My Brady Bunch family is a tad different from the original Brady Bunch.
I'll state the obvious: we have more than one bathroom, we don't actually have a live-in housekeeper, my step-kids don't call me Mom, and Mr.Brady isn't an architect.
But what really seperates us from TV's fantasy family are the dynamics between the kids. In the original series, Jan is second to Marica. Marcia Marcia Marcia. Jan pretty much found a not- so-great place in Marcia's shadow.
In my Brady Bunch, it's quite the opposite. Jan is bossy, aggressive, and extremely demanding! Marcia on the other hand is quiet, polite, considerate and contemplative.
I have witnessed WAY to many situations where Jan fully walks all over Marcia. Does Marcia do anything about it? Nope. She just says, "I'd rather give in to her than have to hear her cry for hours on end."
How sad is that.
And what would this post be without a classic Jan example.
:: ahem ::
Last week, Marcia and Greg were sitting on the couch. Jan was sitting on the floor, playing with her toys. Mr.Brady walks in the room and notices that there is still one plate on the dinning room table that hasn't been cleared. He calls over to Jan, "Take your plate into the kitchen, please." Mr.Brady exits stage left.
I, in the laundry room, can hear everything - but has remained to be seen. Jan gets up, walks over to Marcia and says, "Thanks for getting me in trouble!"
"How did I get you in trouble?" Marcia asks.
"You could have taken my plate into the kitchen with yours, but you didn't. And now I'M in trouble!" she replies in a (for lack of a better word) bitchy tone.
Marcia says nothing. I step out of the laundry room and say, "It's not her responsibility to clean up after you. You are 6 years old, you know how to take a plate into the kitchen."
Jan's face goes red. She's horrified that she has been busted. Marcia smiles at me.
So...that's a typical bossy-Jan situation.
WELL - today may have been the FIRST morning that I actually enjoyed the sound of Jan crying.
7:45am - I hear screaming coming from the kitchen.
7:55am - Still screaming, crying, yelling. (All Jan).
I hear Mr.Brady go in there and ask what's going on.
"MARCIA WON'T GET ME MY CEREAL!"
"And?" says Mr.Brady
"I CAN'T GET IT!"
"What? Of course you can! It's right infront of you".
"NO! NO! NO! I CAN'T! IT'S TOO HARD!"
"Marcia, why won't you help Jan?", he asks.
Marcia's response: "Because, Dad...I am not her slave. She cried last night when I wouldn't bring her bag in from the car! I can't do everything for her! She is 6 years old, she can get it herself. I was getting cereal for myself when I was 4. I'm not doing it anymore."
"Fair enough", says Mr.Brady, "Jan, you're on your own. You'll have to open the cupboard by yourself, and prepare your own cereal."
Yelling ensues.
Now, I know that some of you are going to disagree with what happened. Maybe 6 is still young enough that a parent should be be pouring her kids cereal and milk, but I'm in the school of thought of, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Hot food? of course we take care of that. Cereal? Not so much.
So, even though I'm a terrible person for actually enjoying the sound of Jan crying this morning, I am damn proud of Marcia for standing her ground and speaking her mind.
8 comments:
I don't know her but I really like Marcia. She's my kind of girl.
You handled it like a pro my dear!!
Hahaha..."NO! NO! NO! IT'S TOO HARD!!!" That just made me laugh. This is what 7K does when I ask her to do simple things sometimes too. Like, get your jammies on. (I know, Rocket Science, right?) Usually it only happens when she's exhausted though. You handled it wonderfully, that's exactly what I would have done! :) And you're certainly not a terrible person!! Not by my account anyways. :)
If someone actually DOES give you a hard time for making Jan get her own freakin' cereal? That person is evil and must be destroyed. Seriously.
Good for Mr. Brady for not rolling with that whole "I'm the baby and therefore everyone around me should cater to my every whim" thing. Six is PLENTY old enough to get cereal for oneself.
Family dynamics are a funny thing, though.
Once, the youngest in our family (he was 5 then, he's now 8, but still acts like that sometimes) was sitting at the dinner table and he pointed his finger at his sister and demanded, "Go get me some water!"
I choked on the water I was drinking and said, "If you want some water, you get up and get it yourself."
He replied, "At Mom's someone has to get it for me."
I said (kind of loudly, truth be told), "This is NOT Mom's and no one here is your slave. You are capable of getting your own water. Get up and do it NOW or go without."
It's been a long time since he tried that one. :)
yay! good for marcia! i'd have a smirk on my face, for sure!
aren't family dynamics an amazing thing?!
hey...i'm going to put a link to you on my blog...i was SO excited to see mine!
i'll be back...
hi there, new friend of mine! i am tagging you with a really fun meme. go over to my blog and get the questions...you answer them by putting your iPod on shuffle and whatever song comes up to that particular question...it's your answer. i had fun with it, i hope you do, too!
I'm diggin' Marcia!
LOL. This was fantastic reading!
I am off to read more.
Thanks for the informative information – I enjoyed reading it! I always enjoy this blog. :)
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