BSC #36: Jessi's Baby-Sitter

Tagline: Jessi doesn't need a baby-sitter - she is one!

Jessi can't believe it. Her dreaded Aunt Cecelia is moving in to take care of Jessi and her brother and sister. How humiliating - Jessi's going to have a baby-sitter!

Plus, Aunt Cecelia is a drill sergeant. She tells Jessi when to go to bed, how to wear her hair, and she even forbids her to go to a Baby-sitters Club Meeting.

Jessi knows she's old enough to take care of herself - but how can she tell Aunt Cecelia that?

Jessi's at dance class and is surprised when it's her father, not her mother, who picks her up. Immediately, Jessi worries that something is wrong. Her father reassures her that that's not the case. Just the opposite in fact: he's off from work early to celebrate. When Jessi gets home, she finds out what the celebration is: her mother has finally found a job and is going back to work! Furthermore, to take care of Squirt during the day and help out around the house, Aunt Cecelia is moving in!

You might remember Aunt Cecelia from the time Becca got stuck on an island while Jessi was left in charge of her siblings for the weekend. If not, Jessi is quick to remind you of that. Apparently Aunt Cecelia remembers it too, because she immediately starts to micromanage their lives: she tells the girls what they can and cannot eat, what to wear and where they can be. They can't go anywhere because Aunt Cecelia's "never met them", never mind the fact that she's only been around for a few days. She insists on knowing exactly where they are at every minute. When Jessi is 10 minutes late coming home from the Rodowkys, Aunt Cecelia punishes her by banning her from that evening's Club meeting, threatening to ban her from more if she keeps up the attitude.

Meanwhile, Jessi and Becca keep pulling all sorts of pranks on Aunt Cecelia, hoping that if they're nasty enough, she'll want to move out again. They short-sheet her bed, leave plastic spiders in it, and put shaving cream in her slippers. Aunt Cecelia never says anything though, and the longer this goes on, the more nervous Jessi feels and the more she feels she can't go to her parents about it all.

Eventually Jessi realizes enough is enough and sits down with her parents. She confesses to them everything that has been going on. Her parents are disappointed that Jessi didn't come to them sooner, but quickly call a family meeting. At first Aunt Cecelia is all haughty and stubborn, insisting that if the girls are so independent, then she's not needed after all. But soon the family talks things out, and Aunt Cecelia admits that she was nervous coming into the family and was only trying to do her best. She also lets Mr and Mrs Ramsey know about the tricks the girls have been playing on her. Everyone apologizes, and decide to do better moving forward.

The girls aren't punished for their tricks, and Jessi spends forever wondering what's going to happen. The book ends with Aunt Cecelia pulling the same pranks on the girls, and everyone laughing it off.

The subplot in this one is the Stoneybrook Elementary Science Fair. Jackie Rodowsky kinda wants to enter it, but is afraid he'll mess up and embarrass himself. Mostly though, he just wants to make a cool volcano and watch it explode. Jessi gets so caught up in making sure that Jackie does it right and succeeds, that she essentially takes over the project and does it all for him. Elsewhere, Kristy is guiding David Michael on building a mobile of the solar system, Mallory is watching Margo build a shadowbox of life on the moon using Barbies, and Stacey watches Charlotte play music to plants. On the day of the science fair, Jackie becomes upset because he can't answer any of the questions, and more importantly, didn't really do any of the project himself. Jessi feels horrible and learns a valuable lesson about caring about people without invalidating them.

David Michael is just happy to get an honourable mention (essentially a participation award), because he gets a ribbon, and Margo just wanted everyone to see Barbie on the moon haha Charlotte actually wins third place!

