Inquiring Minds Need to Know: Max and Ruby Edition

Some important things I need to know about Max and Ruby:

• Where are Max and Ruby's parents while they're getting into all these shenanigans?
• Are the parents dead? We never see them except in a picture on the wall of the living room.*
  
• Why does Grandma not step in and take care of her grandchildren, instead of leaving them all alone at their house?
• And why have child protective services not been called?
• How do they pay their monthly expenses? Did their parents leave them with some sort of annuity?
• Does the grocer who gives Max groceries in one episode put it on their tab, or does he just feel sorry for the kids?
• What does Ruby do with Max while she's at school?
• Where does Max get all those amazing wind-up toys that can fly, talk, and move around to just exactly where they need to go for the sake of the plot?
• Speaking of plot, why does this show have exactly one plot? Each episode is just a variation on the same theme: Max says one word that Ruby thinks doesn't have anything to do with what she wants, but he keeps repeating it, and finally at the end it is exactly the right thing.
  
• Why does Ruby whine incessantly at Max? I think I'm going to carve my ears out with a spoon if I have to listen to her talk to Max one more time.
• What does my son see in this show? And why (for the love of God) does he always want to play "Max and Ruby" with me?
  
• Why can I not get the theme song out of my head?

* I know, I know, the author says the focus is on the kids because that's how kids see things. However, Ruby does a lot of things for Max that parents should be the ones doing, such as buying him clothes, making his breakfast, and putting him to bed.