Greyson's parents were "serial parents.” They loved the idea of having families but loathed raising them. Greyson and his sisters were his father's fifth family, and mother's third. They had tired of this new batch of offspring quickly, and when they began to shirk their parental response bilities, the Thunderhead took up the slack.
It helped Greyson with his homework, it advised him on how to behave and when to wear on his first date and although it could not exhibit a physical presence at his high school graduation, it took pictures of him from every possible angle, and had a fine meal delivered for him when he arrived home. That was more than he could say for his parents, who were off in PanAsia on a food-tasting excursion.