He told her that his parents loved each other so much that they neglected the majority of pretty much every parental duty a decent parent should do. Both MC and ML fail to see that they are starting to do the same to JM. They didn't even know that their son was starting school because they used all of their energy on each other. First grade is a big deal! They start to breake promises to JM and expect him to understand because he is a sensible child. When MC is having her emotional breake-downs her son is the one backing her up not the other way around. When he asks her for something he feels unbelievably selfish. He didn't even dare to cry when his father became hospitalized because he wanted to support his mother. Which makes me feel incredibly frustrated!