The Baby Sitters' Club Series

[Mutagen]

OMFG. This thread has brought back so many memories. I think my favorite mega-super-special book was the one where they all went away to the ski lodge for winter vacation. But the one where Claudia and Dawn got shipwrecked (on some completely unfindable island off of Connecticut!) was pretty "special" as well.

I found Mallory's family entertaining, but I wanted to slap the shit out of that Karen kid.

Claudia was definitely my favorite character. Remember the one where she got falsely accused of cheating? Or when the Racist Aryan Nation Family didn't like her babysitting?

Oh, and I totally thought Mary Ann was bearding for Logan.

[susyhomewrecker]

Dawn was my favorite. I could idenitify with the divorced parents thing, and I wasn't diabetic like Stacey, or a man like Kristy, so Dawn was my girl. I also liked that she was from California, which is where I lived, even though she was from Southern California and was a bad stereotype of "California Girls."

And mutagen I TOTALLY AGREE about Karen! Even as a seven year old, I was SO. ANNOYED. by the lack of contractions in the Little Sister books. I skipped over them entirely and went straight to BSC because I just couldn't stand Karen's diction. And WTF was up with the "witch" that lived next door--Morbidda Destiny?

Oh the things that stick with you well into your college years.

[fentonsnakedmom]

I loved the Baby Sitters Club when I was younger. I even had the movie and a few of the TV episodes on tape.

Was anyone else disappointed when you became thirteen and you were not allowed to do any of the dibbly fresh things the BSC could do?

[franticjoy]

fentonsnakedmom said:

Was anyone else disappointed when you became thirteen and you were not allowed to do any of the dibbly fresh things the BSC could do?

By the time I was thirteen I didn't want to do any of the dibbly fresh things they did. At nine, I was obsessed. But by the time I was thirteen and people actually wanted me to look after their children, I would've been like the evil girls in the Baby Sitters' Agency, letting three-year-olds go play in the streets.

You know, it never did occur to me that twelve-year-olds baby-sitting a newborn would be weird. Or the fact that these kids had an absolute monopoly on baby-sitting in that town. I can just imagine the adults talking about it. "Well, darling, I called one of the high-school kids to look after Jenny. But...let's not tell the Baby Sitters' Club, all right? The last time we did this, the one who looks like a boy started stalking us."

[susyhomewrecker]

By the time I got to 13, not only was I disappointed to find out I couldn't babysit newborns by myself (I couldn't even watch my 2 year old sister by myself!) but I also didn't have a boyfriend. Thanks a lot, BSC.

[spinsterliz]

When I was a fourth grader reading these books (and not too good at geography) I honestly though California and Stoneybrook where, like, a continent apart, thanks to Dawn's whining about how far away it was and how much she missed it. (I knew where California was but had no clue about where Stoneybrook, CT was.) Then I got older and realized that jeez, Connecticut is a state too it's not that far away from California. It's even in the same damn country.

I never liked many of the BSC myself, I mostly only liked Mallory Pike (which probably says something very uncool about me). My impatience for the other girls started when I read "Hello, Mallory" in which the BSC treats Mal like crap because they don't want her to join their club. Then they piss and moan when the Pikes stop hiring them. Duuuhh. A first-grader could see what a bad idea it is to pick on a girl who is the daughter of your best customers! Morons.

Edited because I stupidly misspelled "Connecticut."

[Deleted]

I have a friend who got into Stony Brook University in New York and when he told me he was like "Stony Brook is in..." and I interrupted with "It is in Connecticut, right?" He gave me a total wtf look and then corrected my statement. I didn't say so at the time, but I obviously associate Soneybrook with Connecticut and the BSC. Thank you SO much, BSC!

[laconicchick]

Yeah, when I was reading these books in Grades 4 to 6, the ages 11 and 13 seemed sooo mature and awesome. And then I got there and realized that they're really not that old after all. And then I had to babysit and it kind of sucked.

I did make myself a little BSC library, where I labelled all my books and made library cards and stuff, and I tried to get my friends to borrow them from me... But none of them were interested. It was sad.

[Deleted]

Plus, who hires an eleven year old to babysit? Really.

I was glad though to see Claudia was later labelled as learning disabled, rather than just appearing dumb. I have ADD and that made me feel a little bit more patient with her misspellings.

And I don't know what kind of town YOU live in, but there's no way you can get everywhere on your bike.

[spinsterliz]

franticjoy said:

these kids had an absolute monopoly on baby-sitting in that town. I can just imagine the adults talking about it. "Well, darling, I called one of the high-school kids to look after Jenny. But...let's not tell the Baby Sitters' Club, all right? The last time we did this, the one who looks like a boy started stalking us."

I know! WTF was that about? It was like, if you didn't hire a BSC member to babysit, you'd end up with a girl who sat around gabbing on the phone and letting the kids play with matches for the whole evening. Because nobody had that Golden Touch that the BSC members did. I wonder what would have happened if all the BSC girls were busy? I suppose the parents would have just cancelled their evening out.

And yeah, 11 is way too young to babysit. When I was a teenager, I babysat for a girl who was 11. Kids that age are hardly mature enough to take care of themselves, let alone small children or babies.

Weird question but-did anyone else think Ann M. Martin was kind of a snob for having a main character called "Mary Anne"? It wasn't just the BSC books, either. I recall she wrote other books with characters named Anna, etc. I don't know if she was seeing herself specifically in these characters but I remember thinking it was weird the way she often managed to stick variations of her own name in her books.