This book is for the real Claire and Margo, Claire DuBois Gordon and Margo Méndez-Peñate Margo Méndez-Peñate is a grown-up and Googleable now.
Dad hates when people say yeah. He also hates shut up, hey, gross, retarded, and a long list of other words that creep into my vocabulary whenever I’m not around him.) This is an interesting mix of register/offense levels! :p
We sat down and bowed our heads while Dad said grace. At the end, just before the “Amen,” he asked God to watch over Alma. (Alma is my mother.) He does that before every meal, as far as I know, and sometimes I think he overdoes things. After all, my mother has been dead for almost eleven years. I bless her at night before I go to sleep, and it seems to me that that ought to be enough. I like having this quiet, off-the-cuff portrayal of religious characters.
(What’s an ascot?) My reaction exactly!
Actually, they’re really good kids, but their parents have raised them liberally (according to my father), and without batting an eye, they do things I’d never dream of. For instance, Claire sometimes takes off her clothes and runs around the house naked. No one pays a bit of attention. After a while, she just puts her clothes back on. Also, although each of the kids has to be in bed at a specific time, none of them has to turn out the light and go to sleep until he or she feels like it. As long as they’re in bed, they can stay up as late as they want. And they don’t have to eat any food they don’t like. I feel like this is only in part "they're less strict than Mary Anne's dad" (probably true) and more "you have to pick your battles with eight kids"?
“Chuck Norris!” yelled Adam and Jordan. What the heck, Chuck Norris was a thing at the time this book was written?! Oh man.
The doctor will be here soon, though, and he’ll help you feel better. He or she, I mean. Even in the midst of all this Mary Anne still tries to encourage the toddler that women can be doctors too!
no subject
Dad hates when people say yeah. He also hates shut up, hey, gross, retarded, and a long list of other words that creep into my vocabulary whenever I’m not around him.) This is an interesting mix of register/offense levels! :p
We sat down and bowed our heads while Dad said grace. At the end, just before the “Amen,” he asked God to watch over Alma. (Alma is my mother.) He does that before every meal, as far as I know, and sometimes I think he overdoes things. After all, my mother has been dead for almost eleven years. I bless her at night before I go to sleep, and it seems to me that that ought to be enough. I like having this quiet, off-the-cuff portrayal of religious characters.
(What’s an ascot?) My reaction exactly!
Actually, they’re really good kids, but their parents have raised them liberally (according to my father), and without batting an eye, they do things I’d never dream of. For instance, Claire sometimes takes off her clothes and runs around the house naked. No one pays a bit of attention. After a while, she just puts her clothes back on. Also, although each of the kids has to be in bed at a specific time, none of them has to turn out the light and go to sleep until he or she feels like it. As long as they’re in bed, they can stay up as late as they want. And they don’t have to eat any food they don’t like. I feel like this is only in part "they're less strict than Mary Anne's dad" (probably true) and more "you have to pick your battles with eight kids"?
“Chuck Norris!” yelled Adam and Jordan. What the heck, Chuck Norris was a thing at the time this book was written?! Oh man.
The doctor will be here soon, though, and he’ll help you feel better. He or she, I mean. Even in the midst of all this Mary Anne still tries to encourage the toddler that women can be doctors too!