Mrs. Oleson quotes from Little House on the Prairie

All right, Nancy. If you won't open the door, then you're going to have to listen to me. You know, I had a little girl once—very much like you. She was different from the rest of the children. All the little girls hated her because she had such pretty clothes and great big, lovely dollies. I bought them from Paris. The little boys didn't like her very much, either. I used to tell her it was because she was too mature for them….but that wasn't the truth. I'm going to tell you something, Nancy, something I've never told anyone else, not even my husband. Children hated my little Nellie because she was mean, and spoiled, and conniving. And I understood that because I was the exact same way when I was a child. So you see, Nancy, I do understand you and you don't have to change. I'll love you just the way you are. And I'll spoil you with beautiful dresses, and big lovely dollies, and all the candy you could eat! And then, maybe...maybe someday, maybe, you'll learn to love me, too. Please, Nancy. Please give me a chance to be your mother.

Nellie

I'm too tall!

Well, don't blame me! It's your father's fault. Everybody's tall on his side of the family.

Your mother's right. Her side is just fat.

How dare you!

[about Nancy] Harriet, be reasonable! This child is just... so....

She's just what, Nels?

I believe a kind word to describe her would be "impossible."

Oh, men! You just don't understand little girls.

Mrs. Oleson, I have to be honest, I don't understand, either. In just the four weeks that Nancy has been here, she's set fire to her bed, broken more windows than I can count, poured plaster into the indoor plumbing, and bitten half the children in the orphanage.

Girls will be girls.

Harriet, I believe the term is "Boys will be boys" or in this case, it should be "Monsters will be monsters!" Harriet, I don't understand you! Out of all the children in the orphanage, why her?

I don't know, but I want her.

Willie

Nobody's jealous of Nancy. Nobody wants to be in the pageant because nobody likes her!

Willie!

Willie

It's true! She's mean and she's nasty. Nastier than Nellie ever was. She knew Belinda was in the ice house when I closed the door. She wanted her to get sick so she could be the star of the pageant.

Nancy

That's a lie!

Willie

No, it's the truth!

Willie, how dare you make up a story like that. Go to your room right now!

Willie

I didn't expect you to believe me. I'm only your son!