More about parenting techniques, with something of a rant on Millie's character.

Millie is Greystripe's second mate, who first appears when he has to find his way back to the Clans in the manga trilogy The Lost Warrior. My first interaction with Millie was when she and Greystripe arrived in ThunderClan, and from then on, she seemed like an asshole. It is okay to be strong and independent and want to prove yourself without being over-confident, because as many fans have done, that just gives people room to tear you down. I don't care that she didn't take a warrior name. She gave up all she knew to follow Greystripe to his Clan and I won't deny that she is a good warrior. I was so ready to give her a chance, hoping that she would be able to make her way from outsider to warrior with depth that made her more than "just a queen" (Daisy, but do you know how hard it is to take care of other people's kids? She and Ferncloud were badass in their own right!)

But then she was cocky and thought she knew everything "oh, I don't ever get sick!" *gets greencough*

And on top of that, she and Greystripe have kits. There is no problem with them having kits. It's perfectly natural. But apparently I need to reread the books again because Millie lovers say that she was overprotective and that is not the vibe I got at all. I know that the cats in this series have the ongoing mentality that their kits no longer need them at six moons old, but what about before then? Briarkit got greencough right alongside Millie. That is definitely no one's fault, but later on in the series, Briarkit almost gets bitten by a snake. Honeyfern dies saving her. Where the heck was Millie?! I saw Berrynose with his dreams crushed, but why wasn't Millie there to say "come back where I can see you, it's not safe for kits in camp."

I did not expect Millie to know that there was a snake in the camp. I just wanted her to know where her kit was and be able to get to her. I recognize that no one can be two places at once, especially with three kits, which brings me to a second problem. Where the everloving stars has Greystripe been all this time? If he was on a patrol out of camp then okay, I get that you're working. But seriously? What are you doing the rest of the time?! Why aren't you with your family?

Maybe it's implied, because things are usually from the perspective of a main character rather than on the Clan as a whole, but neither cat seems to get the hang of this whole parenting thing. And that makes me wonder who Stormfur and Feathertail had to have turned out as well as they did. Oakheart and Greypool must have been fantastic cats, because Mistyfoot and Stonefur (Oakheart and Bluestar's kits) were the mentors of Greystripe's RiverClan kits and they did amazingly well in the rest of the series.

The next big plot issue comes when they are older, and Briarlight gets crushed by the falling tree while trying to get Longtail out of camp. That bit of character redeems her parents in my eyes because it shows that their kits have good heads on their shoulders. Unfortunately, that goes out the window when Millie flies into a panic and smothers her broken child. It is not an easy thing to deal with, permanent injury and having your life snatched from you.

But Frostfur didn't smother Cinderpelt and abandon Brackenfur, Thornclaw and Brightheart for fifty moons after her leg was crushed. I will acknowledge that Briarlight's situation is more dire, because she has a lot more chance of dying on the spot than Cinderpelt did. But does that give Millie the right to say "forget you" to her other kits and smother Briarlight three times over? I say smother because Briarlight was getting sick of her mother towards the end of the series. As for Blossomfall, she reacted the worst and with reason.

Greystripe already wasn't around, but to lose Millie to her younger sister must have felt like favoritism. I don't know how Bumblestripe coped, but he seemed more adjusted to Clan life, even going on to pursue Dovewing and being able to take the initial rejection. (Score one for Thrushpelt and Ashfur can go jump off a cliff.)

Blossomfall trained in the Dark Forest because she felt like she wasn't getting the attention she deserved, an error on both parts. I say that because who are you to go and fuss that you're not getting hugged by your mother to evil cats when you have the whole rest of a group that you live with to turn to?

For those who say that Ivypool did exactly that, Ivypool wanted to be special like her sister and Hawkfrost offered her that. It was a very specific need that she felt only StarClan (the Dark Forest) could fill. Love and affection can come from anywhere, not just neglectful parents. Greystripe and Millie should have paid attention to all of their kits equally and Blossomfall should have asked Ferncloud or Daisy to spend some time with them.