Rereading My Childhood: The Baby-Sitters Club

#5: Dawn and the Impossible Three

Sometimes I wonder how people function. I mean, how specific people function. They always ask you for a pen, as if the idea that they might have to take notes in class was sprung on them that day. When they arrive at the register, they have to dig through a pillow-case sized purse and they pour all the contents on the counter, as if they had no idea the cashier would ask for payment. This goes beyond absent-mindedness as this is a daily occurrence. Simple things that most of us are accustomed to (paying for things, taking notes, a basic level of preparation) in life come as a surprise to them. That might be nice while gliding through life, and they're probably happy in their little flighty head, but it's a huge inconvenience to everyone around them.

In Dawn and the Impossible Three, our favorite California Girl meets a person who needs a lot of help and Dawn doesn't seem up to the task.

The book starts with Dawn sitting at the Pikes'. Dawn goes over how her parents got divorced and her mother moved them across the country. Two little kids from down the street come over to play — Buddy and Suzi Barrett. Dawn connects with them because their mother is also recently divorced. After her job is done, she is heading to the BSC meeting when she sees Mary Anne who yells, "Great news!" And we end the first chapter on a cliffhanger.

Did I accidentally read a Goosebumps book instead?

The cliffhanger is quickly resolved. Mary Anne says that her father is going to ask Dawn's mother out and he won't be there for dinner. I guess even Republicans have to date, as much as that idea makes me retch. Who the hell would date a Republican?

At the BSC meeting, the girls hand in their dues and decide to use the money to buy more stuff for the Kid-Kits. The Prezziosos, the Newtons, and the Brewers call. More importantly, there's a call from a new client! It's Mrs. Barrett and Dawn takes the job.

Saturday morning, Dawn goes over to Mary Anne's house primed with stuff for Mary Anne to go through in her endeavor to redecorate her room. Apparently, the Schafers brought a bunch of stuff with them that they were planning on selling. Why they didn't get rid of the stuff while still in California, instead of packing it all up, paying shipping fees, and unboxing it for the express purposes of a yard sale, I don't know.

Kristy catches wind of shenanigans in Mary Anne's room and the two shout at each other through their windows. Kristy comes over and acts hostile and jealous toward Dawn, refusing to speak directly to her and never laughing at her jokes. This behavior continues into lunch the next school day when Mary Anne and Dawn realize that they'll be sisters if their parents get married.

During Dawn's initial meeting with the Barretts, Buddy, Suzi, and Marnie, she makes a strict "no guns" rule. Good rule, but this is America, Dawn, and in America, we give guns to every God-fearin' white person who wants one because 2nd Amendment blah blah blah rights blah protection blah blah. 

Anyway, Mrs. Barrett is discombobulated. She doesn't give Dawn a phone number to reach her in case of emergency ("call the Pikes, okay?"), something called "Pow" is waiting to get inside, and the .

When she leaves and Dawn is in charge, Dawn learns that Pow is "the meanest dog who ever lived." He's a lethargic basset hound. So, a basset hound. Dawn figures out a way to trick the kids into cleaning the living room, the kitchen, and the playroom by turning it into a game where they have to break their previous record time. She bonds with the kids more regarding their mother's divorce. Suzi gets upset that her father isn't coming back and then she pees her pants. I don't think the two events are related, but that's the order in which they happened.

Mrs. Barrett returns and she calls Dawn the best baby-sitter she's ever had. Dawn is happy and says that if Mrs. Barrett needs Dawn to come over, she can call on her "any time." Dawn ends the chapter with the following ominous passage