Mary Poppins Response

I had never read the book before and had not seen the movie in about 10 or 12 years probably. I was first struck by how strict and unaffectionate Mary Poppins was. She never even gave the children a hug in the least. She barely let the kids ever talk or respond at all. I was also shocked by how vain Mary Poppins was. She was always looking at her self and making sure her appearance was perfect. Her need to keep of her appearance of being perfect is part of Mary Poppins most important qualities -her perfection-. I remember on the day that Mary Poppins is hired, she goes out and leaves the kids in the house to visit her friend Bert. It seems as though she spends the day with him in this fake world - this felt like a pretty bad first day as she did nothing to actually take care of the kids. I think that if I hadn't of seen the movie or hadn't of known anything about Mary Poppins I wouldn't have thought that she was unliked however this is not the case. I think the children are enchanted by Mary Poppins and her mystery adds to their love for her. I think that if she were to give the kids the satisfaction of telling them that what event that just took place actually occurred it would make her look less mysterious and would cause the kids to be less enchanted by her. Whenever something magical happens, Mary Poppins acts as if the kids are being foolish and acts like the event did not actually take place. It causes the children and the reader to never be sure if what just took place was real or simpling the children's' imaginations. I think that I gained more of a love for Mary Poppins when I started reading Mary Poppins Comes Back because of the way she acts towards Miss Andrews. She acts rather childishly and puts her in the birdcage. It was a pretty satisfying moment to read and it makes you love Mary Poppins a little more for her spunk and subtle humor. She shows her love for the children in ways that seem very unclear and unusual but I think I am starting to understand her way of going about things. She always keeps the kids on their toes by always showing them that she knows something they don't know and that if they want to experience these fun and magical moments they must behave. It is like Mary Poppins is dangling a carrot in front of the kids as they run after it. Every once and a while they get a bit of it but as soon as they act up these fun activities are stripped away from them. The last chapter of the first book was fairly sad as the kids knew that she was leaving and could do nothing to stop it. That was one of the first moments that I saw the connection that they felt to her. In the story, the children are viewed as children and the adults do not want to be bothered by them. Their parents want them to behave and for Mary Poppins to take care of them. Mary Poppins is the only adult in the story that spends her days with these kids and fills the children with laughter, imagination, and fun. While their relationship with Mary Poppins is not a very normal one, the time she spends worrying and reprimanding them really shows the care that Mary Poppins feels towards these kids. The children feel a connection to Mary Poppins as they spend all their days with her and whether they realizing it consciously or not, this connection the children have the Mary Poppins is love. The children love Mary Poppins and this love is really shown when Mary Poppins comes back in the second book. The children are sad and naughty when she is away but are quick to shape back up when she comes back. While it seems like they may be behaving better because they are scared of her, I think they respect her because of the time she puts into them. I think that they can tell she cares enough about them to discipline them. Her mother, unlike Mary Poppins, just sends them to the park to get them out of her house to give her some quiet, while Mary Poppins would be the one taking them to the park and taking them on a crazy adventure.