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Post by sugarmonkey on Apr 16, 2006 13:23:47 GMT -5
I just got the part where Dawn sits for Betsy. So far, um, you guys are right. Why were Betsy's parents allowing her to order from McBuzz's catalogue when they didn't want her to play any jokes? Claudia's overreacting was just to add some drama I'm sure. I just wish the drama in this series wasn't so blown out of proportion at times. Yet another example of Stoneybrook parents that don't want to spend time with their kids. Always running off to somewhere. And more clients that never show up again (that I can remember), at least not regularly. And the nerve! Calling for another sitter? I guess it's good that the girls dealt with the situation instead of just washing their hands of it by refusing to sit for her again. But why not talk to her and try to find out why she was playing jokes? Maybe to get attention? (I know, jokes add drama and talking is boring). It wasn't mentioned that she had any friends. Only that she knew who Jackie Rodowski was. Maybe Betsy needed a social life. Her parents certainly seemed to have one. Not that any one would want to hang around somebody that was constantly playing jokes, but maybe that would help Betsy ease up. Learning why Betsy was like that and having the sitters help her in that regard would've made a better story IMHO. I'm reading the series in order right now, and I have to say I like how the girls are more negative in the beginning. Just a little more negative, and I have to admit I've not read the later books yet. Their sarcastic sometimes, they roll their eyes more. They say negative or not exactly positive things about people. They seem like adolecents not adults in adolecent bodies. They just seem more realistic I guess.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Apr 16, 2006 16:57:28 GMT -5
And they call the girls to babysit for the most pathetic reasons. If you're taking one kid to the doctors or have a prenatal checkup, wouldn't you generally just bring the other kids along too, particularly if they're as well behaved and perfect as Jamie Newton and the Perkins girls?
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Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
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Post by Amalia on Apr 16, 2006 21:03:48 GMT -5
And they call the girls to babysit for the most pathetic reasons. If you're taking one kid to the doctors or have a prenatal checkup, wouldn't you generally just bring the other kids along too, particularly if they're as well behaved and perfect as Jamie Newton and the Perkins girls? ^ Just bringing the kids seem more convenient, too (to me) than waiting for a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday at 5:30 - 6 to schedule a sitter a week in advance for a specific time for a trip to the market.
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on Apr 17, 2006 3:07:16 GMT -5
Absolutely! A babysitter because you're going to the supermarket? WHY? My parent only hired babysitters when they went out for the night - not when they were going to the market/super market/dentist or whatever. Super markets are filled with little kids, they don't have babysitters for that!
Oh well. I guess they just needed an excuse to let the girls babysit certain kids often - for subplot reasons and stuff.
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Apr 17, 2006 5:39:19 GMT -5
Nah, it's just because none of the Stoneybrook parents liked their kids
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Apr 17, 2006 6:03:55 GMT -5
Oh well. I guess they just needed an excuse to let the girls babysit certain kids often - for subplot reasons and stuff. I'm sure that was the reason, but it never made sense to me, even as a little kid. But then, I never had teenage babysitters at all. If my parents were going out at night, an extended family member would watch us and we didn't even have structured entertainment! Horrors. Have to agree with jen on this one. The parents of Stoneybrook couldn't be bothered with their kids. Indifference was their motto.
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Apr 17, 2006 7:58:39 GMT -5
I'm sure that was the reason, but it never made sense to me, even as a little kid. But then, I never had teenage babysitters at all. If my parents were going out at night, an extended family member would watch us and we didn't even have structured entertainment! Horrors. I think the BSC has conditioned me to think in a different way. I'm friends with people who have kids, and when they say they can't go out because they have to look after their kids, my automatic reaction is "Why can't you get a baby-sitter?". And then I remember that the suburbs of Sydney tend to not have teenage kids advertising as baby-sitters, let alone something as structured as the BSC.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Apr 17, 2006 12:19:58 GMT -5
I guess if you have the option of taking a 4 year old to the doctor with you, or hiring little Kristy Thomas and co. to babysit for like, 2 bucks an hour, hiring a sitter is probably kinda appealling.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Apr 17, 2006 17:25:56 GMT -5
I think the BSC has conditioned me to think in a different way. I'm friends with people who have kids, and when they say they can't go out because they have to look after their kids, my automatic reaction is "Why can't you get a baby-sitter?". And then I remember that the suburbs of Sydney tend to not have teenage kids advertising as baby-sitters, let alone something as structured as the BSC. I have to hand it to Kristy Thomas on this one. A structured babysitting organisation would be truly wonderful, although I don't know if I'd be comfortable trusting my child with random 13 yr olds! I always thought it was weird that Kristy's reasoning for the BSC was that "parents can reach a sitter with one phone call instead of having to make call after call to individual sitters" ... is that really a problem people face on a daily basis? How strange that there are SO MANY individual sitters out there for Kristy's mum to call!
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ktag
Junior Sitter
Posts: 694
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Post by ktag on Apr 17, 2006 17:48:00 GMT -5
And the funny thing is, if the BSC were already operational at that point, her mom would still be out of luck, unless Stacey was free. But then she probably would have been, since she didn't know anyone yet. I wonder what happened to the sitters they used before the BSC was formed. Did Charlie, Sam and Kristy still take one day a week after they moved to Watson's?
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on Apr 18, 2006 4:44:39 GMT -5
I don't really think they did. I don't remember them ever mentioning it. There was always someone in that big house to watch the kids, like Nannie...
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Apr 18, 2006 5:47:53 GMT -5
And the funny thing is, if the BSC were already operational at that point, her mom would still be out of luck, unless Stacey was free And considering the job a last minute thing was for the very next night, she wouldn't have been able to contact the BSC unless she called outside their "business hours" which kind of defeats the purpose.
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Apr 18, 2006 8:01:47 GMT -5
So the catalyst for Kristy's Great Idea wasn't really such a deep, apple-from-the-tree moment after all!
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Post by liss31d on Dec 3, 2006 5:21:49 GMT -5
I always used to wonder why some of these families didn't have extended family or family friends or older brothers or sisters looking after them... also the BSC never seems to sit for kids who have older brothers and sisters (except the families of the BSC and I think the Hoyt family), what if the whole family had to go out and leave the younger kids? Like Kristy's family often does Serioudly I feel sorry for Karen and Andrew, they come over for the weekend and end up with a babysitter most of the time.
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ktag
Junior Sitter
Posts: 694
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Post by ktag on Dec 3, 2006 6:51:45 GMT -5
Hmm...maybe families with older children don't hire them for that reason. They don't need them. I do think it would have been interesting if they sat for younger siblings of some of their classmates sometimes (who aren't in the club).
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