As the mom who had the “great idea” to start this blog, I
was assigned Kristy’s Great Idea to snark on a bit. Now I really liked the first books of the
series a lot before the great time warp began (I actually tried to justify it
as a kid, thinking maybe it was the holiday from someone else’s point of view,
etc…) and all the characters were cemented into their one character trait that
all the ghost writers knew. This is also
the grace period before the advent of CHAPTER TWO, which I always ended up
skipping. I mean, who didn’t? It’s like they cut and pasted from book to
book, tweaking Claudia’s outfits and thinking up new ways to announce that
Jessi’s black.
Main Story Summary:
We start by meeting Kristy Thomas on a hot day in
September…that sounds wrong already.
Anyway, she leaps out of her seat with a loud hooray, is lectured by her
teacher about decorum (Oooo, we get our grammar lesson in the first chapter)
and heads for home to meet her little brother, David Michael, before he decides
that no one loves him. Mary Anne Spier,
best sensitive bud, goes with her and they make lemonade and chat for awhile
about this that and the other thing, the other thing being Claudia Kishi and
man has she gotten weird! She likes boys
and art and buying clothes! No! Outrage!
Sorry, I get carried away.
Dinner time rolls around and Kristy’s mom comes in with a
pizza and needs a sitter for DM the next day.
No can do, say Charlie, Sam and Kristy, which leads Mrs. Thomas to the
phone trying to find a sitter while DM feels lower than slugs. Poor kiddo.
Finally she calls Mrs. Newton, whose son Kristy is sitting for the next
day, and she says DM can come over. Anyway,
the great idea for the club comes to Kristy and she chokes on her pepperoni
with excitement.
It actually takes a little while for the club to get going,
which is very realistic compared to later books where Kristy has a great idea
and BAM! Next day they’re plastering fliers to light poles and recruiting
toddlers for tiaras (my daughter will never do that…I’m so not a tiara mom!).
Kristy and Mary Anne recruit Claudia, who then recruits Stacy, who is from
(OMG!) New York,
and before you know it, the BSC was born!
The flier is made up and passed around town, and it includes
all of the sitters’ numbers and an invitation to call them at home outside of
meeting times. Kristy promptly forgets
this is on there and will become irritated when a client calls and asks Claudia
to sit. Ummm…didn’t you make up the
flier, my dear? Hast thou forgotten what
thou put on thine flier?
Anyway, they’re all excited at the first meeting and they
get some new clients and they have their first sitting jobs:
- Kristy
– Buffy and Pinky McKeever, two Saint Bernards. Hmmm…lesson learned when talking to new
clients: get information about “children” before hand. Another great idea: club notebook!
Sitters will always be prepared with knowledge from other jobs.
- Claudia
– Jamie Newton + 3 naughty Feldman cousins. Hmmm…lesson learned: always ask how many
children you will be sitting for.
- Stacy –
David Michael Thomas, brother to Charlie, Kristy and “gorgeous hunk” Sam. Hmmm…lesson
learned: Stacy is boy crazy.
- Mary
Anne – Karen and Andrew Brewer.
Hmmm….lesson learned: Karen
Brewer is a pill.
At the next meeting, the girls decide to celebrate their
success with a pizza party…but Stacy’s going back to New York and might not be
back in time, plus there’s her strict dieting to consider….then Mary Anne’s dad
says she can’t spend her money on pizza…then Claudia’s parents say she should
probably do the homework she hasn’t done since the beginning of the school
year…and when Kristy calls Stacy to see if she’s back, Mrs. McGill lies to
her. Basically, the party falls apart.
At the meeting Monday, everything comes to a head. Claudia and Mary Anne have good news: they’ll
be able to party the next weekend! Then
Kristy calls Stacy’s mom out for lying, which leads to a big fight, pitting
Kristy and Mary Anne against Claudia and Stacy and culminates with the groups
storming out.
They do decide to hold their Wednesday meeting and everyone
apologizes, and even Kristy admits she can be rude. They decide to go ahead with the party and
everyone meets at Kristy’s that Friday night.
Stacy confesses to them that the reason she is on a strict diet is
because of her diabetes and that was partly why they moved to Stoneybrook, to
escape the teasing of her former classmates.
Kristy sits back and enjoys the party with her friends and
is super stoked about the success of her great idea: THE BABYSITTERS CLUB!
Subplot Summary:
Kristy’s mom is dating Mr. Watson Brewer, a very rich man
(not a millionaire as in later books) and Kristy’s not too thrilled about
it. She lets everyone know by insulting
Watson when he brings the family dinner and being just downright rude. She refuses to sit for his kids and tries to
avoid him as best she can. The
announcement that Watson asked her mom to marry him only reassures her that she
doesn’t want him as a stepfather.
As the pizza party falls apart, Watson calls needing an
emergency sitter for his kids and Kristy has no choice but to go. She ends up liking Andrew and Karen (back
when Karen was precocious, not extreme brat) and FINALLY talks with her mom
about how the relationship makes her feel.
She’s still not totally sold on the idea, but in the end gives her
blessing and leaves Watson a note at his house telling him to call her if he
needs a sitter for his kids and that she’s okay with them getting married.
Mommy Moments:
- Edie/Elizabeth,
perhaps it would behoove you to make your calls in private, rather than
stress out your 6-year-old son.
- Also Edie/Elizabeth,
if you’re friendly with Mrs. Newton, maybe that was the solution you
should have started with? Pretty
sure she wouldn’t have minded, especially considering all the other kids
that show up uninvited at her house when your daughter is sitting.
- I
don’t care how mature my 12-year-old is, I am meeting the new “client” so
that I at least know who my kid is going to sit for and can accurately
describe them to a sketch artist if necessary.
- Dear
Richard Spier, I don’t think placing unrealistic expectations on your
child is a good idea, nor will it keep her extra safe. It just makes her scared to ask you
about things, especially things you don’t mind giving a little ground on.
- Dear Kishis, do you think Claudia's trying to tell you something by the way she dresses?
- I can
understand not liking someone new coming into the family, especially after
the rather nasty divorce you lived through, but being an asshat is not
cool, Kristy. Be polite, at the
very least civil, and talk to your mom about how you feel!
Inconsistencies:
- Karen
Brewer’s eyes are referred to as brown, but every other book she’s in
they’re described as being blue.
- It
says here that Kristy’s dad took off for California and got remarried, but
doesn’t he get married again in Friends Forever: Kristy’s Big News? Is that his third marriage? Fourth? Lost count?
- Kristy’s
mom is “Edie” in this book (Karen even calls her that) but later on is Elizabeth. Is Edie an accepted nickname for Elizabeth or did
someone decide Edie wasn’t a hip enough name?
- Isn’t
Boo-Boo described as a black cat in other books? I could be wrong, but here he’s gray.
- Apparently
the Pike family had a cat at some point, although in Jessi Ramsey, Pet
Sitter, Mallory claimed they’ve never had a pet.
- Not
only does Claudia’s spelling get worse as the series goes on, her
handwriting gets smaller and harder to read as well.
