supprazz
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,106
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Post by supprazz on Mar 26, 2011 12:34:21 GMT -5
or maybe Stoneybrook is just special like that
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Post by anzuhana on Apr 18, 2011 11:11:10 GMT -5
One thing that bugs me about this book is the amount of pets that the Mancusi's have. Pets are expensive, aren't they, so how did the Mancusi's, who I am assume are supposed to be middle-class, afford to have so many pets?
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starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
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Post by starrynight on Apr 18, 2011 12:21:05 GMT -5
^Maybe they WERE rich and lived a middle class lifestyle so they could afford lots of pets? Or, maybe they're just really good at cutting corners in other places. I actually housesit for people who have a TON of animals, and they aren't terribly wealthy.
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Post by anzuhana on Apr 18, 2011 12:37:12 GMT -5
^ The Mancusi's must've cut a lot of corners because they have a lot of pets.
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Post by greer on Apr 18, 2011 12:50:46 GMT -5
Well, dogs are expensive. Other animals aren't terribly expensive to care for, really. And think of how much money a KID costs. If you don't have kids, and you spend that money on your pets, well, there you go.
Also, I don't really think Stoneybrook is a "middle class" town. I picture it as a pretty wealthy area. Everyone has four bedrooms and a rec room and a lawyer dad.
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Post by sparklymouse on Apr 18, 2011 16:00:59 GMT -5
I forget what kind of animals they even had besides the sick/pregnant hamster. Rodents are really cheap pets. I suppose reptiles are fairly expensive, at least at the start, because they require special living environments. Bird supplies always look pretty inexpensive when I'm wandering around PetSmart. Cats and dogs are expensive but manageable as long as they don't require anything more than a yearly checkup.
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Post by candykane on Apr 18, 2011 16:14:36 GMT -5
They had three or four dogs, cats, birds, the snake, the hamsters...probably some other stuff that I'm forgetting.
How expensive birds are to keep varies. I grew up with parakeets and cockatiels and it's not too costly to own those. Bigger parrots will cost more, at least initially, because the bird itself will cost a lot and the huge cages they require are pretty pricey. After that, I think it wouldn't be so expensive, although I've never owned a big parrot, so I'm not entirely sure on that.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,258
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Post by oldhickory on Apr 18, 2011 17:41:29 GMT -5
a lot of these expenses are when you first get started -- buying cages and aquariums and the pets themselves. unless they tried buying 45 things at once it probably wasn't so bad. i always pictured them as an older couple so i assumed they had been building their collection for years.
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sarish
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,618
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Post by sarish on Apr 18, 2011 20:40:45 GMT -5
When you are my mom pets are expensive! She spoils them so much, but then again raising birds is one of her best hobbies. She always feeds them fresh food along with their seed, has some of the more expensive ones, hand-raises babies, and pretty much breeds them. She has downsized dramatically but at one time in my life she had over 100 birds outside! It was interesting when she had to bring them all inside when we had a hurricane scare and they filled the guest room. lol Moral of the lengthy story is I also think it depends on how much you spoil your animals.
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Post by zoar3 on Apr 18, 2011 21:22:06 GMT -5
I always pictured them as an older couple, too, Oldhickory. For some reason I imagined them younger (but still an older couple) than Claudia's neighbor's the Goldmans. Maybe the Mancusis were in their early-mid 50's while the Goldmans were in their later 50's to early 60's.
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Post by wiggir13 on Apr 19, 2011 10:30:39 GMT -5
I guess am in the minority of liking this book because I love animals, however, I really feel like these people are going the way of the animal hoarders. I mean 5 cats is ridiculous! I have two and that is plenty. I can't imagine the smell of the litter boxes with 5!
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starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
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Post by starrynight on Apr 19, 2011 12:07:58 GMT -5
^ I always liked it, too, but I didn't own a copy until I finished my collection as an adult.
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Post by zoar3 on Sept 22, 2012 18:15:38 GMT -5
^ Sending hug sky-ward to Afton and thanks for the laugh. I am not a candle (or worse incense) person probably because I have never cared to be too near fire and smoky smells make me cough. However, for this book, lol that plan sounds so right on. Maybe I can spray some Glade "Powder Fresh" or put some carpet fresh on the rugs to freshen up the air in here. The Mancusi's house, which for some reason in my mind, is smaller than most average Stoneybrook homes, must wreak to high heaven. I'm only partway through this, but wanted to also add this book is yet another example of Nina Marshall coming over to Jamie's by herself. In the later books, I don't think any of the kids could even cross the street let alone walk a block or more alone as Nina probably did. Since Jamie is my favorite charge it's also sad that he doesn't play much with Nina or the Perkins in later books. I still wish he and Andrew had become friends. I'll add more when I finish, just wanted to hopefully give everyone a smile courtesy of Afton.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Sept 22, 2012 20:23:08 GMT -5
^ To me, Jamie and Andrew could be the same person. They're awfully similar. Maybe Jamie is a bit more outgoing, but not much else. I looked a lot like them - as a boy - so I related to them (and liked them) both a lot, maybe because of that!
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starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
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Post by starrynight on Sept 22, 2012 20:44:32 GMT -5
[quote author=zoar3 board=bsc thread=3416 post=115901 time=1348355738 The Mancusi's house, which for some reason in my mind, is smaller than most average Stoneybrook homes, must wreak to high heaven. [/quote] Not necessarily. I housesit for a family that's pretty Mancusi-ish, and you'd never know from the way it smells (and looks) that so many pets live there. They DO put a lot of time and attention into taking care of them properly, and their house is larger than I've always pictured the Mancusi house, but it's possible to have that many animals and not smell them.
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