I read a quote from another writer a few weeks ago that I wish I had written. She said something like, “I’m 29 and I’ve figured out that if I want to strike up a conversation with another girl my age all I have to do is mention The Baby-sitters Club.”
So true. I loved, adored and was completely obsessed with these baby-sitting teens: Claudia, Mary Anne, Kristy, Stacey and Dawn. Apparently this girl Mallory joined them later but I was over it by then. I’ll stick with the original five.
The girls from Stoneybrook basically ran a baby-sitting business complete with “kid kits” and weekly meetings. Claudia wore funky clothes, Mary Anne was a nerd, Kristy was a tomboy, Stacey was a Diabetic and Dawn was from California. I remember that Dawn’s mom was a “scatter-brain” and Dawn always had to say things like, “Mom, you can’t leave the house with just one earring.” Looking back, I’m pretty sure your mom was hitting the bottle, Dawn.
I devoured these books and I remember being so excited when I got a big stack of "Super Specials" for Christmas one year. I started reading them right away. And I guess in one of those books they had an offer to join The Baby-Sitter’s Club Fan Club. So I mailed off for the packet. After that I started getting these giant envelopes in the mail once a month with all this Baby-Sitter’s Club paraphernalia: book marks, crossword puzzles, posters, etc.
At first I was psyched. But then as I got older I started moving on to Sweet Valley High (from baby-sitters to trampy twins). I remember not wanting to receive The Baby-Sitters Club Fan Club packages anymore but I didn’t know how to make them stop.
One day (I think it may have been freshman year of high school), my mom picked up me and a group of friends from some school activity (okay, it was a band competition) and she handed me the big Baby-Sitter’s Club Fan Club package:
“Here, Elsa. Here’s your Baby-Sitter’s Club stuff,” she said.
“MOM! Why did you bring this here?”
“Well, I knew you’d be excited to get it so I didn’t want you to have to wait until you got home.”
So while I loved the fab five I had to move on at some point. But if you think I was embarrassed at age 15, just think how humiliated I was when those packages started being forwarded to my college dorm.
4 comments:
I loved the Baby Sitter's Club too! I remember I had book #1 - #20something.
I was a little old, but remember reading some of yours. They were fun!
That's probably a good thing Frank. The BSC did have a boy semi-member, Logan, but I don't think that really help reach the male demographic.
Yes, "Logan likes Mary Anne" was a classic.
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