Mrs. Stevenson

[aln1982]

I never really liked her. She seems so cold and distant. In Claudia Makes Up her Mind, it annoyed me that she was complaining about what a chore it was to bring the books to donate to charity, even though she was supposedly joking. This seems to be her attitude all of the time. Any thoughts on her?

[sotypical42483]

I haven't read that many Abby books, so I'm not TOO familiar with her, but from what I have read, I actually feel really bad for her. She lost her husband and to me it seems like she never actually recovered from that. I think she still has a lot of issues with that and definitely isn't over it.

[msstock87]

In Abby's portrait book, I felt so bad for her when she lost her husband. I agree that she defiantly seems like she hasn't fully recovered from losing her husband. I can imagine it being something you don't ever fully get over.

[wanderingfrog]

I feel bad for her, but I still don't like her a whole lot. Yes, she lost her husband, but her kids lost their father and she should try being around for them more often.

[ktag]

Yeah, really. It's like the kids lost both their parents.

[aln1982]

Maybe this is what bothers me about her. I did just read in Abby and the Mystery Baby (I think that was the one) that her mom used to be fun and happy and relaxed until her dad died. That would make sense. Still, I always get the feeling that they were closer with their dad and he kept their mom lighthearted. In some books, Mrs. Stevenson seems a lot closer with the girls. I'll have to see if that is in later books vs. earlier ones. Maybe moving to Stoneybrook helped her grieve and start getting over their loss.

[msstock87]

That is a good point, about the move to Stoneybrook helped her get over the loss a little bit. I have know people that need to get away from an environment to move on from an event such as that

[aln1982]

Maybe I spoke too soon about Mrs. Stevenson or the theory about getting over the death is right. She was pretty good with the baby in Abby and the Mystery Babyand actually pretty nice - almost warm and loving - in Abby and the Notorious Neighbor.

[aln1982]

I am slowly forming a better opinion of Mrs. S. I really liked her in Abby's Lucky 13. The way she stood up to the teacher for Abby reminded me of my own mom and how she's always protected and defended and believed in me. I also thought she dealt pretty well with Abby after she skipped school and lied.
My only problem with her is she's not very warm and demonstrative most of the time, which kind of bugs me because it's so different from my own mom. But I suppose this is just her personality.

[aln1982]

I really enjoyed reading more about Abby’s parents in her Portrait. It was especially nice to learn more about Mr. Stevenson and I’m sad they killed him off because he seemed like such a great dad and guy. From what I saw, he was the one who did more in taking care of the girls and was actually closer to them.
I realize after rereading this one that his death did really affect Mrs. Stevenson and she seemed to almost suffer a sort of breakdown or go through depression, at least. I really felt for the girls, though, when she was pretty much ignoring them (though I did feel bad for her, too). I agree with everyone who said that she never got over his death but also never saw that she was a very warm/open person. I think that was more Mr. Stevenson’s personality.
I wish that he would have been in the books but I guess that would have taken away a lot of the story and really changed things for Abby. At least Abby’s Book gave me more insight into their close relationship.

[magentanation]

I never really got the cold and distant vibe from Mrs. Stevenson, I just figured her as a real workaholic type who is constantly thinking about a zillion things, hence her being relatively un-involved in the lives of Abby and Anna. I feelr eally bad for her too, since she lost her husband.

[secondhandshoes]

^I never saw her as cold or distant either. I just thought she was doing a million things at once with work. I always just figured she was still really depressed about losing her husband, and surrounding herself with work as a distraction was just her way of dealing. I do that when I'm sad, I do everything I can to keep my mind off of it. I don't think she'd healed in the 4 or so years since losing him, which makes sense because it can take a lifetime to get over something like that. Cold or distant though, no. Especially not after reading Abby's Book.

It's too bad though, that we didn't get a better picture of her in Abby's Book before his death though. If felt like a lot was focused on him, so that we could get a feel for what HE was like since we don't get that in regular books. I wish that they would have shown Mrs. Stevenson more so that we could get a better perspective of her pre-tragedy and post. A little more insight, I guess.

I think about these things way too much obviously.

[aln1982]

After rereading Abby’s Book, I always question why the books in the regular series make it seem (at least this is the impression that they give me) that Abby’s mom became more of a work-a-holic and got the good job only after her husband died. It sounds like she always worked a lot outside of the home while the girls’ dad was the one who stayed home with them, even as kids in the chapter when he has them at the playground. I think the fact that he was the stay at home parent made his death even harder for the whole family.
The whole thing about her walking around in his bathrobe is slightly disturbing, though. I don’t know why this just seems creepy to me.

[anzuhana]

I'm neutral on Mrs. Stevenson. She seems to care about her children and sometimes she does give them advice but she's so busy with her work. I wish we could have seen more of her.

[virgoscorpio]

I always pictured Mrs. Stevenson as the ultimate working Mom, since the BSC land tends to have most mothers stay at home. She must have had a pimp-ass job to be able to afford the house that they lived in. Her job, to me, always sounded amazing since I'm a writer, love books, and am interested in the publishing industry. I always remember how her hair is really short. I think she was written in to fit the "working mother" role, so that kids of single-mothers who are working a lot have something to relate to. Stacey had that partially, but she was divorced and had her Dad, and her Mom worked close by at Bellair's and was also home more than Abby's mom.