#68 Jessi and the Bad Baby-sitter

Summary

Dawn is officially gone, and the BSC is officially busier than ever. They're so swamped that they can barely find sitters to cover all the jobs, and even have one or two times when they can't do that. Kristy realizes that they need to take on a new member, and Jessi thinks she has the perfect solution: her new friend, Wendy Loesser. Wendy is great with kids, and has already baby-sat a little. Jessi brings Wendy to a BSC meeting, and after a little grilling in between job calls, the club agrees to send Wendy to the Barretts with Jessi on a trial basis. The job goes very well, and Jessi is happy that she was able to help the club out of a tough situation.

Things go well for about a week. Then, Wendy doesn't show up until almost the end of a club meeting, and doesn't get why everyone's upset. She'd been sitting, and the parents were late getting home. Kristy is pretty mad; not only was Wendy late for a meeting without calling, but she also accepted a sitting job without offering it around to the other club members. Jessi feels responsible for Wendy's behavior, since she was the one who brought Wendy into the club, but since Jessi is so used to the club rules, she doesn't really get where Wendy is coming from.

The next day, Jessi and Wendy are scheduled to sit together at the Pikes'. Wendy doesn't show up until 15 or 20 minutes until after she was supposed to be there, and not until after Jessi had interrupted Mary Anne's homework time so she could come and help. At another club meeting not long after, Wendy barely makes it on time, and she's mad because she had to skip out on a video game tournament. Kristy takes her to task for her lateness at the Pikes', and Wendy quits the club. She doesn't like all the rules, and she doesn't like having to turn her regular sitting job with non-BSC clients over to the club.

After the meeting, Jessi is pretty bummed. She really liked being friends with Wendy and wants to continue that friendship, even if Wendy isn't in the club anymore. Jessi is sure that Wendy must be mad at her because of the way things went with the BSC, but her mother suggests giving Wendy a call. Jessi does, and as it turns out, Wendy was afraid that Jessi was mad at her! They agree to be friends...and we never heard about Wendy again (I think...)

Also, some of the sitting charges are videotaping their play ("Snow White and the Seven Zorbs," complete with an appearance by Captain Planet) to send to Dawn. That, and Margo Pike gets caught shoplifting.

Rating: 2

Thoughts and Things

• I'm totally on Wendy's side about not turning over her regular sitting jobs to the club. Why should people who are used to counting on Wendy have to go through the whole process of calling the club? They even got mad at her for accepting that job at the last minute, when calling the club wouldn't have been possible. Geez.


• Reading a Suzanne Weyn book right after a Peter Lerangis book is such a huge contrast. She's so much more formal and old-fashioned than he is. For instance, Suzanne would write that a character "enjoyed their meal," while Peter would write that a character "scarfed their food down." I can spot a Suzanne Weyn book within the first paragraph...


• I love that Hodges put one of Claudia's junk food paintings on her wall on the cover!


• Why is it that gum-chewing characters are always "bad?" Janet and Leslie were specifically mentioned as chewing gum in #3, Dawn took up gum-chewing in #50 during her rebellious phase, and now Wendy is blowing a bubble on the cover. What gives?


• Everyone keeps saying that there's no way that Dawn will stay in CA. Heh...


• Speaking of Dawn in California, I'm confused as to the timing. She leaves in early fall (probably September) and is supposed to be there for 6 months. Kristy is freaking out about what they'll do when Shannon can't be the alternate office anymore in spring, but Dawn should technically be back by then. Also, she DOESN'T come back in the spring or summer; she comes back in SS #12, which takes place around Christmas. That means she was either gone for three months, or a year and three months.