Can't buy esteem

[Bex]

No: HPFGUIDX 114040

Freud said;
> > Molly bought Harry attractive dress robes because she knows he 
> > has never had anything nice like that before and will not let
> > them go to his head. And yes, she knows Harry can afford it. 
> > Molly is attempting to make up for 11 years of physical and 
> > emotional neglect.

Yb:
I agree that Molly is trying to fill the void of Harry not having a 
mother, but I think that's a strictly subconscious reason. Someone 
several posts back suggested that she bought his robes specifically 
so they'd be like his school ones, but so they'd match his eyes. She 
doesn't know very well what the style is or what Harry looks 
particularly good in, so she gets ones almost exactly like his 
everyday ones.
 
> > Molly is a practical witch and she wants all her children to 
> > focus beyond their external embellishments.

Yb:
True, but she is doing that because they are forced to focus on 
things other than external embellishments. If the Weasley's had a 
bit more money, I'm sure Ron could have new robes and such. Ron has 
probably gotten the "Clothes don't make the man" speech before, and 
Molly is probably tired of preaching it after so many children. But 
Ron is a typical teenager, and that statement is so very NOT true to 
an adolescent, so it hasn't sunk in that only the materialistic 
Slytherins (as we've seen; I'm sure there are other students that 
think as such) really care how his dress robes look. Of course, 
Padma gives him a slighting once over at the Yule Ball, but she is 
focusing on the frayed, uneven edges, not the color of the robes or 
that fact that they're secondhand. 

> > The twins had the same clothing issues that Ron does, but they 
> > figured out ingenious ways to get spending money on their own. 

Right. He could have asked Hermione to help with the "de-lacing," 
for example. Given that Ron is still in school, I doubt he could 
make any money to buy robes (and he'd probably have to buy them 
through mail-oder; not the way to buy clothes if you can help it.) 
But he could have looked up a de-fringing spell or something.

Now Becki;
> I am certain that if Molly had the money, Ron would have gotten 
> new dress robes too. By buying the robes that she did, however, 
> she made him stand out even more.
> I am like a lot of posters and wonder why Molly didn't 
> do a bit of alteration to at least make Ron's robes a bit more 
> conservative. 
> Perhaps she was comparing them to the rest of the crap that
> was on the rack at the secondhand shop and figured that they
> weren't all that bad.

That would be my suppostition, except for a few more notes, again 
from an earlier post:

Harry and Hermione are visiting, as are Bill and Charlie. I am 
making a guess, but I'll bet Arthur is the kind of guy who invites 
friends over to the house for dinner without thinking to mention it 
to Molly. There are 11 people in that house, plus 4 owls (Hermes, 
Errol, Pig, and Hedwig) and a cat that has probably been causing a 
small amount of chaos-- as evidenced by him chasing the gnome out of 
the garden.

Molly is the worrying sort, so she wants to take care of almost 
everything regarding her children: I doubt she's making Bill and 
Charlie do their own laundry while they're visiting. She won't let 
Bill's hair alone, and she is very busy trying to convince him to 
cut it, and that earring is probably driving her nuts. Charlie had a 
burn he probably came home with, so she's probably been trying to 
take care of that, even though he can do it himself. 

She's been under a bit of stress all summer: Gred and Forge are up 
to new tricks, leaving fake wands lying about and making explosions. 
She says: "I've had more owls from Hogwarts about them than the rest 
put together." So she's had to deal with this all summer. The twins 
baited Harry's cousin, which could easily put them in trouble with 
the MoM, though Arthur would probably handle it. She's been referree 
between "Golden Boy" Percy and the rest of the children. I can see 
him whining to Molly about everyone "walking so loudly" (reminds me 
of my neighbor down below me.)

Now she has to cook for everyone too. With that large family, it may 
be a "like it or starve" mentality, but I'm sure the kids have been 
putting in for their favorite foods. She probably has hardly any 
time to herself with the normal crew around, much less with all the 
visitors.

And now it's time for the World Cup. She gets up at 4 in the morning 
or earlier to get everyone up and make breakfast. She makes sure all 
the kids are up and going, have a good breakfast, and then, when 
they're almost ready to go, she catches the twins in the act again. 
She gets rid of all their toys, and is a little short with them when 
they leave. She makes ure everyone has all their things before they 
go, then lies down for some sleep before she gets Charlie, Percy, 
and Bill up to do the same thing again.

And the best part is: This is a VACATION for Arthur and the boys and 
Ginny! But Molly has to stay at home, tending the house, shopping 
for school, and enjoying the peace. She doesn't even get a real 
break, just a break in the chaos.

So she runs to Diagon Alley to get books, robes, school supplies 
that are necessary, socks (you always need socks), and other things. 
Everyone will need certain tolietries, and she may have even picked 
up something for Bill and Charlie. Percy may have asked her to pick 
up a thing or two for him. When she got Ron's robes, she was 
probably picking from a small selection, for something that didn't 
look half bad and wouldn't clash with his hair. Ginny and Hermione 
need *certain* items, being teenage girls. Molly probably has some 
basic shopping to do as well, groceries and such. When she gets 
home, she has to sort everything out. She probably puts everything 
together for Ron and Harry, barely giving the robes a second 
thought. She is a /very/ busy woman.

Then she reads the latest Daily Prophet, and starts to worry 
nonstop, barely even sleeping, I'm sure. She's worried that Arthur 
is hurt, that the younger (Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry) kids are 
injured, that the last thing she may have said to Fred and George is 
that they didn't get enough OWLS, and who knows what else is going 
through her mind. Skeeter reported bodies being carried out of the 
woods. She would be scared to death.

When everyone gets home, she can finally breathe a sigh of relief. 
No one is permanently injured, just tired. Bill had a somewhat 
serious injury, and she may try to patch that up, but she's glad 
everyone is in one piece. Things go back to their normally chaotic 
state, except that now Arthur isn't home to help with sibling 
squabbles and the like. Molly is still cooking for 11, and now she 
has to deal with Arthur being late to dinner, so she has to keep it 
warm for him (a very annoying thing, no matter whose fault), plus 
her day-to-day business.

Now Ron FINALLY gets around to looking at the things Molly picked up 
for him. HE hasn't even looked at them, probably barely even gave 
her a "thank you" for getting everything. She comes up with his 
clean laundry, making sure he's packing up and not goofing off. It's 
the last possible moment. And Ron goes off on how he doesn't like 
his new robes. She says it isn't a big deal, that nearly all wizards 
wear dress robes, and tells Harry to show his. When Ron complains 
that "His look okay," she gets a little embarrassed, because she 
really doesn't like the fact that they have to buy secondhand, but 
that's just the way the cards fall. Instead of asking for help 
changing them, Ron flat-out refuses to wear them. Never mind that 
she was rushed to get them, that she had a limited selection, and 
that she hasn't had a moment to think about them since she put them 
in the bag. If he wants to be ungrateful, fine. He can wear them 
like that. Or not at all, fine by her.

~Yb, with a post that has been chugging the Miracle Gro