Ahem. So. I’m back. Blame Netflix (seriously, if you haven’t watched the new Baby-Sitters Club series there yet, what are you waiting for? After you finish my back catalog of blog posts, do that. You won’t regret it). I will likely do some posts on the new series at some point.
So. Four years since my last post. Well, that baby girl I had in 2015? She is now 5 and will be starting kindergarten this fall (likely will do so virtually. Thanks, pandemic). Plus, at the end of last year, I had a baby boy. Life is bananas. Plus, now that I have kids, I can't fathom letting a 13 year old or 11 year old child babysit my kids. Just bonkers. Anyway, I don’t really have much free time as of late, but I have been working from home full time since March, and both kids have been home as well, so Mama needs some outlet to keep her sanity in check. Take care of your mental health, y’all.
Now, the book. The One in Which Mimi Has a Stroke. Episode Six in the Netflix series. Crazily enough, I don’t remember reading this one as a child - I know I read Claudia and the Sad Goodbye, where Mimi *spoiler alert* dies, but I have no memory of this one. I think that is supposed to be Jamie Newton on the cover, based on the subplot, but who knows for sure? Claudia is rocking what is formerly known as a Cosby sweater, but due to his very non-Cliff-Huxtable assholery towards women, we will have to think of a new term for crazy sweaters now.
Since this is early in the series (so, their first time through 8th grade), only Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacey, and Dawn are members. Stacey’s parents are still married. This takes place one week after Kristy’s mom married Daddy Watsonbucks. In fact, Kristy’s family is in the process of moving across town to the mansion. Now, his mansion is always referred to as “across town,” which I have always assumed to be, like, 7 to 15 miles away, since they always make a big deal about how it is too far for her to ride a bike to meetings. We find out that Watson lives 3 miles away. Three. Now, I was a child of the 80s, and I know that I rode my bike farther than that during the summer. And just how small is Stoneybrook that 3 miles is considered across town? Anyway, in this book they arrange for Charlie to drive Kristy to meetings for the small fee of $1 each way (which, considering gas prices in the 80s, is a very good deal). Now, let's break this down. The babysitters get to keep the money they earn from each job, and just pay $1 per week in dues to the club treasury. There are 5 babysitters, so the treasury gets $5 per week. So, Charlie will get $2 each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for a total of $6 per week from the treasury. Way to operate a business in the red, Captain Great Idea. Even when there are 7 members, they are only clearing $1 per week. That is redonk.
Ok, to the main story now. The whole first chapter is establishing just how different Claudia and Janine are. Janine is the super genius with an IQ of 196 and takes college classes for fun during the summer. Claudia is terrible at school but an artistic savant. Janine is introverted with few friends, Claudia is super popular and has a thriving social life, for a thirteen year old anyway (who am I kidding? She has more of a social life than I do, even before the pandemic hit). Now, this hit a little too close to home for me, because my older brother was the popular, outgoing one, and I was the introverted good girl with very little social life. My mom used to joke that I was born 35 years old (Claudia's mom makes a joke about Claudia being a teenager her whole life due to her difficulty to live with.) Never thought I would be identifying with Janine, but there we go. Plus, Janine dresses like a classic 80s sitcom nerd (pleated skirts and blouses), while Claudia is adventurous in her fashion choices. Claudia even mentions that anytime Janine hands down her clothes to her, she immediately gives them to Mary Anne or Kristy. (Nice little burn on her view of Kristy and MA's sense of style there).
So, Claudia and Janine bicker all the time, because Claudia can't understand anything that Janine is saying (seriously, AMM made Janine sound like a robot, all "how will your agency function when your founder relocates to a different district?" Like, she's 16 years old, she is not C3PO). Then Janine gets frustrated when Claudia can't answer her questions (since she couldn't interpret that to mean, "what will y'all do when Kristy moves?"). And there are so many other examples of this, so let's just throw a yada, yada, yada here. Well, Mimi usually acts as peacemaker, but has been increasingly tired lately. After a particularly nasty fight between the sisters, Mimi goes to bed early. A few minutes later, the girls hear a thud from her bedroom, where they find Mimi unconscious. Ambulance called, parents notified, and they soon find out that Mimi had a massive stroke. Initially, Mimi can only communicate via blinking, but soon recovers enough to be able to talk, even though she has difficulty mixing up words, plus has lost a lot of use of the right side of her body. She is soon released to go back home, but a family member has to stay with her at all times to help with her speech and physical therapy. Claudia volunteers a lot, giving up BSC plans and art classes, but her parents don't want to ask Janine because they don't want to interfere with her college classes. One day Claudia comes home from a sitting job and finds Mimi downstairs by herself, while Janine is upstairs on her computer. After a Real Housewives-style, table-flipping throwdown, the sisters have a heart to heart, where Janine confesses that she feels like she is not needed because they never ask her to help, and Claudia admits that she feels like she is not good enough for her parents. And everything is wrapped up in a nice, shiny bow.
Subplots - the BSC starts a playgroup for the month of July, where kids can hang out in the McGill backyard three days a week (yeah, I would not be volunteering my yard for that). Biggest story out of that is them trying to deal with Jenny Prezzioso, who is the four year old super brat who only dresses in fancy, ruffly dresses and never wants to get dirty. Plus, they let Mallory Pike be a babysitter in training for their group, which is the lead up to her joining the club eventually. A secondary subplot involves Jamie Newton, who Claudia sits for several times, and the christening party that Mrs. Newton throws for baby Lucy. She hires the entire BSC for the day to act as "helpers," meaning babysitting, decorating, and waittressing. Those Stoneybrook parents love to exploit the BSC for all the child labor they can get.
And that's all I have to say about that. Sorry I didn't have my normal level of snark on this post, but, come on, it has been four years since I've done this, so my skills are a bit rusty, plus it's hard to do so when the main plot is a grandmother having a stroke.
Fashion! Fashion! Fashion!
Claudia: “I finished dressing in my favorite art class outfit - black jeans, a giant bright blue T-shirt, and a snake bracelet that I wore above my elbow.”
Stacey: “wearing a pair of knee-length lime green shorts, matching green high-top sneakers, and a large white T-shirt with a gigantic taxicab on the front.”
Dawn: “striped pants with suspenders over a red shirt.” Claudia thought this was more New York than California.
Jenny Prezzioso: “wearing a pale pink, spotlessly clean party dress with puffed sleeves and white smocking across the front. On her feet were lacy white socks and pink Mary Janes.”
Jenny: “a brand-new white sundress with ruffles around the bottom, trimmed with pale pink ribbon and white lace, and brand-new white sandals. The sandals were the fancy kind, more like shoes with holes punched on top in a pretty design.”
Mary Anne: “was wearing a jeans skirt, a pink and white striped blouse, and loafers with no socks.”
Claudia: “It was a big, loose white shirt with black splotches all over it, and white pants that came to just below my knees. My shoes were dainty gold sandals that laced partway up my legs. Then I put on my pink flamingo earrings and a pink bracelet that said CLAUDIA in heart-shaped beads. Finally, I braided my hair into four long braids, tied a ribbon around the top of each, and fastened the ends with butterfly clips.”
