yeah, a lot of this could be bad parenting (or parents who need better coping assistance), but a lot of this could be BS. Like, I read
Recently, she stated Katie needed fall clothing. We bought at least 10 new outfits, cut off the tags, washed and folded the laundry and took it to her house. Anne’s response was “oh”—not thank you—and she has yet to go through the bag of clothes to put any of it away.
And I absolutely admit I am projecting some of my own mother issues here, but is this the result of, "mum, could you pick up some fall clothes for Katie?" Or is this the result of "Oof, Mr. Anne, we'd better get Katie some new fall clothes, she's outgrowing these trousers. Anyway, Mum and Dad, thanks for dropping her off, see you Monday!" It's vaguely enough phrased that it could be either. (Also, not for nothing, but cutting off the tags means Anne can't return anything.)
Similarly:
She wore a dress in the birthday girl’s favorite color and asked us to style her hair so that she looked “as nice as possible.” She looked adorable and was so excited! When her parents pulled up, she was standing so tall at the door, but Anne and her husband came in and said nothing. Not “you look great” or “how was your sleepover” or “look at this new outfit!” Katie’s shoulders fell, and it honestly broke my heart.
Look, this could totally be absent-minded, inadequate parenting from adults who don't notice what their kid wants. But this could also be grandparents who are super excited to dress up their adorable little granddaughter, a granddaughter who asks her grandparents to style her hair because dressing up is the fun thing she does with grandma and grandpa, and parents who don't mention it because it's not particularly relevant to what they were thinking about at that moment, who don't believe in praising girls for their looks, or because it's not something Katie cares about at home. Did her shoulders actually fall? Who the hell knows? And if so, is it because her parents didn't mention her fishtail braid, or because they forgot to bring her favorite book with them, or because grandma was making lasagna for dinner? I wouldn't trust LW to have any idea because LW is obsessed with looks.
Basically I think there's not enough info here to know who to trust; LW isn't a reliable narrator to me.
no subject
yeah, a lot of this could be bad parenting (or parents who need better coping assistance), but a lot of this could be BS. Like, I read
And I absolutely admit I am projecting some of my own mother issues here, but is this the result of, "mum, could you pick up some fall clothes for Katie?" Or is this the result of "Oof, Mr. Anne, we'd better get Katie some new fall clothes, she's outgrowing these trousers. Anyway, Mum and Dad, thanks for dropping her off, see you Monday!" It's vaguely enough phrased that it could be either. (Also, not for nothing, but cutting off the tags means Anne can't return anything.)
Similarly:
Look, this could totally be absent-minded, inadequate parenting from adults who don't notice what their kid wants. But this could also be grandparents who are super excited to dress up their adorable little granddaughter, a granddaughter who asks her grandparents to style her hair because dressing up is the fun thing she does with grandma and grandpa, and parents who don't mention it because it's not particularly relevant to what they were thinking about at that moment, who don't believe in praising girls for their looks, or because it's not something Katie cares about at home. Did her shoulders actually fall? Who the hell knows? And if so, is it because her parents didn't mention her fishtail braid, or because they forgot to bring her favorite book with them, or because grandma was making lasagna for dinner? I wouldn't trust LW to have any idea because LW is obsessed with looks.
Basically I think there's not enough info here to know who to trust; LW isn't a reliable narrator to me.