What Could Daisy Have Done?

One of the questions raised in class was, what could Daisy have done to be a better parent and stop Donny’s poor behavior? Throughout the story, I was frustrated with Daisy because she never seemed to take a stand against her son’s actions. Earlier in our class discussion on Teenage Wasteland, we talked about how Daisy acts more like a teenager than Donny does. In my opinion, this is the root of Daisy’s problem. Her lack of self-confidence and her quick change of opinions—both common characteristics of teenagers—hinder her ability to be a good mother. Her lack of self-confidence is shown when she and her husband are sitting in front of the principle, “worried about how they must look....an overweight housewife and a too-tall, too-thin insurance agent.” Later in the story, her inability to stand firm in her own opinions and her tendency to readily take the advice of others is shown when, after talking with Cal about her “controlling” nature, he tells her that Donny has low self-esteem and that Daisy should back away some. Daisy is quick to respond, “Well, I guess you’re right,” and proceeds to feel sorry for Donny. Soon after that, Donny’s history teacher calls and tells Daisy that Donny is progressively doing worse in math. After hanging up, Daisy “felt a rush of anger at Donny.” Then, Daisy calls Cal and gets upset with him about for not trying to improve Donny’s grades. Cal tells Daisy that there is more to life than grades, and quickly, Daisy changes her opinion, “it was Miss Evans she was angry it. What a narrow woman!” Empathy for her son, then anger at her son, then irritation with Cal, then great annoyance with Donny’s teacher—all felt by Daisy in a short period of time.

Through my experiences, the most effective parents have been those who aren’t preoccupied with being their kids’ friend. Instead, they are willing to go to any measure to protect their kids and keep them happy in the long run. Daisy is too focused on her appearance—not only does she not want to be seen as a failure, she also does not want appear as the “bad guy” with her son. She does take some action like trusting Cal to help her son, but inside, she is just craving for her little blonde-haired boy to be back, not sure how time flew so quickly.

Despite all of this criticism of Daisy, I do believe that Donny’s situation is delicate and has no easy solution. Daisy certainly tried to make her son happy, but didn’t go about it in the best way. In my opinion, Daisy needed to try different things—go to a different therapist, place more restrictions on Donny’s life outside of school, create a more enjoyable situation at home—to help Donny. Although Daisy should have been able to get help from therapists, teachers, and, at least, her husband, something needed to be done with Donny, and if no one else was going to do anything, she needed to make a move. (513)