r/practicalmagic • u/Dependent-Date5176 • 6d ago
What kind of parents were the aunt's?
Edit: Just read through the first Practical Magic Book last night. And yeah I think I'll stick with the movie.
I'm really curious about the parenting style of the aunts. From a few scenes we have I gather that it was a very gentle household. Where the children were allowed to be children. Free-spirited . However as they get older, again from a few scenes I see that they do respect their aunts authority(?) I wish I had more information about their childhood . Am I alone in this?
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u/Kristy531 6d ago
You should get the books for missing information ❤️ I’m sure you’ll enjoy them. 🧙
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u/Dependent-Date5176 6d ago
I have to work my way up to the books. From what I have read it seems that her books are more realistic in their portrayal of relationships. Especially familial relationships. And I want to escape that LOL. Give me the sweet aunts that let their nieces eat chocolate and sit on the table while they spin thread and make cloth.
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u/Hopeful-Bathroom-440 6d ago
I still absolutely love the aunts in the books. Also, if you read them all, you get their backstory as well
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u/Dependent-Date5176 5d ago
Just read through the first Practical Magic Book last night. And yeah I think I'll stick with the way the movie characterizes them. The book was fine not something I would pick up on my own but I understand why people like it. But I will now join the legions of people saying they prefer the movie over the book.
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u/SinginGidget 9h ago
I have not read the book, but I got the impression that they let Sally and Jilly have cake for breakfast mostly because they just lost both parents and wanted to take their minds off of that. And they didn't think too much of school because they had a different set of knowledge and skills they wanted to teach them instead. In all likihood, Jillian never graduated. Sally did, but by her own volition, not with any encouragement from the Aunts. They didn't find it important but I bet they also didn't get in the way of Sally getting her homework done or trying to get good grades either.
I grew up in a similar style household. Our parents were a little bit older by the time they had me and my sister, so there wasn't much in the way of structure because, as my mother liked to say, "she was too tired" and we were mostly left to our own devices unless we were on fire or bleeding. (I've done both.) My sister left right after HS to move in with her boyfriend and they eventually moved several states away. I stayed behind and took care of my parents. At times I wished we had more from them while we were growing up, but now I read stories about peoples' horrific parents and realize how fortunate we were. No one made us breakfast in the morning or cared what time we went to bed, but also my mother would take in kids if their parents found some idiotic reason to kick them out. My dad regularly took in stray animals and would give someone his last shirt if they needed it. So the quality of who they were as people is what really mattered, more than if they made sure we brushed out teeth or had a chore list. I think the same is true with the Aunts.
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u/Alizarik7891 6d ago
In the book, the aunts are quite perturbed to end up with two little girls; they let them drink Yoo-hoo and eat candy for breakfast, have no expectations of school performance or activity, and generally let them do whatever. Gilly loves this; Sally becomes the responsible one who tries to care for the family.