Random Thoughts

• I love Jessi on this cover. That outfit is awesome. It's so '80s, but it's part of the good '80s haha Plus I just love her physical expression and stance. I think this is my favourite Jessi cover
• It's official: Mallory totes has red hair. This is the second time they've explicitly described her with such.
• I was interested to see that they started foreshadowing Mallory's father losing his job. I was always under the impression that shit happened in these books out of nowhere, but now that I'm consciously reading the books in chronological order, I'm seeing tons of foreshadowing on the major issues, like Mimi dying and Stacey's parents getting divorced
• Likewise, Stacey's still having health problems and keeps saying that she should make an appointment with her specialist, but is reluctant to do so
• In addition to all the foreshadowing, there's also a lot of continuity present, more so than I remember there being when I was a kid:
• Aunt Cecelia can't let go of what happened to Becca that weekend on the island
• The girls compare the science fair to what happened during the beauty pageant: only this time, they keep their heads and are way better about things
• Jessi mentions the time they all went to summer camp together and the school-wide ski trip as some of her favourite memories with her friends
• I don't find it weird that Aunt Cecelia would park Squirt in his playpen while she cleaned or made dinner. What I do find weird is that she won't let Jessi and Becca play with him instead
• Just like with Dawn and Mary Anne's families: I don't know why Mr and Mrs Ramsey didn't sit everyone down for a family meeting sooner. A lot of this book could have been avoided if Mr and Mrs Ramsey had just filled Cecelia in on what the general rules and routines of the house were. I suppose we wouldn't have had this book then haha
• On the otherhand, I totes understand Jessi being reluctant to bother her parents. One, it's hard to confront your parents with problems. Two, she didn't want to worry them or cause them any stress or grief during this already stressful time in their lives
• How late does Mr Ramsey work? Jessi mentions that her dance classes normally end long before he's ready to leave the office. Assuming her dance classes are at 4pm (most of their after school sitting jobs start at 3:30, and her dance classes are in the next town over), and they last an hour, she'd be done dance at 5pm (which also jives with her being able to just make Club meetings on time). I suppose an hour is a long time to wait, and leaving the office at 6pm isn't that late... Okay, nevermind, I rescind my query xD haha
• Is it bad that I want to try to replicate Charlotte's experiment so bad? I want to see for myself what the results are haha
• I feel bad for Aunt Cecelia. Yeah, she's strict (she's totally out of line for most of this book), but she's really not that bad once the family discusses rules and boundaries. She's probably more nervous and lonely than anything, and is trying to overcompensate. She's not nearly as bad for the rest of the series, as far as I can remember. Guess we'll see haha
• After school snacks were always a point of contention for me as a child. We ate lunch around noon, and I got home from school around 4pm. I was pretty darn hungry by the time I got home from school. However, in my family, we ate dinner at 5pm, so I really couldn't eat a large snack at 4pm, or else I really wouldn't have been able to eat my dinner later. Problem is, my tummy isn't satisfied with just a little bit of food. A little bit of food doesn't make my tummy a little less hungry. It actually makes my tummy more hungry until it's satisfied. That hour before dinner was always the longest hour of my life.
• That being said, Jessi's family obviously doesn't eat until 6:30-7pm. And they get home from school at like, 3pm, meaning lunch is probably around 11:30am. 7 hours is a long time to wait to eat something substantial, and 3 hours is more than enough time to work up an appetite again. I can see why Jessi and Becca normally eat a sandwich as an after school snack.
• Aunt Cecelia mentions that "sometimes black people have to work twice as hard to prove themselves". It's pretty deep for a BSC book. It makes me wish we had explored racism with Jessi more. Especially now with all the Black Lives Matters stuff. Crazy how something said in the 1980s can still ring incredibly true today.
• ...not that I wanted to get political. Cuz 1) I'm not a really political person, and 2) it's not that kind of blog haha
• I don't know if Aunt Cecelia was being hyperbolic to make a point, or if she was serious, but there is a huge difference between, "The girls are old enough to pick their own clothes and organize their own schedules" and "We don't need you at all anymore". The girls can't watch their brother during the school hours. It wouldn't be fair for them to have to consistently watch him every single day from 3pm to when their parents got home. Jessi would have to give up dancing, because not only would she now have to watch her siblings, there'd be no one to drive her to class. And there's all the cleaning and the cooking...

BSC #15: Little Miss Stoneybrooke... and Dawn

Front Cover: Everybody in Stoneybrook has gone beauty-pageant crazy!

Back Cover: Dawn's a little jealous when there's a formal ceremony to welcome Jessi and Mallory into the Baby-sitters Club. Don't people know that Dawn's a special baby-sitter, too?

Then it's Dawn's turn to shine. Mrs Pike wants Dawn to help prepare Margo and Claire for the Little Miss Stoneybrookcontest. So what if Margo's only talent is peeling a banana with her feet? Dawn's going to help her charges win that contest any way she can.

