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Post by m0drnmoonlight on Sept 25, 2020 12:04:09 GMT -5
Really enjoyed my re-read of this today. Though, I thought AMM & co missed a great opportunity to discuss how to sensitively talk about Mother’s’ Day in front of people like Mary Anne, perhaps by having Kristy ask her outright. It’s not like Kristy is afraid to ask blunt questions. Instead, we have repeated mentions of Kristy not being able to look Mary Anne in the eye, while simultaneously bulldozing ahead with gusto about plans for the occasion. I did love it near the end when MA decided she was using the day to celebrate her dad - wish we could have seen this. I loved reading about Sudsy’s carnival but did also roll my eyes at the insane altruism of the BSC, emptying out their treasury to fund the outing for 21 kids! The haunted house was adorable, but I thought out of character for Karen aka the faithful descendant of Ben Brewer to not enjoy the thrill of fear and to want out. I also thought it was hilarious how Margo insisted on going on a ride and true to nature, promptly hurled. Poor Margo. I’ve always liked her most in team Pike. The insanity of having a secret adoption sprung on a household has already been discussed a lot here and the only thing I’d add is to say I always wonder about how a child in this situation would feel about being plucked from their home country (and continent!) and culture and be made to assimilate elsewhere. Lots of arguments to say they will have a better life, but I think it’s a huge and interesting grey area. Naturally, beyond the scope of this series! I also agree with those who thought it was insane the BSC was invited round to welcome EM. How about some personal family time? Wouldn’t surprise me if they rocked up to witness a birth (had it happened that way)! I felt bad for Mary Anne but it left the BSC in an awkward position having to talk about Mother's Day while she's sniffling. Like, what did she expect them to do? I also feel Ann missed a great opportunity to write a book about what a family goes through when they decide to adopt. Like, Elizabeth and Watson could tell the kids, the little ones learn about Vietnam together, a social worker comes and visits the family. Springing it on them as a surprise was just so ridiculous. I felt bad for Maureen too - Stacey was in CT for the weekend and like someone else pointed out, there's so much foreshadowing in this book to the McGills' divorce, so that meant she was stuck alone with her soon-to-be-ex husband.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Feb 18, 2022 0:33:14 GMT -5
One of my favourites. The only thing I didn't agree with is why did the BSC need to be there when Elizabeth and Watson brought Emily Michelle home? It was a family moment and if she'd been awake she would have been really over whelmed with all these strangers. She was only two.
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Post by hurricanebill on Feb 18, 2022 18:28:22 GMT -5
This was the first BSC I read when I was about 8 years old. I can’t remember how I ended up with this book. An older girl I knew might have given it to me. I think I have 2 copies of it for some reason. I love the carnival part and Stacey visiting. And the adoption was sweet. A big welcome for a 2 year old who can’t speak English! Before this one, I had only read one Little Sister book, Karen‘s Big Joke, which my Mum bought for me from school book club, so I’d been introduced to Kristy‘s family through that one. Not a bad introduction to the series for me.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,263
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Post by oldhickory on Feb 18, 2022 18:37:45 GMT -5
why did the BSC need to be there when Elizabeth and Watson brought Emily Michelle home? .... she would have been really over whelmed with all these strangers When we adopted my sister (13 months at the time, so quite a bit younger than Emily), they advised us not to have welcome parties specifically for that reason. Those videos where whole families all cheer and fight for closer looks and wave signs around - it makes for a cute video but none of that helps a tired little baby feel comfortable.
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Post by m0drnmoonlight on Feb 21, 2022 10:16:00 GMT -5
I was also under the impression that if you're adopting internationally, the family goes there to get the child. My college roommate's family traveled to China to get her baby sister. And my mom's friend and her husband went to Russia to get their son. So Emily Michelle was just placed on a plane and sent to the US?
I read this book for the first time as an adult, so I was just WTFing through the whole thing about what idiots Watson and Elizabeth were
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,263
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Post by oldhickory on Feb 21, 2022 10:42:49 GMT -5
^ My family did travel to pick her up. Maybe bringing babies to families was more commonplace back in the day, but it's just so unkind to those poor babies.
