Alicias' cousin Nina is coming to Westchester from Spain. She attends OCD with Alicia and The Pretty Committee. Nina enrolls in the 8th grade and is a hit at school. This of course angers Massie. Dylan and Kristen think Nina is great. However, Nina pulls some dirty tricks which leads to revenge on the part of The PC.
This book begins with Claire and Massie's families having dinner at the local country club. Claire finds out her family may be moving to Chicago which upsets Claire, Massie and their families. However, Mr. Lyons changes his mind and the Lyons family moves in with the Blocks. This means Claire and Massie will share a bedroom. Massie has Claire sleep in the bath tub and Claire is not able to shower and care for herself properly. Despite this, she still wants to be in The PC. Massie also states at this point that she gets everything she wants and if she wants Claire to stay in Westchester then she will.
Parents, please talk to your children about sharing and compromising. Also, about "getting everything they want." You spoil your children when they are young and they start to expect everyone else do to the same. Its not a realistic way of living. You create monsters out of them. Also, again, if your child is in the position that Claire is in above, please discourage the friendship. Relationships (healthy ones) are not made of one person doing all of the giving while another one takes. Claire is learning here to sacrifice her own basic needs to be liked by Massie!
At this point, the other friends Alicia, Dylan and Kristen are getting jealous of the friendship between Claire and Massie. Massie gets annoyed and does not want to deal with their insecurities.
Oh dear, these relationship situations are lethal. A group of friends exist and a new friend comes into the picture. At first, it tends to lead to jealousy and that is normal. People do not like to be replaced by other people and this is more of a problem in children. Instead of your child "getting annoyed" by the feelings of the others talk to your child about working together to make the change as smooth as possible. Yes, Massie and Claire are friends but Massie should help the other three get to know Claire as well. This situation right here jump starts insecurities in girls and their relationships with each other. If your child is a newbie, explain the others have known one another longer and its important to get to know all of the girls and not just one. At this point, parents need to step in and do what they can to bring the girls together. Learn to be inclusive and not exclusive. Yes, some things are "life" but you want your children to have healthy social skills too.
At school after coming back from winter break, a kiosk is set up at the school called Virgins where they sell virgin drinks to students. Before the opening, the Pretty Committee is standing at the front of the line and of course, they get to have free drinks.
Once again, that sense of entitlement is there. All the PC is learning here is that they are entitled and should have free drinks while everyone else has to pay. What have they done to deserve this? Please, talk to your children about favoritism and how rules apply to everyone unless its a coupon or contest. The PC once again is learning that they do not have to follow rules and are special for no reason.
Alicia's cousin Nina has arrived and she is popular with the other girls. Being a year older she knows more about boys and other teenage things. This angers Massie and she feels it steals her thunder.
First of all, there should be no thunder to steal. By giving Massie power the other girls are creating a monster here. Does anyone here see the monster developing in Massie? Yes, she is insecure but there are other ways to deal with these situations. Parents, talk to your children about this. Massie's narcissism is developing in spades here. If a new student comes to school, welcome them and not try to hurt them.
Massie has a sleepover and Alicia's mother made her bring Nina which upsets Massie. At the sleepover, Kristen is getting along with Nina so Massie has to insult her new haircut to bring her down a few notches for being friendly with her. Again, Massie reinforces in front of Nina that the sleepovers are exclusive and not to let this happen again. Of course, Massie and Nina do not get along the whole evening.
The last thing on your child's mind at this point should be getting caught up in any power struggles. Alicia's mother should have called Massie's before Nina even came to the sleepover. In the first book Massie's mother got involved and had her invite Claire when she first moved to town. Kristen also did the right thing in trying to get along with Nina. Please, talk to your children about new students at school and how it is important to welcome them. Also, about how they would feel if in their shoes. Also, Massie was wrong for putting Kristen down because she was getting along with Nina.
There is a Valentines dance coming up with the brother school Briarwood Academy. Its a boy/girl dance and we learn that Claire likes Cam, Massie likes Derrington and Alicia likes Josh. We also learn that Nina wants the boys to herself. So, she tells these boys that to win a soccer championship that they must avoid these girls at all costs until the championship game. This of course leads to the boys ignoring the girls and leaves a lot of confusion as a result.
