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Girl Talk #29
Family Rules
Randy rebels when her mother starts setting up house rules.
- GenresChildrensYoung Adult
117 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1992
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May 10, 2023
Family Rules
Randy comes home late and M isn’t happy at all. Randy doesn’t see the big deal. She went to Allison’s to study but then she went by Troy’s to return a CD. They went to Fitz’s and then got caught up jamming. M says for six hours she didn’t know where Randy was. Randy points out that M never said she had to check in because she’s not like a typical mom. M also brings up the fact that Randy has more detentions than any other girl at BJH. So, she decides it's time to lay down some rules. The first being Randy needs to start calling her mother.
At school, Randy tells her friends what happened and they’re surprised that she came home after 11. She says her mother will be giving her a list of fules when she gets home. But Randy says it won’t last. Sheck is coming and staying with them while his parents go to Eurpope. She knows that being around Sheck will change her mother’s mood. But when she gets home her mother hasn’t forgotten about the rules which include: ask permission before making plans with friends, write down the friend's address and phone number, if you are at a friend's house you can’t leave there and go somewhere else, she has to be in the house at 6 on a weekday and 10 on a weekend, her room has to be kept neat, she has to be respectful and call her mother (mother) or mom, and if she has detention she has to tell her and she’ll be grounded for a day. Sheck’s flight is canceled but when he arrives surprisingly he’s shocked that M wants to have a traditional family dinner and eat at the table, but he doesn’t hop to Randy’s side. He just says it’s because her mother cares about her, unlike his parents.
M feels like she should sit at the head of the table and since Randy makes such a big deal about it she gets Rule 5. Mom will cook, She’ll set the table, and M will sit at the head of the table. M says they have to change and she has to be the parent. Not the pal. Then she makes another rule. Don’t be sarcastic toward her. M makes meatloaf (without meat) and Randy makes a comment that she’s figured out what’s not in the meatloaf at school. Because of this M makes another rule. She has to eat everything on her plate. At school, all her friends say that they ALL have to follow these rules and it’s just her mom being a mom. But Randy thinks I’ts abnormal and her mother is being taken over and so is Sheck. Her friends tease her and say Acorn Falls is run by pod people and they’re pod people. Then Al suggests she got the book The Child In You and she’ll be able to stay a step of her mom. Then it’ll get old and she’ll get over it.
Randy gets the book, but then M makes chili for dinner the next day (something Randy enjoys) and she decides maybe this won’t be so bad. But.. the chili is WAAAY TOO HOT! M mixed up tablesppons with teaspoons. They atleast get to order pizza. Then they all watch movies together. M seems to approve of this until she finds out it’s a horror movie then she thinks it’s not appropriate and they should be watching more “wholesome” movies. M has rented some movies (Red Shoes, Bambi, Old Yeller, etc). Not even she wants to watch these depressing movies and caves too The Body Snatcher movie Randy originally wanted to watch. Randy feels like she won one battle. Randy finds out later that Sheck is upset because his parents act like they don’t care about him. He feels like he’s just in the way and when they want to go somewhere they just ship him off to whoever. They both think it’s ironic. Randy thinks her mother is getting too involved and Shreck thinks his aren’t involved enough. Troy later tells Randy they have a gig. Sheck says he’s supposed to go home next Thursday but he says he might stay longer. Randy thinks of a conversation Sheck had with Sabs at the mall that he’s considering living there permanently. Randy tells him she doesn’t think his parents will allow this but he says wanna bet. M makes up two more rules, Randy can’t play the drums until her homework is done and she can’t stay on the phone more than 10 minutes. Randy tells her friends she tried to read the book but it’s so boring she fell asleep on it. Randy’s mom says she can play at the party but she has to give her the address and phone number and be home by curfew. Sheck and his parents have an argument and they don’t want him to stay in Acron Falls, but he says he doesn’t want to come home. So, Mrs. Zack calls his parents and she says he can stay through the weekend. Everyone is excited! Stacey even says she’s planning on throwing a party in his honor. Randy is about to give her the number to call Sheck but ends up accidentally spilling orange soda all over her. This earns her a detention of a week. Randy decides to just not tell her mom about it while talking to her friends at Fitz’s. Randy makes plans the next day to go to Troy’s to practice for the party.
