Best parents/guardians

[HighwayUnicorn]

Deleted.

[Sabrina]

I voted for Irene.

[summerbay10]

Pippa

[HAA Girl 08]

Irene has the biggest heart of them all, so I think she'd be the best parent.

[idris]

Pippa, because she was full of common sense and kindness.

Irene ? Might have voted her second in years gone by, allowing for the 'turnover' factor, and her 'tough love' attitudes at times. But these last two years I think she's shown a detachment and lack of attention that was, at times, shocking. Letting, in fact encouraging, a 15 year old girl to leave 'home' and, in fact, leave the country, it would appear for good, is beyond belief. I know I've got a bee in my bonnet (in fact it's a stadium full of vuvuzelas by now) about this, but c'mon...

[-Kevin-]

Pippa, because she was full of common sense and kindness.

Irene ? Might have voted her second in years gone by, allowing for the 'turnover' factor, and her 'tough love' attitudes at times. But these last two years I think she's shown a detachment and lack of attention that was, at times, shocking. Letting, in fact encouraging, a 15 year old girl to leave 'home' and, in fact, leave the country, it would appear for good, is beyond belief. I know I've got a bee in my bonnet (in fact it's a stadium full of vuvuzelas by now) about this, but c'mon...

Not to mention smacking Annie in the mouth when she was drunk!

I thank Irene for encouraging Annie to go to Japan and off my television screen! Anyway she knew it would be a great experience for Annie and wanted her to stay for selfish reasons but put that aside and let her do what she wanted.

[idris]

Pippa, because she was full of common sense and kindness.

Irene ? Might have voted her second in years gone by, allowing for the 'turnover' factor, and her 'tough love' attitudes at times. But these last two years I think she's shown a detachment and lack of attention that was, at times, shocking. Letting, in fact encouraging, a 15 year old girl to leave 'home' and, in fact, leave the country, it would appear for good, is beyond belief. I know I've got a bee in my bonnet (in fact it's a stadium full of vuvuzelas by now) about this, but c'mon...

Not to mention smacking Annie in the mouth when she was drunk!

I thank Irene for encouraging Annie to go to Japan and off my television screen! Anyway she knew it would be a great experience for Annie and wanted her to stay for selfish reasons but put that aside and let her do what she wanted.

"...and let her do what she wanted."

Yeah, exactly. A 15 year old girl being encouraged to leave home for good, not an 18 year old going to Uni and returning in between terms. That's not selfless parenting. that's just warped and irresponsible.

Irene should be forced to go on 2 years of foster-parenting courses. That would make her hit the bottle again.

[-Kevin-]

I don't fully understand what the setup is like in Japan, like who is she staying with etc etc so I can't really judge on that. Aside from that I've known a lot of young people even younger than her to come on foreign exchange trips here to Ireland and stay with host families so it isn't that unbelievable Irene would let her go stay with a family or something like that. I presume she is staying with someone anyway, I highly doubt shes living it up all on her own!

[idris]

It was announced as a student exchange programme, for 6 months. That would most likely mean that a reciprocal arrangement would exist. An Australian parent linked to SBH would host a Japanese student, while Annie stayed at the home of a student from the school she was attending in Japan. It's not always the case that it's a direct swap, I wouldn't wish Irene on any poor Japanese student. Might make good TV though.

There's no problem with exchange student schemes, but they do end sometime, for good reasons (for example - unlike Irene, most parents want their kids back.) The problem here Kevin is that Annie, by the looks of things, went on a 6 month exchange (which I think is an excessive time for a 15 year old anyway) which will now last for nearly 3 years - "She's thinking of staying in Japan until she goes to Uni." as Dexter remarked to Romeo last week. It makes no sense when you think about it; cost, imposition on at least one Japanese family, blocking of other students going to Japan on short term exchanges and so on... But most of all, it's not right ! I just don't believe it would be allowed to happen to a 15 year old in real life.

And getting right back to the purpose of this thread, Irene showed very little of the concern that people are claiming she has for her foster children about this. There were no heart to hearts with Annie about the problems of starting a new life in a different culture at such a young age. Come to think of it, how could there be ? It's so irresponsible that it's indefensible. Irene behaved as though this outcome was totally right for Annie. Unless you're earmarked (pun intended) as heir to the throne, or suchlike, what sane, caring parent would encourage their 15 year old to burn all their bridges, as Irene has done with Annie ?

Still, I must be dreaming all of this, 'cause Irene's leading this poll !

[jodlebirger]

Idris, I really do agree with all you have said. Irene is not a good mother. I have always missed scenes with Irene talking to her "foster kids". Because she never talked to Geoff and annie, and she didn't talk much to Belle either. after Adens breakdown, we saw only Angelo comforting her. It would have been so much better if those scenes were with Irene/Belle!! And we have to add that she was terrible with her own children, she was drinking and was abusive!

I have always thought it is a shame that the writers and the viewers always want Irene in strange storylines... instead of having her communicate with her foster children.. We had that terrible drinking storyline last year, but there were a lot of room for potential storylines/scenes with Irene and the young teens she was housing. And the last time we saw her haivng a lot of scenes was with the maniac Corey in season 2005. I think that Irene could have been so much better if she was communicating and having storylines revolving around the teens she is housing. If they don't want to make her a real mother figure then she shouldn't be housing a teen either.

Ruby is still living with Irene, have we ever seen them in a scene together??

For me because of those reasons given above I think that Irene is the worst mother figure! she seems more like a hotel owner...

Good mother figures in H&A were Beth and also Shelley (until Kirsty's kidney storyline...) Nathalie was also kind of good.