I throughly enjoyed this series and and hoping for a second season.
Let me fill you in on my story. I was raised in small ranching communities in northern California and Canada. When I wasn't being taught through correspondence courses, (We lived 60 miles from school with no bus service.) I later went to a small-town high school. Fast forward to now: My husband and I live in small ranching/military community and have a blended family: 3 girls,1 boy. As teenagers they all lived with us full time, going to a very small high school. We both worked full-time and sometimes 2 jobs at a time.
We were good parents. We made all of the home volleyball games the girls played in and most of the away games. I went to all of the track meets our daughters and son were in, (Hubby went whenever he wasn't at work.) even to the regional finals 250 miles from home. None of our kids were neglected. It's hard to keep track of all the things your kids do once they have driver's licenses. There were parties we knew about, but didn't let our kids know we knew. The parties were out in neighboring fields and there were ranchers who kept an eye on the bon-fires at a distance. Sometimes the kids, for their safety, spent the night at those ranchers' homes. It wasn't until our oldest two were adults, married (not to each other) and had families of their own, did we find out they had a "thing" their junior year in high school.
Comments have been made about why Jackie went to live with the chaotic Walter family. Those people commenting must have missed the part about her parents having written their will when there were only three boys in that family. (Note to all: Do you have kids? Do you have a will? If so, when was the last time you reviewed it?) Also, people wondered why she was to go live with the Walter family. The mothers had been best friends and college roommates. Jackie's mom was with Kathryn when she first met George. Some of those friendships last forever and we would trust our lives and the lives of our children with those friends.
Comments were made about the Walter parents leaving the first day Jackie arrived. Kathryn was a veterinarian and George a farmer. In a small-town community a vet is an extremely important person and it sounded as if Kathryn were the only vet in town. (How many of you own animals? How many of you live in an area where there is only one vet?) George was worried about his crop and the families livelihood. For a farmer there are times when it's a NOW thing or your livelihood is gone.
As for the the kids in this series. The age of the actors were, in my opinion, a little off. Yes, Will and Haley didn't exactly look to be 25. As for Cole: I went to high school with a kid who had a five o'clock shadow by lunchtime. (What a hunk he was!) All of the 'kids' had times where they really looked ill at ease. Any of you not remember not being ill at ease when you were a teenager. Were they poor actors? Or really good actors portraying a teenager learning about life?
I really liked this series. It gave me a reminder of my and my kids' teenaged years.
Let me fill you in on my story. I was raised in small ranching communities in northern California and Canada. When I wasn't being taught through correspondence courses, (We lived 60 miles from school with no bus service.) I later went to a small-town high school. Fast forward to now: My husband and I live in small ranching/military community and have a blended family: 3 girls,1 boy. As teenagers they all lived with us full time, going to a very small high school. We both worked full-time and sometimes 2 jobs at a time.
We were good parents. We made all of the home volleyball games the girls played in and most of the away games. I went to all of the track meets our daughters and son were in, (Hubby went whenever he wasn't at work.) even to the regional finals 250 miles from home. None of our kids were neglected. It's hard to keep track of all the things your kids do once they have driver's licenses. There were parties we knew about, but didn't let our kids know we knew. The parties were out in neighboring fields and there were ranchers who kept an eye on the bon-fires at a distance. Sometimes the kids, for their safety, spent the night at those ranchers' homes. It wasn't until our oldest two were adults, married (not to each other) and had families of their own, did we find out they had a "thing" their junior year in high school.
Comments have been made about why Jackie went to live with the chaotic Walter family. Those people commenting must have missed the part about her parents having written their will when there were only three boys in that family. (Note to all: Do you have kids? Do you have a will? If so, when was the last time you reviewed it?) Also, people wondered why she was to go live with the Walter family. The mothers had been best friends and college roommates. Jackie's mom was with Kathryn when she first met George. Some of those friendships last forever and we would trust our lives and the lives of our children with those friends.
Comments were made about the Walter parents leaving the first day Jackie arrived. Kathryn was a veterinarian and George a farmer. In a small-town community a vet is an extremely important person and it sounded as if Kathryn were the only vet in town. (How many of you own animals? How many of you live in an area where there is only one vet?) George was worried about his crop and the families livelihood. For a farmer there are times when it's a NOW thing or your livelihood is gone.
As for the the kids in this series. The age of the actors were, in my opinion, a little off. Yes, Will and Haley didn't exactly look to be 25. As for Cole: I went to high school with a kid who had a five o'clock shadow by lunchtime. (What a hunk he was!) All of the 'kids' had times where they really looked ill at ease. Any of you not remember not being ill at ease when you were a teenager. Were they poor actors? Or really good actors portraying a teenager learning about life?
I really liked this series. It gave me a reminder of my and my kids' teenaged years.
