduation (even though grade 8 grad isn't that big of deal, but at the time it seemed like it) I was lucky enough though not to get them twice though.
I also heard you can get shingles as adults if you had them as a kid because you have the virus in you already it's just dormant.
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Post by greer on Jan 17, 2014 22:19:54 GMT -5
I had it during the 1992 presidential elections. Bill Clinton is forever linked with the pox in my mind
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Post by candykane on Jan 19, 2014 13:06:06 GMT -5
I guess I understand why Nicky needed to miss school for a broken finger, when he is learning coping skills from a man who stays in bed all day with a burned hand. This made me LOL. Mrs. Pike supposedly couldn't even walk because of her knee injury so she was in bed all day too. What, no crutches? I think they just wanted to have a day off from dealing with their kids
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Post by Honeybee on Jan 20, 2014 0:34:02 GMT -5
I got the chickenpox from first grade. When, we're doing swimming lessons. My mom will bathe me in oatmeal or use oatmeal soap. I don't remember much, about the fevers, and the other sickness from chickenpox. My mom will put the pink calamine lotion. All over my body. Then, my sister wanted my ABC's gum. She got it worse than me. The chicken pox on her tongue and all over body. This was during Easter week.
I don't remember, if I read this one or not. A book to read on my list.
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Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
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Post by Amalia on Jan 20, 2014 2:08:17 GMT -5
I remember I got the chicken pox while I was supposed to play Wendy in Peter Pan in third grade. I was in the infirmary for two weeks.
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supprazz
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,106
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Post by supprazz on Jan 20, 2014 12:14:59 GMT -5
^ That could be what it is. I don't know too much about chicken pox. My sister and I got them when we were little and I think my mom had us interact with other kids who had them so we could get them at a young age. I don't remember too much about having them except that I got them the last two days of first grade. I was upset about missing the last two days of the school year. Other then that, I don't really remember much. And then when I was in eighth grade, my neighbours that I baby-sat for got them. We were paranoid I'd get them again because my grade 8 graduation was coming up. We were worried I'd miss my graduation (even though grade 8 grad isn't that big of deal, but at the time it seemed like it) I was lucky enough though not to get them twice though. I also heard you can get shingles as adults if you had them as a kid because you have the virus in you already it's just dormant. Yeah chicken pox parties were/are common though they're not recommended cause the symptoms can be very severe for some, and lasting longer than usual. I used to think it would have been better if I was exposed to it when my uncle or my cousin got it, cause I was worried about getting it a few times later on, but I never did. I'm hearing there is a shingles vaccine too, and it's far worse than chicken pox, so if that's true, I'd definitely get one. Glad you made it to your graduation
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Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
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Post by Amalia on Jan 21, 2014 0:19:30 GMT -5
As for Shingles, I heard about a person that had it. Whenever it flared up, he would will it away with mind power. Didn't need a vaccine.
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Post by anzuhana on Jan 21, 2014 8:33:59 GMT -5
^ I saw commercials about shingles. The people in the commercial would always talk about how painful it is and the commercial would tell the viewer to get the shingles vaccine.
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Post by wenonah4th on Feb 12, 2014 14:48:42 GMT -5
My mom had shingles a couple of years ago, and yes, she had chicken pox and also rubella in her day. Kids got more of the diseases in the 50s and 60s. Not necessarily all bad. I'm not anti-vax but I do wish they weren't stacked up together the way they are now. One at a time, separated by a larger interval, please?
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