"Rob," Mama said, "I'm glad we've got you to handle things. I couldn't of done it alone."
"Yes you could, Mama. When you're the only one to do something, it always gets done." (15.18-19)
This is the ultimate compliment from Rob. It's not just menfolk who get things done. Mama, too, knows how to face up to things; Rob can rely on her to do what needs doing.
Quote 2
"Come quick," said Mama, who was standing at the barn door. Just inside was a nest in the hay, right next to the warm wall near Daisy. Down in the hay was our barn cat, Miss Sarah, and three of the prettiest kittens you'd see anywhere. One was calico like her. (And if it lived it would be a female too. Male calicos die.) (5.35)
Even with a brand new litter of kittens on hand, the reality of death is never far away. Rob's matter-of-fact statement that one of the kittens may die showcases the common, everyday quality of death on the farm, and again ties birth and death together in the reader's mind.
"Into the house with you," Mama said. "It's way past your bedtime and you'll never get up for chores." That sort of stopped me.
"Papa? You did all my chores today."
"Sure did. And butchered hogs besides."
"Thank you, Papa. I'm beholding."
"I accept your debt," Papa said, "and come 'morrow, you'll work double."
"That's meet and right," I said. (11.21-26)
Whoa. Even when he's been away at the fair all day, Rob's still racking up the debt because Papa has done his chores for him. Papa wants payback, too. These guys sure take responsibility seriously.