All the GT (girls) are excited and think Sheck will get to stay permanently, but Randy doesn’t think this will happen. M is conflicted. Sheck’s parents are unhappy that he doesn’t want to come home, but she doesn’t want to stand in his way if he really wants to stay. M wants to talk about it. Randy says it’s not her problem and says
she’s going to do her homework. M says Randy’s acting strange. Randy says *she* the one acting strange. Randy tells her to do what she wants about Sheck. Then they get in an argument over Randy’s detention (M already knows). So, now Randy is grounded for 5 days. Randy gets pissed and calls her “Olivia” and this gets her five more days. Shreck talks to Randy later and tells her he hasn’t been a good friend and that he was jealous. Randy says he just *thinks* he wants his parents to be like that. It gets old quick. He says maybe but he wishes they’d try. If they don’t give him discipline he has to give it to himself. He wants them to be more like parents so he can be a more like a kid. He says Olivia HAS gone off the deep end. Randy says it’s war now. Sheck says she’ll probably cool off later. Randy says she still plans to go to practice and the party. She comes home from detention. Then she tells Sheck to bring her up dinner and dump it out the window. If M asks he’ll tell her Rany’s still too mad to talk. He’ll bring down the dishes, and then take up the sheets after Randy climbs out the window, and then put them back when it’s time for her to come back.
When Randy tries to sneak back in, she finds its harder than she thought to climb the sheets and keeps falling. When she’s halfway up a light shines on her. It’s two policeman. She falls. The policeman demand to know who she is. M comes out and says it’s her daughter. So, Randy calls Allison and asks her to come up with a plan to get her off punishment. Allison after hearing that her mother was disappointed that she tried to defy her authority says she might have something. Allison invites Katie and Sabs over her house and tells Katie to bring some clothes. Allison tells Sheck they’ll be over after Mrs. Zack leaves to go food shopping.
When they get to Randy’s house, they tell her that they’ll use reverse psychology and turn her into “Rowena”. They give her matching, preppy, clothes, simple gold heart shaped jewelry, and tame earrings. They also brush the gel out of her hair. Then they quiz her on acting like a combination of all three of them. Olivia comes back and the girls run for the back door, but M catches them. She sees Randy and drops her bags. M is in school. M tells Randy it’s not gonna work, but Randy pretends to get hurt. M still doesn’t buy it. Randy tells her to call her Rowena. Her mom says if she thinks she’s going to teach her a lesson she’s mistaken. She tells her she’s still grounded. Randy says says she understands and agrees with everything M says. After Olivia leaves, Sheck says it’s a good look for Randy but he doesn’t think M fell for it, but Randy says she’s not giving up yet.
The next morning, Katie dresses in another one of Randy’s outfits and wakes her mother up at seven claiming she’s going to study. Her mother isn’t amused anymore and tells her to drop the act. Randy then follows her mother to the kitchen and lectures her about having something for breakfast from the 4 groups. Then proceeds to show her a list she made up. One of the things is fish. M seems to be against fish for breakfast. Then asks what she’s up to. Rowena says she’s just trying to be the daughter she wants her to be. M says she doesn’t want her to be someone completely different. It’s about to hit M that she can’t expect Randy to change AND stay the same when Sheck’s parents show up. Shek’s parents demand he come home and on his request they ground him. Sheck seems satisfied with this. It sounds like they’ve been reading the same book M’s been reading. Randy drops the act after. M says she was just trying to do what was best and admits she went over board. M says they can compromise and look over the list and see what they can agree on. She admits the old ways weren’t do bad. They agree to let her know if she goes out and to let her know when she has detention. M let’s Randy play in the band and she promises to obey the rules. Randy says she’ll keep the one about respecting her and M says she doesn’t have to call her “Mother” anymore.
My Thoughts
There were a couple of things that stood out to me in this one. The first is I could STRONGLY relate to a mother making changes that seem foreign and then expecting you to just adapt just as quickly as they put the changes into play. I was diagnosed with an illness at the age of 12 years old. I can’t always tell you I was in the right and ate strictly what I was supposed to all the time. But on the other hand, I always hate to hear that saying that more isn’t put on us that we can handle. Some people seem to handle the illness I have to PERFECTION. This just has not been the case with me. So as things do in life, nothing stays forever. Things wear down over time. Things wore down on my body. My mother (like M) tried (tries) to do what she thinks is best and took it upon herself to put me on a diet. (Even though I’m so small people don’t even think I’m the age I am).Some things I just couldn’t.. Other things (like Randy in the end) I just went along with. I have to try to remember that mothers are always (well if ithey are good mothers) are going to in their own way (maybe not your daughters way) try to do things in the daughters’s best interest and YES there are times when it will seem like TOO MUCH. Trust me! I KNOOOW! Especially when you use to doing things a certain way (or doing a certain thing) and all of a sudden they just want you to stop and the thing isn't even "bad" (or so you think). Change shouldn't be *forced" on anyone unless the person is doing something to harm themselves or someone else. Even then you can't expect a person to just change overnight. Small steps.
The other thing was Sheck and Randy reminded me so much of me and my cousin. My cousin always use to say that (until recently when my Uncle passed just a week ago) that his father didn’t care about him and at least my mother cared about me. I thought just like Randy. “Yeah. You say that but it gets old quick” (To always have someone breathing down your case). So a lot of this book, I could definitely relate to!
