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Post by secondhandshoes on Apr 26, 2007 23:46:39 GMT -5
Mrs. Barrett is actually one of my favorite parents. Yeah, she has her own problems but that's what I like about her. She's still very young and vulnerable while trying to raise three kids on her own for a major portion of the series. I like that she's not perfect like Mrs. Newton or Mrs. Perkins.
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Post by aln1982 on Apr 26, 2007 23:54:48 GMT -5
LOL. Gotta love those advertisement bulletins on this site. The one on this page said"Are you a slacker mom?" Hmm I've noticed that too and keep forgetting to comment on it ;D Glad to see I'm finally not alone on liking Mrs. Barrett-Dewitt. I think she's a genuinely nice, caring person despite her faults (which just make her more interesting and realistic) |
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lyricalangel
Sitting For The Newtons
Logan's love-bunny
Posts: 1,918
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Post by lyricalangel on Apr 27, 2007 1:01:59 GMT -5
I'm like all of you who definitely like her better before becoming a DeWitt. It kind of took their specialness away. I liked to see her struggle but survive. It did totally add a bit of realism.
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Post by aln1982 on May 17, 2007 16:06:00 GMT -5
I just reread Sea City Here We Come and actually liked Mrs. Barrett in it. Can see how Stacey was annoyed by her but I found her behavior quite realistic. In fact, I was reading that part to my parents and my mom's comment was "Mrs. Barrett sounds like me when she drives." My mom is super-organized and neat but is a high-strung person and gets terribly nervous in traffic, screaming, yelling, etc. Maybe this is why I liked these chapters.
In that book, I also loved how Mrs. Barrett comforted her kids. Sure, she wasn't able to cope without Mrs. Pike but she does seem to genuinely care about her kids. I also loved how she came to Buddy's room and reassured him about being without electric and they sang "Davy Crockett" together. To quote Buddy "my mom is cool."
My favorite thing about Mrs. Barrett is she is a more developed character - kind of like Mrs. P who I also like - than "perfect" moms like Mrs. Newton and Mrs. Perkins who are just mentioned to say what snack and instructions they left and what calls they made to schedule sitters.
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Post by aln1982 on May 20, 2007 23:53:30 GMT -5
A question from another thread made me wonder where Mr. Barrett is. Does he live in Stoneybrook? I don't remember a mention - except maybe that the kids were away visiting him one summer - of him after the kidnapping incident in Impossible Three. Just wondering. Too bad we didn't get to read more about him. It could have been interesting.
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Post by sotypical42483 on May 21, 2007 12:46:52 GMT -5
Good question about Mr. Barrett. i kind of assumed, from Impossible 3, that he lives in a nearby town or something, but never gave it much thought. After that book it doesn't seem like he ever has visitation or partial custody or anything, which is kind of odd.
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Post by aln1982 on Oct 2, 2007 8:06:05 GMT -5
Just read Perfect Boy and think this book is a good example of how Mrs. Barrett kind of changed through the series, at least making a serious effort to become more organized and take better care of her kids (though I think she always did try, just not as hard). Even the girls mentioned in several of the later books how Mrs. Barrett got her stuff together and I think the books did show this. A lot of the criticism seems to come from her behavior in Impossible Three (and possibly Sea City, though I can't blame her all that much for being a nervous type person) and that is coming from Dawn's perspective. Seeing character "growth" through the series makes me like Mrs. Barrett even more. ;D
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Post by sotypical42483 on Oct 2, 2007 18:41:42 GMT -5
Mrs Barrett couldn't have been that young. She had an 8 year old. In BSC land I'm sure this would make her at least early 30s. I'm not saying 30s is old, but it certainly isn't like having a child at 21 or something, so I don't see youth as being an excuse at all. And honestly in Impossible 3 DOES she try? She seems like she only cares about herself. I should probably re-read myself but I know it'll just annoy me cause I can't stand her. Yes her growth through the series is interesting but honestly she is 30 years old, she SHOULD be able to watch her children and take care of them. I just don't think that being a slack mom should be "realistic" and I'm glad she changes but still...can't stand her! Are the Barretts around for the entire series?
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Post by aln1982 on Oct 2, 2007 23:39:47 GMT -5
^ I think they are around for the entire series. The question I have is if they have always lived there or just moved in.
I haven't read Impossible Three for a while, either, so might be wrong but don't remember thinking Mrs. Barrett was so awful. Definitely agree that she's a irresponsible, easily-flustered, disorganized person by nature but that doesn't make her a bad mom or neglectful. I think that she always did have her kids' best interest at heart.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Braddocks
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,425
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Post by oldhickory on May 28, 2010 0:12:59 GMT -5
bringing up a VERY old thread, but i had to mention that i always picture mrs barrett as kristin davis. everytime i see one of the commercials for sex and the city, that's how i imagine mrs barrett looks.
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Post by wenonah4th on Jun 4, 2010 14:39:49 GMT -5
It's interesting to try to figure out how old the parents are. Mrs. Barrett could be younger. We don't know, and remember that people get married a bit older now than even when the series was new (or the ten years prior that would be backstory.) In the early 70s, 21 was still the average age for women at marriage. Dawn and the Impossible Three was published in 1987, which means that Buddy would have been born in 1979. If his parents were married two years before he was born, then they were married in 1977. Mrs. Barrett could have been 20 and still be under 30 by the time Dawn meets her (thus having been born in 1957). Weird thoughts though!
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Post by anzuhana on Aug 16, 2010 9:46:26 GMT -5
I know. I wished that at those times, she would've gotten up early or something so that she could help her kids get dressed and whatnot, even if someone was going to baby-sit them.
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Post by booboobrewer on Jan 10, 2011 15:57:36 GMT -5
bringing up a VERY old thread, but i had to mention that i always picture mrs barrett as kristin davis. everytime i see one of the commercials for sex and the city, that's how i imagine mrs barrett looks. I always picture her as Diane Lane! |
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Post by virgoscorpio on Dec 22, 2011 17:36:02 GMT -5
OMGoddess, seriously booboobrewer? That's HILARIOUS! Diane Lane! At least it's not Diane Keaton (whom I like, I'm not dissin' Ms. Keaton).
I guess I get the Kristen Davis comment, oldhickory. Mrs. Dewitt could possible be Charlotte if Charlotte was more scatterbrained, because she has that whole daft and innocent feel about her.
Sometimes the lines between Mrs. Barrett and Sharon Schafer-Spier are very blurred to me. They don't look alike, but they have this scatterbrained-ness going on.
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Post by booboobrewer on Dec 23, 2011 0:27:04 GMT -5
Why is it hilarious?
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