#norma arnold

[your-fave-is-neurospicy]

norma arnold from the wonder years (1988) is autistic and has generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder (headcanon)

submitted by anonymous

*generalized anxiety flag by @/beyond-mogai-pride-flags*

*social anxiety flag by @/beyond-mogai-pride-flags*

[alphawolfice1989]

The real actress and fictional character shard the same name

The real alley mills plays norma Arnold from the wonder years

The fictional ali mills from karate kid and cobra kai is played by Elizabeth shu

[twyrewatch]

Episode 91: The Wedding

In the last episode of "The Wonder Years", Kevin's hippie sister Karen got engaged to a shaggy haired Ross from Friends. Thankfully, for them it was not a long engagement (I was engaged for 3 years. It wasn't brutal, but it wasn't exactly fun either) and the Arnolds along with Michael are tooling around in a hippiefied VW bus checking out churches. Norma and Karen have completely different ideas, which is going to cause some ruffled feathers. Jack doesn't want to get involved, he just wants to pay the bills and continue to give Michael the cold shoulder. Karen's still resistant to everything Norma's doing, and it turns out that she and Michael are harboring a bit of a secret. Karen blows up over the stodgy traditional wedding Norma's forcing on them, and they decide to have a small ceremony at their house. After things quiet down, Michael confides in Kevin that he has a new job... in Alaska. Well, that explains the secret and the tension, which you figure will probably come to a head at the wedding the following week. And you'd be right.

Image from veehd.com

Jack of course has his reservations about the wedding, and things only get worse when he meets the new age minister at the door of Karen's house, along with their friends Rainbow and Wind. Everyone gets along though, caught up in the moment of joyous preparation. The moment ends, though, when Karen's friends present them with a cake that night that says "Alaska or Bust" just after Jack gives a heartfelt speech about wanting to spend more time with the couple. Karen and Norma are both upset, but Jack calmly recalls how he moved Norma 1000 miles away from *her* home, in one of the more quietly touching moments of this season. As "The Wedding Song" starts (I've always been a sucker for that song), we're treated to a montage of Karen and Michael's wedding the next day. It's a solemn, simple, beautiful affair that matches their personalities perfectly. After the ceremony is complete, the new couple drive off with their possessions in tow, ready to begin their new life. That night, Jack and Kevin stand outside in the dark, trying to figure out which direction Alaska is in, in a silent goodbye to Karen. All in all, a great episode of the show, and one of the best this season.

[twyrewatch]

Episode 63: When Worlds Collide

Kevin sees himself as a "cool dude" but is at that point where he wants to start pulling away from Norma, since she's his mom and she's distinctly uncool. Especially when she flaps around the new tighty whiteys she just bought for him.

Norma's coolness factor jumps up that night when she tells everyone that she's found herself a small part time job, but not by much. When she lets everyone know that she'll be working at Kevin's school, her coolness factor hits levels so low they've never been seen before. Kevin, wet blanket that he is, tried to talk Norma out of it, to no avail. The two commute to school together - Norma with excitement, Kevin with dread.

Paul starts talking to Kevin about seeing his mother at the school, which Kevin completely denies. Just then a fire drill goes down, and Norma makes a big scene of calling out to Kevin in front of THE ENTIRE FREAKING SCHOOL so you know he'll be seeing a therapist later on in life not just for the stalking issues. Kevin tells Norma that night to ignore him at school (because that worked so well with Margaret Farquhar, right?) and crushes her spirits. 

Norma does a good job of following Kevin's wishes, but Tony Barbella corners Kevin about getting the hookup with some slips from the office, putting him in a crappy position. He attempts to get some behind Norma's back, but is caught red handed. Just as Norma's about to say something, DiPirna calls her into his office, and a guilty Kevin leaves the slips in the office. Later, Kevin learns that Norma's been fired because her typing wasn't up to snuff. 

That night, instead of a crushed Norma, Kevin encounters his mother being upbeat, saying the job just simply wasn't for her, and there was better out there. He realizes that he was selling her short, and he also realizes that he's grounded when Norma tells him so. His mom's no longer uncool to him, and when he sees her application to the local community college, his respect for her has grown.