For someone with money like Watson, I don't understand why they wouldn't travel. Except it ruins the surprise at the end of the book. Unless he paid extra money to not be inconvenienced (just having a baby delivered to his doorstep like a pizza), which is icky.
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Post by sparklymouse on Feb 21, 2022 13:37:07 GMT -5
I had a teacher in high school who was off for a few weeks because he had to go to China to get his baby. She must be at least 20 now. Time flies.
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Post by sparklymouse on Mar 21, 2022 17:35:24 GMT -5
Surprise! We adopted a gremlin.
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Post by m0drnmoonlight on Mar 22, 2022 10:52:42 GMT -5
Did Claudia do Kristy's hair?
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Post by sparklymouse on Apr 14, 2022 20:55:21 GMT -5
I love this. Everyone looks nice. I'm intrigued by the enormous car that the kid must have won. They look like the orphans who need a home. Titles aren't interesting: Kristy and Mother’s Day Gertie provides a surprise Lisa and the Mother’s Day surprise The surprise of Mother’s Day Kristy’s gift
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Post by oldmeanie on Jul 11, 2022 13:02:28 GMT -5
This was actually the first BSC book I ever read (aside from Little Sister). I remember not liking it all that much for some reason, and I probably only re read it once or twice.
Overall I'd say it's pretty good. I don't remember Stacey coming back, but I'm glad she did. There were some weird lines in here that I personally think might be outdated- Kristy wondering what a true family is (mother, father, kids) and realizing her family doesn't fit that mold. This is oddly not PC at all for the BSC. And it's sort of sad to me that the Thomases and the Brewers were kind of divided.
Kristy's comment about Stacey meeting Jessi was freaking weird.
I did not expect Dawn to sing "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," and her colitis mistake was pretty funny. There is a TON of singing in this book.
I didn't expect this book to be that sad, but there is a lot of foreshadowing to Sad Goodbye. It's really hard to see Mimi's decline. I'm really scared to read that book once I get to it (and I am SO close), since my mom had a stroke 2 years ago and I think it'll hit too close to home. On a happier note, there's foreshadowing to Stacey coming back (parents fighting- okay that's not happy, but her mom liking Connecticut is a nice touch).
I really, really don't understand Watson and Elizabeth's logic here. Bringing home a new kid should NOT be a surprise! It's very unfair to the 7 of them. That's a huge change and people need time to get used to change.
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Post by m0drnmoonlight on Jun 6, 2023 18:17:40 GMT -5
This was actually the first BSC book I ever read (aside from Little Sister). I remember not liking it all that much for some reason, and I probably only re read it once or twice. Overall I'd say it's pretty good. I don't remember Stacey coming back, but I'm glad she did. There were some weird lines in here that I personally think might be outdated- Kristy wondering what a true family is (mother, father, kids) and realizing her family doesn't fit that mold. This is oddly not PC at all for the BSC. And it's sort of sad to me that the Thomases and the Brewers were kind of divided. Kristy's comment about Stacey meeting Jessi was freaking weird. I did not expect Dawn to sing "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," and her colitis mistake was pretty funny. There is a TON of singing in this book. I didn't expect this book to be that sad, but there is a lot of foreshadowing to Sad Goodbye. It's really hard to see Mimi's decline. I'm really scared to read that book once I get to it (and I am SO close), since my mom had a stroke 2 years ago and I think it'll hit too close to home. On a happier note, there's foreshadowing to Stacey coming back (parents fighting- okay that's not happy, but her mom liking Connecticut is a nice touch). I really, really don't understand Watson and Elizabeth's logic here. Bringing home a new kid should NOT be a surprise! It's very unfair to the 7 of them. That's a huge change and people need time to get used to change. I read this book as an adult for the first time and I thought Watson and Elizabeth were ridiculous and irresponsible. It's a very huge change, especially for David Michael and Karen and Andrew. And don't they even mention in this book that David Michael and Karen are having issues, just like Elizabeth predicted they would way back in Kristy's Big Day? Playing coy about wanting another child despite Sam and Kristy constantly asking if she was pregnant was so stupid. It was like they were getting a new puppy and not a new child. Then when Emily Michelle gets there, it felt like Nannie became her primary caretaker instead of her parents. What book is it, it's definitely a BSC book, where there's a sitting chapter at the mansion and the whole start of the chapter is just Karen whining that Emily Michelle is getting all the attention?
