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kio wrote:

TeaAndSpooks wrote:I think that deep down, Connie really did care about Jeremy and only hid the truth from him to protect him, however there were a lot of things she did as a mother that really could have been handled better. Parents are humans too, and some people are better at being moms and dads than others. They are imperfect, so it makes sense that she would screw up. That made her really believable as a character to me. So, to answer the question, I am on the fence. I think she has good intentions and TRIES to be a good mother, but in a few cases falls pretty short. Being a single mom is tough, and I think she does try her best.

I agree. It is hard to judge unless you're in that situation and I didn't like her per se, but the truth is, she is a type of mother and who she was fit more realistically for me for this novel.

I totally agree that Connie's parenting style was a good fit within the plot. I also didn't like her, but it's hard to judge if you haven't walked a mile in that person's shoes. It's like criticizing a mom for yelling at her child in public if you have no idea what the backstory is.

I think she was doing her best. She was under a lot of pressure financially and working multiple jobs at a time to provide for her family. I think she really cared for Jeremy and wanted the best for him, that is why she kept jeremy's father a secret.
whether she could have done things a bit differently had she been given a chance, i think yes but well she was human and that is what made her relate-able.

Another thing to take into account is her own parents. We saw what kind of father she had.
Children always pay for the "sins" of their parents.

It is true that parents have quite the lasting impact on their children, both good and bad, by their actions and behavior. I think that parents need to remember that everything they do has some form of impact on their child and that their child is literally learning how to act and react based on what they see from mom and dad every day. It is a big responsibility that cannot be run away from unless you physically run away; but that still teaches them too, doesn't it?

I think Connie was an okay mom I mean she wasn't the best mom in the world and sometimes it seemed like she wasn't even trying but at the end I guess she did the best she thought she could do but there was always room for a lot of improvement.

gali wrote:I think she wasn't a good mother at first, because she neglected Jeremy and wasn't aware of his troubles at school. She was too busy with her own life to take care of him properly. She improved though as the story progressed ,and did her best for him.

Agreed

Vermont Reviews

She should have paid better attention to her child, but I also know not to judge people. Ultimately, I think she was doing her best but struggling.

Even though I would say it’s not my place to judge any parent, I still kept thinking throughout the book that Connie was partially responsible for Jeremy’s issues. I mean I understand she needs to work and doesn’t always have time to cook. However there has to be better places to get food, or you can make up food in bulk when you do have the time and freeze it. Lots of different types of food can be frozen. She also continuously dates a man that made fun of Jeremy and allowed her father to make fun of him. She never tried to know what was going on a school or that he had a secret stash of food in his backpack. She’s not necessarily the worst mother, but there are a lot of areas where she could have done better in my opinion.