Sigh...  Dad. 

Yes, I absolutely couldn't resist the pun (so to speak).  As you noted, it's in my blood.  Thankfully, I do manage to suppress the urge more often than not. 

I'm so glad you're enjoying this Darlin'.

Yep.  I was wracking my brain for good owl names when that joke popped into my train of thought.  I rolled my eyes and then realized that it was just corny enough that I had to use it.  Glad you caught it and appreciated it.

Charlie's had a life-long love of dragons.  It was those little toys that sparked him, you know.  Molly was SO glad when he took them to Hogwarts with him.

Poor Dear,

Yes, it is difficult to know just where you are when there's a two year old in the house, especially as their moods change so rapidly.  My favorite quote from my sister is that children (especially toddlers) survive because they're too fast to catch when they're awake and when they're asleep, they're too cute. 

The neat thing about this Guide is that I simply think of which spells I'd like to have at my disposal for various situations when my muggle parenting skills aren't enough.  Three of my four children are in the Mischief, Muck and Mayhem stage (Ch. 5).  I'd dearly love to use the Full Body Bind and Silencing Charms on them when they're arguing. 

See below for a little on Harry's reaction to the Guide.  He's mentioned in a later chapter.

Percy sent a MEDIWITCH? Le gasp! But his reaction to finding out her only problem was him, causing her stress, must have been hilarious. I see it along the lines of a fish, opening and shutting his mouth.

Great work, as always,

Sarah

Whew!

As I've said below, I really agonized over getting the proper voices for the Weasley children.  Glad you approve!

I think the twins had their fun teasing while Molly was writing and while she waited for the release of her book.  They're good at giving credit where credit is due.

Ginny was peaceful to write.  I'm a lot like her.  Though in my family, my father was more like Molly and I'm a lot like my dad.  We have the whole peaceful, patient persona.  It's difficult to offend us, but you really don't want to continue on to see what we're like when we're riled.  I really don't see Ginny as the short tempered personality she's often given in fandom.  She only gets offended when it's important.  And jokes at her expense really aren't all that important.  Meddlesome brothers who won't give it a rest are a different matter.

Poor Percy - see below.

It's way too much fun to embarass Ron.  He gives such a good reaction when you wind him up.  I can see why even Ginny takes pleasure in doing so. 

I like Charlie too! 

Good eyes for catching the joke in the new owl's name.  Thanks for keeping Molly on your list of WIPs.  And Thanks for reviewing!

OH, horay!!!!!  I love to make readers laugh.  Best compliment you can give is that your sides hurt or that you sprayed whatever beverage you were consuming on your monitor.  THANKS!

There are about 8 total chapters.  I've just posted chapter five.  Chapter six will close out childhood.  Chapter seven will deal with hogwarts aged children.  Chapter eight will deal with adult children.  I wanted to wait for HBP to release before I dealt with Hogwarts aged children so I would have more canon anecdotal material.  If something happens to Molly *deep calming breaths and positive thoughts* I'll just sob.

Thank you VERY much for the plot bunny!  It made a nice break in the Guide and made the next chapter seem more fresh to me. 

Glad you approve of Ron's prank.  See more on that below.  :)

SO glad you noticed the birds!  I put a good bit of time into that detail.  There's more on that below too.

Bill was the most difficult for me to write.  I know so little about his voice.  Glad you liked it.

And, Percy.  Yes.  He's in a harsh new world where he's a little fish in a big pond.  He's used to being a big fish in a little pond.  Being insignificant is a rude awakening for him and he's quite out of his comfort zone.  Molly understands that and consequently isn't taking him more to task on his rotten behavior.  It hurts, of course, but she's reaching out in love to help him change.  That'll work faster than anything else, I think.  Gotta love Molly.

Ah, yes.  That's one of my favorite Douglas Adams' quotes.  (Though he may have borrowed it from someone else.) 

Fits me perfectly.  I'm wretched with deadlines.  Even, and especially self-imposed ones.  Bleh.

Thanks for the offer and for providing that story.  I've been mulling it over for days now and I think I know where to put it.  It's just the right age for the next chapter. 

Feel free to continue to share.  I appreciate plot bunnies or bits of plot bunny DNA, as the case may be.  As always, I'll remember to give credit where credit it due!

Wow!  I helped inspire a plot bunny!  Now I feel like a real groupie.

And in the sea of fun, you did a great job showing Molly's attempt to woo Percy back to the values they taught him. 

LOL.  Yipee!  I have a groupie!!  You're quite well-behaved for a groupie, though.  Aren't you supposed to flirt with roadies and encourage me in unsavory behavior?  Erm.  Never mind.  I'm glad you're not THAT kind of groupie.  But do feel free to continue to raise plot bunnies for fun and profit.  I really appreciate them.

Poor Percy.  He's really conflicted.  Such pressure he puts on himself.  Out for an early heart-attack or stroke, he is, if he doesn't learn to mellow out a bit.

Thanks Kelley,

I do appreciate your help with this one, too.  I was quite worried about getting the characterization right. 

Yeah, Harry helped.  Heh.  He wouldn't sign his name or say the chocolates were also from him or even write his own letter of protest (he's in a later chapter and being mentioned publicly is always his least favorite thing).  Though the idea and procuring of the chocolates were Ron's doing, Harry encouraged him and offered Hedwig before Ron could think to ask.

*hugs* back to you Sugar.

I really appreciated your help with this chapter.  I'm glad you feel the children's personalities were accurate.  I really struggled with that.  A letter is just a sound-bite of personality (if you will) and I wanted them to be as close to canon as possible. 

I did take some liberties with Ron and Percy.  Feeling, as I did, that they'd be the most upset of the brood, I felt it natural that they'd do something foolish in their anger. 

And Charlie's toy dragon are one of my favorite magical children's toys.  My first favorite are junior broomsticks which we'll see more of in the next chapter.

Thanks for noticing the method of delivery.  That little detail occured to me as I was fiddling with things after the chapter was fully written.  I spent a good bit of an evening looking through bird-watching websites and european maps looking for birds that would naturally live in those areas.  Particularly birds of prey which would be able to defend themselves on a long flight.

London had to have ravens though.  Ravens traditionally live on the grounds of the Tower of London.  A premier London hotel would naturally use a symbol of the city as a distinctive amenity for their wizarding guests.  So, Madam Brunhild, on vacation and without her personal bird, would have used the hotel's to post her letters. 

Thanks for the Fforde compliment!  I'd read The Eyre Affair a few years ago when it was reviewed in the Washington Post.  It was such a clever plot-line that I was seriously intregued and vowed to watch for sequels.  Before I knew it, three more Thursday books had been published and I'd missed them.  So I spent last month catching up.  My brain is quite full of Jasper Fforde at the moment.  Grammarsites just made sense to mention.  I noticed your Goliath avatar a while back.  That's what reminded me to go check for more books.  Thanks!!!

We'll see if Molly has anything further to say about Ron's prank.  She knows how to pick her battles.  She made her point and he got to save a little face at the same time, so she may feel her mission is accomplished and move on to other areas where Ron needs improving.  It may crop up again when she has a quiet moment alone with his future children, though. 

I love the twins too.  Since their gender and personalities are quite different from my own, it's often difficult for me to find their voice.  Their letter was actually the easiest to write, which is odd for me.  I knew they'd be pleased for their mum though.  They love a good joke, even and especially if it's at their expense (think beards as they approached the goblet of fire - I'm psyched to see that in the movie). 

Canary Creams (as over used as they can be in fandom) are still my favorite WWW product.  I'd love a box of them to pass around after a family Christmas dinner.