The only trouble is... Kristy, Mary Anne, and Claudia are helping Karen, Myriah, and Charlotte enter the contest, too. And nobody's sure where the competition is fiercer: at the pageant - or at the Baby-sitters Club!

Although we never hear about Jessi's test baby-sitting job, it's assumed to have gone well because this book starts off with Mallory and Jessi being officially inducted into the BSC. Dawn is jealous because she didn't get a fancy ceremony, just a pizza toast. Further compounding Dawn's feelings of inadequacy is a special call that comes in from the Johanssen's, requesting that Claudia baby-sit for Charlotte, since Claudia was closest to Stacey and still calls Stacey all the time. Dawn isn't the only one feeling a little inadequate after that, it seems.

Dawn's feeling pretty down about stuff, including her home life and Jeff (more about that in a bit), so she goes to the next meeting early, where she learns about the Little Miss Stoneybrook beauty pageant that's being held. At first, all the girls in the club are in agreement that pageants are sexist, but Dawn's convinced that it could be fun to participate and dress-up. Kristy surprisingly agrees, and the rest of the girls concede that although sexist, they could see why a little girl might be into it. Jessi and Mallory remain firmly against the idea though. Which is ironic, because the next thing the girls know, Mrs Pike is calling requesting if Dawn would help them prepare for the pageant. Mrs Pike just started a new project at the library, and doesn't have the time for the additional prep and patience it would take to prepare two girls (Claire and Margo) for the pageant. She asks if Dawn will do it, because Dawn lives the closest and would be the most accessible. Dawn says yes, pleased that she finally has her own special job. The other 3 older girls are not pleased. Jessi and Mallory are too surprisingly too mature for such shenanigans.

Soon, the other girls start finding their own charges to prepare. Kristy, in an effort to cheer up Karen, mentions the pageant, and Karen's imagination runs away with her and is dead-set on being in it. Mary Anne sits for Myriah and Gabbie Perkins, sees Myriah fooling around, dancing and singing, and dressing up, and mentions the pagaent to her, since Myriah is actually talented and has taken all sorts of lessons. Lastly, Claudia cons Charlotte into entering. So it soon becomes a contest between each girl, with each one trying to prove that they're the best sitter. Because obviously, your child winning a pageant means you're the best baby-sitter.

Right away, it's a loss cause. Claire and Margo, although really excited, have no talent. It's decided that Claire is will "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man", and try to make it interesting, while Margo will peel a banana with her feet and then recite "This Is the House That Jack Built". Karen has even less talent, but infinitely more enthusiasm, and decides that she's going to sing "The Wheels on the Bus", but drag it out to infinity by adding all sorts of made-up verses, such as "The people on the bus are tired and hot!" and "The dog in the carrier says Let me out!". Charlotte knows she doesn't have talent, and the only thing she enjoys is reading, so it's decided that she'll do a dramatic reading of the blueberry scene from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Myriah is the only one who should actually entering such a contest, and she decides to sing "On the Good Ship Lollipop" while tap-dancing.

The girls soon start to get downright nasty in their competition, taking all the fun out for the little girls. The little girls are rightfully confused when all they want to do is tell their friends what they're doing, but the girls drag them away and pit them against each other. Things start to get serious, as the girls prep their charges and coach them on what to say, instead of letting them go with their instincts. Luckily, the pageant is being held soon, or else I'm sure an all-out war would have started.

The day of the pageant, things start off tense for the girls. But as things go on, and the girls realize how woefully unprepared their charges are, they start to loosen up. Besides, they're faced with Sabrina Bouvier, who is stereotypical contestant, who's been trained in the art of beauty pageanting. When the girls see how manicured and manufactured Sabrina is, and how much of a stage-mother her mom is, the girls realize how silly they were trying to take the contest so seriously, and how sad Sabrina's life must be.

