Molly's Army

[jdr0918]

No: HPFGUIDX 96107

The Sergeant Majorette says

Someone suggested a while back on one of these mommy-war threads that 
posters should identify themselves by their perspective at the head 
of their posts. I agree and I don't think it would be off-topic.

For example, it seems that we Americans tend not to understand the 
British educational system. Fred and George really didn't "drop out" 
in the sense that an American student quitting high school halfway 
through his senior year drops out. They had their OWLS (which is 
the "O-levels", now called GCSE or something like that) and were free 
to leave school and begin to work at a trade.

And it's not an insult to suggest that people who don't understand 
Molly have never parented a teen. The most powerful wandless magic in 
the universe is what Bill Cosby called "the mother's curse", and the 
incantation goes like this: "Just wait until you have kids! I hope 
they act just like you!"

I thought I could escape the curse by not giving birth. Then I joined 
the Army, and got stuck being a squad leader in basic training. You 
have one cute baby, you can spoil it, and by the time it becomes an 
obnoxious teenager it is out in the world being everybody else's 
problem (JKR on Draco's being an only child: "...you wouldn't want 
any more of *him*, would you?"). You have seven and you live in a 
close-knit, insular society and they all have red hair and everybody 
knows who to blame when they start blowing stuff up -- you have to 
get tough. When I had one assistant I could mentor him; when I had a 
squad of 7-10 hormonal 17 to 20 year old boys...

--JDR (shuddering as she remembers the first time she heard herself 
say "Stop crying or I'll give you a reason to cry!")