[butthead-arnold]

[butthead-arnold]

The Arnolds (minus Wayne)

[twyrewatch]

Episode 53: The Ties That Bind

It's been a little while since our last "Norma and Jack" episode of The Wonder Years, so it's time for another. As usual, money's a bit tight and the Arnold parents are making due with what they can. Karen's home for Thanksgiving break and needing more cash, but the oven's broken again, which can only mean more hard earned money out of Jack's wallet. Unfortunately the stove's not repairable, so it's sandwich time for a bit. When Jack realizes that a new stove costs "only" $250, he decides it's time to ask for a raise at work, as it's been some time since he's had one. Jack not only gets a raise, he gets a promotion to Regional Manager as part of the deal as well. You go, Jack! That's also part of the issue... Jack HAS to go - on the road, travelling to different plants. Starting THAT VERY NIGHT. So Norma gets her new stove, but she doesn't have a Jack at home.

Kevin and Paul have a talk about Jack being gone, and Kevin won't admit to missing his dad. Norma's thrilled with her new stove, but the family is less so, given that their chicken pot pies are still frozen in the middle. Stupid stove. The pies are so bad even Buster won't eat Wayne's leftovers. Things go from bad to worse when Jack calls to let everyone know that he's going to miss Thanksgiving due to being on the road to Denver. Ever astute, Kevin has a talk with Wayne about things being weird around the house, especially Norma's behavior without Jack. Or rather, Kevin talks AT Wayne, since the dunderhead is clueless. As Thanksgiving arrives, Norma goes all out with the cooking and decorating, including presenting a turkey the size of a Buick. She's compensating for Jack's absence with her manic cooking, and the family just stares at the turkey since Jack's not there to carve. Do none of them know how to use a large knife?

Later on (no word if anyone actually ate, I like to think they didn't and just stared at their food for hours in awkward silence) Jack flies in just for an hour to see everyone for the holiday. They run across the tarmac and Jack wraps up Norma in a huge hug and kiss (no more of that mushiness in today's world, sadly. Thanks a lot, TSA) and even though the food has all gone to waste, they can at least be a full family for a short time.

It's nice to see Jack get a leg up, even if it means some time away from the family. He's been cursing his job since the first episode of the series, and we've met some of his co-workers so it's not surprising he's not fulfilled at his job. His elation at getting the raise and promotion is wonderful to see as a viewer, and one can only hope that this might mean some bigger and better things for the Arnold family.

[twyrewatch]

Episode 44: Cocoa and Sympathy

Norma's the glue that holds the Arnold family together - she feeds the dog, fixes clothes, puts things away, you name it. But honestly, she's not appreciated. No one wants to go to the concert with her. Ungrateful jerks. In school, Paul's looking like Alfalfa and bumming hard. Hobson makes matters worse when he comes in with Lisa Berlini's poll about cute guys. Kevin got "Best Eyes" while Paul got "Brainiest". Oh, the horror. He only gets worse when he and Kevin are watching a TV show depicting brains attacking people. Norma realizes Paul's down on himself, and gives him a good ol' pep talk which he swallows hook, line, and sinker. Turns out that Norma's pep talk did the trick, as the next day at school Paul's dropping one line bombs on anyone who gives him grief over being "Brainiest". Paul starts spending more time at Kevin's house, hanging out with Norma, much to Kevin's chagrin of course. Especially when Kevin finds out that Norma's telling Paul stories that HE doesn't even know about.  The guys have decided to give Lisa Berlini a taste of her own medicine with their own poll, and sit around leering at the girls field hockey team. Paul drops in and starts touting Norma for the poll.... which the guys surprisingly latch on to pretty quickly. Save for Kevin, of course. Turns out Paul's not just talking up Norma for some poll, he's also going with her to the concert that none of her family wanted to go to. Paul shows up to go with Norma to the concert, presenting a beautiful Jello mold as his dowry offering. Or his mom made it. One or the other. Then Norma comes out in her LBD and Kevin's like WHAAAAAT? Jack can't figure out how to reheat a pizza but tough luck for him - Norma's headed out on a date with a 13 year old. 

A few hours later, the two return and Kevin feels awkward about hanging with them, until he sees his Mom giving Paul another pep talk in the kitchen. Well, it's not so much a pep talk, as it is a "I'm your friend's mom, go hang out with girls your own age 'cause you're a nice guy" talk. Kevin realizes that his Mom enjoyed hanging with Paul because she felt appreciated, and it was his fault (and the rest of his family's) she felt that way. Kevin takes the time to sit down with Norma, and just spend some quality time with her, and knows that he's not going to look at her in the same light again. After a few Jack/Kevin episodes, it's nice to get a Norma-centric show, and bringing Paul into the mix helps put a fun spin on the "we don't appreciate Mom" storyline that tends to be fairly common in sitcoms. The scenes of Norma and Paul together are cute, and show just how sympathetic and tuned in Norma truly was to all of her family members - both immediate and extended.