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| Ysabel packing for a stay at Meri's |
Part Three: Family
Meri's Big A-- Chapter
Well, over half way through, and finally, I get to Part Three: Family. Then I take a look at the chapters. Whoa Nellie! What's this? Why is Meri's chapter almost twice as many pages as Janelle's and Christine's combined?
What the heck is happening?
Then I start reading Meri's chapter. I don't know, maybe I'm getting tired of reading this stuff, but for goodness sakes, I can't believe how she could talk so much about so little.
For example, at the beginning of her chapter, she says when she married Kody, they shared a checking account. When Kody married Janelle, Meri added Janelle to the account. Meri paid all the bills, and set up the monthly budget, Janelle felt Meri was trying to control the finances and got mad at Meri. Eventually they got their own bank accounts and started paying their own bills for their households.
Four sentences. Meri conveyed the same information in four PARAGRAPHS. And I'm still left wondering, did Janelle think Meri was perhaps not allocating enough funds in Janelle's budget? Why would Janelle get so upset? Guess I have to wait until Janelle's scant 5 1/2 pages to get an answer, maybe.
As I continued to forge ahead, I notice a major faux pas - well in my book at least. After a lengthy discourse on why she doesn't allow her bonus children to jump on her furniture, how she expects her bonus children to not only respect her, but her space and inanimate objects too etc etc, she starts talking about how she had to discipline the boys who were picking on Robyn's girls on a camping trip. Wait a minute, wasn't that incident on the show (yes it was). And then 3 pages later she talks about her "close bond" with Ysabel and that "Christine will joke from time to time that Ysabel should come live with me...Half the time I'm not sure that she's joking!"
Hey, that was covered in the first 15 minutes of the same camping show, when Mariah was cleaning up the extra bedroom so Ysabel could move in. Are you telling me THAT WAS ALL FOR SHOW AND NOT REAL?????Ysabel wasn't really moving in??????
And why the hell is Meri writing about stuff that already was shown on the TV show anyway? What happened? Did the book writing get in the way of traveling back and forth to Utah?
Here's some tidbits - summarized to preserve your mental well-being:
- The Browns divide the responsibility for bill payment (mortgage, cell phone etc) based on each person's income level. In other words, the person who makes the most money, pays the most in bills.
- Emergency expenses are brought to Kody's attention who then will go to another wife (or wives if it's a lot) to collect enough money to cover the expense.
- If Kody had a good sale month, they would either use the extra cash to pay past due bills or use the money for a trip with a wife and her kids.
- Once when Christine disciplined Mariah, Meri disagreed with the punishment claiming it was inappropriate and extreme. Christine stood her ground and they agreed to disagree.
- When Robyn disciplined Christine's boys about picking on Robyn's girls (camping trip incident) Christine later told Meri she was completely out of line for yelling at the boys. Christine would have preferred to talk to her boys in private and individually.
- Mariah is a goody two shoes (my words) and plans on going to college and becoming a doctor and plural wife.
- Mariah shares Meri's eating habits - they prefer fruits, vegetables, chicken and fish instead of "kid-friendly" foods.
- Robyn and her kids join Meri for dinner at Meri's house often. This happens with and without Kody being present.
- Though Meri and Janelle both have pools, the teens tend to congregate at Janelle's house more often. Meri claims this is because Janelle's house is more centrally located and she has a bigger pool.
- Meri's house is the quietest of all the houses.
- Meri has bonded with Dayton, and they share the same birthday.
- Mariah is often at Robyn's house babysitting or helping out with her kids and she "...is happy to do it."
- When Mariah leaves for college, Meri sees her life going down three possible paths: continuing school, pursuing the family business by doing humanitarian work or travel, or Robyn being a surrogate and Meri becoming a mother again.
Janelle's Chapter
Some tidbits:
- Compared to Kody and the other wives, Janelle believes she is a softy, and if it wasn't for them, her children would have run wild.
- Certain kids form attachments with different mothers, in Janelle's case Hunter "gravitates towards Christine."
- She believes that because they are out in the open about being polygamists, they can be available for each other's children at school or sports events. "We can finally be the family we always dreamed of being."
Christine's Chapter
Some tidbits:
- Christine says "While all four of our households have more or less the same rules, the enforcement can be quite different! For example, none of us permit jumping on the furniture - but Meri's couches will last her entire lifetime, while Janelle's were broken after a month,. Mine get really , really dirty, really, really fast, while Robyn's will remain pristine for a long time."
- Christine finds plates and forks under her couches occasionally, and wrappers shoved in between the couch cushions.
- Christine acknowledges she has a problem with Aspyn and Mykelti showing too much skin, and hides their low neckline shirts.
- Mykelti is best buds with Robyn who helps her with hair and makeup.
- Christine has asked her kids not to go on blogs because "...some people have no conscience online and say whatever they feel--and sometimes it really hurts our kids."
- Christine has been thinking about moving into a house with Janelle and her kids, but they would need at least 9 bedrooms.
Robyn's Chapter
Some tidbits:
- Robyn says "...Now that we have a television show, we are essentially working together as a family on a daily basis and we are a team financially."
- Breanna and Robyn are hypoglycemic.
- She stands up for the underdog: She stands up for Mykelti and sees the best in her.
- Robyn does not tolerate bullying and minor teasing is off-limits.
- Admits the older kids did not accept her as a mom, and although their relationship is getting better, it's "still a work in progress."
Next but not least: Part Four: Celebrity and Epilogue: Kody.
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