The Baby-Sitters Club

Chapter 7

Wednesday Afternoon "Hi, Stace! C'mon in! I'm leaving in a minute." "Here's-the-kitchen. The-dishwasher-is-broken. David-Michael-can have-a-snack-cookies-in the jar nothing after 4:30 . . ." ". . . He's-allergic-to-chocolate. Oh there's-Louie-he-won't-be-any-trouble-all-the phone-numbers-are-on-the-bulletin-board . . . "Mom's-is-on-the-phone-I'll-be-at-the-Mckeevers'-baby-sitting-the-Tv's-in-the-playroom-David-Michael-likes-Candyland-It's-in-the-cabinet-under-the-stereo . . ." "See-if-there-are-any-notes-from-his-teachers-in-his-lunch-box- Any questions?" "This is Stacey. She's my friend. She's Baby-sitting for you today." "I'll be Baby-sitting somewhere else, not far away. I'll be back at 5:00." "Oh, Stacey, my big brothers are Charlie and Sam." "Charlie is 16 and Sam is 14." "They might be around this afternoon, they might not. Have fun, you guys!" *SLAM!* ". . . Hi." "Hi." ". . ." "Hi." "Hello." "You must be Stacey." "Has Kristy . . . Mentioned me?" "Uh, yeah. Well, she said you were going to Baby-sit today. I was going to go over to this guy ernest's house, but maybe . . ." "But I think he's busy or something. So I'll stick around here." "Well, listen . . . Do you want me to leave?" "There's no reason for your mom to pay me to baby-sit if you're going to be at home." "No, no . . . The deal with mom is, Charlie and Kristy and I only have to Baby-sit David Michael one day a week each. The rest of the time we can do whatever we want, even if we're still home." "Wow, that's really nice of your mom." "Can I have a twinkie?" "I guess so. Do you think you'll still be able to eat your dinner tonight?" "Yes." "Okay." "Want the second one, Sam?" "Sure." "Oh . . . No, thanks." "You must be the one on the diet. That sure takes willpower." "How about some Candyland?" "Yeah!" "Heck, I'll play, too. We can have a championship series. First one to win two games is the Candyland champion of the universe." "You're going to play?!" "Yeah, sure." "But you nev--" "Hey, little brother, your shoe's untied." "It is?" "I don't have any laces!" "Made ya look!" "You-- You-- I'm telling!" "Hey, squirt! Come on! We'd better start playing if we're going to have time for a championship Series!"  Meanwhile . . . "Hello?" "Hi, I'm Kristy Thomas. I'm here to Baby-sit for Buffy and Pinky, the twins."  This house seems way too neat. "So! Where are Pinky and Buffy?" "Oh -- they're in the laundry room." "The laundry room?!" "They're a bit unruly." "Ohhh. I know all about unruly." "Let me introduce myself . . ." "I'm miss Hargreaves, Mrs. Mckeever's niece. She's out of town, and I have an appointment this afternoon." "We find we need someone with Pinky and Buffy all the times." What does she expect? "Let's go let them out of the laundry room. They're probably ready to play." "All right." "Get ready. These two monsters of my aunt's will practically break the door down." ". . . Ack!" "Do I have to watch them PLUS Pinky and Buffy?!" "Oh, my dear! Those ARE Pinky and Buffy!" "But . . . But I'm a Baby-sitter, not a Dog-sitter!" "I don't know what arrangements my aunt made." "But here are the dogs, and here you are, and I have to leave." "But . . . But . . ." *SLAM!* "Want to go outside, guys?" *ZOOM* ! "WAAOH!" "You're staying inside for the rest of the afternoon!" Meanwhile, back at my house. . . "Stop cheating, squirt!" "I am not!" "Kristy!" Later "How'd it go, Stace?" "Your older brother is so hot!" "I meant the baby-sitting! " "Oh . . . It was fine." "I've decided that from on, the members of The Baby-sitting Club should keep a notebook." "Each time one of us finishes a job, we should write it up in the notebook and the others should read about it." "That way, we can learn from each other's experiences." "And we won't make any mistake more than once." "For instance . . . No more Dog-sitting!!"

Friday, September 26th

"Kristy says we have to keep a record of every Baby-sitting job we do in this book. My first job through the Baby-sitters club was yesterday. I was sitting for Jamie Newton, only it wasn't just for Jamie it was for Jamie and his three cousins. And boy they were WILD!"
                                   *  Claudia *