No she's wonderful! :D

She could have been worse, she could have not cared at all about Morgana, and not built the wall to keep her safe! I admit I don't think I would tell my daughter about being part mermaid, because that would just make her want to know more, then see Atlantica then she would be vulnerable!

While she did have certain significant flaws regarding her parenting skills, she did actively protect her daughter from a concrete defined threat that was Morgana rather than being driven by negative prejudices directed at the entire culture/world due to the bad actions of a few as Triton did. The ways she chose to go about it including not telling Melody the truth at least eventually were indeed problematic though, however, just like Triton, I believe she learnt from her mistakes.

I think she had good reasons for not telling Melody. Would you want your child to live in fear during their childhood knowing if they do what they love they could get captured or possible die? I would've told her when she turned 13 because she'd be a teenager and more capable of handling such a thing. But true Melody could have been more understanding if she knew. I'm starting to realize some parents I thought were bad parents like Ariel, Triton, Lady and Tramp etc. aren't so bad. No parent is perfect, they all make mistakes. There's a lot worse and at least Ariel cares and is trying to protect her daughter. She might have been a little too protective but her daughter almost died when she was just a baby, I'd be freaked out too.

No, even tho I think it would have been a perfect time to tell her, about being a mermaid when she opened the locket. But then again Melody would have probably just yelled and ran away either way.
"Hmm! Teenagers. They think they know everything. You give them an inch and they swim all over you!?"

Technically Melody isn't a teenager yet, she's only 12. Oh well she must be an over-achiever.

haha nice quoting sebastian IHyrule haha love him! :)

KataraLover Well girls do mature faster then boys and maybe she is one of those girls who like to act alot older then they are...try to grow up too fast and such....
Ariel is a young mother and it is not like she had a role model to learn from and to ask questions of (She ws seperated from her father when the wall went up so she could not ask him parenting questions and Eric had no parents)...You do not gain complete knowledge on how to be a good Parent as soon as a child is born...you learn as you go and you make mistakes, but a good parent learns from thier mistakes and trys to do better...which Ariel did...Her mistakes were done out of love,protectivness, and ignorance (just because she was once a teenage girl does not mean she understands what is going through her own teenage girls head) Just like CHildren, Parents do not know everything...but also like a child it is hard for the Parent to admit that to thier children and appear weak and stupid....There is no worse feeling for a Parent then when they feel useless and helpless to Protect thier child...

DUHH! We're talking about an evil powerful sea-witch and your little girl. Heck I'd move away from the beach all together!

I think Melody is very stubborn.

No, I don't see why she should be a bad mother. She always wants the best for her daughter.

SweetPea2007 I wholeheartedly agree, Eric and Ariel barely had any guidance in that regard and were virtually unfamiliar with parenting, however, tried to the best of their ability to keep Melody safe, healthy and happy despite making significant mistakes in the process as just about any parent would. Despite the lack of direct examples or sources of support such as their own parents, they still put an immense effort into maintaining a happy family and eventually facing and working through the issues rather than deliberately neglecting them for the sake of keeping the designed fasade of flawlessness.

I hate Ariel so much!!!!!