The pageant goes about as well as can be expected. Claire is adorable but a joke. Her answer to "What do you hope for most of all?" was "Santa. I hope he's real." Margo probably suffers more because she isn't as adorable. Sabrina Bouvier used up the world peace answer right before her, so when she gets her question, "What do you most wish to happen in the year 2010?", she freezes and then gets escorted off stage without answering. Karen has a moral dilemma when asked, "If your house was on fire, what three things would you rescue?" and struggles with her real answer and the "right answer" as coached by Kristy, and eventually settles for her real answer, which is, "I'd rescue Moosie my stuffed cat, and Tickly my blanket, and as many toys as I could carry. Oh, could I rescue a fourth thing? If I could, it would be my brother Andrew. Or maybe my pen that writes in three colours." Charlotte never makes it to the question portion of the pageant, because she completely froze up during the talent portion and ran off the stage in tears. Myriah has the best answer to her question, "If you could change one thing about this world, what would it be?" "It would be wars. I would stop them. I would say to the people who were making the wars, 'Now you stop that. You setlle this problem yourselves like grown-ups. Our children want peace.' That's what I'd change."

In the end, first place goes to Sabrina Bouvier (who sang a horrible rendition of "Moon River", but did it smiling and covered in make-up), and third place goes to some girl we don't know. Myriah wins second place though, which is a shopping spree at the toy store, so that's pretty awesome. The other little girls are devastated and the girls feel bad that they didn't prep their charges in case of loss. In an awesome moment of parenting (which rarely seems to happen in these books), the parents all tell the little girls how winning isn't everything, and how proud they are of them for having just entered.

The girls debrief at their next meeting, each of them admitting that they only entered the contest and used their charges to prove what an awesome baby-sitter they were. They all reflect on how terrible they are, and how they shouldn't do that kind of thing again, because they are all great baby-sitters, and they don't need to prove anything to anyone.

The ongoing subplot with Jeff finally wraps up in this one: Jeff asks if he can return to California and makes a serious case for it. After many phone calls, his mom arranges it for him to go back for 6 months as a trial period. Dawn is furious of course, but eventually decides that it's better to let him go. He ends up leaving the night before the pageant.

Random Thoughts:

• I remember reading this book. A lot. This is definitely one of the ones I owned when I was younger and read and re-read a million times. I have no idea why I did. But I just did haha
• Mallory is still described as having dark hair. Not a red-head yet! I'm still keeping an eye out for that.
• On the back of my copy, it says "Jessica Ramsey" under the list of experienced baby-sitters.
• Even though it's Dawn narrating, Karen Brewer is described as being "funny, daring, imaginative and outspoken", citing "who wouldn't love her?" Karen mildly exasperates all the baby-sitters, especially Dawn. Interestingly, the next book published in the entire Baby-sittersverse is the start of the first spin-off series, Baby-Sitters Little Sister, which follows Karen's adventures. I actually own the first book in the series, since it came in a whole pile of BSC books that I mass-purchased last year, so yep, that's going to be next.
• I like how Mallory and Jessi are way more level-headed than the rest of the girls, being like, "Pageants are sexist and stupid." I somewhat agree. I think constantly entering your child into serious hardcore beauty pageants, where their whole life is nothing but preparing for the next one and being groomed and manicured and manufactured, is bad and detrimental to their mental health and self. However, it's obvious that the contest held in Stoneybrook is in no way that hardcore. I highly doubt any of the parents or kids would have been seriously affected if they had won. It was clear that the parents didn't care and just thought it was a great opportunity for the girls to dress-up and have fun. It was interesting that it was the Club that got all crazy and hardcore, pushing the kids.
• I also love that Jessi and Mallory don't get all petty and jealous over jobs and over who's the best baby-sitter. They don't seem crazy and cultish like the older girls do. Although, I suppose only time will tell if that'll last. 
• The descriptions of Dawn's family foods always makes me hungry. I always want to eat more healthy, but I don't know where to begin. I totes need to remember to start buying brown rice.
• Why the fuck would a professional beauty pageant contestant like Sabrina Bouvier be entered in such a small regional qualifier such as Little Miss Stoneybrook? It's clear that she's been trained and educated as a serious contestant by her mom. You'd think that this was too small potatoes for her. The only thing I can think of is that her mom knew that this one would be a joke and thus an easy win, and who says no to another crown?
• This book is how I discovered the song "Moon River", and to this day, I can't hear the song or the title without thinking of this book.
• I love how in this book, the girls are in the wrong, and the parents are responsible people. Usually it's portrayed that the parents are useless and that it takes the girls to fix anything and get anything done, and that they know what's best haha