Rating 7
Randy comes home late and M isn’t happy at all. Randy doesn’t see the big deal. She went to Allison’s to study but then she went by Troy’s to return a CD. They went to Fitz’s and then got caught up jamming. M says for six hours she didn’t know where Randy was. Randy points out that M never said she had to check in because she’s not like a typical mom. M also brings up the fact that Randy has more detentions than any other girl at BJH. So, she decides it's time to lay down some rules. The first being Randy needs to start calling her mother.
At school, Randy tells her friends what happened and they’re surprised that she came home after 11. She says her mother will be giving her a list of fules when she gets home. But Randy says it won’t last. Sheck is coming and staying with them while his parents go to Eurpope. She knows that being around Sheck will change her mother’s mood. But when she gets home her mother hasn’t forgotten about the rules which include: ask permission before making plans with friends, write down the friend's address and phone number, if you are at a friend's house you can’t leave there and go somewhere else, she has to be in the house at 6 on a weekday and 10 on a weekend, her room has to be kept neat, she has to be respectful and call her mother (mother) or mom, and if she has detention she has to tell her and she’ll be grounded for a day. Sheck’s flight is canceled but when he arrives surprisingly he’s shocked that M wants to have a traditional family dinner and eat at the table, but he doesn’t hop to Randy’s side. He just says it’s because her mother cares about her, unlike his parents.
M feels like she should sit at the head of the table and since Randy makes such a big deal about it she gets Rule 5. Mom will cook, She’ll set the table, and M will sit at the head of the table. M says they have to change and she has to be the parent. Not the pal. Then she makes another rule. Don’t be sarcastic toward her. M makes meatloaf (without meat) and Randy makes a comment that she’s figured out what’s not in the meatloaf at school. Because of this M makes another rule. She has to eat everything on her plate. At school, all her friends say that they ALL have to follow these rules and it’s just her mom being a mom. But Randy thinks I’ts abnormal and her mother is being taken over and so is Sheck. Her friends tease her and say Acorn Falls is run by pod people and they’re pod people. Then Al suggests she got the book The Child In You and she’ll be able to stay a step of her mom. Then it’ll get old and she’ll get over it.
Randy gets the book, but then M makes chili for dinner the next day (something Randy enjoys) and she decides maybe this won’t be so bad. But.. the chili is WAAAY TOO HOT! M mixed up tablesppons with teaspoons. They atleast get to order pizza. Then they all watch movies together. M seems to approve of this until she finds out it’s a horror movie then she thinks it’s not appropriate and they should be watching more “wholesome” movies. M has rented some movies (Red Shoes, Bambi, Old Yeller, etc). Not even she wants to watch these depressing movies and caves too The Body Snatcher movie Randy originally wanted to watch. Randy feels like she won one battle. Randy finds out later that Sheck is upset because his parents act like they don’t care about him. He feels like he’s just in the way and when they want to go somewhere they just ship him off to whoever. They both think it’s ironic. Randy thinks her mother is getting too involved and Shreck thinks his aren’t involved enough. Troy later tells Randy they have a gig. Sheck says he’s supposed to go home next Thursday but he says he might stay longer. Randy thinks of a conversation Sheck had with Sabs at the mall that he’s considering living there permanently. Randy tells him she doesn’t think his parents will allow this but he says wanna bet. M makes up two more rules, Randy can’t play the drums until her homework is done and she can’t stay on the phone more than 10 minutes. Randy tells her friends she tried to read the book but it’s so boring she fell asleep on it. Randy’s mom says she can play at the party but she has to give her the address and phone number and be home by curfew. Sheck and his parents have an argument and they don’t want him to stay in Acron Falls, but he says he doesn’t want to come home. So, Mrs. Zack calls his parents and she says he can stay through the weekend. Everyone is excited! Stacey even says she’s planning on throwing a party in his honor. Randy is about to give her the number to call Sheck but ends up accidentally spilling orange soda all over her. This earns her a detention of a week. Randy decides to just not tell her mom about it while talking to her friends at Fitz’s. Randy makes plans the next day to go to Troy’s to practice for the party.
All the GT (girls) are excited and think Sheck will get to stay permanently, but Randy doesn’t think this will happen. M is conflicted. Sheck’s parents are unhappy that he doesn’t want to come home, but she doesn’t want to stand in his way if he really wants to stay. M wants to talk about it. Randy says it’s not her problem and says
she’s going to do her homework. M says Randy’s acting strange. Randy says *she* the one acting strange. Randy tells her to do what she wants about Sheck. Then they get in an argument over Randy’s detention (M already knows). So, now Randy is grounded for 5 days. Randy gets pissed and calls her “Olivia” and this gets her five more days. Shreck talks to Randy later and tells her he hasn’t been a good friend and that he was jealous. Randy says he just *thinks* he wants his parents to be like that. It gets old quick. He says maybe but he wishes they’d try. If they don’t give him discipline he has to give it to himself. He wants them to be more like parents so he can be a more like a kid. He says Olivia HAS gone off the deep end. Randy says it’s war now. Sheck says she’ll probably cool off later. Randy says she still plans to go to practice and the party. She comes home from detention. Then she tells Sheck to bring her up dinner and dump it out the window. If M asks he’ll tell her Rany’s still too mad to talk. He’ll bring down the dishes, and then take up the sheets after Randy climbs out the window, and then put them back when it’s time for her to come back.
