The Pike Parents

[Penny Lane]

I don't get why they had so many kids if they are always dashing off to play tennis or a library board meeting or a cocktail party. AND there is no way they were in that much danger of being destitute, especially since they were very active in the community.

Anyway, I think the pikes sounded kind of neat at first, but then they just got to be crazy annoying.

[sparklymouse]

I think Stoneybrook poor would equal pretty comfortable living in other parts of the country. I read something once about the kinds of houses a million dollars would get you in different parts of the country. You could buy a modest house in LA or a mansion in Louisiana for the same amount. That sort of thing.

Mrs. Pike had to have some sort of life outside of her kids or she would have wound up a very bitter woman. It's not like she was avoiding being around her kids (*cough*Elizabeth Brewer*cough*).

[otempora541]

Mallory: I always got the impression that the Pikes paid her for babysitting so they wouldn't give her an allowence. I'd say Mallory is in a huge position of power (oldest child, she won't get lost in the shuffle like Nicky or Vanessa): I mean, hello, look at the Mallory-goes-to-Riverbend story arc.

The kids: I always thought Nicky was the accident. I could imagine that the triplets were a sibling for Mallory, and when three boys popped out they want to give her a girl, then Vanessa came out, then whoops a daisy, out comes Nicky. I imagive Margo came along to even out the boy/girl ratio and Claire was truly an accident. I don't mind the breeding (then again I'm an only child.)

The parenting philosphy: seemed to be in the whole "pick your battles". I doubt Nicky would go on for life eating taco shells and eventully eat what he's served. But sparkle tshirts would send the message that clothes matter too much for Mallory. She is the oldest of 8, so anything she wears Vanessa or Margo or even Claire would end up wearing.

[Kylie90210]

^ But sparkle shirts?! Maybe if she wanted to wear mini's and crop tops...

I like your theory about the kids though, works for me. Poor Nicky and Clair...

[sparklymouse]

The kid theory doesn't work for me because just because you want a sister for your little girl doesn't mean that's what's going to come out of you. Mrs. Pike could have wound up with Mallory and seven boys. Eek.

[Penny Lane]

I think that they just didn't want Mallory to get boggled down with "trends". Trendy clothes can't (or won't) be passed down, they tend to not last as long, and they make kids look dated. I wish my parents would have put me in more "classic" clothes and less "whatever was in" ... it was both expensive (needing new clothes all the time, even now) wasteful, and... you shoudl see some of the pictures. I have this one of me when I was 10 or so, tight white mini skirt, black suspenders, polkadot tee shirt, arm and leg warmers, and sideways ponytail. I looked... well, not like an 8-10 year old should look.

[starrynight]

^ I would have died for an outfit like that when I was 10!

[digigirl02]

May 6, 2009 19:58:06 GMT -5 Penny Lane said:

I think that they just didn't want Mallory to get boggled down with "trends". Trendy clothes can't (or won't) be passed down, they tend to not last as long, and they make kids look dated. I wish my parents would have put me in more "classic" clothes and less "whatever was in" ... it was both expensive (needing new clothes all the time, even now) wasteful, and... you shoudl see some of the pictures. I have this one of me when I was 10 or so, tight white mini skirt, black suspenders, polkadot tee shirt, arm and leg warmers, and sideways ponytail. I looked... well, not like an 8-10 year old should look.

Sounds kinda cute.

[Kylie90210]

And if your parents hadn't of dressed you like that, you would have felt out of place with your peers, do you think?

[m0drnmoonlight]

I'm currently re-reading Boy-Crazy Stacey, as I'm snarking it for the LJ community, and I'm just appalled at how the Pikes are spending like zero time with their kids on a family vacation. At the part I'm up to (right before Stacey gets her heart broken by Scott), all they've done with the kids is eat meals together and go to the beach on one day. Everything else, it's "Mr. and Mrs. Pike went out to dinner alone" or "Mr. and Mrs. Pike went to Smithtown for the day." I understand they're taking advantage of having babysitters around so they can have some alone time, but to dump the kids on the babysitters that much on a family vacation? Yikes.

I'm on the fence with the Pikes. They seem like nice people in the books, but they really do treat Mallory like she's the live-in nanny.

[anzuhana]

I can't believe they had so many kids in such a short amount of time. How did they find time to have sex when they already had four, five, six or seven kids before they finally had Claire?

[sparklymouse]

I was just thinking about the time when the Pike boys and the Hobart boys switched homes over night because Mallory wanted to show Ben how much worse her brothers were than his. The Pikes ended up being very sweet and obedient while the Hobarts were little hellions. Even though Mallory was in charge of them, it took a lot of nerve to act up when they were guests in someone else's home while the parents were in the next room. Do you think the Pike parents had a reputation around the neighborhood for letting their kids run wild? Besides Jeff and Buddy (two kids with questionable parents themselves) and the Braddocks (they wouldn't want to discourage Matt from hanging out with "average" kids) I don't remember many kids over at the Pike house. I wonder if the kids' friends' parents were wary of what went on at the Pikes.

[zoar3]

I really wonder how Mrs. Pike was physically able to constantly either be pregnant or delivering. I also think they got super lucky that none of their brood had any physical or mental disbalities not to mention illnesses.

I am also on the fence about the Pike parents as a whole. I was an only child, so the idea of a large (generally loving) family sounded great. But then 7th Heaven did a much better job of portraying a close knit brood than the Pikes. John cooking breakfast and Dee soaking the triplets were fun moments as were parts of Mallory's Christmas Wish. I may be in the minority, but I thought Dee and John had the right idea in terms of food. I think their theory of stocking up on staples along with basically healthy stuff was right on. Of course we don't know how they ate. I mean whether they also ate popsicles for breakfast like Adam wanted or what. It was just a refreshing change for me, growing up I did have eating issues, to some extent still do, to read about that sort of leniency in an (overall) healthy way.

All the above said, the one thing that always bugged me was if Mr and or Mrs. Pike prepared a meal for 8 kids, like in Kristy and the Missing Child and no one chose to ate it, unless the food made could all be saved, what a waste! At times it did seem like a lot of the Pike kids chose their meals just before they ate them, often waffling back and forth, so it wouldn't seem like any advance planning would be really possible. Maybe the Pikes new venture should be similar to a Hometown Buffet.

[scrounge]

I've recently started blogging all of the books, and maybe I just started out with a bunch of terrible examples, but I'm really starting to get the impression that the Pike parents don't want to spend much time around their kids. They always seem to be running out the door as quickly as they can. I noticed it a lot in Boy-Crazy Stacey, when they were on a family vacation yet the parents were never at the beach with the kids. Stacey and Mary Anne weren't so much mother's helpers as full time babysitters.

[Honeybee]

So, rereading Mallory on Strike. Mrs. Pike, expect Mallory do this, do that for her. When, Mallory is trying to write a write book for Young Authors Day. What Mr. & Mrs. Pike should have done is, called a baby sitter or take care of their own kids. Let Mallory, write her story for Young Authors Day.


Speaking of the Duggar family. Michell & Jim Bob are trying for number 20 again. This time, they're going to a fertility doctor. They already have enough kids. She miscarried two un born babies. This is what Michelle Daggar said: ‘We would love more children if God saw fit to give us more,’

You can more about it, in this article.

Read more: www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/duggars-visit-fertility-doctor-baby-number-20-article-1.1801096#ixzz32i3oLlH1