#1 Kristy's Great Idea

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.