When Randy tries to sneak back in, she finds its harder than she thought to climb the sheets and keeps falling. When she’s halfway up a light shines on her. It’s two policeman. She falls. The policeman demand to know who she is. M comes out and says it’s her daughter. So, Randy calls Allison and asks her to come up with a plan to get her off punishment. Allison after hearing that her mother was disappointed that she tried to defy her authority says she might have something. Allison invites Katie and Sabs over her house and tells Katie to bring some clothes. Allison tells Sheck they’ll be over after Mrs. Zack leaves to go food shopping.
When they get to Randy’s house, they tell her that they’ll use reverse psychology and turn her into “Rowena”. They give her matching, preppy, clothes, simple gold heart shaped jewelry, and tame earrings. They also brush the gel out of her hair. Then they quiz her on acting like a combination of all three of them. Olivia comes back and the girls run for the back door, but M catches them. She sees Randy and drops her bags. M is in school. M tells Randy it’s not gonna work, but Randy pretends to get hurt. M still doesn’t buy it. Randy tells her to call her Rowena. Her mom says if she thinks she’s going to teach her a lesson she’s mistaken. She tells her she’s still grounded. Randy says says she understands and agrees with everything M says. After Olivia leaves, Sheck says it’s a good look for Randy but he doesn’t think M fell for it, but Randy says she’s not giving up yet.
The next morning, Katie dresses in another one of Randy’s outfits and wakes her mother up at seven claiming she’s going to study. Her mother isn’t amused anymore and tells her to drop the act. Randy then follows her mother to the kitchen and lectures her about having something for breakfast from the 4 groups. Then proceeds to show her a list she made up. One of the things is fish. M seems to be against fish for breakfast. Then asks what she’s up to. Rowena says she’s just trying to be the daughter she wants her to be. M says she doesn’t want her to be someone completely different. It’s about to hit M that she can’t expect Randy to change AND stay the same when Sheck’s parents show up. Shek’s parents demand he come home and on his request they ground him. Sheck seems satisfied with this. It sounds like they’ve been reading the same book M’s been reading. Randy drops the act after. M says she was just trying to do what was best and admits she went over board. M says they can compromise and look over the list and see what they can agree on. She admits the old ways weren’t do bad. They agree to let her know if she goes out and to let her know when she has detention. M let’s Randy play in the band and she promises to obey the rules. Randy says she’ll keep the one about respecting her and M says she doesn’t have to call her “Mother” anymore.
My Thoughts
There were a couple of things that stood out to me in this one. The first is I could STRONGLY relate to a mother making changes that seem foreign and then expecting you to just adapt just as quickly as they put the changes into play. I was diagnosed with an illness at the age of 12 years old. I can’t always tell you I was in the right and ate strictly what I was supposed to all the time. But on the other hand, I always hate to hear that saying that more isn’t put on us that we can handle. Some people seem to handle the illness I have to PERFECTION. This just has not been the case with me. So as things do in life, nothing stays forever. Things wear down over time. Things wore down on my body. My mother (like M) tried (tries) to do what she thinks is best and took it upon herself to put me on a diet. (Even though I’m so small people don’t even think I’m the age I am).Some things I just couldn’t.. Other things (like Randy in the end) I just went along with. I have to try to remember that mothers are always (well if ithey are good mothers) are going to in their own way (maybe not your daughters way) try to do things in the daughters’s best interest and YES there are times when it will seem like TOO MUCH. Trust me! I KNOOOW! Especially when you use to doing things a certain way (or doing a certain thing) and all of a sudden they just want you to stop and the thing isn't even "bad" (or so you think). Change shouldn't be *forced" on anyone unless the person is doing something to harm themselves or someone else. Even then you can't expect a person to just change overnight. Small steps.
The other thing was Sheck and Randy reminded me so much of me and my cousin. My cousin always use to say that (until recently when my Uncle passed just a week ago) that his father didn’t care about him and at least my mother cared about me. I thought just like Randy. “Yeah. You say that but it gets old quick” (To always have someone breathing down your case). So a lot of this book, I could definitely relate to!
Rating 7
July 9, 2013
these books were like reading a diary each book was different though it was like you were in school again.
June 24, 2016
all books from this serial were with me in my childhood and puberty-time ;) and in that time it was great. One time...I will read it with my daughters
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews