Freaky Friday

One of the most important lessons Annabel learns from swapping bodies with her mother is that adult freedoms come with adult responsibilities. Annabel chafes against the rules Ellen makes for her, feeling that Ellen is being unfair and controlling when she tries to get Annabel to take personal safety seriously, eat nutritious meals, do her homework, and keep both herself and her room clean. Annabel characterizes Ellen as needlessly strict and accuses her of “pushing [Annabel] around and telling [her] what to do” (6). What Annabel does not see is that, at her age, she is not ready to make all her own decisions. Because she can be impulsive and self-centered, she does not always connect her choices with their long-term consequences for herself and others, and she needs an external authority to guide her while she develops these abilities.

Early in the novel, Annabel imagines that her mother, Ellen, spends her time “[going] out to lunch with [her] friends, and [watching] television all day long, and [eating] marshmallows for breakfast” (6). She imagines carefree days full of self-indulgence. The purpose of the body-swap that forms the novel’s premise is to show Annabel what her mother has not been able to make her understand through words: that while adults are comparatively free to make their own choices, an important part of being an adult is using that freedom responsibly—that is, making self-disciplined choices that benefit the self and others in long-term ways. 

When Annabel first wakes in Ellen’s body, her expectations are wildly misaligned with reality, setting the stage for her character development as she comes to understand the many obligations her mother must meet every day. She plans to use her newfound freedom to “tell [herself] to do a whole bunch of fabulous things” (7). She does not imagine the day that actually stretches out in front of her, largely defined by patriarchal gender roles, as Ellen is responsible for managing the household while facing criticism from her husband over all her choices. She must prepare the family meals, get the children off to school, negotiate with Bill for the money she spends caring for her children, do laundry, manage conflict with the family’s housecleaner, run errands, arrange childcare, and meet with the school staff. Annabel’s day turns out to be a difficult and demanding one. Over and over, she has to give up her own desires to care for others, managing tasks that require patience, focus, and careful thought.

Annabel’s efforts to manage Ellen’s day are largely disastrous. By late afternoon, she is exhausted—and terrified that she has placed her brother in danger and ruined both her father’s career and her parents’ marriage. Her paranormal experience teaches her two closely related lessons: first, that she is neither ready nor eager for adult responsibilities; and second, that her mother’s life is not at all what she thought it would be. She expected a self-directed day of hedonism, in which she would do only what she chose. Instead, she found a family structure seemingly designed to ensure that the mother’s needs would always come last. 

When Annabel cries out for her mother, “I need you!” (113), she shows that she has learned the lesson her mother wanted her to learn. As soon as Ellen returns herself to her own body and Annabel to Annabel’s body, Annabel cries in her mother’s arms, asking her mother to put right everything that has gone wrong—a wish that reflects children’s quasi-magical expectations of their mothers. Nonetheless—and despite her mother’s unexplained magical ability to switch her and her daughter’s bodies—Annabel’s experiences have taught her that her mother keeps the household running not through magic but through tireless work. In the novel’s final chapter, Annabel shows that she is more ready to follow the rules that Ellen has put in place for her behavior, as she recognizes that adulthood means being responsible for others.