janey83
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 374
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Post by janey83 on Nov 12, 2007 17:28:55 GMT -5
^ Me, too! I wish Ann didn't have to overly-personalize the books so often. I started reading the books in grade 2, at which point I still believed in Santa. In many of the Christmas-themed books, the girls would mention how Santa isn't real. It bothered me as a kid to read that. Just because Ann stopped believing early doesn't mean every kid Stoneybrook had to stop believing early, too. Yeah, I really hated that part. I believed in Santa for a long time, in fact, my dad didn't want us to "lose" the Christmas spirit, so he still talks about Santa as if he truly exists. And you know what? I love that, it's a little touch, but it nice. I would never expect a 5 year old to stop believing, what is the world coming to?!
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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 Nov 12, 2007 18:48:44 GMT -5
^ My dad does the same thing, and all of us kids play along (the youngest is almost 18). My mom still gives us presents from Santa.
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Post by aln1982 on Nov 13, 2007 0:54:58 GMT -5
^ I still play along with Santa and I'm 25. ;D Get more presents that way. ;D
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Lauren
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,026
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Post by Lauren on Nov 13, 2007 0:57:54 GMT -5
My parents still give me and my brothers presents for Hanukah and do Christmas stockings like we're still little kids.
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Post by aln1982 on Dec 14, 2007 1:38:26 GMT -5
Am rereading and liking it a lot more than usual. I especially enjoy the parts about Suzi and Jeff's chapters are quite funny, too. I was annoyed with MA at first but then understood how she felt with being mad first about being a bridesmaid and then about not being asked. It's not that she wanted to do it but not being asked made her feel rejected. I can't wait to finish this as I remember liking the end best. ;D I think it's one of the funnier super specials.
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blossom114
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,504
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Post by blossom114 on Dec 14, 2007 11:41:15 GMT -5
i wished i still believed in santa... my sister loves playing Santa though, and if I had the money I'd totally go all into it. (alas I dont ) she'd wrap presents for everyone write "from Santa" on the little cards and just go all out... of course that was before she and her bf broke up... after eleven years... ouch
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Penny Lane
Sitting For The Arnolds
The Girl With Colitis Goes By
Posts: 2,888
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Post by Penny Lane on Jan 8, 2008 21:10:32 GMT -5
After all the comments about jessi the eleven year old santa, I thought it was going to be a much bigger deal! I liked this book... sort of. I liked Jack and Carols fight, because I like to see people acting in a normal fashion in BSC land. It would be like a BSC parent to not talk about this stuff before getting married. I thought Jessi's chapter was random and just thrown in to give her a chapter -- same with Logan and Shannon. I liked the Santa thing, but I think it would have been better in a different book. I thought Dawn was the Barrett's special sitter, but apparently they traded a blonde favorite sitter for a different blonde sitter. I sometimes wonder about Dawn/Mary Anne being BFFs. They seem to fight a lot, and they say they are best friends, but best friend moments aren't shown that often. And why would Dawn assume that M.A. would be a bridesmaid when no one told her specifically. Also, Claudia "working" off her plane ticket was kind of a stretch. But that's okay, because it showed me a different side to Clauds parents.
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mckay
Junior Sitter
Posts: 672
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Post by mckay on Jan 8, 2008 23:13:51 GMT -5
I still think the eleven-year-old female Santa was ridiculous. Her concern over being a black Santa made me laugh because, seriously, that's the least of your problems right there!
Still, it sounded like a fun gig, I have to say.
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Penny Lane
Sitting For The Arnolds
The Girl With Colitis Goes By
Posts: 2,888
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Post by Penny Lane on Jan 9, 2008 2:43:09 GMT -5
^I was an elf in high school once, and it was less fun then you would imagine, unless you really, really, really like kids. This was back before my hatred of children, so I don't htink it was that. It was just... exhausting.
I forgot to mention one of my favorite parts of this book: Carol having lava lamps, and jeff finding them ugly! I had a couple of lava lamps in high school, during that brief 60s/70s revival. Also, the creepy clown lamp they got as a wedding gift! My fear of clowns trumps all of my other fears, except for spiders. (thats because I woke up at camp one day, and a spider was, like, eating my forehead. before that I wasn't at all afraid of spiders) Anyway, who buys a bride and a groom a clown lamp??!
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Post by aln1982 on Jan 9, 2008 9:25:43 GMT -5
I thought the way they approached the whole black santa thing - with Jessi laughing at it, too - made it quite funny. ;D I think my favorite thing about this book is all the funny things and the fact that it gets me in a Christmas mood. I always used to read it in the summer until this year when I realized that it is actually a Christmas book so that is when I should read it. ;D Otherwise my moods get all messed up.... As for Stacey being in the Barrett wedding, I thought they mixed her and Dawn up, too, at first but then realized that it was Stacey who went to Sea City with the Barretts (wasn't that before this one?) Maybe she really bonded with Mrs. Barrett then.
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sarish
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,618
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Post by sarish on Jan 9, 2008 13:19:16 GMT -5
^Dawn should have gone with the Barretts to Sea City. She was the 'wonder' that Mrs. Barrett always wanted to sit for her kids in the earlier books. I think the ghostwriters just got mixed up and decided not to correct. As for Stacey being in the wedding, I think that is weird. Same with Mary Anne. I don't understand why she would feel like she was going to be invited to be in the wedding.
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Penny Lane
Sitting For The Arnolds
The Girl With Colitis Goes By
Posts: 2,888
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Post by Penny Lane on Jan 9, 2008 13:32:57 GMT -5
^I don't even really understand why Mary Anne had to go. I'm fine with the "excuse for a free trip to California," but it was presented in a way that made us think it would be normal for her to attend her stepsister's father's wedding.
I agree that it must have been a mistake in Sea City , Here We Come. What was Dawn's role in that book, anyway? Was she even there? I can't remember a thing about her existence even being mentioned in that book.
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sarish
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,618
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Post by sarish on Jan 9, 2008 13:55:37 GMT -5
^ I agree about Mary Anne. I don't know anyone who would go to their stepsiblings parents wedding let alone be in it!
Dawn took care of Franklyn DeWitt's kids for the weekend when they were there. Dawn would not have been as cranky as Stacey was if they switched places and Dawn took care of the Barretts (like it should have been) and Stacey took care of the DeWitts.
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mckay
Junior Sitter
Posts: 672
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Post by mckay on Jan 9, 2008 15:48:56 GMT -5
^Dawn should have gone with the Barretts to Sea City. She was the 'wonder' that Mrs. Barrett always wanted to sit for her kids in the earlier books. I think the ghostwriters just got mixed up and decided not to correct. As for Stacey being in the wedding, I think that is weird. I thought that was really weird too. Stacey never seemed particularly close to the Barretts. I guess like you said, the ghostwriter got mixed up and they figured, well, it gives her a storyline while Dawn already has one...
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Post by aln1982 on Jan 9, 2008 17:08:56 GMT -5
I think Stacey did start sitting for the Barretts and Dewitts a lot after Dawn was gone. But I guess not a lot more than the other girls. I don't remember why Dawn didn't go to Sea City with the Barretts or even if she was in that book. As for MA being in Jack and Carol's wedding, I thought that was a dumb assumption. Very strange, especially, considering the issues between MA and Jack in BSC in the USA (in which I thought Jack was a jerk about Richard but I guess it's understandable to some degree)
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