Mary Anne's Father - really strict?

[macca]

Personally I don't agree with the lack of parental involvement. I think it sends a negative message to the age group the books are aimed at. At 11/13 yrs of age, most people's parents still play a fairly major role in their lives, particularly if they're receiving threatening letters, having stuff stolen, being falsely accused of cheating etc. It is certainly not a good message to advise kids not to turn to their parents for fear of "worrying" them. Worrying is in the job description! Most parents would prefer to know what's going on, particularly if the kid's in a potentially dangerous situation.

[Amalia]

I kind of like Richard now. I remember reading Dawn and Older Boy and being angry at Richard coming down so hard on Dawn for coming home late after spending so much time with an "older boy." I was thinking that no other parent in BSC-land would have come down so harsh on his or her child. So, yeah, I guess Richard is a more realistic parent.

[aln1982]

macca said:

Personally I don't agree with the lack of parental involvement. I think it sends a negative message to the age group the books are aimed at. At 11/13 yrs of age, most people's parents still play a fairly major role in their lives, particularly if they're receiving threatening letters, having stuff stolen, being falsely accused of cheating etc. It is certainly not a good message to advise kids not to turn to their parents for fear of "worrying" them. Worrying is in the job description! Most parents would prefer to know what's going on, particularly if the kid's in a potentially dangerous situation.

I totally agree about the lack of parental involvement that seems to be a common theme in kids books today. I actually enjoy spending time with my parents and we share very good communication - always have. I never even gave them problems during my teen years and we are still close. I feel like I can tell them stuff but yet they are the parents who taught me right from wrong and set boundries - not like some of these parents today who want to be their kids' best friends or just roll their eyes and say "kids will be kids". Just once, I would like to read a BSC book where the parents actually get involved in something that the kids are doing. Maybe Richard could use his job as a lawyer to help them solve a mystery or something like that.
I like Richard now, too. It seems like the books couldn't decide on his personality and kept changing it from book to book - sort of like Jessi.

[sotypical42483]

I always thought Richard was really strict, but only because the girls told me he was. Thinking about it now, apart from very very early on (like under book 10) he really wasn't THAT strict. Mary Anne had basically the same freedom as her friends. Sure he probably wouldn't have let her wear the weird clothes Claudia wore, but really in a few years she'd be thanking him for that

As for him making her dress like a little girl and keep her room like a little girl's room... I don't think it was him being creepy OR strict. It was him being protective of his little girl... he didn't want to face the fact that his "little girl" was now 12 or 13 years old. It's hard for any parent to "let" their child grow up, I imagine it was even harder for him than most.

Although, I do find the 10 minute phone calls and "don't say 'yeah'" things to be a bit weird.

[aln1982]

sotypical42483 said:

I always thought Richard was really strict, but only because the girls told me he was. Thinking about it now, apart from very very early on (like under book 10) he really wasn't THAT strict. Mary Anne had basically the same freedom as her friends. Sure he probably wouldn't have let her wear the weird clothes Claudia wore, but really in a few years she'd be thanking him for that

As for him making her dress like a little girl and keep her room like a little girl's room... I don't think it was him being creepy OR strict. It was him being protective of his little girl... he didn't want to face the fact that his "little girl" was now 12 or 13 years old. It's hard for any parent to "let" their child grow up, I imagine it was even harder for him than most.

Although, I do find the 10 minute phone calls and "don't say 'yeah'" things to be a bit weird.

Totally agree. I think the girls made a bigger deal out of his strictness than needed. The 10 minute phone calls were weird to me too but with the "yeah" I know lots of parents who have strange rules about certain words. I've known people who will let their kids swear but make them say "hello" instead of "hi".

[Amalia]

Maybe a pink room and hair in pigtails was what 12 year-old girls liked back when he was a kid, and he thought that that was still what 12 year old girls liked in this generation. I mean, he seemed like the old-fashioned type, so he might not have been hip to what was the trend today.
I also agree that the girls made a big deal about the strictness thing. MA was still shy after she supposedly got him to loosen up. Since she is still shy, maybe they thought that he hadn't loosened up that much after all. Also, I don't know if the girls really know him that well.

[ktag]

Maybe Mrs. Spier decorated the room, so Mr. Spier didn't want to change it.

[sotypical42483]

ooh good point about MA's mom possibly decorating her room.

I really think that he honestly didn't REALIZE that MA was too old for that stuff.

[aln1982]

I just read MA's Makeover and reread MA Saves the Day. I think the girls really are making way too big of deal about Richard's strictness. I think that he really just didn't know what 12 year old girls do and want. He even seems to admit it. Every time MA actually speaks up and tells him that she wants a change, he okays it. This is not strict in my mind. I talked about it with my dad this morning and he said that he would not have a clue unless he was told what girls that age liked. He's a lot like Richard (the good qualities and not quite as "strict") and tends to forget that I'm not five - even now. As for MA's Makeover, I really enjoyed Richard and MA's shopping trip. It was nice to see a parent, especially a dad, interacting with one of the BSC members. I thought Richard was great in this one.
As for strict, I think it is much worse that Claud's parents won't let her read Nancy Drew. With all of her school problems, they should just promote READING - anything.
Also, just because MA's dad likes her to eat balanced meals instead of letting her eat popsicles for breakfast and all of the other crap that the Pikes allow does not make him abnormally strict in my opinion.

[Amalia]

In Dawn's Big Move, he seemed pretty loose. He even tried to practice for the underwear race, where like you race in your underwear, among other events, for Run for Your Money.

[macca]

^ hard to believe it was the same character as the Richard in Mary Anne Saves the Day. But then, I guess they always made a point of how he loosened up after meeting Sharon.

I also agree with aln1982 that it was completely unreasonable that Claudia's parents forbid Nancy Drew, although they provided Claudia with a private phone extension at age 12 (or even younger, it doesn't say how long she'd had it) which was pretty big-deal for the 1980s, accepted her having six guests over three times a week and obviously gave her extreme privacy, apparently never finding the junk food around Claudia's room or walking in on her while she was stuffing her face.

[Amalia]

I secretly think that her parents actually know about Claudia's hidden junk food. I think that they are willing to live with it because they are just glad that Claudia is using her brain for something.

[ktag]

Hee. Think they were perhaps tipped off by the junk food art?

[aln1982]

This is the closest I could find to a "Richard" thread but I wanted to say that I love Richard - especially in the books where he seems to try to loosen up. He was hilarious in Dawn's Big Move with the underwear race and I love it how he always teases Sharon. Even though he's a pretty serious guy who often provides a rational perspective of difficult situations (refreshing in many books), he can also usually find some humor. I think he's a pretty realistic character and a good husband, dad, and step-dad who seems to really love his family.

[lyricalangel]

I agree aln. Those are some very good points. I think Richard really tries hard to be a good father.