Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2010 19:40:07 GMT -5
Did anyone else think it was a little weird how Mallory's family whose family NEVER has any money for her to do anything big, all of a sudden has money to rent a summer house every year? It never explained how they could afford this. If I were Ann I would have written that everyone "chipped" in to help with the rent. Was it just it just me? Or are we supposed to assume that they never had any money because the were "saving" for the rent?
|
|
lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
|
Post by lilafowler on Jul 7, 2010 22:44:49 GMT -5
Oh, it's definitely weird. I never realized it as a kid but renting an entire house of that size had to have been expensive. Maybe the Pikes only rented a few rooms before their brood got so large?
|
|
oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,234
|
Post by oldhickory on Jul 8, 2010 5:35:19 GMT -5
hmm. i never thought about this. it does seem a little weird, but i think it's sweet that the pike parents took what little they had to give their kids a vacation every year. but even though mallory was worried about paying for school (and this will sound really mean) i DON'T think they should have cancelled their vacation to pay for mallory's tuition. it wouldn't have been fair to the other kids.
|
|
|
Post by anzuhana on Jul 8, 2010 9:57:38 GMT -5
It is weird, guineagirl. It is strange how the Pike family is able to afford to rent a summer house every year. It must've been expensive.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2010 0:11:58 GMT -5
Old hickory-I agree. I DON'T think that's mean. What book is that, where they cancel their vacation for Mallory's tution?
|
|
oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,234
|
Post by oldhickory on Jul 13, 2010 0:23:21 GMT -5
i don't think they ever did, guineagirl. i was just saying that, even though they were struggling and mallory had to rule out some schools because she couldn't afford them, it wouldn't be fair to spend all that money on one kid instead of all of them. i know in abby in wonderland they cancel their vacation to pay for car repairs though.
|
|
celaeno
Sitting For The Papadakis's
I have to share a room with Vanessa
Posts: 1,514
|
Post by celaeno on Jul 13, 2010 20:03:14 GMT -5
I actually don't think it's odd. I never got the impression the Pikes were financially struggling since all of the BSC, or really all of Stoneybrook, seem to be financially comfortable white collar families. Sure, the Pikes have to live within reason, since they have eight kids and only one income, but I got the impression that the one income was a pretty comfortable income (since Stoneybrook consists only of lawyers).
Another reason I don't think it's weird is because I think renting a beach house would actually be one of the MOST cost efficient vacations for their family. By picking somewhere within driving distance, they obviously don't have to pay for plane tickets for ten. If they rented hotel rooms for their brood, it would actually add up to be even more expensive than renting a beach house. Plus, renting a beach house allows you to be more frugal since you can go grocery shopping and eat all your meals at the house (if the ten of them were eating out every day on the vacation, it would cost a TON).
|
|
|
Post by wenonah4th on Jul 14, 2010 8:26:25 GMT -5
Absolutely!
|
|
|
Post by anzuhana on Jul 14, 2010 12:09:58 GMT -5
I never thought of it like that.
|
|
oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,234
|
Post by oldhickory on Jul 14, 2010 12:46:01 GMT -5
when you think about it though, they did kind of eat out a lot. (i guess i wouldn't want to cook on my vacation either, to be fair.) i know some of the places they mention are only in passing, but how many restaurants were in sea city? burger garden, crabs for grabs, ice cream palace.. i don't want to go through my copies of all the sea city books but you get the idea.
|
|
|
Post by sparklymouse on Jul 14, 2010 18:12:55 GMT -5
They probably did set money aside during the year. That's what normal, non-Watson Brewer type people do for vacation money. I don't think they withheld anything from the kids because they were going to the beach in the summer.
Celaeno made good points about what type of vacation a family of ten would be most likely to take. Those kids never would have seen Disney World without the bizarre prize Mr. Pike won at work.
|
|
starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
|
Post by starrynight on Jul 18, 2010 23:26:23 GMT -5
I also just assumed they set aside money throughout the year for the vacation. My family did that for Christmas presents, and we definitely weren't rich. Also, Mallory's tuition shouldn't have been a factor at all; didn't she get a full scholarship to Riverbend?
|
|
|
Post by greer on Jul 20, 2010 20:37:13 GMT -5
^yes, she did. I think she got a writing scholarship.
They might also get a good deal for being so loyal to one agent and renting the same house year after year.
|
|
|
Post by candykane on Mar 18, 2011 11:12:09 GMT -5
When I was a kid I didn't think anything of how Mrs. Pike said they'd been going to Sea City for nine years. But now when I think about it it sounds crazy. They started going when Mallory was two and the triplets were a year old. Can you imagine trying to take a vacation with four kids that age? And then every year after that with additional kids? It sounds like it would be total chaos and not much of a vacation!
|
|
starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
|
Post by starrynight on Mar 19, 2011 13:02:12 GMT -5
I always assumed that the Pikes scrimped and saved the whole year so they could have their one vacation as a family. It was something that everyone could benefit from. I grew up without a lot of money, and we got NOTHING....except at Christmas.
|
|