Blog 3 for The Help: Lack of Parenting Skills 

(Spoilers: Finished the book)

There are many parental qualities that the character, Elizabeth Leefolt, lacks in The Help. A mother should be nurturing and give her baby a lot of attention. These are traits that are practically non-existent when it comes to Mrs. Leefolt and her husband as well. Mrs. Leefolt's help, Aibileen, describes to us the way that Elizabeth treats Mae Mobley and it is very disturbing to me. Rather than pick her baby up when she is crying, Mrs. Leefolt will leave her screaming in her crib for sometimes hours at a time if Aibileen is not there to take care of her. 

A quote from Aibileen that I think perfectly describes Mrs. Leefolt's feelings toward her daughter is "Ever so often, I come to work and find her bawling in her crib, Miss Leefolt busy on the sewing machine rolling her eyes like its a stray cat stuck in the screen door." (page 4) The way Mrs. Leefolt treats her child is horrible and no child at that age or any age should ever have to go through that. Aibileen tries her hardest to make Mae Mobley feel important.

A quote from Aibileen Clark towards Mae Mobley

(whatwillmatter.com)

I think that this a very important quote in this book. Aibileen knows that Mae Mobley does not ever receive kind remarks from her mother and it is very important to Aibileen that Mae feels special. She tells Mae Mobley every day that she is kind, smart and important. When Aibileen gets fired at the end of the book, she makes sure to say this one last time to Mae Mobley and hopes that it will stick with her throughout the rest of her life, because she knows she will rarely here it from her mother. 

I read an article about parenting and things that can cause stress among children. (http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/feelings/stress.html#) One of these stressors is separation from their parents. Mrs. Leefolt is usually always with Mae Mobley but that doesn't mean that she treats her how she should be treated. I wouldn't say that Mrs. Leefolt is ever truly present in Mae's life considering the amount of times she leaves her screaming in her crib wondering what she is doing wrong and why her mother refuses to even look at her. This stress can develop into much greater problems later on in her life and could cause her to rebel against her mother completely because of the lack of attention she has received from her all throughout her childhood.