Okay, parents before your child even thinks about boys, please talk to them! I am not going to focus on the boy/girl dynamic with this blog but want to point out that Nina here is behaving just as badly as Massie. She is enjoying the attention of the boys and wants to keep it to herself. This is also wrong.
The living arrangement between the Lyons and the Blocks is getting frustrating. This goes with people living with each other and is normal. We also learn from Alicia at this point that it was her fault that Massie was doing badly in math the year before according to Massie's mother.
Oh goodness......the "my spoiled child does no wrong and it is everyone else's fault" problem. Parents, grow up! Your child is not perfect and what she does away from you much of the time is not what you are aware of. This is classic in spoiled children. Massie doing bad in math was her own fault, not Alicia's! Teach your children responsibility! Alicia is being held responsible for something she is not doing. We wonder why people today cannot accept responsibility for their own actions? Hello!
The PC is trying to find ways to bring Nina down. Seeking revenge because the boys are paying attention to her and not them. Claire is trying and wracking her brain to develop good ideas to bring this girl down. She is making herself nuts over it.
Okay, children need to be learning how to settle their own problems and work through them, I agree. However, not to the point of affecting them in a negative way. At this point, Alicia's mother needs to step in and talk to Nina about being selfish. The other girls do not need to seek revenge. By seeking revenge, a person is going to just wind up hurting themselves in the long run. This stuff backfires if anyone has not noticed. Once again, they have encountered problems that are over their heads and too big to handle. We wonder why our children are so stressed out? As for Claire, I would have stopped trying to be accepted a long time ago. This child is developing anxiety problems as a result of this. Massie makes her sleep in a tub, she is lacking in basic needs and still wants to be liked? She needs to spend more time with Layne Abeley. She's the best friend she's got. It sure would save her mental health wise.
By getting back at Nina, they learn she is a kleptomaniac. She has stolen items like Kristen's bike lock, a keychain and other items belonging to other girls at the school. Alicia, Claire and Massie break into the boys locker room and find these items in there with Nina's things. Massie wants to win the cupid award so badly with Derrington and this is another excuse for revenge.
Um, stealing is illegal in this country. Parental involvement should have happened a long time ago. When someone is stressed and in over their head, they look to these tactics to seek revenge. Where is the guidance? If a child is in over her head, she needs guidance from a parent! Once again, they are learning unhealthy ways in solving problems. Break rules and laws to do it.
At the dance, Nina is the center of attention with the boys. She monopolizes them and the girls have a plan in action for revenge. Massie gets Todd and Tiny Nathan to saw off a heel on Nina's shoe. When she stands up she will fall with uneven heels. When Alicia announces the cupid award and it is Nina and Derrington who wins. Once the couple arrives on stage, Alicia takes the stolen items and dumps them on Nina. Also, she has taken old photos of Nina which are not flattering and made copies and throwing them everywhere for everyone to see. They have been named "braces and zits, frizzy afro, opps my dog thinks I am lame and other undesirable names. At this point, everyone is mad at Nina. Security is called and she is taken by them to the airport to fly back to Spain.
I do not even know where to begin here. Nina could have been seriously hurt with the uneven shoes. Why were Todd and Tiny Nathan not punished? Why was Alicia not punished for her dumping the photos with cruel remarks on them all over the place? Same with the stolen items. Yes, Nina got what she deserved and was sent home to Spain. Security took care of Nina. She was punished accordingly. The PC once again got away with bad behavior. Claire, Alicia and Massie were not doing things for any greater good. They sought revenge instead. At this point, they needed to be punished. Alicia should have been punished for dumping the photos and stolen items. Once again, we learn that rules don't apply to them. Please, help your children problem solve and when things get to be too much, talk to them about telling you what is going on.
Parents, please know I am not trying to tell you how to raise your childen. I am trying to give insight into the relational aggression here and how unhealthy these relationships between tween girls can get. These are problems that can get to be too much for them and adults need to step in at this point. Its food for thought more than anything. Thanks for reading and will be back on Thursday with the next blog post. Have a good week.....
Take Care,
Elizabeth
No comments:
Post a Comment