Well, the Sugar Cookie household does things by protocol. For our Agnes, things may run a little differently. Trailers are just a little small for nannies and personal shoppers. But Mother Sugar Cookie does resemble Granny in some respects.
Agnes probably hasn’t seen her mother since babyhood…. even if she was two or three, she doesn’t remember much about her.
So while at first, you’d think the fantasy would be the loving Mommy full of hugs and kisses, who would take her precious Tiny Agnes to the mall herself….
THAT Mommy is beyond her understanding…THAT Mommy would never have abandoned her….
Almost all children will try to make excuses for a parent they are programed to love, but who just can’t seem to love them…
So Agnes’ fantasy mother, like a super-sized version of her mental image of her real one, is rich, and beautiful, and surrounded by servants…. only…. just…. maybe a little too busy to take care of a wee daughter all by herself…not her fault, you see….she’s just busy….
Cos she’s out there somewhere…and someday she’ll show up, dripping in diamonds….
Agnes wants to be ready, and worthy… and famous…when she does….so maybe then, Mommy will see it, and take her too, next time….
Meanwhile, she loves Grandma… so there’s also a conflict between yearning for a cuddly mother, and feeling guilty for that, too.
Much safer, even in fiction, to keep her up on an unreachable plane…. one she couldn’t be expected to occupy, herself.
@ gzitver, from yesterday: Thank you! You put into words what I couldn’t get at, but yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking about. There were so many other stories from our brief time there, many about kindness under adversity.
@SusanSunshine – a very nice psychological comment. But things don’t always work out. My maternal grandmother was thrown out the door twice by her mother—once in old Hungary and once in the U.S. At least she was consistent. GM ended up being partly raised by HER GM, a sort of Granny type.
When GM’s mother died, I don’t think GM ever knew or was told about it. She was then a 12 year old servant in the house of some wealthy industrialist.
I’m sure some of my Mom’s siblings knew the story of their mother. And maybe Mom did too. But she resolutely avoided even mentioning her grandmother to her dying day. Said GM died at age 40 and is buried in an unmarked gravesite in Philadelphia.
FINALLY, FINALLY FINALLY , some reference to mother even if its Agnes’s fictional one. Notice how even the fictional mother is without hugs and love as evident by sending the xmas list to the butler to shop or it. But suesunshine misses the real psychology going on here. Here the Nanny is clearly grandma who lovingly creates this magnificent leather bound book, as I am sure she would, could she. This one strip today speaks volumes of Agnes’s agony of moms absence. Thus as funny as it is, its really heavy when we read toooo deep into this as maybe we shouldn’t.
rshive almost 10 years ago
Well, the Sugar Cookie household does things by protocol. For our Agnes, things may run a little differently. Trailers are just a little small for nannies and personal shoppers. But Mother Sugar Cookie does resemble Granny in some respects.
SusanSunshine Premium Member almost 10 years ago
Agnes probably hasn’t seen her mother since babyhood…. even if she was two or three, she doesn’t remember much about her.
So while at first, you’d think the fantasy would be the loving Mommy full of hugs and kisses, who would take her precious Tiny Agnes to the mall herself….
THAT Mommy is beyond her understanding…THAT Mommy would never have abandoned her….
Almost all children will try to make excuses for a parent they are programed to love, but who just can’t seem to love them…
So Agnes’ fantasy mother, like a super-sized version of her mental image of her real one, is rich, and beautiful, and surrounded by servants…. only…. just…. maybe a little too busy to take care of a wee daughter all by herself…not her fault, you see….she’s just busy….
Cos she’s out there somewhere…and someday she’ll show up, dripping in diamonds….
Agnes wants to be ready, and worthy… and famous…when she does….so maybe then, Mommy will see it, and take her too, next time….
Meanwhile, she loves Grandma… so there’s also a conflict between yearning for a cuddly mother, and feeling guilty for that, too.
Much safer, even in fiction, to keep her up on an unreachable plane…. one she couldn’t be expected to occupy, herself.
magicwalnut Premium Member almost 10 years ago
What a lovely fantasy! I love this arc!
dogday Premium Member almost 10 years ago
@ gzitver, from yesterday: Thank you! You put into words what I couldn’t get at, but yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking about. There were so many other stories from our brief time there, many about kindness under adversity.
rshive almost 10 years ago
@SusanSunshine – a very nice psychological comment. But things don’t always work out. My maternal grandmother was thrown out the door twice by her mother—once in old Hungary and once in the U.S. At least she was consistent. GM ended up being partly raised by HER GM, a sort of Granny type.
When GM’s mother died, I don’t think GM ever knew or was told about it. She was then a 12 year old servant in the house of some wealthy industrialist.
I’m sure some of my Mom’s siblings knew the story of their mother. And maybe Mom did too. But she resolutely avoided even mentioning her grandmother to her dying day. Said GM died at age 40 and is buried in an unmarked gravesite in Philadelphia.
chriscc63 almost 10 years ago
FINALLY, FINALLY FINALLY , some reference to mother even if its Agnes’s fictional one. Notice how even the fictional mother is without hugs and love as evident by sending the xmas list to the butler to shop or it. But suesunshine misses the real psychology going on here. Here the Nanny is clearly grandma who lovingly creates this magnificent leather bound book, as I am sure she would, could she. This one strip today speaks volumes of Agnes’s agony of moms absence. Thus as funny as it is, its really heavy when we read toooo deep into this as maybe we shouldn’t.