Rereading My Childhood: The Baby-Sitters Club

#6: Kristy's Big Day

So far, I have written all of these retrospectives before Netflix's The Baby-Sitters Club series has aired. Those reviews, even the ones that came out after the show, were written without any knowledge about the new series and how it would change (and, in most cases, improve) on the original material. This review is different. I have crossed the threshold and there is no turning back. I have already seen and the new series. (Although, #8 through #17 I've written before I saw the series. I did these early ones out of order — I started rereading the series before I decided to write about them.)

However, I am discussing the book — not the episode of the excellent Netflix series (seriously, if you love the BSC, you'll love the new series). Maybe I'll get to that one day, who knows. Until then, it's time to put on a yellow dress and walk down the aisle, because Kristy's mom is getting married in this very special episode of The Baby-Sitters Club.

Elizabeth Thomas is getting married to Watson Brewer in September, and she wants Kristy to be her bridesmaid. Kristy is excited to wear a dress and stand by her mother, which surprised me, as I always thought if Kristy was seen in a dress, she would combust. But you know, it's a special occasion and Kristy is happy for her mother. It's incredibly mature of her to put aside her clothing preferences for one day to make her mother happy.

However, there's a snag. Kristy's mother's company is sending her on a business trip the week of her wedding, and there's a new family that wants to buy Kristy's house and they want to move in next month. The wedding is not postponed — no, it's moved up. Mrs. Thomas has to pack, move an entire family, and plan a wedding in two and a half weeks. I'd suggest getting the house ready to move, marry at the courthouse if it's that important, and postpone the wedding. However, I decided to postpone a trip to Disneyland and then Covid-19 hit and who knows when I'm going to see my buddy Hat Box Ghost again. I might not be the best person to ask about long-term planning.

The rest of Watson and Kristy's relatives are arriving early to help with the wedding, but they're also bringing a total of 11 kids (plus David Michael, Karen, and Andrew) with them. The kids can't be left on their own, but the parents are going to be busy with the packing and the planning and the preparation of the aperitifs. Well, the Baby-Sitters Club is to the rescue!

Since they're on summer vacation, many of their charges are also taking vacations. There's a big hole in their job calendar, so they step up and create what is essentially a day camp for the Thomas/Watson relatives — a future BSC staple. Watson and future Mrs. Brewer (I'm assuming, I wouldn't want to be a Mrs., but since it's the '80s, I'm assuming Lizzie will take the title) will pay the BSC a total of $600 to watch over fourteen kids for a week — $125 per BSC member. That is nothing to scoff at in 1987 dollars — today it would be  — or about $260 apiece. But they're going to have to earn it, and the next few pages showcase just why these girls are worth more than a thousand bucks.

The first thing the girls do (after accepting the job, of course) is to list all the kids and their ages. Mary Anne organizes the list by age. Two of the kids are babies and Mary Anne volunteers to exclusively care for those two. The rest of the kids are split into groups of similar ages and are assigned to a baby-sitter. Then, the girls name each group with a color and a symbol and create name tags. Their corresponding baby-sitter will wear the same name tag and this allows everyone to know which group they're in. This also helps the babysitter remember the names of the kids. I was reading this book and two sentences after the list of kids, I already forgot all their names — except the regulars David Michael, Karen, and Andrew. Katherine of the Yellow Suns? I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm pretty sure that's a team on Legends of the Hidden Temple. ("The Shrine of the Silver Monkey," Olmec echoes in my head forever.)