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Post by oldmeanie on Jun 7, 2023 14:40:28 GMT -5
This was actually the first BSC book I ever read (aside from Little Sister). I remember not liking it all that much for some reason, and I probably only re read it once or twice. Overall I'd say it's pretty good. I don't remember Stacey coming back, but I'm glad she did. There were some weird lines in here that I personally think might be outdated- Kristy wondering what a true family is (mother, father, kids) and realizing her family doesn't fit that mold. This is oddly not PC at all for the BSC. And it's sort of sad to me that the Thomases and the Brewers were kind of divided. Kristy's comment about Stacey meeting Jessi was freaking weird. I did not expect Dawn to sing "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," and her colitis mistake was pretty funny. There is a TON of singing in this book. I didn't expect this book to be that sad, but there is a lot of foreshadowing to Sad Goodbye. It's really hard to see Mimi's decline. I'm really scared to read that book once I get to it (and I am SO close), since my mom had a stroke 2 years ago and I think it'll hit too close to home. On a happier note, there's foreshadowing to Stacey coming back (parents fighting- okay that's not happy, but her mom liking Connecticut is a nice touch). I really, really don't understand Watson and Elizabeth's logic here. Bringing home a new kid should NOT be a surprise! It's very unfair to the 7 of them. That's a huge change and people need time to get used to change. I read this book as an adult for the first time and I thought Watson and Elizabeth were ridiculous and irresponsible. It's a very huge change, especially for David Michael and Karen and Andrew. And don't they even mention in this book that David Michael and Karen are having issues, just like Elizabeth predicted they would way back in Kristy's Big Day? Playing coy about wanting another child despite Sam and Kristy constantly asking if she was pregnant was so stupid. It was like they were getting a new puppy and not a new child. Then when Emily Michelle gets there, it felt like Nannie became her primary caretaker instead of her parents. What book is it, it's definitely a BSC book, where there's a sitting chapter at the mansion and the whole start of the chapter is just Karen whining that Emily Michelle is getting all the attention? I agree. It kind of feels like Emily Michelle was meant to unify the family, which is a lot of pressure to put on a kid (probably not affecting her now, but still). I guess it ended up working, since from now on the Thomas-Brewers do feel more united, but it could have ended up with a lot of resentment. Watson and Elizabeth should have devoted more attention to the youngest ones' issues with each other. Tbh, that sounds familiar (I think it's actually shown up more than once), but I can't remember which book it was. The Thomas-Brewer sitting chapters are not my favorite (they're just one-note, usually involving Ben Brewer, Let's All Come In, and/ or Karen and David Michael fighting. Just gets kind of boring), so they sort of blend together for me. I almost want to say an early chapter in Snowbound, but it was just a passing line.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,263
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Post by oldhickory on Jun 8, 2023 8:50:17 GMT -5
I think "unity babies" is a bizarre concept, like your original kids aren't good enough so you have to make a new baby with the right combo of parents to feel like a real family, and that's why I liked this Netflix episode so much. I don't get why Watson, who just tripled his number of kids from 2 to 6, thought he needed a 7th.
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Post by m0drnmoonlight on Jun 10, 2023 10:10:28 GMT -5
This came up on the BSC Subreddit but Ann Martin seemed to be obsessed with having blended families because like every divorced parent in Stoneybrook gets remarried and there's several Brady Bunch-esque families in Stoneybrook. I think the only divorced parent who never remarried was Stacey's mom.
It was super irresponsible. The little kids are going to need a lot of adjustment to a new sibling, you can't just spring one on them! Ann could have done a really good book about adoption and what a family goes through when adopting a child but there was none of that.
I hated Brewer-Thomas sitting chapters too, it was always Karen forcing everyone to play Let's All Come In or causing mayhem and getting away with it because she has such a wild imagination.
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