Jennifer’s choice in men - Abysmal!
Eileen can think of at least a thousand others she’d have chosenfor her daughter before even considering Paul as a possibility. Does Jennifer care? No! And that galls her mother the most, along with knowing Jennifer gets a great deal of pleasure from knowing this.
Work - Something you just get on and do.
Eileen can’t imagine a life without work. Even in the Fairy Kingdom, you are defined by what you do.
Realism
Eileen is all for practicality, sensible thinking and logic but is also aware that for things like the arts and faith an alternative way of thinking is more appropriate. You can’t just appreciate a picture just by looking at what colours were used for example. Generally then Eileen treats realism like fire - it’s a great servant but a rotten master. This attitude brought Eileen into early conflict with Brankaresh but the fact he couldn’t argue against realism and rationality being everything annoyed him much to her great delight. As she said, sometimes you do need more than “reality”, you need more than what you can actually see with the naked eye.
Playtime
Where Eileen gets to blast some annoying sprite or puts an uppity wizard in their place. Before she got fed up with the Queen sending her out on dangerous missions all the time, Eileen used to enjoy her job.
Babycare
Eileen believes in imposing a strict routine but Jenny has learned to become more flexible. She sticks to the important points of a regular bath, story and bedtime routine. Meal times are less vital though she’s usually within half an hour of standard times. Eileen thinks Jenny is a bit lax but for once doesn’t dare say so because of the latter’s battle with PND. Jenny knows this and it’s helping her to enjoy motherhood more - her mother is there for advice and not for interfering. This is a very different role for Eileen!